From a Thread: Unions and The Microcosm of Societal Malaise

This is from ‘thread’ in which we were talking about Unions, the benefits of having a union, as well as the various problems.  I also touch on the source of the problems and their connection to larger society . . .

“I too am a member of the ADM division of IBEW AFL-CIO!

The union does have some issues Per Se . . . but the cost of NOT having them around, vs. having them around is too much to contemplate, and the Bad, with their absence, dwarfs the Good!

Companies WILL DO certain things if they are allowed to.  In fact the shareholders WILL SUE a CEO or COO or CFO for even uttering the words 'humanitarian considerations' in a decision NOT to pursue a potential money making, profit bumping avenue . . .

. . . Like cutting a lunch hour in half while, cutting the department force in half with the same workload as before the slash, while requiring earlier clock-in times and later check out times, coupled with even 'on-call/emergency', work-at-home provisions, that are compensated, NOT on the fact you did it, but if you did it ‘well’ . . . but you have no choice BUT to do it!

But unions aren't ‘Snow White’ Either . . .

 - Some divisions or local branches don’t have any 'enforced' productivity standards and some 'Shoppies' tend to want to 'slow down' a project because they think it'll keep them working longer . . . which is just asinine and actually SHORTENS the project due to cost overruns!

 - THEY TOO have become a little top-heavy with 'staff and Reps' that are stuck in the Dinosaur age technologically and seem to only care about if a stream of dues is affected.

 - Nepotism has been a 'local flare-up' of a problem at times

 - Union Reps are sometimes surprisingly ignorant of recent political changes that might affect union policy or benefit disbursements.  Sometimes calling the Hall can be a frustrating waste of time because some folks don't even understand or know the long-standing statutes as well!

I say all the above to say this: My Friend’s point is still valid no matter how you slice it:

 
Unions ARE a Net GOOD for a Civilized Society.

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The problems I highlighted above are internal problems, and I have to say, when it comes to Big Moves like what these GOP governors have been trying to do to us, our unions have been fierce fighters against that!  And frankly I don't know how we would have been able to, on an individual basis, fight them the way we have!

The Problems however, are 'allowed' to persist for the same reason we have a nationally low voter turn-out:

Union Member apathy, ignorance, disengagement, and non-participation in the meetings and the elections within the body are the prime reasons for the status quod.

Expand the same to include the present governmental malfunction:

Public apathy and lack of participation in that which serves them, Government, Union or otherwise, makes these same bodies weak, ineffective and ultimately corrupt.

We need to change our national political 'ethos' if you will . . . it needs to be so interred into our psyche that these bodies no longer can 'count on' or 'hope' that we show up or not . . . or participate or not . . . they need to 'fear' the 'work' they have to do to get us 'to go with them'.

The privilege is NOT 'showing up' as Democrats seem to be obsessed with . . . the 'privilege' is earning My Vote! 

I'm saying: If you show up at a voting place . . . you WILL make a 'choice'.  THAT'S the key! 

One advantage the GOP has over the Democrats, even though their voter rolls are smaller is that THEIR voters are ALWAYS present in higher %’s, at EACH election, than the Democrats.  Get out the vote drives are NOT a big concern for the GOP . . . but Democrats have to 'stir it up' with a massive ground organization EVERY election of consequence! 

Democrats NEED to change that . . . like YESTERDAY. 

And frankly I find certain members of the Democratic Caucus like the CBC in particular have been WORTHLESS in changing that voting paradigm in their districts!  Let me stick with the CBC: Blacks have a NOTORIOUSLY low civic participation rates . . . but they arguably end up getting the short end of the system in which they HAVE TO reside in . . . but in effect, don't play a part in 'shaping'!  I understand the historical 'reasons' for this - Said System used to be (and still is and can be) an agent for the Group's collective subjugation and impugning of basic fairness and civil rights.  BUT . . . in this day and age it is NOT as hopeless as it once was . . . but collectively, particularly in poorer neighborhoods that 'hasn't sunk in'. 

I blame the Democratic Party for it . . . and where directly represented, I blame the CBC.

When you have rampant profiling in a certain district, police brutality and over zealous action that seems to 'fell' mostly Blacks . . . THESE THINGS need to be 'revived' and turned into Campaign Issues come the next election cycle for mayor, Governor, Council man, Senator, what have you . . . but they RARELY are!  These events NEED to be used for their 'emotional potency' as way to get people to realize that 'retribution' can be 'had' at the Ballot Box!

The System and the folks that work FOR said System have 'abused' you . . . you CHANGE THE FOLKS THAT WORK FOR THE SYSTEM TO THOSE WHO WON'T DO THAT TO YOU!

And that can ONLY be done by voting!

And I'll say from personal experience . . . the Democrats and some members of the CBC have been getting away with this less than adequate representation and 'mental improvement' of their constituents for DECADES now.  We back them because we 'remember' what 'they did for us' way back when - civil rights, voting (irony??), affirmative action, etc . . . but it's been a 'while' since any sustained serious push for other ills that plague our communities disproportionately to be dealt with.

Now here is where folks like Cornell West come in.

Poverty has LONG been an issue in the Black Community since Reagan and before to this day . . . the CBC and many Democrats have been 'relatively quiet' about addressing it in Black Communities for decades now . . . and that includes many members of the CBC.

Why NOW because Obama is in . . . do these CBC members and Cornell expected a 'targeted', 'Visible' effort from him?? 

Because He's one of 'Us'??

This is where things get a little paradoxical and murky for a lot of reasons . . .

Blacks do need 'help' because of the dearth of time and opportunity to progress and amass wealth that was forcefully impugned upon them due to Slavery, Sharecropping, Jim Crow and other discriminatory laws for centuries . . . so some 'assistance' is warranted to help Us 'catch up'.  It's fair.  The different laws like Affirmative Action and the ability to vote and strong anti-discriminatory statutes are a big help . . .

. . . But still there is institutional racial prejudice and racially-guided ‘modus operandi’ that one occasionally runs into.  Not least of which is that there is a sort of 'fear' of 'appearing too pro-black' that our media still propagates at times, just like a 'reflex' almost.  That 'residual' prejudice has had some 'real world' consequences for many blacks in professional life over the years . . . and includes those with political aspirations. 

Two names come to mind: Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. 

Both of them ran for President and they failed to garner much of mainstream America's support because the 'unspoken fear/reason' was that they would be overly 'partial' to Blacks in when they become President . . . that they would 'save the best for Their folks' to the detriment of the Rest. 

Take that in for a second . . . be honest. 

As said before nothing is really 'wrong' with targeted help for Blacks as a disadvantaged group . . . in as much the same way we gave certain 'exemptions' to Native Americans, paid reparations to interred Japanese, undertook an international effort to reclaim 'stolen' Jewish wealth after the Holocaust, as well as certain holidays and exemptions that are nationally recognized as well.  It's an accepted societal 'head nod' to the ills that have been perpetrated on a certain group BY the society they dwell in.  To talk about the Holocaust and the Japanese internment is NOT taboo.  To openly declare allegiance or to display partially to Israel while serving in US national office is not an issue . . . because of the 'Head Nod' I spoke of.

To talk of Slavery and the plight of Blacks over the centuries is cause for a 'Tense Politics' and the initial tendencies are to ‘equivocate’ to death in order to 'diffuse' a certain uncomfortable situation or conversation.

Because of that . . . many Blacks with upward, especially Political aspirations, have shied away from being seen as too 'militant' - another loaded word for Pro-black - in order to avoid the 'tenseness' and ultimate fizzling of the attempt that might follow.

Obama to his credit or discredit . . . I think is one of those.  He acknowledges the situation but tries to appear and be 'post-racial' . . . and it has worked!  Many folks in the middle and even south of the country, still subject to the subconscious 'discomfort' of overt questions of racial equality, were soothed enough so they thought more about the Everyday Issues that affected their lives and who offered the best remedy for them. 

Note: McCain would NEVER have to walk that line.

Now ultimately Obama's ability to diffuse the race issue when folks were considering him was a 'Good Thing' - that is how we SHOULD choose our leaders. 

But the realities of inequality within the disadvantaged groups, does NOT go away because of it.

So now I return to the paradox I mentioned earlier . . . with respect to Obama and his 'duty' to both the country as a Whole and to redress the wrongs that society has wrought one of it's various disadvantaged groups: Blacks.

Obama got elected for being post racial . . . but West and the CBC are insisting he BE racial in addressing their concerns in a meaningful way . . . because he 'Is One of Us!'

Obama has tried to get at the Root of the problems affecting the Black Community . . . which coincide WITH the national issues that are raging.  He tries to deal with it from that broad perspective knowing that it WILL alleviate the problems in the Black Community as well.

And, I hate to say it, but we aren't so 'advanced' that if Obama breaks that 'shell' of post-racial attitude and approach . . . that the subliminal 'leeriness' about Racial Equality and ultimately what constitutes Reparations . . . wouldn't affect his ability to govern and even get re-elected next year. 

Republicans KNOW this and have doing their BEST to force Obama into that direction, or at least raise that subconscious ‘specter’ in the minds of the national public . . .!

But after so many centuries of being denied this and that . . . Blacks have taken special pride in Obama's ascendancy, and want him to 'claim them 'loudly'' so to speak.  I postulate as a sort of 'visible rebuke’ to the age old 'Agents of Prejudice' that have been and still are, to some extent, the bane of Black Community’s existence for so long.

The funny thing is . . . although I understand that 'desire' . . . I find that sort of 'interesting' . . . and not in a Good way either. 

Society at large ALREADY sees him as 'Black' . . . what more is he supposed to do??  In addition, hasn’t the rabid, outsize, carte-blanche opposition by the political party of those same ‘Agents’, born out of the fact he is actually IN the White House, the total exposure of the once-hidden racism . . . aren’t those developments enough to demonstrate that He IS ‘Poking a Finger in the Eye’ of these folks in just the similar fashion, that it seems people have been clamoring for?

To me it is obvious and the ‘Death Throes’ of their world view is deafening . . . but others not so much it seems.

THERE is where I come back to West AND the CBC being totally blind to this plot by the Right, and them shamefully earning the accusation of being cowardly and self serving:

The CBC realize, that by the election of Obama, and the sort of self empowerment of his supporters, that catapulted them over all obstacles of systemic prejudice and hindrance, to make their will be Real . . . that THEY have been 'sleeping' for years in that regard . . . their rushing to lay this at His feet is feeble attempt, in my opinion, to distract and hopefully preserve their 'cushy' jobs! 

But I'm not fooled.

They could have been making this sort of fuss for DECADES now . . . but haven't.  They were busy 'anointing' Clinton, when in fact his Welfare Reform made things WORSE for some of their constituents.  Glass Steagall was REPEALED under him, which opened the door for all manner of scourges that have hit the Black Community extremely hard in the subsequent years . . .!

But I'm not fooled 

With all that said I'll close with saying all these Democratic detractors need to wise up and see what is out there and coming our way.

Change your political participation paradigm NOW . . . or get ready for the Elephant stampede in the future . . . maybe not next year(I hope not!) but in the future.  Democrats won't always be able to find a stellar candidate with lauded personal appeal like a Clinton or Obama, that by their Celebrity/Rock Star appeal and potential can 'excite the base and the Young' to come out. 

These people must come out in force REGARDLESS of who is running BECAUSE THAT PERSON is for THEIR ideals and principles . . .!  We need to get away from spending so much energy on 'getting riled up' to getting motivated BY a pure understanding of what is in our collective and self best interests when it comes to our political participation and choices. 

Issues now . . . don't carry as much 'excitement' as 'ideals' . . . and we need to change that.  Get motivated by 'What Is' and what 'Realistically Can Be Done' . . .

Or we're all done for . . . Unions, Social Safety net . . . common decency . . . all of it."