From the books I have read, there is a fascinating bit of self-destructiveness lurking in many of us where we vote against not only our self-interests, but against our collective interest as well, in the name of ingratiating ourselves to those who we consider to be "successful". Lower income Republicans have been voting solidly against their own interests in some touching hopeful sop to the day their lottery ticket hits it big.TrollFromDownBelow wrote:Folks -
From the snippets I read, the workers felt that they really didn't need a union - who are we to second guess? If VW really wants a union, they will put their next plant in the rust belt somewhere.
I was a participant in a non-union HVAC company when the Teamsters tried to hand out literature for our perusal. I did not see much critical or personal thought in the violent refusal to consider the possible benefits of union representation, so blindly subservient were we to toadying up to our beneficent company leaders. Why, we were were competing against each other to see who could gain more favor in the eyes of the boss with the vociferousness of our refusal to think. Meanwhile, we had one unpaid week vacation our first year, two unpaid week's vacation up to three years, one paid and one unpaid week's vacation up to five years, two paid weeks from five to eight years, and three weeks paid vacation after eight years.
We were (NOT rednecks blah blah blah, Hippiewannabee) human beings trying to survive and call the situation as we saw it (the not-necessarily thought-out collective opinion was, better to stick with the known). And this is the way it is all around the country. There is profound misinformation being pumped out there by nefarious forces, and I just read this morning that the University of Florida accepted millions of dollars from the Koch brothers to endow their economics department with the following caveat: Charles Koch had to have hire/fire rights.
Tampa Bay Times
(Troll, I am making this point for our resident business champion)A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university. A foundation bankrolled by businessman Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State University's economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires promoting "political economy and free enterprise."
You may say, Hippiewannabe, "hey, he earned the right to hire/fire at a public university if he paid into it", and I say it is another nail in the coffin of integrity and the future of this country. You may piteously declare that I "excoriate the rich" and you would be so damn wrong.
I excoriate scumbags who may happen to be rich.
Colin
The prof's I had for my gen ed English and social science classes were of a more liberal mindset.