Michigan's New Corporate Servitude Law: It Takes Away Worker Rights
| Michigan has just passed a corporate servitude law. It is designed to take away many of the worker rights that unions have conferred throughout their history: the right to a living wage. The right to equal pay for women. The right to deferred payments in the form of pensions. The right to negotiate workplace standards and working conditions. The right to overtime pay. |
The divide and conquer strategy of the plutocrats has worked very well. With most private unions having already been decimated, turn the common workers' envy toward public unions and decimate those, too. What remains is an environment where there is ZERO countervailing force to corporate /corporate-state power. This ensures a deep pool of low wage, highly subservient workers to draw from to sustain the profits and wealth of the plutocracy. If you're not in that plutocracy, you're rapidly being reduced to a slave. That's a reality.
The plutocracy owns the government, so we have no real power. Voting is a sham. You'll always be voting for the status quo by definition and the status quo is everything that supports and advances the plutocracy.
How the hell did we get here?
15 comments:
This was a huge mistake on the part of the corporate class. Coupled with Scott Walker's overreach in WI wrt public service workers,, this unites the entire union labor force, whereas previously the strategy had been to separate the two based on private sector union workers being tax payers "saddled" with carrying the "unreasonable demands" of public sector union workers.
It also unite the unions and the rest of society, like the students, against the "1%." IT's a gift to the opposition that ultimately will bring down the 1%.
I recall during the anti-war protests how the unions were enlisted by the Nixon administration in the fight against the protestors. But things have now changed. Unions united with Occupy Wall Street protestors in their marches, and there was some general union pushback in WI during the protests, too.
But things have now changed big time. Labor is now facing down with capital the way that Marx predicted would happen. Labor is also rising up angry outside the US. I expect to see a real battle developing over the next decade that will result in either the final imposition of fascism in the name of "democratic" capitalism or the grand finale of neoliberalism, and with it neo-imperialism and neo-colonialism.
This is the course that I see as most likely. It could develop otherwise, for example, a gradual iteration that stretches out to about 2030. But I think that those are the alternatives and the battle is now joined. It will be a fierce fight.
I expect to see a real battle developing over the next decade that will result in either the final imposition of fascism in the name of "democratic" capitalism or the grand finale of neoliberalism, and with it neo-imperialism and neo-colonialism.
I hope to God it's the latter.
Tom
That is what Howe and Strauss described in The Fourth Turning book. I kinda do see future trough that book and see long slog ahead just as you.
That 2030 is heck of a long time to get to.
That 2030 is heck of a long time to get to.
This is a huge turning point and there are a lot factors in play. Global warming is a biggie, and it is still unclear how the transition is going to play out wrt energy. The push of the TPTB will be to keep energy centralized and the position of the opposition should be to make it dispersed — networked devices instead of mainframe and workstations.
Those that control money and energy control the game, and "they" know it.
That is what Howe and Strauss described in The Fourth Turning book.
Yes, I think that S&H and Ravi Batra foresaw what is now unfolding.
The undermining of capitalism as we know it will be cronyism and corruption, and the force that replaces it will be the rising "warrior class" of courageous people that stand up together and just say no.
Rachell Maddow has an excellent expose of effect of gerymandering in 5 northeastern states and how even tough there is equally divided population in which Obama won, it requiers up to three votes to elect a democrat for one for republican in state houses.
Equally divided population but up to 3:1 in state legislature for Reps.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbcnews.com/49518559/#50182647
If the electoral college votes were distributed by (gerrymandered) districts, Romney would have won the election. The GOP is trying to engineer a transition to this right now. Imagine what would be happening now if Romney had won and Obama had whupped him in the popular vote 51% to 47%, as it turned out?
"that ultimately will bring down the 1%." (Tom Hickey)
I dunno. Look what happened to the Romans. Didn't their civilization end in oligarchy? And then chaos, eventually leading to the dark ages?
I would guess that Dems would not go crazy about it, just as in 2000. On the other hand i really do not think that Romney would accept what GOP wants regarding fiscal cliff, he knows how that would affect business. I believe that if he was pres. the deal would include less cuts then what is happening now, but there would be a lot of laws that would destroy unions and abortion acces, they would work on destroying Dems organizations and constituency. As we know, when GOP has control, they like to spend like crazy. On wrong things, tough.
Civilization hangs by a thread. We should not just take it for granted. But it is much more dispersed now than then.
y,
"I dunno. Look what happened to the Romans. Didn't their civilization end in oligarchy? And then chaos, eventually leading to the dark ages?"
I look at it as though it's not "the Romans" rather the focus is "Western civilization"...
So beginning with Babylon then Medo Persia then Greece then Rome then Europe then to today with the US and Europe united... so it never has "ended".
The thrust of civilization has been westward. We in the US have a "Republic" and state currency very similar to what was recorded of Greece 2400 years ago.... so not much has changed in this regard except technology... the physical locus of authority has moved over time but much beyond that has stayed the same... rsp,
Good observation, Matt.
Matt -- Agreed. The French have a saying, something like "Tout ca change, tout ca la meme chose" (missing accents), which means "Everything changes, yet everything remains the same." (At least, I think that's it.)
Tom -- Your POV and analysis of the current turning point has been spot on. I keep hoping it can be done without violence and/or fascism, but I'm pessimistic on that point. Erich Fromm wrote "Escape from Freedom" back in the sixties and I think he was right. People have a tendency to give up their freedoms to an authority because it is easier than making difficult ethical or moral decisions.
People have a tendency to give up their freedoms to an authority because it is easier than making difficult ethical or moral decisions.
Yes, it is an indication of a low level of collective consciousness and a lack of character. The ancients considered such people sub-human and only fit to be slaves.
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