136

US residents: What big domestic policy improvements have the american people won from congress in the last 30 years? (kbin.social)

submitted 10 months ago by Hegar@kbin.social to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

68 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Interpret improvements as you like. For me it's any large scale reforms or legislative packages designed to improve the country for all or see to the material interests of the majority without overly benefiting the elite.

Any big consumer protection, environmental, infrastructure, or other legislation from Clinton onwards that materially improved the lives of all?

Obamacare and the medicaid expansion comes to my mind. It has obviously improved people's lives but considering how broken the healthcare system remains, and that it was written by the insurance industry to undermine single-payer, it seems to me a mitigated win at best.

Gay marriage and marijuana legalisation but that was the courts and the states although i'm sure the federal government could've stood in the way had they chosen to.

I've only live here since the 2010s so that's all I can think of.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Hegar@kbin.social 11 points 10 months ago

I would say that the legitimate process of seeking opportunities has been intentionally made to look illegal by waves of xenophobic policy from both Rs and Ds who have created an immigration system that's designed to generate workers without a legal foothold. If there was a functional way for people to seek the life they want, they wouldn't need to resort to fake IDs and hiding in trucks to get a job. But then industries would have to pay them legal wages.

A lot of people want to create a distinction between someone who's fleeing full-blown war or starvation vs someone who's fleeing poverty. I can't see how it is a crime to flee either. It is just a reality that humans will try to escape suffering, monumental suffering and everyday suffering - legislation and bureaucracy can accomodate or ignore that but it won't change it. So when we ignore it, we know that the black market will step in.

More broadly it suits the needs of capital to restrict the flow of labour as much as possible. Labour free to seek the best conditions means upward pressure on wages, lower margins and less leverage for capital.

this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2023

136 points (96.6% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26672 readers

1043 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics.

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.