|
a cut of the profits directly, and/or with a fund to benefit them and their families (health care, education, low interest loans, etc). A co-op.
No more of this trading off benefits/salaries/cutbacks (1 doing the work of 3), in exchange for getting socked in the nose with outsourcing! Enough!
The rich are ripping these businesses off, then ripping them off some more. And when they do the "some more," that should end their right to do business in the US of A. Seize their planes, seize their hangers, seize whatever assets they have lying around, and give them to people WHO CREATE JOBS HERE!
This is not communism. This is COMMON SENSE. I'm all for trade and business. I think it's a deep human need--to make products, to create, to bring variety and innovation to people, and to enjoy the great human melting pot of cultures and ideas: the marketplace.
But what we have now with these monstrous, powerful corporate entities is NOT trade. It is not competitive. It is monopolistic and fascist. It benefits no one, except the rich few. It's a long step in our political and legal systems to get to the point where we will not tolerate these highly destructive predatory businesses. I'll grant that. And workers are often sucked in by short term thinking--the next paycheck, feeding their families, meeting their mortgages, keeping some kind of job. I understand that. We need a combination of strong grass roots organization and great leadership just to begin implementing COMMON SENSE. But the great leaders and grass roots activists of past labor and progressive movements have not let "impossible" stop them. We need to start thinking long term--and for the good of the many, and the good of future generations. We need to start thinking of sacrificing for the future, instead of immediate needs and instant gratification--because as long as we're thinking of immediate needs and instant gratification, the Corporate Rulers have us by the throat. Easy to say, I know. I've never been in a labor struggle. But I have been in OTHER struggles, and have a good knowledge of history, and also of what is going on around the world--for instance, in this awesome, peaceful, democratic, leftist (majorityist) revolution that is occurring in Latin America--in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua--and in fits and starts in Mexico. It is a rebellion against globalization--against these predatory corporate monsters that have been launched mostly from our shores, who are oppressing EVERYBODY. And one of the keys to fighting them--besides TRANSPARENT elections--is worker activism, worker coops, worker run businesses, workers' rights movements and demands for justice and equity in the use of the country's resources.
American workers need to wake up and realize that our Corporate Rulers are shitheads! It doesn't matter how productive you are, how loyal you are, how much of a creative contribution you make to the success of the business. They will screw you over! They are killing the "golden goose"--us, the loyal, productive, creative, tax-paying American work force. We have more in common with the poor of Latin America now, than we do with any US corporation or with any of the foreign corporations that the current government is selling our country to. We are the "banana republic" now! And we had better get this through our heads before they crash the entire economy like they did in 1929. WE are the MAJORITY! We can take this country back--but not if we keep compromising our rights for immediate gain and immediate security--fast dwindling gains and fast vanishing security. The only way to stabilize our country, and restore our sovereignty as a people, is to understand who is really running it, and what they are up to. Destroying our sovereignty is their number one priority! And our right to vote--the mechanism by which we exercise our sovereignty--is the number one power that they had to remove from our control into the corporate fold.
Dismantling these corporate monsters--pulling their corporate charters, and seizing their assets for the common good--is not on the immediate horizon. True enough. Giant corporations now have total control of public debate and government policy. And proposing such measures may seem wildly utopian. But I assure you that it is not. It is what any decent government would be doing. Back in Teddy Roosevelt's time, Roosevelt promised to "speak softly and carry a big stick." The big stick was for BUSTING the "robber barons"--the giant corporations of that era. It was called "trust busting." The populist movement in California, back around that time, was all about busting the railroad monopolists, and creating good government, which stands as the champion of the poor majority against the rich elite. It may seem unthinkable. It is NOT unthinkable. And it could happen tomorrow, if we can restore our right to vote, and regain majority rule. Labor and political activism--creating and promulgating the policies of the majority--is also very important. Helping people think beyond what our Corporate Rulers will permit in public debate. Think big. Think boldly. Think about re-empowerment of the people.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
