Sept. 7, 2026

Off the Clock: The Radical History of the American Workday

Show Notes
Transcript

We all love a three-day weekend, but who actually paid for it? Behind every paid vacation, every forty-hour work week, and every safety regulation is a story of grit, picket lines, and revolution. This Labor Day, we’re peeling back the layers of the holiday to uncover the radical history of the labor movement—and why the benefits we take for granted were once considered dangerous demands. Join us as we explore the architects of the modern weekend and the fight for the American worker.

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Hello, and thank you for tuning in to A Sharp

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Outlook on K4HD Radio and Talk4TV. I am Angela Sharp,

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your host.

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Our armchair discussions with industry experts will give you the steps, tools,

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and information to be successful in business and to prepare

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you to be your best self.

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Hello, I'm Angela Sharp, and thank you for joining us

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for this Labor Day holiday. And I hope you enjoy

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our topic today. It is off the clock, the radical

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history of the American Workday. And today is Labor Day.

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And I want to thank all of those that pursued

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having these benefits and pursued giving us this opportunity so

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we could enjoy this day off with our family and

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to recognize the hard work that was done just so

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we could have these benefits. We all love a three-day weekend, right?

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But who actually knows what the cost was for this

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to be able to happen? Behind every paid vacation, every

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40-hour work week, and every safety regulation is a story

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of grit, picket lines, and revolution. This day is Labor Day.

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We're peeling back the layers of the holiday to uncover

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the radical history of the labor movement and why the

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benefits we take for granted were once considered dangerous demands.

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Imagine that. And I'm glad that you're joining us as

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we explore the architects of the modern weekend and the

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fights that were done for the American worker. We're going

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to go back a little bit and imagine what was

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going on that brought on so much energy to say,

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we have got to make a change for our sakes.

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Imagine gruelings, soot-stained 1880s factory floor, the heat, the 14-hour days,

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the lack of proper lighting. And there in the corner,

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the silence of a worker who dares not to speak

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or say anything about it. Then we cut to today,

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the modern office, remote work setup, coffee breaks, emails, and

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the feeling of clocking in and out. This weekend, you

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probably took Friday, you're probably taking Friday off. also. But

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this weekend, a three-day weekend, didn't just happen. It was

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a revolutionary demand that changed the course of human history

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here in America. We look at the Pullman strike or

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the Heyman affair, focus on why were people willing to

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risk their lives for an eight-hour day, and the opposition,

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the industrial titans, who viewed workers' rights as existential threats

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to their profit. The architects of progress brought about numerous

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benefits we enjoy today and feel it has always been

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like this. But the benefits list, the 40-hour workweek, the

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child labor laws, overtime pay, workplace safety, in other words, OSHA,

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These weren't just generous gifts from employers. They were hard

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won gains through collective bargaining and picketing and other things.

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Keep in mind that these were not only union member benefits,

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but even non-union workers benefit today. And we owe their

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conditions to the standard set by the union contracts. We

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owe you thanks and gratitude. because it ends up giving

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a spillover effect so that we that are not in

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the union are receiving those same wonderful benefits. The current

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state of labor, the decline in the physical unions versus

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the rise of new movements, the tech and service and

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retail industry, do we still value the labor unions that

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makes our lifestyle possible? Do we really still appreciate the

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fight that they made and they continue to make so

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that we do continue to have these benefits, life insurance, vacations,

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retirement plans, so many things that had to be fought

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for and they were fought for by the unions. They

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started it. Younger generations often view their benefits as company

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perks or standard oily plate rather than hard-won rights, historical

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struggles to actual lives today. Well, let me tell you

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a little bit about a couple of those revolutions that

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occurred just for the benefits that we have today. As

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we look at the Pullman strike, it was in 1894,

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a massive nationwide railroad strike and boycott that paralyzed the

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US rail system and marked a turning point in the

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federal labor policy. There were wage cuts and high rents

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during the economic depression following the panic of 1893. The

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Pullman Palace Car Company cut employee wages by roughly 25

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to 30%. Then also, the company owner, George Pullman, refused

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to lower their rents and utility costs in the model

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company town of Pullman, Illinois, leaving many workers unable to

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afford basic food and necessities. Hmm, sounds like we're repeating

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history here. Currently, and then the refusal to negotiate. When

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a committee of workers tried to share their grievances, Pullman

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refused to meet with them and fired them. This prompted

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workers to unanimously vote to strike on May 11, 1894.

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The American Railroad Union through its support behind the strikers

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in June of 1894. And this paralyzed the railroad industry.

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The union members refused to handle any trains carrying Pullman

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luxury cars, effectively halting rail traffic and commerce across 27

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states west of Chicago. Then the federal intervention came. The

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railroad executives attached U.S. mail cars to Pullman cars, allowing

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Attorney General Richard Olney to claim the strikes were obstructing

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postal services. And then the President got involved and dispatched

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over 8,000 federal troops and U.S. Marshals to Chicago to

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stop the strike. Then violence and arrests occurred. Clashes and

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riots erupted resulted in property destruction and the deaths of

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numerous striking workers. The federal government used an injunction based

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on the Sherman Antitrust Act to break the strike for

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the first time, setting a powerful legal precedent that severely

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limited on union effectiveness for years. These were people that

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were suffering. They couldn't eat. They couldn't buy food. Their

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rents were too high. They were losing their homes. And

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the response was to go in and fire people, to

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send in the marshals and everyone instead of sitting down

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and having a talk, sitting down. and trying to negotiate,

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sitting down, and at least having the decency of listening

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to their grievances. Are we still doing those kinds of things?

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Where we're not listening to the people as they are saying,

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food is too high. We can't afford to live where

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we are. We're losing our homes. Our utilities are going

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up too high. All of these things, I hear these

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voices right now. in the communities, on the news, on

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social media? Are we in a situation where we're not

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being heard? We're not being listened to? And we have

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grievances that are just as serious as they were back then.

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And then we have the Haymaker Affair. The Haymaker Affair

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was a violent, bombing, an ensuing riot that took place

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at a labor demonstration on May 4th, 1886 in Haymarket

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Square in Chicago. They also striked on May 1st, 1886

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to demand an eight hour work day. I don't blame them,

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14 hours a day, that's a long time. I think

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an eight hour day was reasonable. On May 3rd, the

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police killed several striking workers at that Chicago McCormick Reaper

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Works factory. Labor leaders organized a peaceful protest rally at

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Haymarket Square for the next evening and a bombing occurred.

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There were several officers that were killed and also bystanders

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that were there. People were arrested. People were imprisoned. And

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all of this because they wanted to have a reasonable workday.

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They wanted to have time off. They wanted to be

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able to afford their rent, be able to buy groceries.

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All of these things are happening because there were grievances.

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But those that were making money off of their businesses

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felt that their profits were far more important than the

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needs of the people who were helping them get those profits.

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They weren't listening to their workers. They weren't listening to

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those that make their profits possible. They didn't care about

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what their needs were. It was just all about more

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profits and more profits and more profits. The architects of

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progress in the mid-1800s, the average American worker worked 10

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to 16 hours a day, six days a week. And

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there was no such thing as a weekend. The Fair

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Labor Standards Act in 1938 was the culmination of decades

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of union pressure. It didn't just limit hours, it established

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overtime pay, effectively making it more expensive for corporations and

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employers to overwork their employees. That was a wonderful gain.

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so that people aren't being needlessly overworked and not compensated

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for all of that time. Also, because of that, it

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was the beginning of the middle class. It was the

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step that made middle class even possible. Economist data consistently

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shows that as union density, and that is the percentage

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of workers in a union, drops, The share of income

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going to the 1% rises. When unions were at their

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peak in the 1950s, about 30 to 35% of the

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workforce income inequality was at its lowest point in modern

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American history. And that spillover was that even if you

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weren't in a union, the benefit from the union wage

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premium for non-union employers often match union benefits like health

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insurance and paid leave just to stay competitive and prevent

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their own workers from organizing. For my younger listeners, I

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want to come and give you a little analogy of

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what I'm talking about because this is something that happened

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a long time ago. And everyone has been pretty much

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working steadily and having their benefits. And so it's hard

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for you to relate. So let me maybe try to

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talk in your language. Let's think about the subscription. Think

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of your workplace benefits as a subscription service. You know

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you have lots of those. You think you're getting them

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because your company is nice or modern. But you're actually

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enjoying a grandfathered-in plan that millions of people paid for

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with their jobs, their savings, and their safety back in

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the early 20th century. In other words, you have the

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benefit of those subscriptions, not because, like I said, everyone's

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nice and wants you to have good subscriptions at reasonable

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costs and, you know, great plans and things like that.

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Someone else had to pay the price to get them

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convinced to make those affordable. Let's talk about understanding the

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user experience, UX. Well, labor unions were the original UX

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designers for the American worker. They realized the user interface

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of a 14-hour workday was failing. And so they hacked

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the system to create the eight-hour workday, safety standards, and weekends.

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Just think about it. Because they had set that foundation

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for the working environment, think about what all we have

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right now. We're able to be remote workers. You can

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even maybe think about the factory floor. There's safety there now.

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You don't have things falling on you. You don't get

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your fingers cut off using the machinery. You don't have

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children in there working and getting harmed and losing an

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arm or a leg. All of these were things that

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occurred back then, but because of labor laws that were

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all part of what the unions were all fighting for,

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making sure that there was no more child labor. And

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so they established child labor laws. But just think about it.

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Notice that even in your digital space, there is a

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constant pressure to be always on. The struggle today isn't

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about physical safety in a coal mine. It's about the

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right to disconnect. The same logic that fought for the

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weekend is now being applied to your Slack notifications and

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emails after 5 p.m. Current union member rates in the U.S.

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Recent polling on how young people, I'm talking about Gen

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Z and millennials, few unions compared to previous generations average

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wage difference between union versus non-union workers in the current market. Well,

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there are some statistics that states that those that are

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in union jobs are getting higher wages than those that

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are not in union jobs. And it really favors the

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collective bargaining group. According to recent economic data, often cited

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in a labor research, The wage gap union members typically

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earn significantly higher wages than non-union counterparts in doing the

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same job. Why is that? Because the unions have protections.

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The unions have a group that gives a loud enough

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voice that they're listened to. The workers can, you know, um,

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The union workers can earn about 10 to 20% more

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than non-union workers in the same occupations. There is a

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deep documented sense of economic precariousness among young people. A

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report from Circle back in April of 2026 found that

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43% of youth ages 18 to 34 report having trouble

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meeting basic needs. In other words, paying their mortgage, paying

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their rent, buying groceries, being able to put fuel in

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their automobile or even buy an automobile, being able to

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pay for higher education or just training school, just being

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able to have that extra money to be able to

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advance themselves. And why? For this demographic, inflation and the

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cost of living are primary consumers. Skills, work, and unions

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can be a potential financial survival tool that many young

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people are currently struggling to connect with. Just getting into

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the school, being able to find a skilled training facility

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that doesn't cost anything. If you're already struggling with just

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getting food and paying your rent and keeping your utilities functioning,

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then having that extra money to be able to maybe

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go and get skills training, And become a part of

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unions or non-union, doesn't matter. And being able to have

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a more stable job. Because let me tell you, with

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the flooding and the fires and all the different things

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that are going on, we need skilled labor right now.

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And the pay is very lucrative. But I know for

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you it's difficult because where's the extra money coming from

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for you to be able to get that skills training?

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I think if you go and you check, there are

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organizations that are providing free training in skills labor, electricity, electricians, plumbers,

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home inspectors, concrete workers, different things like that. Yes, it's

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working outdoors, but, you know, it's kind of fun working outdoors.

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But actually, our polling shows, recent polling paints a picture

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of a generation that feels unheard and unprotected rather than

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one that simply doesn't care. Our youth don't feel like

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you're hearing them. Our youth feel so unprotected and so

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vulnerable right now. And they really need to see that

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our generation, our elective officials see more than just the dollar.

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They see the youth. the next generation, the ones that

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are going to keep carrying this country forward. They don't

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feel that you hear them. They don't feel that they

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are protected or the laws are there to protect them

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or the laws are there to make sure that government

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is living by the promises that they made. We have

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certain things that are in danger right now. hard fought

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benefits that are in danger laws that were set up

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for the protection of the citizens that are in danger.

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And we need elective officials to be listening because this

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is a great day to maybe think about the decisions

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you've been making and change course. According to the 51st

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Harvard youth poll in fall of 25, only 13% of

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young Americans believe the country is headed the right direction.

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Only 13%. There is a profound sense that the institutions,

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including political and economic ones are no longer responsive to them.

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They're trying to step into jobs. They're trying to step

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into careers. They were told, oh, you get a college degree.

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Everything's going to be wonderful. And now they're having to

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potentially compete against AI systems or some other types of

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things that are happening that they are not going to

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be able to be competitive. So we always say, okay,

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go out and vote. Well, according to the AP NORC poll,

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this was back in August of 2005, highlights a growing

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sentiment that the political system is not working. And if

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you watch any of the programs where they are in

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there discussing and voting and different things like that, I

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think they pretty much are seeing that it's not working well.

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Many young adults express that they don't see voting or

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traditional political engagement as high-value activities. often describing politics as

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picking the least bad option. That is not what should

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be happening. They should have clear information coming from you

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so that they know what the options are, and those

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options should be advancing our country so that it creates opportunities,

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it creates jobs, it creates safety, and all of the

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things that we have enjoyed are for the next generations.

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They should be able to understand that becoming an adult

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is going to be great because there's all these things

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that they could be involved in, not the bickering and

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the arguing and the name-calling and all these petty little things.

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You would think we're on a kindergarten playground, the way

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we're behaving, not as adults that are thinkers and analytical

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about what the direction of this country is. AI and

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the future anxiety. The Harvard poll reveals that Gen Z

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is deeply concerned that AI is amplifying uncertainty regarding job

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security and the meaning of their careers. If young people

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feel their jobs are threatened by AI, the historical role

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of unions in protecting the worker is more relevant than ever.

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Skills jobs with unions. might be relevant, might be a

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path to take, but these were, like I said, having

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that voice, having that powerful voice to speak up and

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being able to persuade those that are in the decision-making roles.

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I think this is something that we have received the

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benefits of those energies, of those efforts, of those sacrifices,

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of all the things that occurred in to make those possible.

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We talk about the 40-hour week like it's a law

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of nature, but 43% of young Americans right now just

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making ends meet is daily struggle. They're not being able

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to work 40 hours. They're out there working two jobs.

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They're working 60 hours, 70 hours, some 80 hours just

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to be able to get their groceries and pay their rent.

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and not lose their home. If you're feeling that squeeze,

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that constant anxiety about inflation and job security, you're actually

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experiencing the same pressures that drove the first labor unions

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to organize over a century ago. We shouldn't be in

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this position. We should have learned. We should be aware.

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And this is why I'm taking this time today for

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those who don't know, to make you aware, to help

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you understand, to make you know that we're starting to

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go backwards instead of forwards. We're not looking at the

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environmental issues that are going to be affecting not only jobs,

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but our lifestyles. One thing we all know, water is life,

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but yet we seem to not have any problem polluting it,

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contaminating it, destroying it. And what do you have in

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mind what we're going to do when you have damaged

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it so much that we can't get fresh water? We're

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now putting the data systems in and they are needing

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fresh water so that they don't get contaminated. So those

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tools can run and AI can process. But what about us,

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the human beings? What about the next generation? Do we

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want to leave a legacy that we didn't do our job,

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that we didn't hold the line, that we didn't do

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our best to move this country forward so our children

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and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren and the generations to

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go forward have opportunities to live and have reasonable lives,

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have comfortable lives, have ability to shop and buy groceries,

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have ability to maybe take the family on a trip?

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Are we so selfish that we want everything and leave

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nothing for the next generation? We leave nothing for those

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that come after us. Do we not think of our

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family behind us that are getting ready to step into

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the roles of being the next leaders of the nation.

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Are we just going to leave them with nothing left?

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Recent polling shows that Gen Z has lost faith in

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mainstream institutions. Many feel the system is broken or not working.

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But we look at our history, the benefits you value,

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the weekend, the breaks, the safety, weren't given by the system.

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They weren't given. They were forced. They weren't just something

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that our congressional people just sat down and said, hmm.

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our citizens are having problems meeting their needs. We should

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start thinking about what can we do to ensure that

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they're able to afford their bills, they're able to afford

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their daily needs. They're able to be able to have

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a family. Many of our Gen Zs, they are delaying

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marrying and delaying having children because they're barely able to

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afford them to take care of themselves. How is someone

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going to step in and do all the things that

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we were able to do when they're barely able to

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just buy groceries? They're not going to have a family.

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when they can't meet their daily needs. There were, you

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have to keep in mind, we weren't given these things

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by the system. They were snatched from us. And you

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have to snatch these things back. Maybe the reason young

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people feel disillusioned isn't because they're disengaged. but because they're

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waiting for a way to fight for their future that

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actually feels effective. They're sitting down trying to figure out

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how can they fight to be heard? How can they

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fight to make sure they're going to be able to

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feed their family if they want to have one? To

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fight to be able to get a decent wage. To

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fight so they can have health care to even take

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care of themselves and their families. To fight to make

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sure as they age they have a retirement plan that

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is going to be sufficient enough that they're not out

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here homeless or begging bread. They're seeing the things that

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are happening and saying, what is our future going to be?

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How are we going to survive? How are we going

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to make it? And I'll tell you, it's a pretty

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dim light and a very glim look that they have

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in front of them because we are not listening. We're

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not paying attention. We're so busy playing politics or whatever

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it is we think that we're doing, that we are

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not even thinking. And it's sad. It's sad to me

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that we have lived our lives and we don't even

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think about the fact that the next generation needs to

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be able to step in and carry it forward. Well,

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what are they carrying forward? Right now, we don't want

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it going forward. Because the ugliness that's going on, the

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abandonment that's going on, that doesn't need to be pushed forward.

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The destruction of waters and air and the lands and

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communities and different things that are happening because we regard

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money more than we regard human beings, that's not going

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to bring about anything except more of what we've been having.

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Our young people are prioritizing the cost of living and inflation.

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64% of youth in the post-24 cycle per circle. Above

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almost else, they feel that things are not in order,

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that they're not being prioritized to the point where you

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know that the cost of living should be better than

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what it is, better than what inflation is. And they're

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feeling the pressure because a lot of them are starting

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their careers after everyone talked about, oh, yes, go become

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a doctor. Oh, become this. Oh, become that. And some

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of these positions are going to be in jeopardy because

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we do have AI systems that will be able to

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Off the Clock: The Radical History of the American Workday

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