The Death of the Liberal Class foreshadowed our current collapse in social cohesion

Some years ago, I started reading but did not finish Chris Hedges' book The Death of the Liberal Class. (liberal of course meaning classical liberalism, not left-of-center politics)

Published in 2010, it described the collapse in credibility of the public institutions that long served as the foundation of western liberal democracy. This collapse has led to the comprehensive pan-ideological breakdown in social cohesion that we've experienced the last several years, which has been laid even more bare by the pandemic. 

This breakdown was accelerated by the Trump presidency, who exploited it mercilessly to get (s)elected in the first place. But the unraveling did not start with Trump's inauguration and will not end with his long overdue eviction from the White House. I think it's time I picked the book back up.

Dear Verizon

Dear Verizon,

When you are making record profits with your existing labor contract and you do nothing but raise rates on consumers, it doesn't exactly make me sympathetic when you claim to "need" to wring more concessions out of the workers who made you those record profits.

Regretfully yours,
The (Fairly) Young Contrarian

Editorial comment of the day

Courtesy of Bob Englehart of The Hartford Courant:

May you get what you want

"People tend to get the kind of government they deserve." -Thomas Jefferson

This blog has a good commentary slamming liberals who voted for Andrew Cuomo and his regressive agenda and are now whining about Cuomo actually trying to implement that agenda.

Despite the fact that Cuomo openly promised BEFORE THE ELECTION to wage war against unions, one of the groups who endorsed Cuomo was none other than the AFL-CIO.

I guess it would've made too much sense for unions to endorse the only candidate who was not only pro-union but an actual union member.

From the wisdom of Twitter

"The GOP says $250,000 annual income isn’t wealthy but $48,000 with good benefits is." -@AngryLiberal

You won’t read this in The Post-Star

The Post-Star has a pretty overt agenda against teachers unions. This manifests itself not only in local columns and editorials but in their selective reporting of facts and a slew of op-ed pieces which, shock of shocks, tilt one way on the issue... most recently, earlier this week. You’re more likely to be exposed to the perspective of the teachers unions on Fox News (sic) than in the Glens Falls daily. Their anti-labor position is not surprising since they took great pains some years ago to bust their own unions.

The paper has disproportionately targeted the Queensbury school district for alleged extravagant spending. This is inexplicable given the below facts, although it’s worth noting that the paper’s managing editor lives and pays taxes in Queensbury.

So I was pleased to read a good story on the district written in the independent Chronicle. Although the weekly’s editor Mark Frost is personally more vocally anti-union than Tingley in his columns, The Chronicle’s news article was much more nuanced and complete.

The weekly noted that In per pupil spending, Queensbury ranks as one of the lowest in the region and in the state, while ranking in the top 74 for academic test results in the state, [Superintendent Douglas] Huntley said. There’s “tremendous efficiency” in having all their buildings on one campus.”

It’s a key fact that I’ve also discussed here in this blog. And although I’ve mentioned it to them repeatedly, I’ve never seen this fact acknowledged, let alone addressed, by the corporate daily. Is it because it undermines their editorial line? I guess you can get away with that when you have a Pulitizer Prize.

Union-busting in Ohio

"When I give food to the poor, I'm called a saint. When I ask why they are poor, I'm called a communist." -Archbishop Dom Helder Camara.

Earlier this week, the Ohio state senate voted 17-16 to strip public sector unions of collective bargaining rights. Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich offered the following criticism:

In order to understand how devastating this bill is to workers you have to be aware of provisions which take away the right to strike, open the door for replacement workers and set the stage for privatization of services. Wages and benefits will be cut. Inevitably state services will become a target for privatizers. The taxpayers will pay more and get less, while the ‘savings’ will end up in the pockets of corporate service-providers in terms of high profits. The passage of this bill is the just the beginning of a scheme to defraud both workers and the taxpayers.

Wisconsin's partisan attack on (some) unions

Attempts by Wisconsin's governor and legislature to emasculate their teachers unions have ignited a firestorm of controversy well outside the state's borders. Gov. Scott Walker has claimed that the unions must be stripped of collective bargaining rights in order to solve the state's budget gap. Copycat efforts are now underway in Ohio and Indiana.

A few problems... first, Wiscoinsin's budget is presently in balance. The gap is expected to occur later in the fiscal year but is not yet here. Second, the state had no fiscal crisis until the Republicans pushed through a large package of tax breaks. Third, it's pretty well-documented that the state could fill the budget gap without stripping unions of collective bargaining. Walker has made his intransigence clear by categorically refusing to negotiate, even though teachers have agreed to concessions that would fill the budget gap.

Both supporters and critics alike acknowledge that the real objective of the bill is to emasculate the power of public sector unions. But even that analysis is only partly on the mark.

The bill's attack on collective bargaining rights exempts police, firefighters and prison guards, three groups generally favorable to the GOP.

If union-busting were truly necessary to ensure the state's short- or long-term fiscal future, then the Republicans would try to bust all unions. Instead, they are only going after union whose members are seen as more liberal and doing favors for those seen as more conservative. They are punishing 'the other guy's' public servants and protecting 'their' public servants.

What Republicans are doing is not necessary and not even solely ideological. It's partisan and punitive and must be stopped. They may have awoken a sleeping giant.

The smear campaign against Paterson

Bob over at Planet Albany offers his thoughts on the character assassination campaign (my words, not his) against Gov. Paterson, a campaign extraordinary even by the venal standards of New York.

The Legislative Gazette reports via its Twitter feed that Gerald McEntee, head of the state's powerful AFSCME public workers union, recently said of Paterson, "He's our biggest foe in the state of New York ... He's going down."

Public sector unions don't like Paterson because he's targeting them during this budget crisis, which is inevitable since spending on things like health care and education make up the majority of the state's spending. You can't address a serious budget crisis if most of the budget is off the table. It makes you wonder who (possibly singular, most likely plural) might be behind the character assassination campaign against the one of the rare politicians in Albany with both a clue and a spine.

We wouldn't have to wonder if someone had the guts to attach their name to the accusations.

Union Yes

Bob over at Planet Albany, normally a staunch conservative in the culture wars, reflects on the dangers of union organizing and the costs of not having a union.

Not as important as the fate of Michael Jackson's monkeys and other exotic pets, according to CNN this afternoon, but still worth a read.

The Times-(anti)Union

Bob over at Planet Albany reports that the Albany Times-Union will soon produce a list of employees it wants to expunge during its present union-busting campaign. The list is expected to include people who have been there long enough that they would have been protected under seniority provisions of the prior union contract.

He opines: Meanwhile, the only decent thing to do is cancel your subscription.

I don't subscribe, but I've ceased buying it on the news stand.

Matt Funicello at his T-U blog offers his pro-union opinion on the dispute... though curiously, the page has repeatedly had technical difficulties in displaying the actual text since it was published.

A coincidence, no doubt.

Happy (belated) Labor Day

If you support a progressive agenda, then support a progressive candidate.

I am remiss for having neglected to post an entry on Labor Day. Here's a belated acknowlegement...

Radio Netherlands' excellent The State We're In program had an interesting segement on the right to unionize and Wal-Mart's concerted efforts to block people from exercising that right. Not surprisingly, the corporate behemoth refused to subject itself to journalistic questioning on their labor relations' practices.

RNW also pointed out that the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights' Article 23, Section 4 states: Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Additionally, the New York state constitution's Bill of Rights (Article I, Section 17) ensures: Employees shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.

If we had a government of, for and by the people instead of a government of, for and by the corporations, then maybe these enshrined rights might actually be respected.

Fortunately, there is a presidential candidate who actually recognizes both the importance of unions and the danger of corporatacracy.

Hint: He's not a Democrat.

Perhaps this is why Ralph Nader is at 6 percent in the polls in the heavily unionized state of Michigan, despite being completely ignored* by the, you guessed it, the corporate media.

(*-I'm referring to the real definition of ignored, not the manipulative fake definition put for by St. John and his GOP allies)

This is why neither of the two corporate parties want Nader, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney or anyone else in the debates. They KNOW that if smaller party and independent candidates may actually become competitive if their views actually get heard by a mass audience.

How do the corporate party candidates know this? They just look at the numbers.

In a recent Zogby poll, people were presented with the following statement: I believe the United States' system is broken and cannot be fixed by traditional two-party politics and elections.

44 percent of respondants answered Yes, the two-party system is inadequate; and that to address our nation's problems, we need true multipartyism like is found in every other democracy in the world.

The discontent is out there. Despite a media blackout against smaller party and independent candidates, people are still gravitating toward them.

Imagine would what happen if unions started endorsing candidates who actually supported policies that benefited workers!

Imagine if workers actually demanded accountability by refusing to vote for candidates and officials who pushed anti-worker policies.

Imagine if voters actually took advantage of all the electoral options available instead of self-limiting to bad and hideous.

An informed workforce is an empowered workforce. The corporations know this and they make sure the politicians they control know this. So it's up to the citizenry to inform themselves because the corporate media isn't helping them.


CANDIDATE WEBSITES
Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez, independent
Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente, Green Party
Bob Barr/Wayne Root, Libertarian Party

Note: if you know of any other national campaign websites, please leave them in the notes section and I will add them.

Hillary: the Wal-Mart years

Common Dreams has a good article on how then-Wal-Mart director Hillary Clinton remained silent as the world’s largest retailer waged a major campaign against labor unions seeking to represent store workers.

Not surprisingly, her official biography makes no mention of her half dozen years on the board of directors of one of America's most anti-union corporations.