Those who are oblivious to history will inevitably be swept up in the replay of revolutions past. It's all happened before, though each time it happens again it shocks the participants, particularly the ones who end up with less power or wealth. Whatever method of conflict resolution one may subscribe to, obstinate resistance and reaction provoke confrontation, then conflict. Change may come in the form of upheaval, "the turning of the worm", the prey captures the hunter, the slave takes over the plantation. Revolutionary moments in our young republic have been few in number and some important changes have been achieved with little or no violence and minimal disruption to the conduct of usual activities and pursuits.
Scratch a union-basher and you'll see either the blue ooze
of the rich, or the green ick that flows through the veins of their accommodating
toadies - those who have bought the lie that the PRODUCERS are responsible for the American Dream we're all so fortunate to share. Many among the less-affluent masses can be counted on to echo the elitist lines that blame labor for the jobs that have
been outsourced to sub-wage foreigners here and abroad, along with stagnant wages, diminishing
benefits and ripped-off pensions.
While they may be aware of the corrupt practices
that have bankrupted large employers, and may even suspect that the gummint's globalist trade
policies reward the stockholding elites as workers are constrained or
tossed away like so much rust-belt debris - they repeat the line, "The unions have outlived their usefulness" - without knowing what it may mean or where they picked up such a notion.
How could American workers be expected to know that even in countries with progressive
gummint policies toward labor - the workers NEED their unions. They see the
barren terrain, but they're blamin' the wrong gang for choppin' all the trees.
Confrontation of the status quo leads to conflict which is necessary for change. Justice is usually not attainable except through conflict. In 1929, many among the elites and profiteers found themselves abruptly thrown into
dire straits, living hand-to-mouth, and wondering why the masses, the working
and the unemployed, treated them as pariahs, petitioning for union
representation and fair regulations and taxes on the capitalist class.
What
goes around comes around. It's a law of history...
