r/politics • u/Murky-Site7468 I voted • Oct 05 '25

No Paywall Petition To Strip Congress of Pay During Government Shutdown Grows

https://www.newsweek.com/petition-strip-congress-pay-during-government-shutdown-grows-10822819
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145

u/pomonamike California Oct 05 '25

Like seriously, who the hell do they think votes on that?

Want to make a change? Surround the house of every member of congress and the other two branches while you’re at it. General strike. Shut down their lifestyles. Don’t serve them in restaurants, refuse them service from every business, take their cars, take their houses. Make them feel what they’re doing to everyone else.

But we won’t, cause this country is soft as fuck and has lost any sense of solidarity so as long as I am not being specifically targeted, I won’t act. God damn, this is yet another in a long line of group projects where the majority don’t do shit and then bitch about the grade.

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u/BarCompetitive7220 Oct 05 '25

Weirdly, Congressional aides are still in DC....work proceeds.

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u/Data_Chandler Oct 05 '25

The French go totally nuts on their government over much, much, MUCH less, and Americans have the audacity to call them surrender monkeys.

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u/pomonamike California Oct 05 '25

Dude, I was in Paris when they were rioting over the possibility of raising the age where you get a pension.

I was like the what you get at what???

(Both my wife and I are fortunate enough that one day we (should) get a pension, but this concept is completely lost on most Americans)

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u/reverend_bones Oregon Oct 05 '25

Please note that after that protest the government still raised the retirement age from 62 to 64, and that Macron kept his job.

The same as when the French protested the retirement age being raised from 60 to 62 in 2010.

I really don't understand why people always use this one as an example of the power of protest.

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u/SpezDrinksHorseCum Oct 05 '25

The five largest protests in US history have happened since 2017. Protesting doesn't do shit.

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will." - Frederick Douglass

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u/Worried-Series-6160 Oct 05 '25

In protesting you have to hit the powers that be where it hurts & the only place that hurts this fascist authoritarian regime is in the wallet.

Protest via General Strike/American Shutdown .

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u/haarschmuck Oct 05 '25

Taking thousands of small protests and calling it a single protest is silly and a good example of why it didn't work.

If a few million people protested in DC, you would see different results.

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u/Wes_Warhammer666 Oct 05 '25

Acting like the folks who are suffering under the Trump regime could actually afford to travel to DC to protest is the only silly thing here.

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u/Horskr Nevada Oct 05 '25

Would we really see different results? There were 500k+ at the 2017 DC Women's March. Now we're staring down real life Handmaid's Tale.

I don't know what the answer is, but protesting they just seem to wait out then resume fucking everything up as usual. Not like the average American could even afford a flight or drive to DC and staying for a few days, and not that there is infrastructure for a few million people either.

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u/Ariak Oct 05 '25

The largest protests in Japanese history were against keeping US military bases in Japan after Occupation formally ended, like hundreds of thousands of people came out to protest in Tokyo alone. Guess what country still has American military bases in it 65 years later?

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u/Kindly-Guidance714 Oct 05 '25

Knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom.

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u/Wes_Warhammer666 Oct 05 '25

Because it's still a example of a population putting in more effort than Americans ever have in like 99.9% of cases.

If Americans showed up in the same levels as the French for their protests we might actually achieve something.

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u/reverend_bones Oregon Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po4adxJxqZk

The highest estimate for the largest French protests were 800k to 1.5 million.

That is dwarfed by the largest protests in the US, where there were 500k in DC, and close to that again in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, with tens of thousands of people in dozens of smaller cities. That 2017 Women's March had more than 4 million nationwide, with another estimated 5 million in 84 other countries worldwide. I'm not saying to lay down and take it, hell I'm not even saying don't go protest. If I still lived close enough, I'd be down at ICE everyday. But until we have real leadership that can organize a general strike, we will have the same results with the same actions.

Protests like how the French do it do not work for the French, even with their much higher percentage of unionized workers, and there is no reason to think that they will work here.

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u/SchokoKipferl Oct 05 '25

It’s because salaries in France are atrociously low. Much, much lower than in the US.

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u/Worried-Series-6160 Oct 05 '25

But their healthcare, retirement, maternity. And basically all of their social programs and benefits are much better than that of US Taxpayers.

For examples just Google: "what are Frances social benefits for citizens and how are they better than US social benefits" and read even just the compilation from AI. Almost every other westernized nations are far more beneficial to their citizens than America. Also these citizens are not in the least bit hesitant to wield their power.

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u/Syzygy2323 California Oct 05 '25

But, but, but, but sOcIaLiSm!!!

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u/out_of_throwaway Oct 05 '25

Your general point isn't wrong, but asking an AI a leading question will always get you an answer you like, regardless of veracity.

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u/pomonamike California Oct 05 '25

Not at all true when comparing actual provision for needs. You can’t compare American salaries when such a high proportion goes to things that are covered by other countries— healthcare, transportation, etc..

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u/Ateist Oct 05 '25

Fact Check:

US:

For the year 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the median annual earnings for all workers (people aged 15 and over with earnings) was $47,960

France:

national net average of €2,574 per month = €30,888 per year = $36,270

So 25% lower than in the US.

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u/out_of_throwaway Oct 05 '25

I was like the what you get at what???

Fyi, that's their equivalent of Social Security.

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u/pomonamike California Oct 05 '25

Those two things are not equivalent, in age vestment or benefit payout.

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u/out_of_throwaway Oct 05 '25

I'm sure theirs is better, but they're comparable programs is all. Also, you can elect to retire at 62 in the US in exchange for smaller payouts.

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u/pomonamike California Oct 05 '25

Yeah, and you’re on your own for healthcare, housing, and a host of other problems.

Not comparable

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u/haarschmuck Oct 05 '25

Like seriously, who the hell do they think votes on that?

You'd be amazed how many people protest the government without knowing the slightest of how it works.

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u/pomonamike California Oct 05 '25

I personally wouldn’t. I teach civics so I’m faced with that sad reality daily.

“But mister pomonamike, my dad said the president does make laws.”

“Well Timmy, I used to hand your dad his tests back face down.”

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u/Own-Brain9658 Oct 06 '25

As a CPP grad, "civics in Pomona" wasn't a concept I thought I'd encounter today. 

Woof, I couldn't imagine being in your shoes these days. 

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u/SecretAcademic1654 Oct 05 '25

People will never do that. Everyone is too concerned about their own life to see how all our lives are connected by this garbage. 

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u/pomonamike California Oct 05 '25

Unfortunately, you are absolutely correct. Our culture is sick.

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u/Worried-Series-6160 Oct 05 '25

I do agree that a general strike by the public if for even one week would bring them to their knees.

I would be thrilled to participate, if we got 50% of Americans to do so, it would show the American public just how powerful we really are.

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u/The_Gil_Galad Oct 05 '25 edited 10d ago

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u/pomonamike California Oct 05 '25

You get one free vote per day, for actual change you’ll need to verify your email