I was talking to a former supervisor who is now an HR manager at a global company

[TwixVoy]

I was talking online to a former supervisor of mine who went on to be an HR manager at a company called Invensys.

It was rather chilling to hear some of her comments she made to me. She found out I had been a union member at AT&T in the past. She went on a little tirade about how unions are a nightmare for her. She mentioned that she has to "keep an eye on" some of their manufacturing facilities for signs of union activity.

Really I found it rather sick... particularly because I know a bit about her personal life.

She basically makes middle class income. (about 70K) She lives a middle class life, and came from one of the poorest areas of this city.

Yet she has been conditioned to keep down other middle class people, and seems to bitterly hate them for trying to live a normal life outside of poverty.

Don't people like this realize they have a LOT more in common with the average person than the corporate interest they are protecting?

It seems to me that the corporations have mobilized us against each other.

I rarely talk about politics even on this site. Largely because I see it as a means to control the masses, and I don't for a moment believe any political party or politician has the best interest of the people in mind. (with few exceptions) All the "democrats versus republicans" debate I see as a distraction and mind game to convince the population there is some kind of struggle going on and that's why they are getting poorer and poorer..... because their particular "side" isn't winning... when in fact it's just a mind game.

It seems to me like we have lost our ability to organize.... and I mean REALLY organize.

Take a look at the "tea party" movement for a perfect example. These people truly believe they are an independent grass roots movement.... but it's pretty clear they have already been hijacked by the established powers in this country, and probably were from day one. This shows how easily any desire people have to organize can be broken and hijacked by the elite.

How many people even know their neighbors these days? If you are a black person and you come over to talk to a white person many of them look at you like you are about to stab them. They are playing us against each other.

I also believe folks in the middle east are not as backwards as the media wants us to think they are. They are 1984's version of the enemy we need to fear.... an enemy we really know nothing about. How many people know anyone FROM the middle east? TALK to anyone from the middle east? Are some of them nuts? Sure, but so are some of those from the west. There are billions of muslims, and believe it or not most of them don't wake up in the morning and think "Gee what kind of crime against humanity can I perpetrate today?"

It's clear to me that others are being setup as enemies of the people of the United States.... when in fact we need only look in our own nation to find our real enemies.... which I firmly believe are the corporations and the top 1% who control them and many other parts of this country.

I will be damned if I live in fear of whoever the MSM tells me I need to fear while these monsters at home force fellow humans in to poverty. Force people in to sex trade. Force people in to desperate situations. Play us against each other. Send our kids in to oil wars. Trap millions in to massive debt. Plunder our national treasury to further make rich the elite. And countless other crimes.

And I'm supposed to be afraid of the evil unions, billions of muslims who just want to live like everyone else, and whatever other scapegoat I have never even met?

Fuck that.

[napi21]

1. I had a discussion with a Corp VP about unions. In the end,

I told him that if a company treats it's employees fair and pays them a fair wage, they have nothing to fear from a union. IT's those who try to squeeze every ounce out of their employees for the cheapest cost are the ones who need to fear them because their employees feel abused! And THEY ARE!

I worked with quite a few people who were from the ME. All of them were very nice, and very good at their job. I suppose I'm the exception though. I think more people need to be exposed to MEterners in the work place where they can be skeptical at first, but learn they are not the enemy. The same holds for any ethnic group. Daily exposure finally shows everybody that people, no matter where they are from, are for the most part just people like you.

[Political_Junkie]

2. Exactly!

"I told him that if a company treats it's employees fair and pays them a fair wage, they have nothing to fear from a union. IT's those who try to squeeze every ounce out of their employees for the cheapest cost are the ones who need to fear them because their employees feel abused! And THEY ARE!" - That's it exactly, if they take care of their employees their employees will take care of them.
As to Muslims, I have many Muslim friends from work and they are very beautiful, sweet people.

[tabbycat31]

3. I have this discussion with my parents about unions

and I've just learned to give up

[Canuckistanian]

4. I wonder how much of a middle class there'll be in 20 years

Because there doesn't seem to be any abatement in the "financial cleansing" that is happening now.

From every aspect - wages, banks, credit cards, outsourcing, "Walmarting" and destruction and demonization of unions - they're succeeding in wiping out the working person's gains of the 20th century. With politicians aiding and abetting all the way (with a few exceptions).

It's a locomotive that's STILL charging full speed ahead. And until people realize how TRULY screwed they are - nothing will stop it.

[TwixVoy]

5. Try 5 years

I expect we will continue to bleed jobs....

[JNelson6563]

6. K&R

Well said TwixVoy, well said. :toast:

Julie

[undeterred]

7. 70K is 'middle class'?

[slutticus]

8. It depends.

In California it would be. In Texas, definitely not.

[Hello_Kitty]

9. Yes, it is. And I'm on unemployment and broke as shit.

When we start defining "rich" down to $70K, we are playing right into the plutocrats' hands. A person making $70K has more in common with me than she does with Bill Gates. And more people working and making $70K makes it more likely that I'll get back in the workforce and make $35K or, hopefully, more.

[w4rma]

10. Yes. 70K is middle class, no higher. (nt)

[raccoon]

11. Great post, especially this I totally agree with:

" Largely because I see it as a means to control the masses, and I don't for a moment believe any political party or politician has the best interest of the people in mind. (with few exceptions) All the "democrats versus republicans" debate I see as a distraction and mind game to convince the population there is some kind of struggle going on and that's why they are getting poorer and poorer..... because their particular "side" isn't winning... when in fact it's just a mind game."

Too many people view their particular "side" the same way they'd view their favorite football team.

[CoffeeCat]

12. As always, Twix Voy--an amazing post...

I agree that the left/right/conservative/liberal/Dem/Rep thing is a hollow distraction.

Look at what has happened with healthcare reform. The Democrats are in power and still, the
corporations win. The Dems wring their hands and tell us that it's so hard. They feign the
difficulty of passing healthcare reform, when the only problem is the Democrats and Republicans
who are preventing it---because they are in the back pocket of the big corporations who don't
want any reform.

The sides are a manufactured distraction. Right-wing-talk radio fuels the chasm that keeps
our country from uniting--and fighting back.

The tea partiers are being used by the corporations and those who want to destroy our democracy.
Glen Beck and the rest of the propagandists are spewing FEAR and HATE--which keeps a big brick
wall between us. Divided we fall...

[joeybee12]

13. Almost exclusively, I've found people who go into HR are not concerned

with their employees, but in pledging allegiance to their corporate masters. That's been my experience, at least.