Stripping away the distracting BS, this is what it all boils down to. (In my opinion.)

[BrotherIvan]

35. I'm sorry to be rude and jump in, but I disagree with that idea

The term "dumb as an ox" I believe refers to the fact than an animal that weighs ten times as much as a human allows himself to be yoked and whipped until the day he is no longer useful and then he is slaughtered. Every day, the human leads him to the yoke, and every day he shoulders it, when at any time he could kill the human and be free. He may do it because the human gives him hay to eat, not knowing he can eat grass, not remembering his ancestors roamed the plains (figuratively speaking). But while he may buck and squirm, he still allows the very small man to force him to carry all the burden and whip him in the process.

That's not heroic, but that is survival instinct. The ox doesn't know he is bigger or stronger. Neither do workers. I don't expect the poor to do it alone as they have enough burdens. The bosses have them in fear for their lives and the lives of their families. At any moment, you could be fired and your family starving and homeless. That keeps them subservient to accept slave wages (and with the TPP they're going to go lower) while companies reap record profits.

We are at the turning point that allowed the labor movement to take hold. The gilded trappings that your employer will somehow take care of you, is the source of your livelihood, have completely fallen from people's eyes. Now, we need to imagine a way forward, a way for workers to earn fair wages, a way for small businesses to thrive again so not everyone has to answer to a corporate master, a way for communities to thrive again rather than be sucked dry by multi-national corporations. We are a consumer-driven economy. Everyone seems to forget that. If we stop buying, their profits go away. If we all stop working, their profits go away. They need us. But right now, it's flipped and we believe we need them.

But we all have to be willing. People aren't there yet. They're not willing to stop shopping at big box stores. They're not willing to spend their meagre free time at union meetings. Workers aren't pooling their savings and buying the means of production. They don't see the benefit yet. But when they become so crushed and desperate, they will.