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As one who' s long wondered myself how so many supposedly intelligent people in America, including working people, have ended up "drinking the Kool-Aid" pawned off on us all over these last 25 years or so, and especially these last six, by those who want to send us all back to the days of Herbert Hoover--or even William McKinley--I' ve also long tried to get many of my fellow working people to realize that Horatio Alger really did write fiction, and poor fiction at that. Real history--including the history of America' s working people--tells quite a different story. Remember that the "ownership society," for most of us, ultimately means, "You' re on your own." Most of us are but a few missed paychecks away from ending up like those very people that right-wingers have demonized and brainwashed millions of Americans into despising and fearing. Instead of fighting each other for ever-shrinking crumbs from the banquet tables of the rich, those of us who work for a living need to build solidarity with poor people and others who are disenfranchised and unite to win our just slice of the economic pie we' ve largely made possible. If that means that the greedy pigs on top must learn to make do with less, so be it. We each and all need to realize that regardless of such things as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and the like, we workers all have a lot more in common than we do separately, and unite for, demand, and win back our country, our economy, our rights, and our futures. As a high-school student-rights activist pointed out back in the late 1960s about those in power, their motto is "Divide and conquer"; ours must thus be "Unite and conquer." You may need meds. Most people who work hard, apply themselves, stay focused and acquire job skills are successful and do not have to join the club for friends and jobs. While unions do serve a useful purpose, all too often, the drawbacks start rearing their ugly heads. Drawbacks that include lazy workers, having too many workers than needed to do the job, and the corruption of the union representatives at the top of the organization's hierarchy. There is is a delicate balance between the rights of the worker and the interest of industry that is rarely realized in actuality. "Most people who work hard, apply themselves, stay focused andacquire job skills are successful and do not have to join the club forfriends and jobs." I absolutely utterly disagree. I find, in my observations and experience, that most people, including myself, who follow your suggestion, are the first to get fired. American workplaces are nowadays run by petty and insecure people who would rather weed out the capable and productive in the name of preventing themselves from looking bad, even if it means driving the organization into incompetence and eventual failure. I don' t necessarily agree that all workers need to be organized into labor unions, and I have seen many many abuses of the power of collective bargaining. But it' s pie-in-the-sky idiocy to suggest that doing a good job at work is in any way related to how you get ahead at work in the USA. If you want something in your life, or more for yourself and family, THEN GO GET IT! Unions and "solidarity" of the workers has failed time and again throughout history. I see people living on the street, on Lower Wacker Dr., in Chicago everyday. Most of their problems stem from drugs, not Capitalistic Greedy Pigs. I know because I have befriended a few of them. They are wacked out of there minds and feel for them but they live like kings compared to the poor in third world countries. Capitalism has its pitfalls but is the best choice and historically proven. If it offends you there are several other countries for you to go to. I' m sure France would take you...Canada is right next door. I' m sorry you feel the world OWES you something, but I' m not interested in having your problems and grudges pushed on me. Please solve your own problems and leave me alone with mine. 1) What most people do not seem to comprehend or want to deny is that workers have absolutely no protection whatsoever in most states against unethical or criminal employers. Most workers do not understand this and as such, are easy prey. Since individual workers cannot afford to fight back against unethical employers, there is no way for them to protect themselves from fraud and slander, which is designed to keep workers from having any future employment. These relatively common situations can result in financial and personal disasters for workers who refuse to allow the intended fraud. It is not unusual at all and at this time, the worker has no reliable way to prevent or stop the fraud. Unethical employers essentially have the right to commit theft and a host of other actions with no legal consequences. This is absurd and will change whether all of us like it or not. 2) Re unions: the word "union" has lost its genuine meaning and become a perjorative term. We have all heard the hatred of unions for a long time. We all know about abuses, etc. Now we see what happens when workers have no representation. Unions sprang up due to the actions of some very prominent unethical employers and there was a need for them at the time. Most of the workplace conditions we assume are due the worker stem from the actions of progressive labor unions and activists. Without the actions of the labor unions and others, we would still have the working conditions we had at the turn of the 20th century. Child labor, anyone? A reading of the history of the labor union movement would be very beneficial for anyone who routinely dismisses the idea of labor unions and the positive effects they had in the workplace.
There are more unethical employees than employers.
Diehardsteelerfan said, "There are more unethical employees than employers." Of course there are "more" unethical employEES than employERS. Geez. For every 100-person organization, 99 of them are not at the top of the ladder. The vast majority of people work FOR someone else, rather than (a) working alone for their own concern or (b) working as the sole person at the top of the organization FOR WHOM all other colleagues work. In other words, OVERALL, there are "more" employees than employers. Therefore, it is highly likely there will also be more unethical employees than employers. That doesn't address the overall concern, that (in many people's opinions) employers these days are unreasonably FREE to be unethical. Labor relations and laws allow for a situation in which stockholder-thinking trumps human rights, decency, even sanctions against criminal behavior, according to those opinions. Let's try not to lose sight of the discussion by introducing misleading aphorisms that miss the point. There are more unethical employees than employers. Given the ratio of employers to employees, that is statistically correct. The point proves nothing else what so ever as there is no direct relationship between the two concepts other than the wording does offer a ' tasty radio' empty sound bite. "Unions and "solidarity" of the workers has failed time and again throughout history." Well, except for building that little thing in the US called the ' middle class.' "I' m sorry you feel the world OWES you something, but I' m not interested in having your problems and grudges pushed on me. Please solve your own problems and leave me alone with mine" The world doesn' t owe us anything. Our government, however, does. It owes us the opportunity to compete fairly in the marketplace without listening to jungle law rants like yours and business leaders doing everything they can to subvert supply and demand by importing supply at every available opportunity. If that offends you there are several other countries for you to go to. I' m sure China would take you...Mexico is right next door. | |
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