Friday - Governor Snyder of Michigan stated that he had no time and no interest in working on an anti-union, "right to work" bill in a lame duck session before the end of this year.
Tuesday - Governor Snyder of Michigan decides to sign anti-labor "right to work" legislation, passed without public comment, and without the right of the Michigan voting population to hold a referendum on the issue.
Blood: noun
1. fluid that circulates in the principal vascular system of humans and other vertebrates, in humans consisting of plasma made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
2.the vital principle; life: The excitement had got into the very blood of the nation.
3. a person or group regarded as a source of energy, vitality, or vigor: It's time we got some new blood in this company.
4. one of the four elemental bodily humors of medieval physiology, regarded as causing cheerfulness.
5. bloodshed; gore; slaughter; murder: to avenge the blood of his father.
FROM THE CHURCH OF INEFFABLE STUPIDITY:
You have to hand it to the ultraright. Koch, Inc. simply do not know how to lose and acknowledge their loss. Rove continues to plot (surviving his wasting of hundreds of millions of his clients' money). Boehner spews TeaBaggerish language. McConnell offers a compromise which consists of the worst aspects of Romney-Ryan policies. Romney's own campaign chief managed to declare victory - the white male, over $50K voting block.
Gov. Snyder took an anti-labor blueprint from ALEC (an anti labor group intent on grinding down the last benefit, worker protection, and the last drop of blood from labor, to further the short term profits of a few large multinationals) and turned it into law. " Right to Work" means so many things, that we should take some time and review just a few of them.
Right to work for less.
The biggest impact that these laws have is the suppression of the wages earned by labor. By taking away their unified voice, wages fall. Benefits falter. Employment protections fall by the wayside. In the years that follow, injury rates go up, and compensation for such injuries goes down. Overtime pay becomes a distant memory of Christmas past. By every reasonable measurement, Right to Work laws damage the worker. Sometimes quite significantly.
In truth, employment levels rarely change when a state passes such draconian, anti-labor laws. Union states have as good, if not better rates of employment, Union states provide far more worker benefits, and Union states have fewer worker accidents, especially deadly or career ending accidents. Snyder is not helping labor, he is after its blood.
The Impact of Lower Wages
Henry Ford was many things, bigoted, racist, anti-semite, but he was also brilliant. He borrowed (and improved upon) certain factory ideas from others, mostly without attribution Ford also created new ideas, especially in the field of production economics. He realized that if he paid his workers enough to be able to afford his vehicles, not only would he have a more dedicated work force, he would open up sales to another 20-30,000 people. A Win-Win situation.
"After Ford" originally meant strong unions, reasonably compensated labor, and efforts by all to increase productivity, safety, and profits. Sure labor disputes would occur, but then, management also designed and sold the Edsel and the Pinto.
Other unions and businesses followed suit, often not by choice. A strong Labor movement forced improvement for all. What followed was a strong middle class, and profits for most industries.
Today's New "After Ford"
Now, we see a different kind of "After Ford," movement. Simply put, it means, "fuck the worker." This is far closer to the anti-utopian vision portrayed by Huxley in Brave New World. The leaders lead, the workers toil, and the two groups never, ever mingle.
No matter how rich the Kochs and their billionaire pals get, it is never enough. These ultra-rich have a secondary goal in mind. Even if they double or triple their billions, at some point having such concentrated wealth serves little or no purpose. You can only live in one of your 20,000 square foot mansions at any one time. You can only ride into the sunset in one Rolls or Bentley. There are only so many pairs of hand made shoes or silk suits that you can wear per day.
Despite such appalling concentration of wealth, (see the Walmart Family) their second goal is to remove as much wealth from others. The idea of helping the poor is an anathema. The idea of governments creating food, shelter, jobs, or other protections for the needy actually pains them. On top of increasing their own riches, they are doing everything possible to reverse or limit the help given to the needy. Their own financial victories have failed to make them happy, therefore, they want to maximize the differences between themselves, and the rest of the universe by making "You People" suffer as their wealth continues to increase. They hope to actually get pleasure from other people's suffering.
Mitt Romney's inability to understand poverty was stunning. When he claimed that he was unemployed, he displayed such arrogance, such incredibly skewed views of humanity, that I believe that point truly started the end of his chances for president. If you parse his 47% comment, along with his other richie rich statements, you get just a taste of how others (Koch and fiends) really think. Those weren't mistakes, off the cuff errors, that was the real Romney.
To put their complex feelings in the simplest term possible, It is not enough for them to win, and win big; they have to see you lose, too. In essence, they want your blood.
Lowering wages, benefits, and access to health care has been the economic law of the land for the past 12 years. If the President buckles under in the current fiscal "speed bump" (it clearly is not a cliff), that trend will continue. Snyder, despite losing badly in 2012, is doing his best to ram through his Kochian ALEC ideas before power returns to the people. I wonder if he realizes that he is playing with fire.
Humanity is surprisingly resilient. Give us our MTV, our iPad, and a few other things, and we will take a lot of shit. We'd rather sit and watch the big plasma screen and debate the lack of the Bears' offensive line, instead of worring about our worker rights.
But there do come limits. Snyder, with his anti-labor moves, is rapidly approaching one of those limits. No matter how quiet, how immobile, and how seemingly inert the general population is, there comes a time when normal people become mobilized.
Today's Economic knowledge
These days, most people and our MSM can only name one or two economists or economic theories, starting with Keynes, and ending with Trickle Down Theory and Supply Side Economics. (think Laffer curve, the idiotic theories of Thomas Sowell, and the application of similar ideas in administrations of Harding, Coolidge and Reagan) Cutting taxes of the rich, removing regulations that control rampant capitalism, and limiting government was their goal. Grover Nordquist represents the final version of these anti-Keynesian theorists. Despite decades of abject, unabated failure, Trickle Down and Supply Side remain the cornerstone of today's GOP and TeaBuggerers' economic knowledge. Everything else is ignored.
There was one economist who studied capitalism, mercantilism, and the complex interplay of labor, production, capital, and ownership. He lived and studied in London, from 1848 until his death in 1883. The economic reality of London that he witnessed in the mid 1880s in some ways resembles the United States of today. A growing number of poor, no worker protections, no unions, a beaten down labor class, fewer rules and regulations protecting the worker, and a middle class that was diminishing, if not disappearing.
One of the biggest fears of the ruling class in Europe (and London) was revolution. Socialism and labor protests began to grow. In almost all cases, police protections were offered to the wealthy, the well to do, the factory owners. Workers and protesters were arrested, beaten, and even killed.
This week in Michigan, we saw cops on horses riding over and injuring innocent protesters. We saw 8 innocents arrested for some "felony." We saw tear gas and heavily armed police - protecting Gov. Snyder. The resemblance to London in the 1870s is remarkable. Especially when the chief of police gloated that this time, his troops were well prepared, and he was happy with the results so far.
Back to that economist. He put down on paper, in logical terms, and from a new and refreshing economic viewpoint, how the existing version of capitalism was bound to fail. He talked about the power of labor, and how pressing people too much would eventually lead to revolution.
His name was Karl Marx. Many of his ideas changed society, even here. The fact that his theories are not taught in school is telling. Because the powers that be continue to fear his ideas as well as his predictions.
Not only was Marx predicting (and preaching) revolution, the Ruling Classes of his day feared that very thing. They sought refuge in gated communities, armed guards, and they even concocted fake attacks to be blamed on labor. (Much like Freedom works destroyed its own tent in Michigan on Tuesday, and blamed the unions for their loss) The Ruling Classes feared blood. Their own.
The fears of the upper class became so strong, that they had to take strong steps to avoid it. They began limiting work hours, installed safety plans and devices, increased wages, and allowed unions to represent the worker. Only because the upper class capitulated was revolution avoided. Only because workers were paid properly, treated with respect, given health care, safety, and legal protections, did that revolutionary spirit simmer down.
Revolution? Here?
Five years ago, I would have never imagined that we could have a people powered movement. People did not care enough, they were lethargic, they were never going to protest. They even voted against their best interests (see Rampant TeaBuggery as a case in point)
And then Obama was elected. And then, Wisconsin happened. A modern people powered revolution. Our victory was not complete, but the war is not yet over. And then November, 2012 happened. The latest people powered revolution. Despite the hundreds of millions spent because of Citizens Untied, Citizens Unbridled, Corporations are Citizens, too, we won. We won the presidency, the senate, and many seats in the house. We won the popular vote, and we are on our way of kicking ass in years to come.
That is why Snyder and Company should be nervous. Very, very nervous. The more they press against the common man, the working man, and the union man, the more idiotic attacks on labor that they force down our throats, the more dangerous it becomes for them. Personally.
I am not advocating revolution. Nor Violence. Nor Murder. I think that peaceful ways are almost always the best in the long run. I simply suggest that by Snyder and others going too far, there are some unstable individuals who will have reached the end of their rope. Snyder's actions will be the final blow. And those most in need will find that they have few other choices left.
Because of Snyder, there will be blood. I wonder if he is smart enough to realize that he is playing with fire.
The Reich Side is not the only one that has its fair share of armed lunatics. We only have to look to Arizona, or Palin's admonishment to reload, rather than retreat, to recall how dangerous some on that side are. Seeing people toting guns to Palin campaign stops was scary. But, we have to be honest. We are not immune from having unstable individuals join our side. Some of them are armed. Some see nothing but pain and suffering for themselves and their family. Some of them have been and are being pushed too far. We should be prepared for that eventuality.
When it does come, (and it will, unless the Koch led groups stop their attacks) our response should not include our cowering in the corner, like we did after 9/11, or like we did every time that the GOP accused us of being traitors or unpatriotic. Rather, we should call it as it is. Something along the lines of:
"Yes, it is unfortunate. But rather than facing the GOP's useless recriminations against liberals, let's be reasonable for a change. Let's look at the causes of this type of unrest. Let's look at how Gov. Snyder's horrible policies led to this bloody end. He is responsible for unrest, because he and his policies caused it."