Is CPAC by/for the Darkies?

[Graves]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021903043.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
The Washington Post 2/21/2010

From Rubio and other young GOP stars, Obama-style inspiration

By Kathleen Parker

Mar-co, Mar-co, Mar-co.

The nom du jour, if you somehow missed it, is Marco. As in Rubio, rising conservative star, not Polo.

All those other rising stars? So yesterday. Sarah? Scott who?

You'd think from all the print, chatter and buzz that Marco -- the name fans seem to prefer -- had charted the Silk Road. On a slightly smaller scale, he launched the annual Conservative Political Action Conference parade of stars Thursday with a rousing speech that brought giddy conservatives to their feet.

Rubio brought plenty of raw meat to the table, but that was the least of his charms. As speeches go, there wasn't much new to chew on. Think "Groundhog Day" to a country music soundtrack.

But amid the expected was something fresh that will serve Republicans well in the coming months -- and years. The traditional GOP is getting younger and less pale. Rubio, a Tea Party favorite who is challenging Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate, may be the Republican Party's Barack Obama.

More important, he is one of a crop of young leaders who are first-generation Americans, sons and daughters of exiles, who can talk about the American Dream in a personal way. The 38-year-old son of Cuban immigrants, he is a natural pitchman for a new GOP. It doesn't hurt that he is photogenic.

Rubio's story about his hardworking parents -- his father's 16-hour days and his mom's job as Kmart clerk -- is familiar by now. And though the artifact that bad luck is a virtue is as stale as Marie Antoinette's cake, Rubio is saved from death-by-cliche by an unlikely benefactor: Fidel Castro.

Rubio's parents came to America to escape Castro's cruel tyranny. You don't have to weep Glenn Beck tears -- or descend into bellicosity with words such as "fascism" or "socialism" -- when your life is a metaphor for the anti-Obama movement.

And Republicans don't have to beat voters over the head with platitudes and promises. They don't even have to invoke "exceptionalism," code to liberals for wallpapering classrooms with the Ten Commandments.

All they have to do is let Rubio speak and remind voters why, as he put it, you don't see Americans hopping rafts to seek refuge in other countries. Immigrants like his parents "clearly understand how different America is from the rest of the world. . . . What makes America great is not that we have more rich people than anybody else," but that "there are dreams that are impossible everywhere else but are possible here."

Rubio reminded his appreciative audience that those who seek our shores are from countries that have let government run the economy and determine which industries will be rewarded. The United States, at least theoretically, has chosen to let free markets, and thus individual liberty, thrive. The problem with government-run economies, he said, is that "the employee never becomes the employer; the small business can never compete with a big business."

These are simple truths, but they resonate more when articulated by the voice of personal experience rather than read from the text of manifestos.

Rubio isn't a perfect candidate despite his nearly instantaneous coronation. He waded into hyperbole bordering on falsehood when he said that only in America can one start a small business in the spare bedroom. Actually, small businesses are birthed everyday on dirt floors in countries where a "spare bedroom" is where the cow sleeps.

Such forgivable slips notwithstanding, Rubio represents something important for a party for which diversity has meant hiring a mariachi band for the convention. And he is but one of several young rising Republican stars who share his political roots. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, 38, and South Carolina state Rep. Nikki Haley, also 38, both first-generation Indian Americans, come to mind.

Jindal, unfortunately, made his national debut prematurely with his much-ridiculed response to President Obama's 2009 address to Congress. But also like Rubio, he's young and has decades to recover as he oversees Louisiana's post-Katrina reconstruction.

Haley, who is running for governor against a fierce stable of seasoned, tenured men, is popular as a fiscally conservative accountant. Like Rubio, both Haley and Jindal can recount the American dream story with passion born of been-there.

In a world where narrative drives politics, these are as good as it gets. As good, even, as being the son of a welfare mother and a Kenyan goat-herder. You might even say they're exceptional.

kathleenparker@washpost.com

[Graves]

Look out Commander, Azimuth, et al., the darkies are comin' for you. :negro:

[Warka]

Look out Commander, Azimuth, et al., the darkies are comin' for you. :negro:

Huh? :confused:

[Tchort]

You mean the organization that is made up almost exlusively of middle and upper class white males, who obstruct the interests of the workers and interests of oppressed peoples, are really doing it all to help them in secret? :nuts:

[Graves]

You mean the organization......who obstruct the interests of the workers and interests of oppressed peoples, are really doing it all to help them in secret? :nuts:

Secret? Looks pretty open to me.

Now re the "obstruct the interests of the workers and interests of oppressed peoples", are you familiar with the concept of "right to work"? Know of any organizations that regularly attempt to obstruct this? These being the same outfits that garnish worker wages and then use said garnishments to pay the rent for political organizations the workers may not agree with?

[Tchort]

Secret? Looks pretty open to me.

Now re the "obstruct the interests of the workers and interests of oppressed peoples", are you familiar with the concept of "right to work"? Know of any organizations that regularly attempt to obstruct this? These being the same outfits that garnish worker wages and then use said garnishments to pay the rent for political organizations the workers may not agree with?

Ah, Taft-Hartley Act, otherwise known as Labor Management Relations Act, which gave states the option to be 'right to work' states is the single biggest obstacle in the way of the working class in the United States at present.

Taft-Hartley was created by conservative legislators to prune and deconstruct the NLRB protections legislated during the New Deal to protect the rights of workers to defend their interests legally. That cruel euphemism known as 'Right To Work', which is used in most of the solid Republican states, is responsible for the low wages, lack of benefits, lack of job security, etc of those who live in such states.

Busting unions and removing the legal protection of workers from the big corporations is a very clear example of how groups like CPAC are organized against the interests of workers and oppressed peoples.

Unions have historically had a huge positive impact on their communities- this impact is especially apparent in immigrant and minority communities. By keeping unions out, employers flock to poor working class areas covered by 'Right To Work' legislation (especially the South)- especially minority and immigrant areas where more labor can be drained for fewer wages and benefits.

[Graves]

Ah, Taft-Hartley Act, otherwise known as Labor Management Relations Act, which gave states the option to be 'right to work' states is the single biggest obstacle in the way of the working class in the United States at present.

Taft-Hartley was created by conservative legislators to prune and deconstruct the NLRB protections legislated during the New Deal to protect the rights of workers to defend their interests legally. That cruel euphemism known as 'Right To Work', which is used in most of the solid Republican states, is responsible for the low wages, lack of benefits, lack of job security, etc of those who live in such states.

Busting unions and removing the legal protection of workers from the big corporations is a very clear example of how groups like CPAC are organized against the interests of workers and oppressed peoples.

Unions have historically had a huge positive impact on their communities- this impact is especially apparent in immigrant and minority communities. By keeping unions out, employers flock to poor working class areas covered by 'Right To Work' legislation (especially the South)- especially minority and immigrant areas where more labor can be drained for fewer wages and benefits.Funny how union membership keeps declining. Union thugs are just not getting the message out. You better go bust more windshields.

[Warka]

Funny how union membership keeps declining...

...along with the rest of the country. But, who cares if the US is transformed into one big Wal-Mart wasteland as long as the unions are busted, right? :rolleyes:

[Graves]

...along with the rest of the country. But, who cares if the US is transformed into one big Wal-Mart wasteland as long as the unions are busted, right? :rolleyes:

Unions are not being "busted". They are simply losing their appeal. Ask people where they would really rather work and you'll find most people really do not want to work in union shops. Unions now are struggling to survive, hence the most recent legislation before Congress, Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) - aka "card check" - intended to give them an edge. I predict Republicans will really dig in their heals on this, however, and the bill will never even come to a vote.

[Warka]

Unions are not being "busted". They are simply losing their appeal. Ask people where they would really rather work and you'll find most people really do not want to work in union shops. Unions now are struggling to survive, hence the most recent legislation before Congress, Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) - aka "card check" - intended to give them an edge. I predict Republicans will really dig in their heals on this, however, and the bill will never even come to a vote.

Manufacturing sector unions like the UAW and USW are losing members because manufacturing has been on the decline. A dwindling manufacturing workforce is obviously going to result in declining union membership in that sector. It's simple mathematics. Attempting to spin that decline as the result of those unions "losing appeal" is nonsense.

As the US transitions to a service economy unions like the SEIU are actually steadily gaining members. Explain that, if supposedly "most people really do not want to work in union shops".

[Graves]

...As the US transitions to a service economy unions like the SEIU are actually steadily gaining members. Explain that, if supposedly "most people really do not want to work in union shops".
As P. T. Barnum noted, "There's a sucker born every minuite." And as Abraham Lincoln said, 'You can fool some of the people most of the time..." And that's all the edge the union thugs need, particularly with brain dead types like janitorial workers.

[Warka]

As P. T. Barnum noted, "There's a sucker born every minuite." And as Abraham Lincoln said, 'You can fool some of the people most of the time..." And that's all the edge the union thugs need, particularly with brain dead types like janitorial workers.

Well, make up your mind. Earlier you said unions are "losing their appeal" and "most people really do not want to work in union shops" but now you concede that's not the case. Now, those flocking to unions are "suckers".

Keep spinning. :rolleyes:

[Graves]

Well, make up your mind. Earlier you said unions are "losing their appeal" and "most people really do not want to work in union shops" but now you concede that's not the case. Now, those flocking to unions are "suckers".

Keep spinning. :rolleyes:Unions prey on a certain segment of the population, organize em, and then they garnish their pay to line their own coffers and buy themselves expensive cars. When workers see the reality, they tell unions to take a hike. Excellent example of this was the failed organizing effort in Maysville, Kentucky.

[Warka]

Unions prey on a certain segment of the population, organize em, and then they garnish their pay to line their own coffers and buy themselves expensive cars. When workers see the reality, they tell unions to take a hike. Excellent example of this was the failed organizing effort in Maysville, Kentucky.

For every failed organizing attempt there are 100 that succeed. What does that tell us?

It tells us workers overwhelmingly support organizing and, contrary to your earlier baseless assertions, unions maintain appeal. That is the reality.

[Graves]

For every failed organizing attempt there are 100 that succeed. What does that tell us?

It tells us workers overwhelmingly support organizing and, contrary to your earlier baseless assertions, unions maintain appeal. That is the reality.It tells me you are a true believer. :munch:

[Warka]

It tells me you are a true believer. :munch:

...and here I was thinking you might be some kind of worthy debate opponent.

Silly me.

[Graves]

...and here I was thinking you might be some kind of worthy debate opponent.
Silly me.Sorry to be unworthy. There's more to life than debate.

[Warka]

Sorry to be unworthy. There's more to life than debate.

Right, like posting bullshit on internet forums, apparently.

[curtalus]

Unions are not being "busted". They are simply losing their appeal. Ask people where they would really rather work and you'll find most people really do not want to work in union shops.Yeah, because anyone would rather have a $10 an hour job with no benefits, as compared to the $15 an hour with benefits that an union job will get you, starting out.

Really only an idiot would work non-union if they had a choice in the matter. Union jobs pay better, have job security, have benefits, and give the workers at least some say in the conditions that they work in other than 'like it or leave it'. Unions kick ass over 'free labor' every day in every way. The only people that do not like them are people that cannot get in or people that have to actual pay living wages to their workers because of labor organization.

Robber Barons love to whine about the high cost of unions, but then anything is expensive compared to slave labor from asia and quasi-slave labor from south of the border. They want colored slave labor so as to bust the native workers; and unions help to stop that bullshit.

And 'right to work' really just means 'right to be a spic and work for next to nothing with no benefits and at my pleasure, serf.' You get things like 'worker misconduct' laws that allow for a person to be fired for almost any reason and lose unemployment. 'Right to work' in practice equals right to be fired for no cause, as to be replaced by immigrants who cost and complain less, and who will not want breaks, or lunch time. So right to work equals right of workers to be fucked over and how.

[Graves]

Yeah, because anyone would rather have a $10 an hour job with no benefits, as compared to the $15 an hour with benefits that an union job will get you, starting out.
...
In my own experience, I have found workers tend to gravitate to non union situations, given equivalent compensation. If the compensation is not equivalent, it's true that people tend to go where the money is.

Employers need to be able to attract high quality personnel. To do that, they need to be competitive.

The only workers able to benefit from unionized firms are the grunts. Employers have little difficulty hiring people for grunt work. Are you a grunt or highly skilled?

If you are unskilled, instead of joining a union, you would be a lot wiser to get skilled, the more the better.

[curtalus]

In my own experience, I have found workers tend to gravitate to non union situations, given equivalent compensation. If the compensation is not equivalent, it's true that people tend to go where the money is.Union jobs pay better starting out, and have better benefits than non-union jobs, so why would anyone get a non-union job if they did not have to?

Employers need to be able to attract high quality personnel. To do that, they need to be competitive.Only if they are in a stable job enviroment, if everyone is in a race to the bottom using spic labor to bust native labor, than this is certainly not true. Spics work for peanuts and drive down and keep down wages in construction, and other manual labor that use to provide Whites with decent waged jobs. Employers prefer spics because they can pay them less and have to pay into NONE of the taxes that they would have to pay into for the native legal work force, so they get to skim two ways.

The only workers able to benefit from unionized firms are the grunts. Employers have little difficulty hiring people for grunt work. Are you a grunt or highly skilled?Really so my Dad that is a Journeyman Carpenter and makes about $8 an hour more and gets better benefits with the union is a grunt? Non-union shops are overran with spics that will work for $10 an hour, and no benefits. Same applies to electricians, plumbers, and bricklayers.

If you are unskilled, instead of joining a union, you would be a lot wiser to get skilled, the more the better.if you are poor, it is wiser to get a loan and go to school, than to get a decent job and work? Yeah, this is the reason America is going down the tubes. And like the PTB would not simply replace you with a visa worker, when you wanted to get 1% of the managements pay for the year.

America is in a race to the bottom, and the workers are being fucked in the process. You can dress it up in libertarian sounding rhetoric but the employers know that they are fucking the American worker to increase their own bottom lines, and that is the only view of matters from the working class prospective.

This is not about skilled or non-skilled this is about treasonous Robber Barons displacing us in our own nation by giving OUR fucking Jobs to spic invaders, and shipping OUR fucking Jobs overseas so as to save a penny or two.

This is about stopping unrestricted capitalism before everyone is dirt poor except the top 1 or 2 % of Robber Barons, AND before everyone is working at Mexican wages. We are not a nation of serfs. We are not a nation of grateful wage slaves. We are a nation of free men that will only put up with so much shit before we take our standard of living increases by force.

This is about putting people ahead of profits and main street ahead of wall street. Wall street knows that it is fucking the Nation and its allies in the industries know what they are doing as well. Everyone that hires spics and undercuts Labor is a traitor. Anyone that advocates for free movement of labor over national boundaries is a traitor. Anyone that advocates off shoring is a traitor. Labor is the backbone of the Nation and as such the Laborers have a Right to expect a cut out of the pie, as they are the basis for the pie in the first instance.

[Graves]

Union jobs pay better starting out, and have better benefits than non-union jobs, so why would anyone get a non-union job if they did not have to?

Only if they are in a stable job enviroment, if everyone is in a race to the bottom using spic labor to bust native labor, than this is certainly not true. Spics work for peanuts and drive down and keep down wages in construction, and other manual labor that use to provide Whites with decent waged jobs. Employers prefer spics because they can pay them less and have to pay into NONE of the taxes that they would have to pay into for the native legal work force, so they get to skim two ways.

Really so my Dad that is a Journeyman Carpenter and makes about $8 an hour more and gets better benefits with the union is a grunt? Non-union shops are overran with spics that will work for $10 an hour, and no benefits. Same applies to electricians, plumbers, and bricklayers.

if you are poor, it is wiser to get a loan and go to school, than to get a decent job and work? Yeah, this is the reason America is going down the tubes. And like the PTB would not simply replace you with a visa worker, when you wanted to get 1% of the managements pay for the year.

America is in a race to the bottom, and the workers are being fucked in the process. You can dress it up in libertarian sounding rhetoric but the employers know that they are fucking the American worker to increase their own bottom lines, and that is the only view of matters from the working class prospective.

This is not about skilled or non-skilled this is about treasonous Robber Barons displacing us in our own nation by giving OUR fucking Jobs to spic invaders, and shipping OUR fucking Jobs overseas so as to save a penny or two.

This is about stopping unrestricted capitalism before everyone is dirt poor except the top 1 or 2 % of Robber Barons, AND before everyone is working at Mexican wages. We are not a nation of serfs. We are not a nation of grateful wage slaves. We are a nation of free men that will only put up with so much shit before we take our standard of living increases by force.

This is about putting people ahead of profits and main street ahead of wall street. Wall street knows that it is fucking the Nation and its allies in the industries know what they are doing as well. Everyone that hires spics and undercuts Labor is a traitor. Anyone that advocates for free movement of labor over national boundaries is a traitor. Anyone that advocates off shoring is a traitor. Labor is the backbone of the Nation and as such the Laborers have a Right to expect a cut out of the pie, as they are the basis for the pie in the first instance.
The ultimate labor baron was whoever said this:" ...we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." That was a journeyman speaking. I'm with him.

As for your post, :nopity:

[curtalus]

The ultimate labor baron was whoever said this:" ...we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." That was a journeyman speaking. I'm with him.

As for your post, :nopity:God did not command people to take it up the ass so that managment could get richer. Nor did he say that we have to just take it up the ass so that spics can replace us, and lower our standard of living. So stop attempting to hide behind the words of the Lord; that ploy is about thousand years out of date. Your weak reliance upon the bible and dogma is telling of the thinking going on in your mind.

Now come back with the beatitudes,because surely they were spoken for the workers of the world as per the management of the world. Any working class that took the beatitudes literally would be serfs to a man. Of course any working class that submitted to 'authority' like Paul would like would already be slaves so their working conditions would hardly matter--Paul and the Gospels were after all redacted by the Roman Authorities to provide a divine justification for the political order upon Earth. It was used by Constantine as a rational for slavery and the wretched poverty of the Roman Masses, and as a divine sanction upon the wealth of the few oligarchs of the late Roman world. The Roman world was not labor friendly as most labor by Constantine time was slave labor.

Really when management takes your coat....punch them in the fucking face! When management takes anything from you or attempts to replace you....burn their houses down and beat their children in the streets! When management lays you off and then takes fat bonuses for themselves.......beat them in the streets! Men resist being wronged, anything else is serfdom. I am thinking that my advice will ensure better living conditions to the workers and to those that are not part and parcel of the system that is fucking the workers and citizens over day by day.

And as for your pity? I did not ask for your pity.

[Graves]

God did not command people to take it up the ass so that managment could get richer. Nor did he say that we have to just take it up the ass so that spics can replace us, and lower our standard of living. So stop attempting to hide behind the words of the Lord; that ploy is about thousand years out of date. Your weak reliance upon the bible and dogma is telling of the thinking going on in your mind.

Now come back with the beatitudes,because surely they were spoken for the workers of the world as per the management of the world. Any working class that took the beatitudes literally would be serfs to a man. Of course any working class that submitted to 'authority' like Paul would like would already be slaves so their working conditions would hardly matter--Paul and the Gospels were after all redacted by the Roman Authorities to provide a divine justification for the political order upon Earth. It was used by Constantine as a rational for slavery and the wretched poverty of the Roman Masses, and as a divine sanction upon the wealth of the few oligarchs of the late Roman world. The Roman world was not labor friendly as most labor by Constantine time was slave labor.

Really when management takes your coat....punch them in the fucking face! When management takes anything from you or attempts to replace you....burn their houses down and beat their children in the streets! When management lays you off and then takes fat bonuses for themselves.......beat them in the streets! Men resist being wronged, anything else is serfdom. I am thinking that my advice will ensure better living conditions to the workers and to those that are not part and parcel of the system that is fucking the workers and citizens over day by day.

And as for your pity? I did not ask for your pity.My point is simply that we work for our salvation as well as for our daily bread. But if we dwell on and get all worked up about material things, we suffer for this. We lose salvation. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.

[curtalus]

My point is simply that we work for our salvation as well as for our daily bread. But if we dwell on and get all worked up about material things, we suffer for this. We lose salvation. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.Yeah so we should all just 'work' on salvation and allow ourselves to be exploited so as to ensure someone else eats good bread? And why is it that you and those like you seem to be doing well, and be comfortable, but do not seem to be losing salvation? Why is it always us poor people that should just keep our eye upon the ball in the sky, and are at risk of losing out if we think of the material that you and yours already have? Why is it that the Christians that are doing well always seem to think that the rest of us should just accept the order of things? Why is that?

Sounds to me like you make enough, and just want to ensure that no one else gets into the pie as that would make your piece worth less. Typical I've got mine, now you get back into line swine--management would love you.

[Graves]

Yeah so we should all just 'work' on salvation and allow ourselves to be exploited so as to ensure someone else eats good bread? And why is it that you and those like you seem to be doing well, and be comfortable, but do not seem to be losing salvation? Why is it always us poor people that should just keep our eye upon the ball in the sky, and are at risk of losing out if we think of the material that you and yours already have? Why is it that the Christians that are doing well always seem to think that the rest of us should just accept the order of things? Why is that?

Sounds to me like you make enough, and just want to ensure that no one else gets into the pie as that would make your piece worth less. Typical I've got mine, now you get back into line swine--management would love you.
If you suffer unjustly, God sees this and will reward you. But if you suffer simply for being a jerk, that's just too bad.
As to how well or poorly I'm doing, I do not recall having sent you a bank statement. I have had both good years and bad.
If you are so poor, how is it that you have access to a PC? Are you getting three squares a day, clothing, a roof over your head? If so, be thankful for these things.
STOP WHINING.

[curtalus]

If you are so poor, how is it that you have access to a PC?Are you kidding me? You can have access by getting a library card. And owning a used PC is certainly not a mark of middle class inclusion. Internet comes with the phone and cable as a bundle, as you know.
Are you getting three squares a day, clothing, a roof over your head? If so, be thankful for these things.
STOP WHINING.You can get these things on welfare, and in jail, so why should anyone WORK for these things?

And why should the American working class, a class that has seen its well being shunted to the side time and time again stop whining?

Why should I and those like myself just quietly accept the lower wages, longer hours, increasingly non-existent benefits, increased illegal slave labor competition here at home,inadequate pensions and lack of job security?

Why should we just quietly stay in line with greedy bastards that want to sell our jobs overseas to save a penny or two? What is in it for us, when being in jail provides everything that you seem to think is 'required' to be happy ie a roof, three hots, and a cot?

When you can live as good in jail or on the dole as you can working, why work? But moreover why support that system that makes it so that this is true? What is in it for the working class in America?

[Graves]

Are you kidding me? ...Of course not. You did not seem to be answering my questions as to your own personal situation and so I sense that you are probably in fairly good shape.

Consider yourself lucky. You could be in Haiti. Now if you were in Haiti, then you might have something to whine about. Haitians aren't whining. We still have people getting in the backs of truck vans just to get across the border to the U.S. These people know poverty. And they know the U.S.A. is where to go to find work.

If you really were in bad shape, I might feel differently. Convince me.

[curtalus]

Of course not. You did not seem to be answering my questions as to your own personal situation and so I sense that you are probably in fairly good shape.

Consider yourself lucky. You could be in Haiti. Now if you were in Haiti, then you might have something to whine about. Haitians aren't whining. We still have people getting in the backs of truck vans just to get across the border to the U.S. These people know poverty. And they know the U.S.A. is where to go to find work.

If you really were in bad shape, I might feel differently. Convince me.So we are 'lucky' until we are Haitian poor? Talk about race to the bottom. And it is because of those people running the border in vans that the wages of the native work force is falling like a stone--an invasion promoted by the business interest that hire them. The idea that we need to be in third world squalor before we are poor is just the sort of idea that justifies the current situation. The lazy fat American worker is a great meme for Wall Street assholes because it comforts them while they squeeze the vice on main street. But it is bullshit, unless you consider the third world to be the base line and the ideal workers.

Do you work for Wall Street? Because the idea that working people should be lucky making $972.80 a month--$8/hr X 160/hrs X 26% tax--is just out of this world. Yeah $11,673.60 is the big bucks peasant and you should just shut and be happy to get that! This is below the official poverty line but hey, its a job feel lucky to have it.

[Graves]

So we are 'lucky' until we are Haitian poor? Talk about race to the bottom. And it is because of those people running the border in vans that the wages of the native work force is falling like a stone--an invasion promoted by the business interest that hire them. The idea that we need to be in third world squalor before we are poor is just the sort of idea that justifies the current situation. The lazy fat American worker is a great meme for Wall Street assholes because it comforts them while they squeeze the vice on main street. But it is bullshit, unless you consider the third world to be the base line and the ideal workers.

Do you work for Wall Street? Because the idea that working people should be lucky making $972.80 a month--$8/hr X 160/hrs X 26% tax--is just out of this world. Yeah $11,673.60 is the big bucks peasant and you should just shut and be happy to get that! This is below the official poverty line but hey, its a job feel lucky to have it.In answer to your question, no.
And the rest of your reply confirms that you are doing just fine. I thought maybe you needed help. Guess not.

[Monty]

But if you suffer simply for being a jerk, that's just too bad.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Graves again.

[Graves]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Graves again.
You disagree?
You believe that people who suffer for their own fault deserve a pat on the back?

[Tchort]

Funny how union membership keeps declining. Union thugs are just not getting the message out. You better go bust more windshields.

I'd recommend picking up a copy of "Dynamite: The Story Of Class Violence In America". The fight for union rights was won with the blood of tens of thousands. Union members earn more, have better benefits, stronger job security, are more likely to have a pension (and not a cash-toilet 401k), etc.

In the US especially, the business unions of the AFL (and later the CIO) rode the wave of worker indignation in the 1920's and '30s, and have continued to sell out their current and future membership in contract after contract.

Despite this, the average worker in the US doesn't even have the chance to choose whether they want a union or not. Union-busting is very real and occurs at every non-union business in the US. Workers are caught between holding on to the meager wages they have for now or running the risk of losing even this small comfort in the event they want to try and protect themselves or better their lot.

While on a philosophical level I oppose unions (as they are now embedded forces of capital rather than revolutionary instruments of the working class)- I'd rather see a business union pick up a new member than see another worker in this country get the short end of the stick because they won't work mandatory overtime, stay late off the clock, ignore safety standards on their bosses orders, lose their retirement savings on the stock market, etc.

It seems that only people that have never had to earn a living with their hands oppose unions. I've never met a working class person who opposed unions- but I've met many who wish they had one but are too terrified of losing their job to fight for one.

There is nothing wrong with being an unskilled laborer. If every unskilled laborer went out and became a journeyman or college educated, we'd have a lot of over qualified people doing the jobs necessary for the production of commodities. Unskilled labor is a part of capitalism.

All people earn higher wages and have better benefits and stronger job security in a union. From the trades (meat cutters, plumbers, carpenters, etc) to industries (health care, automotive, coal, etc) to professional services (lawyers guild, etc).

The oldest con in America is that if you work hard and apply yourself everything will work out for you. Society simply does not work that way, it didn't then and it doesn't now. We all deserve a living, no matter what our job or position. The tools to create such a society exist, and until we utilize the forces of capital to meet the needs of humanity rather than for the production of profit for the few, the only sensible course is for individuals to fight as hard as they can for as much as they can get- and that means unions.

Any other union members on the phora?

IWW IU 660

[Warka]

Any other union members on the phora?

IWW IU 660

USW Local 1299
UAW Local 600

http://www.thephora.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56213