Long Live the People--in Wisconsin, Lybia, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain
Whatever is behind the curtains in the current Wisconsin political drama, the media presents a picture of a contest between a Tea Party Republican administration and the prerogatives of the public employee unions. Governor Walker insistently says the motive and purpose of the proposed state legislative bill is not to discriminate against unions but to resolve the state's severe budget crisis. But when the protesting union spokespersons yielded to the Governor's money demands, Walker repeated his push to ban collective bargaining--end of story. There is nothing left to argue over now except the integrity of unions. The unions‘ “inalienable” right to collective bargaining is vital to their ability to defend members against victimization by business and industrial tyrants.
Interestingly, Walker demonstrated the impurity of his motives by unwittingly disrobing himself in a taped conversation with a prank phone caller who convincingly posed as billionaire Tea Party supporter, David Koch. (See http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/?akid=6565.242732.lImH-y&id=483275&rd=1&t=29.) Walker self-righteously portrays his legislative move as a response to a budget crisis, but if the "power" of unions is not under attack in this bill, Charlie Sheen is a model of sweetness and light.
But it is more than a local fight. The Wisconsin legislative standoff and street protests are like a spark caught in the wind as multiple other states are echoing similar emotions. Pre- and post-election maneuvering by political hopefuls encourages talk of "blue" vs. "red" states and a "polarization" of the population on political issues. One can group the issues in various ways, but whether it is Tea Party vs. liberal Democrats, Sarah Palin vs. Michael Moore, Fox vs. CNN, or Scott Walker against Unions, those on the "right" say our liberties are threatened, those on the left complain of a war on the middle-class.
In the power contest I have a foot in two camps, as a sole proprietor and as a teacher's union member. As a small business owner I believe in private enterprise where I compete in the open market, where it is up to me to weather the economic storms and reap the rewards when my efforts pan out. But I also am a student of history and know what it was like in America before unions. It was worse than not good. I have personally received a healthy payout when my teacher's union caught the chancellor cheating on our paychecks, took him to court and won. (They are now pursuing another law suit.) There are two sides to the “power” issue.
As long as our democratic system prevails, one group is perceived to have “too much power” only when the balance is off. Which means one group is exercising more power than the power another group is able to exercise at the moment. All groups need a fair share of power, or there is no democracy. To bar any group from the realms of power is tyranny. In a democracy the unions need to have power to balance off the power of the employers. “Too much power,” like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I would acknowledge that unions have been known to exercise their power detrimentally at times (notably the prison guards in California). But the power manipulations of corporate entities, the insidious impact of private fortunes, and the culture of criminal unethical standards make the pretensions of union power look mild (I did not say innocent, I said mild) by comparison.
In a very broad sense, our country’s history is a longrun playing out of power competition. The reason the Madison,Wisconsin street protestors struck such a chord of alliance from “people” across the nation is because the issue rises above matters of budget crisis and unions. Who has the most to fear these days--those who feel their personal liberties are threatened by "big government," or the middle class 8-to-5 workers who recognize a loss of equality as the gap of rich-to-poor spreads? (See my recent blog, “How to Mis-Read the Constitution.“) Whether our nation is in a crisis of polarization or not depends on historical perspective. In my mind, Americans are engaged in a “power struggle” in a form particular to our generation, but not peculiar at all. It is the haves and the have nots, the meek and the mighty, contending for advantage. Democracy will always be this way. Can we make it work again for a fair and satisfactory resolution of conflict between private and public sectors as we have in the past?
The same competition in the form of “power struggle” between "the elite" and "the people" is rising to the surface throughout Africa and the Middle East. In the African and Arab countries where dictators have been ruling, the "people" are feeling a new solidarity, which was hard to enliven without the kind of instant technological communication now available. In the U.S. the difference is that we have a democratic system already in place, and the competition for power is nothing new. It has taken on different faces at different times, but it was there from the beginning---at least from when the federalists and anti-federalists sparred over the new Constitution in the late 1780s.
Today, in Wisconsin, it carries the features of Tea Party sympathizers versus the unions, but world-wide it is the tyrants against the “people.” Our democracy was birthed in this very same game. We have always wanted to be an example to other nations of the worth of our young democracy. Shall we mischaracterize and give up the game just when other peoples are feeling courageous enough to follow our “spirit of ’76” ?
Long live the people.
Interestingly, Walker demonstrated the impurity of his motives by unwittingly disrobing himself in a taped conversation with a prank phone caller who convincingly posed as billionaire Tea Party supporter, David Koch. (See http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/?akid=6565.242732.lImH-y&id=483275&rd=1&t=29.) Walker self-righteously portrays his legislative move as a response to a budget crisis, but if the "power" of unions is not under attack in this bill, Charlie Sheen is a model of sweetness and light.
But it is more than a local fight. The Wisconsin legislative standoff and street protests are like a spark caught in the wind as multiple other states are echoing similar emotions. Pre- and post-election maneuvering by political hopefuls encourages talk of "blue" vs. "red" states and a "polarization" of the population on political issues. One can group the issues in various ways, but whether it is Tea Party vs. liberal Democrats, Sarah Palin vs. Michael Moore, Fox vs. CNN, or Scott Walker against Unions, those on the "right" say our liberties are threatened, those on the left complain of a war on the middle-class.
In the power contest I have a foot in two camps, as a sole proprietor and as a teacher's union member. As a small business owner I believe in private enterprise where I compete in the open market, where it is up to me to weather the economic storms and reap the rewards when my efforts pan out. But I also am a student of history and know what it was like in America before unions. It was worse than not good. I have personally received a healthy payout when my teacher's union caught the chancellor cheating on our paychecks, took him to court and won. (They are now pursuing another law suit.) There are two sides to the “power” issue.
As long as our democratic system prevails, one group is perceived to have “too much power” only when the balance is off. Which means one group is exercising more power than the power another group is able to exercise at the moment. All groups need a fair share of power, or there is no democracy. To bar any group from the realms of power is tyranny. In a democracy the unions need to have power to balance off the power of the employers. “Too much power,” like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I would acknowledge that unions have been known to exercise their power detrimentally at times (notably the prison guards in California). But the power manipulations of corporate entities, the insidious impact of private fortunes, and the culture of criminal unethical standards make the pretensions of union power look mild (I did not say innocent, I said mild) by comparison.
In a very broad sense, our country’s history is a longrun playing out of power competition. The reason the Madison,Wisconsin street protestors struck such a chord of alliance from “people” across the nation is because the issue rises above matters of budget crisis and unions. Who has the most to fear these days--those who feel their personal liberties are threatened by "big government," or the middle class 8-to-5 workers who recognize a loss of equality as the gap of rich-to-poor spreads? (See my recent blog, “How to Mis-Read the Constitution.“) Whether our nation is in a crisis of polarization or not depends on historical perspective. In my mind, Americans are engaged in a “power struggle” in a form particular to our generation, but not peculiar at all. It is the haves and the have nots, the meek and the mighty, contending for advantage. Democracy will always be this way. Can we make it work again for a fair and satisfactory resolution of conflict between private and public sectors as we have in the past?
The same competition in the form of “power struggle” between "the elite" and "the people" is rising to the surface throughout Africa and the Middle East. In the African and Arab countries where dictators have been ruling, the "people" are feeling a new solidarity, which was hard to enliven without the kind of instant technological communication now available. In the U.S. the difference is that we have a democratic system already in place, and the competition for power is nothing new. It has taken on different faces at different times, but it was there from the beginning---at least from when the federalists and anti-federalists sparred over the new Constitution in the late 1780s.
Today, in Wisconsin, it carries the features of Tea Party sympathizers versus the unions, but world-wide it is the tyrants against the “people.” Our democracy was birthed in this very same game. We have always wanted to be an example to other nations of the worth of our young democracy. Shall we mischaracterize and give up the game just when other peoples are feeling courageous enough to follow our “spirit of ’76” ?
Long live the people.
Labels: Power struggle, Scott Walker, Tea Party, Tyranny, Union busting, We the People, Wisconsin budget crisis
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