I said I'd post something over my spring break, and I didn't. What a dishonest wanker I am....may God have mercy on my soul.
Anyway, since I can't think of anything else to talk about at the moment, I might as well talk about the book I'm currently reading, which is "Strike!" by Jeremy Brecher. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know the basics of labor history in the United States; it's written in clear language, and concerns very engaging, interesting subject matter (for me, at least).
I've always known that labor struggle had turned bloody more than once in the United States, but I never quite appreciated the extent of some of the conflicts; the struggle in Colorado and the Great Upheaval general strike of 1877 almost degenerated into straight up class warfare. Workers in 1877 in Pennsylvania were setting railroad yards on fire and firing at soldiers sent into break the strike. Supposedly, according to the soldier's testimony, police officers were also firing at them as they retreated! Talk about solidarity. It also reminded me of the dishonest tactics that business used by weilding the government as its henchman, such as in the Pullman Strike. The Attorney General of the United States at that time was openly alligned with one of the railroads that was losing money because of the strike, which was eventually broken with soldiers. The book also discusses some of the ideological motivations that many of the workers held.
It brings to mind just how much unions have lost their way. They used to have far reaching, democratic goals; now they just appear to be another cog in a gigantic, state crony capitalist machine, which is built on beauracracy and screwing the average worker. And it pains me dearly to say that, as I've been part of strikes and labor struggles myself. Rightly conceived, I think that organized labor could form a protective barrier against some of the more negative effects of capitalism, and more importantly it would emerge organically, as opposed to regulations pushed by the state.
Anyway, check it out, if you can; it's interesting.
2 comments:
You're right about unions having lost their way. However, I will always support the use of unions or workers collectives to enforce their rights on those who have a fidiciary relationship over them.
You cannot rely on another man to do right by you, you can only rely on yourself to make sure that he does.
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