I have a big update here, with lots of new material:
Only Watch if You Have Collateral
Only Watch if You Have Collateral is British sitcom that aired in 1976 and 1979 (Two series with 6 episodes each). It was written by John Cleese and Terry Jones, who also starred in the show. It is one of the most well-regarded British TV shows in history, and was listed no.3 on the British Film Society's list of List of the 100 Best British TV Shows. [1]
The series centers around Chamran Knebter [2] (Cleese), a greedy and mean-spirited merchant banker, his vapid, gold-digging wife Veruca [3] (Paula Wilcox), and Knebter's cowardly but level-headed assistant Benedict (Jones). The plots usually center around Knebter's underhanded attempts at gaining more wealth and prestige, with Veruca either joining the scam or trying to sabotage Knebter (usually out of spite, but sometimes to protect his wealth).
[1] The OTL analogue is the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes
[2] This was a real Monty Python sketch, and my personal favorite. I figure that while mocking the UASR would be common, many British comedians would find comedy gold TTL mocking the plutocrats in their society. Chamran Knebter is an anagram for "merchant banker".
[3] Yes, this was a reference to the bratty girl in Willy Wonka. Veruca is Latin for "wart".
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Collective Insanity
Collective Insanity was an American television show that aired on PBS between 1983-1988. It was written and created by Harold Ramis and Dan Ackroyd, and stars John Vernon, Candice Bergman, Robin Duke, and John Candy. It was ranked no.5 on the American TV Societies list of "The Ten Best Workplace Comedies".
Set in Windsor, Ontario, the series centers around Bill Brown (Vernon), a strict and dictatorial factory owner whose business was collectivized after Canada's economic reforms. Each episode involves his attempts to run his factory along collectivist methods with his usual threats and intimidation, but instead learning a lesson about camaraderie, trust, and compassion.Candice Bergen plays Joanna Harold is a union official who assists Brown, and fights his nasty demeanor with snark and wit, while Robin Duke plays Suzanne Martin, Brown's secretary who is marked by her absent-mindedness and kindly demeanor, serving as a foil to the stern Joanna. John Candy stars as Harold Kennedy, Brown's bumbling but good-natured assistant. His eventually develops his own story arc, in which he grows from a spineless goof to a more assertive and intelligent employee who is willing to stand up for his own ideas.
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Time slip and I debated the fate of Hershey's Chocolate in Reds. Based off our discussion, here is what I came up with.
Derry's: The Fall and Rebirth of American Chocolate (Part One)
May 08, 2017.
The Derry Chocolate Cooperative, known throughout the Comintern as Derry's, plans to celebrate its 65th birthday. You've probably seen the Television and radio ads with Derry's hawking novelty products to celebrate this milestone, and advertising discount tours of its famous factory in Derry, Pennsylvania. This writer will talk about the unusually violent, but hopeful origins of Derry's.
Like many enterprises in the UASR, Derry's was a company built by capital and adopted by labor.
Derry's was originally known as a Hershey's, or more formally, the Hershey Company. It's founder, Milton Hershey, was the archetypal American capitalist. He had made a fortune and achieved the so-called American dream by turning something that had been reserved for the upper class, in this case chocolate, and making it into a food cheap enough for the middle class to enjoy. His name had become synonymous with chocolate. Hershey, however, was not a typical evil capitalist. He voiced concerns about the welfare of his employees, but rather than restrict his concern to self-righteous acts of charity, he sought to use his wealth to improve the standard of living of his employees.
Within the Derry Township, he built his own community, Hershey, and invested in schools, homes, and hospitals for his employees. This act of magnanimity, combined with his making a sweat treat popular, turned into a revered figure in old American society by the 1920s.
Many moderate labor leaders did indeed have respect for Hershey, and some pushed other businessmen into providing the same benefits to others. However, more far-left political figures had a cynical view of Hershey, often using Oscar Wilde's famous line of being the worst slaveholder by being the worst slaveholder, by being the kindest one, to describe the chocolate maker.
This adage does have basis in reality. While Hershey factory workers did indeed have a good standard of living, they still did not own the means of production. And their own lives still centered around the beliefs of Mr. Hershey, as their benefits could easily be snatched away if they "stepped out of line". While Hershey was shown to be ambivalent to unionization, his company President, William Murrie was a mean-spirited anti-communist who known for sending hired goons into Hershey worker homes without warrant to look for evidence of "communist fraternization".
Beyond American soil, the cacao farmers that grew the main ingredient in Hershey's chocolate were among the most exploited, often toiling for hours in brutal, serf-like conditions.
One incident would open the eyes of many. On September 10, 1928, Russell "Bull" Behman, a union official, tried to pass out Worker's Party pamphlets to employees. 3 scabs under the payroll of William Murrie, assaulted Behman and two employees who held the pamphlet in their hands. The incident triggered a strike that only ended when Hershey personally stepped in, agreeing to an end to unwarranted invasions of homes, and compensation for Behman. Behman famously tore up his compensation check, saying "The blood shed from each worker is worth more to me than any bone a capitalist with throw at me". While chaos had been avoided temporarily, the incident opened the eyes of many employees to their precarious reality of their lives.
However, one group of employees continued to revere Mr. Hershey, the dairy farmers on the outskirts of town. Cut off from the reality of Hershey's so-called utopia, the dairy farmers looked upon union activity with utter disdain. But there were more practical, if selfish, reasons. Much of their livelihood depended on Hershey's purchase of their milk. The combination of ignorance, greed, and Christ-like worship of a businessman created a perfect storm for sympathy to fascism, one that would ultimately destroy Hershey's chocolate.