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Wisconsin Awakens a Sleeping Giant
As Wisconsin's attack on workers spreads to other states, so does the historic uprising that began in Madison.
In one sense, the struggle over union rights in Wisconsin is over. It took some breathtaking, possibly even illegal, shenanigans (click here for details), but the union-busting “Budget Repair Bill” has been passed, signed, and celebrated. In other ways, though, the weeks of historic protests in and around Wisconsin’s capitol were just the first act of what may prove to be a far longer—and larger—struggle.
On Saturday, March 12, some 100,000 people thronged the Wisconsin capitol building to protest the state's attack on collective bargaining. (Photo by Eyton Z)
Around the country, state governments are targeting union rights, workplace protection, social services, and the ability of middle-class and working poor to have a voice. But, in large part thanks to the momentum of the Wisconsin protests, they’re finding it difficult to do so quietly. In state after state, the Americans whose rights and services are being cut are rising up against the decades-long shift of wealth and power to corporations and the very wealthy.
Wisconsin Moves on to “Phase Two”
The passage of Wisconsin's anti-union bill on March 10 came after weeks of protests, an extended occupation of the state capitol building, and the self-imposed exile of 14 Democratic senators, whose absence prevented a vote on the bill as it was originally drafted.
Following Thursday's passage of the Wisconsin bill, hundreds of students in Madison’s middle and high schools walked out to join those demonstrating at the capitol. Then, in the largest protest since the bill was proposed, an estimated 100,000 people filled the streets and squares around the state capitol on Saturday. The Family Farm Defenders and the Wisconsin Farmers Union joined the protests, bringing more than 50 tractors with them.
“This is the beginning of phase two,” Fred Risser, one of the 14 Democratic senators, told the crowd.
He was referring to a rapidly growing campaign to recall eight GOP senators who supported the bill; the Wisconsin Democratic Party reported yesterday that over 45 percent of the necessary signatures have already been collected. Because Wisconsin law only allows recalls of officials who have been in office at least a full year, Governor Scott Walker and other supporters of the bill are not yet eligible to be recalled—though opponents of the anti-union law are already laying the groundwork for a recall next year.
Other States Target Workers’ Rights
Though the weeks of demonstrations have focused national attention on Wisconsin, workers’ rights are on the line in dozens of states across the country, and workers are fighting back. Newly elected Republicans in state legislatures and in the U.S. Congress are pressing—and in some cases, passing—deeply unpopular measures that target workers’ rights to unionize and such basic protections as minimum wage laws.
The Ohio Senate has passed a bill that takes Wisconsin union-busting one step further, Reuters reports. The bill prohibits collective bargaining for nearly 62,000 workers and blocks 300,000 others (including firefighters, police, and public school teachers) from striking or negotiating about health care benefits. In Indiana, House Democrats, taking a cue from Wisconsin legislators, have left the state to prevent a vote on a bill that limits collective bargaining rights. Idaho has approved a measure to limit public school teachers’ right to bargain collectively. Michigan is on track to approve a law that would allow the state to break union contracts. And union dues or collective bargaining are also on the line in Iowa, New Hampshire, Kansas, Tennessee, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Washington, Alaska, and Arizona.
Nor are unions the only form of worker protection under attack. The Missouri House of Representatives has approved a bill that caps the state’s minimum wage, even if the Consumer Price Index rises, essentially revoking a law that was passed just five years ago and supported by 76 percent of voters. Seven other states are considering similar bills, according to the Progressive States Network.
Other proposed measures would cut deeply into education funding, public safety, health care, and infrastructure maintenance. These bills are presented as necessary in order to balance state budgets, but recent state and federal tax giveaways to the wealthy make that a questionable claim.
Undermining the Political Power of the Working Class
Instead, this may be an example of what Naomi Klein describes in her book, The Shock Doctrine: Wealthy elites often use times of crisis and chaos to impose unpopular policies that restructure economies and political systems to their further advantage.
And many of these policies are deeply unpopular with the American public. Recent polls show that more than 60 percent of Americans believe that pubic employees should have the right to bargain collectively; that states should not be able to renege on pension commitments to retirees; that the minimum wage should be raised; and that tax breaks for wealthy Americans are a bad move. According to a recent Bloomberg poll, one of the reasons that "Americans reject Republican efforts to curb bargaining rights" is that they widely believe that union power is "is dwarfed by corporations."
Of course, the proliferation of anti-union bills isn’t just an economic blow. Unions are a bulwark of political power on behalf of middle- and working-class Americans, a long-standing counterweight to the political influence of the wealthy. Not only do they give employees bargaining power within the workplace, they allow workers to join their voices to have some say in the political debate.
When union members’ economic power is weakened, so is their political voice—a fact not lost on those leading the charge against them. As Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, a leading proponent of the state’s anti-union bill, noted in an interview with Fox News, “If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.”
A Sleeping Giant Wakes Up
“If there is one good thing about this bill, it's that it has brought middle class workers together, made our unions stronger and our relationships closer,” Mahlon Mitchell, the president of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin, said in an interview with YES! Magazine.
Indeed, all over the country, the attack on union rights has awakened a dormant class-consciousness. “I think that what’s happening in Wisconsin is sort of Ground Zero for workers,” said Jane Cutter, a 47-year-old teacher who attended a Wisconsin solidarity rally in Seattle. “It’s going to drive down wages and living standards for all different kinds of workers.”
In the weeks since Wisconsin teachers and firefighters began occupying their state capitol, thousands of others have been inspired to make their opposition more vocal. Protests many times the size of the Tea Party demonstrations are spreading across the nation. Some are being organized by unions and their supporters; others, by MoveOn.org and Van Jones to “Defend the American Dream.” Still others are part of US Uncut, which is organizing flash mobs to confront corporations that haven’t been paying taxes. From Indiana to Ohio and Tennessee to Texas, workers are demanding to know why corporations and the wealthy get bailouts and tax breaks while teachers and steel workers bear the burdens of budget crises they didn’t cause.
One of the farmers who rode through downtown Madison on his tractor summed it up on his handmade protest sign: “Walker woke a sleeping giant.”
48 Comments so far
Show AllThe only things that stop the people from marching on Washing-town and achieving public control over industrial production and public policy is their involuntary participation in the elite enterprise of planetary rape/plunder and addiction to the resulting petro-opiate loot.
"President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.”
The reason Wisconsin farmers are having to drive their tractors into Madison now is because they sent an undeniable signal of approval to elites in 2008/2010 by voting Demok/Repuk in the elections. By voting Demok/Repuk the people undercut their own arguments and agendas. Such votes explain to the world that the people have no true self-confidence. Such votes explain to the world that the people's rhetoric is just rhetoric.
If the people would like to back up their rhetoric with resonant action, they may vote third-party candidates in the elections, and thereby undermine elite confidence and criminal rule.
Actually, such votes explain to the world just how dumb and uninformed many Americans are....
Voting does not control who is in power.
Sadly, if the democrats regain a majority, the will want to "look forwards, not backwards", and will pander to the minority GOP as usual, because they are too damn chickenshit to play hardball like the GOP does.
the author writes: "In one sense, the struggle over union rights in Wisconsin is over"
yeh in the sense that they - the fascists coke boys and their blowboy walker - won and we - the good guys - lost
yeh in that sense its kinda true
forgive me if i'm not that tingly waiting for phase 2 - whatever that is
if this writer hasn't figured out that our political system is dead - as in d-e-a-d - as in dead like a carp looking out one eye from the ice bin at the grocery store - then she doesn't know much
it is the fool who tries the same thing over and over and over again expecting a different result
we got whipped in wisconsin, we were whipped in pennsylvania and ohiop and kentucky etc
we lost
not to be dismayed the author taunts - just wait
for what - christmas
at least christmas will be here before phase 2 and at least its coming for sure unlike phase 2
the truth is this: whatever was done in wisconsin failed and failed miserably and we all stood by and didn't do much in the end
not to detract from what the good folks did - it just didn't add up to a hill of beans
anyone who thinks these oligarchs and billionaires give a crow turd about us is deluded
if you recall we all opposed the bank bailout - that didn't matter much did it
what started out as 700 billion has become 23 trillion and counting - instead of hanging them as traitors and criminals they now have the nerve to tell us we - the people who didn't get a dime - now have to "tighten our belts" and pay this shitpile off - at interest to boot
bluntly, and sadly, i say this: any country that would allow the 1% to conduct this rip off and get away with it scott free are worse than slaves
they are peasants
and this notion of trying to change the system that has turned its back of us is one for fools - the kind of fool who can abide getting ripped off for 23 trillion
phase 2 my ass!
how about: game over in chicago
meanwhile obummer is on yet another vacation working out his golf stroke
he's got his priorities down - serve the masters well and then go on vacation
This is how I feel too, but what good is it to mope in the meantime? Maybe, just maybe I'm responsible for the effort and the outcome is beyond me. But I do know by being willing, for the last 35 years, to be mocked as "an anachronism" that I have been joined by the formerly reluctant and that while "losing", we have gained self-respect, dignity, solidarity, plurality, and connectedness. It's not money yet, but it does make my life rich. And in the struggle, we have gained a strength for ourselves and others.
Well said. Actions like this are always a win, for the reasons you state so eloquently.
This was only the first step. There are many more to come. Don't mope, as you say, organize so that the next time - and there will be a next time because the opposition will not quit - we will be stronger.
You are correct - you are responsible for the effort, making a contribution and serving others - the outcome is beyond any of us as individuals.
You fought the good fight and inspired all of us. You have our respect, appreciation and admiration - forever.
Thank you.
Don't mope, organize.
I like it :)
Internet forums are all well and good, but you're either organized in solidarity with the the working class. or you're not.
Regarding the union movement in America, it has stagnated along with American industry. Obama's failure to enact, or even try to enact, Employee Free Choice is a flagrant betrayal of a "last chance" measure for American unions..
The only real chance for the union movement is to organize the undocumented workers, End NAFTA and other phony free trade deals, and get card check legislation passed!
Obama blew that last one.
"President Finkster announced another round of Bausterity today,,,
In Ludlow, workers were murdered. in 1914.
Workers were killed in the P&R Railroad Massacre of 1877.
UMW organizers Ginger Goodwin and Fannie Sellins were murdered, in 1918 and 1919 respectively.
I could go one, but I think you get the point.
By the way, many in the civil rights movement were beaten and jailed for breaking the law.
Popular movements always lose.
Until they win.
Unfortunately the sleeping giant that was awakened is a moron. I hold out little hope for the moron because in addition to being ignorant, the moron is timid. The moron seems to have bought into the myth that Obama supports him. The moron will applaud when Obama comes to Wisconsin against his clear self interest. His moron cousins in other states have awakened too. Obama wants the votes of all morons and he will get them because Obama is a moron too. Morons run the unions too. Morons on television promote moronity by supporting the moron Obama. There are far more morons in the U.S. than previously thought. Lift a rock and there's a moron! Mother Nature is attempting to eliminate the morons, especially the technological morons. The political morons have chosen to cencentrate in one area for self defence, Washington D.C. The greedy morons have concentrated near Wall Street and worship the big moron Greenspan. The Wall Street criminal morons are free from worry of jail because they are under the protection of the Washington morons. The military morons are off tilting at oil wells, while the priestly morons are fleecing their flocks and sexually abusing their children all while the moron political party is fanning the flames of moronity. While Sarah the moron is busy painting targets on straight people, Michell the moron is busy teaching moron history. It's clear that morons have permeated the fabric of American life and America is chief among moron nations. The moron World Order is emerging thanks to the Koch morons, the Rockefeller morons, the Bush morons, and the moron chimp. The ascendance of Morons is now unstoppable except by Mother Nature and the Mayans. A giant whirlwind of morons is spinning out of control. Education is an insufficient antidote to moronity as evidenced in the White House and the Congress. Unfortunately we are being swept up in the whirlwind of moronity and it cannot be mitigated. Moronity will fully express itself leading to the moron extinction event in 2012. Fortunately for humanity moron's make high quality fertilizer and my in death do what they could not do in life, foster civilized life on Earth.
Yep. Nothing like perspective.
The giant woke up and went right back to sleep.
The people of Wisconsin lost. They voted the creep in, bitching won't do any good. "Let them scream all they want", Walker said. He's right.
There's not enough BALLS for a general strike either, or even a recall of Walker next year. The people of Wisconsin have a lot to learn from the Bolsheviks and the French Revolution.
We may have stuff to learn from the Bolsheviks and the French Revolution, but I'm now a boring old dude who isn't excited by the prospect of multi-executions. If that's what we're coming to, I shall diffidently refuse to participate.
Read somewhere that Walker is busy scheming new "rules" to prevent recall. The good people of Wisconsin, those who insist on the consciousness of being "middle class" would do well to chuck this identity. Many working class folks lost their very LIVES in the struggle for workers rights and they had best get this straight. Timid actions simply will NOT do.
Exactly which "class" consciousness has been awakened?? Middle class or working class? Until the latter is awakened in all its glory there will be timid responses to the neoliberal wet dream. General Strike! We owe this to the many that DIED to secure workers rights!
I don't believe there is such a thing as "the middle class"; they're mostly working class (if they support themselves with paychecks rather than stock and bond dividends). The thing is the propaganda machine that many on this site speak of has convinced them that they belong to this mythical "middle class" so they don't realize that their interests lie with working class activism. It's "divide and conquer" at its finest.
Maybe the sleeping giant will not only wake up but look around.
As many of us as possible must go to D.C. during weekdays/workdays and disrupt the normal business of these corrupt, criminal, corporate tools in Congress. Three weeks of that might have an effect. See:
Occupy Washington to End the Wars by Nicholas Kramer -- Antiwar.com http://original.antiwar.com/nkramer/2011/03/15/occupy-washington/
"Official Washington effectively shuts down over the weekend as legislators return to their home districts to raise money while staffers from all branches of government spend time with their families. If you want to be noticed, you need to make serious disruptions in the normal flow of the rulers’ lives, and you need to do it while senators, representatives, and their staffs are busy performing the work of empire. These disruptions must be targeted directly at those who have the constitutional authority to end the wars and, ultimately, the empire."
"It is not enough to march on the weekend along pre-approved parade routes. It is not enough to write a letter to your elected representative every week if you are the only one doing it. It is not enough to sit down in front of the White House to be arrested. Given that the wars still go on, none of what we have done to this point is enough. Thousands of antiwar Americans will be gathering as usual in Washington on March 19; we must do more. It is time to remind our representatives exactly who it is that they represent and how we feel about what is being done in our names."
Absolutely. It is ridiculous to always hold these demonstrations on Saturday--no, Mondays would be much better. Also, Wall Street needs to de disrupted.
Speaking of general perspectives, this is as good (or bad) a place as any to recommend "'If They Can Get You Asking the Wrong Questions, They Don't Have to Worry About the Answers'
From Celebrities to Tsunamis" by PHIL ROCKSTROH*
________________________
Rockstroh is occasionally published here; maybe this one didn't make the cut because it's "too" verbose. But it's worth a read, and what's one more article in an already overwhelming assortment?
*http://www.counterpunch.org/rockstroh03162011.html
Oh, and let me add gullible and selfish..but please don't think i am being too negative.
rtdrury,
"their involuntary participation in the elite enterprise of planetary rape/plunder and addiction to the resulting petro-opiate"? Do you mean like my nieghbor down the block that "involuntarily" bought a big boat and truck and is now bitching about the price of gas?
The sleeping giant is suddenly waking up ? Get real. The "middle class" is more of an illusion and a guarding class for the ruling class and the lower/laboring class is still treated like dirt. The left is dead dead dead no matter how we try to say otherwise. And why do we keep using the word "shock"? I like what Naomi wrote but please drop the damn word. We're a lost soul country that has yet to open our stupid eyes let alone wake up. I don't think we have a direction or the right followup actions. Unless anything big pans out in the months ahead, it's safe to assume that we'll be back to the slumber pot of "business as usual". I hope I'm wrong and that today was just a bad day but all I see is rosy bs in this article !
Getting a segment of mostly low income voters to the polls has been monumental challenge coming from someone who has volunteered during elections. Many of them always point to the fact that voting is a waste of time and wont change anything. There has always been this misconception that GOP would never cross the line and some cut services that the most vulnerable members of society depend on.
I wonder if they will get motivated now that Republicans are targeting basic support services for low income like head start and healthcare for children. If what GOP elected leaders are doing around the country cannot drive them to the ballot, nothing else will.
"I wonder if they will get motivated now that Republicans are targeting basic support services for low income like head start and healthcare for children."
Sorry but the answer is NO. The Democrats or whatever independent left will have to motivate the voters or else the default GOP stays and that's a fact that won't change.
Those people know something that many here do not: voting does not determine who is in power. Voting cannot cause social and political change.
Voting is not merely a waste of time, it is a humiliation. People vote when there is something to be enthusiastic about voting for. People who push the electoral politics on people are lying to poor people when they claim there is something to be enthusiastic about. The fall back position is shaming and humiliating people. The first is asking people to have a distorted view of reality, the second is asking people to accept inferior status.
The wealthier people are, or the more sympathetic to the agenda of the wealthy, the more likely they are to vote. Wonder why that would be?
The implication in your post is that voting would or could make a big difference for poor people, but they are too stupid or ignorant to know that. That is false. They accurately see it as a rich man's game that always works to their disadvantage.
You're living an infinite loop if you can't be consistent. Voting shouldn't be thrown out. True, we have our work to do and some organizing too. It's fine not to vote if you feel that none of the choices will do anything to try to push some policy changes for the better but calling voting a "humiliation" is just plain stupid. So if I'm following you correctly, we should not vote and just accept the default status quo. What an idea ! Don't vote. Just protest, boycott, and strike but keep your bad bosses and leaders. Yeah that'll show them, NOT !
You need to read more carefully.
I said that blaming the poor people or pestering them to vote is the problem.
Following me correctly now?
I didn't see that on your post but thanks for the clarification. I don't believe in blaming anyone who doesn't vote but there's nothing wrong with encouraging poor people to vote.
You didn't see it on his post because it wasn't there. Tell those who organized the Blacks in the South in the 1960s that voting doesn't make any difference..
I believe in both voting and organizing and anytime both were done in consistent manner, victory followed. By the way, for once you're right.
Fighting for voting rights is one thing - which was part of a broad program during the Civil Rights struggle - while the question of whether or not voting can cause social and political change is another issue entirely
I would say that the ruling class has made sure that voting was irrelevant in response to the franchise being expanded. "Oh well, let them have the vote. We can't stop that. We will focus our energy now on buying the politicians and controlling the process." That pattern happens in all areas. So while the vote mattered then, it does not necessarily matter now. The position of the right wingers is " we gave them the vote. NOW what do they want?" and that is what people are saying (people who would never have supported the Civil Rights struggle at the time) when they say "tell the Blacks in the South who fought for the vote that the vote means nothing."
I could, and would, also say that "freedom means nothing" since in this country that is true, as rights and freedoms can be - must be - bought and paid for. They are available to people to the exact degree that they have money to buy them.
The rejoinder to that then might be "tell the slaves who escaped to freedom that freedom means nothing." But that would not negate what I am saying, and nor does the "tell the Civil Rights fighters that voting means nothing" refute what I am saying about voting.
Right again.
Electoral politics is meaningful only insofar as it is part of of the class struggle for social change.
I worked a little with Dems in NH in 2004 when Bush's wars scared me into supporting the Dems. I encountered elitist intellectuals, petty bourgoisie status seekers and the occasional scion of one rich and connected New England family or another.
No low income people were there and no one showed any interest in these people except as targets fora get out the vote effort. Campaign events centered around get togethers at one of the many fabulous houses of the Dem party stalwarts.
It was sickening, and I disassciated myself from the local Dems, although I did vote for Kerry, ughhh! It made no difference, but I knew that ahead of time. It's a choice between the naked iron fist, and the iron fist decked out in a silk glove.
Electoral politics is meaningful only insofar as it is *held within the context* of class struggle.
What we are up against is many liberals and Democrats who want to hold class struggle within the context of partisan electoral politics. That serves to advance the ruling class agenda.
By the way, I posted the excerpts from an IWW pamphlet mainly for you.
Thanks for the pamphlet post. I've read it a couple of times now.
"The fall back position is shaming and humiliating people. The first is asking people to have a distorted view of reality, the second is asking people to accept inferior status."
"The implication in your post is that voting would or could make a big difference for poor people, but they are too stupid or ignorant to know that. That is false. They accurately see it as a rich man's game that always works to their disadvantage."
We're awake now.
I was dismayed at first. My blood was boiling reading this ridiculous article wondering how someone could find any hope out of what happened in WI. I'm glad to see that my fellow CDers for the most part were not misled.
Revolutions necessarily involve violence to bring about revolutionary change. Nonviolence produces but moderate social reform. Even nonviolent civil disobedience requires dedication and perseverance . The duty of a civil resister is to provoke a response. One needs to step up one's tactics to a point that they cannot be ignored. That is true whether we're talking about violence or nonviolence. Marching on sidewalks, letter writing campaigns, using electoral recall processes, and the ballot box generally aren't tactics that require the forces of oppression to respond. Advocates of these tactics usually quote Gandhi and MLK to convince others of their views. Gandhian nonviolence was definitely more provocative in its time and had an economic impact on the British government which forced concessions. The symbolic protesting within the system's rules that doesn't cause a significant economic impact or create disorder which would force the system to respond. That's why I don't feel that the WI movement will ultimately force the system to at least enact reforms. A general strike among all unions public and private would have a definite economic impact and could force concessions.
Revolution would require violence. The masses are larger in number than the elites. The right to bear arms provides us with the ability to secure weaponry to fight back against the power of the state, when it ceases to represent the people in whose name it acts. People simply don't see that there is little difference between the US and Libya. We all live under tyranny. Here there is just a game of smoke and mirrors that makes us feel the illusion of choice, that meaningless choice between republican and democrat, when really our only choice is to continue to be ruled by a state propped up by corporate overlords. Why not violence? Is peace for its own sake, without social justice really a worthy end? Isn't is violence when people in a wealthy country die from easily preventable diseases simply for want of health coverage? Isn't it violence when people are turned out from their homes? We need to develop more of a revolutionary consciousness in this country and that begins by laying bare the nature of power and who holds it and who does not. I think we also need to get beyond the peace above all else mentality. If peace serves the interest of justice, then fine. But if justice and equality require more then so be it.
You could always organize a march/demonstration so long as it isn't bad weather and doesn't interfere with anyone's weekend plans.
You could always write more inane drivel, Ho.
I question this idea that "revolution would require violence." It would require militancy, yes. Violence would happen, yes. But violence happens every day as it is. Would it require more violence than the violence now used by the ruling class to maintain power? I think the answer to that is no, there would be less violence.
Therefore, revolution means less violence than submitting to the ruling class does. So, to say that "revolution requires violence" is false and misleading.
Could a revolution happen with no violence? No. But so what? Not rebelling causes violence, too, and a lot more violence.
You say that "one needs to step up one's tactics to a point that they cannot be ignored." Ignored by whom? The ruling class? What do we care whether or not they ignore us, unless we are trying to win favors from them? - "concessions" you say.
I would say that one needs to step up tactics for the purpose of winning power, not for the purpose of getting attention. You are proposing an odd mixture here - the subservient pleading stance of trying to get attention from the ruling class, while at the same time advocating violence. That is a recipe for disaster.
What I meant by not ignore, is something that the state and the elites have do do something about. A protest or rally with permits aplenty and which assidously does not muck up economic activity or disturb any ruling class interest does not force the ruling class to either crack down on the protesters or offer to make some concession. The kinds of passive resistance that do not force the hand of the ruling class do not produce any kind of change. That was what I was getting at.
I didn't mean to suggest that wrangling concessions would be a good thing to strive for. I actually would prefer more fundamental change. I think though that civil disobedience which does force the hand of the ruling class cannot produce more than moderate social reform (i.e. concessions). I think currently the situation in this country is such that even concessions would be difficult to get as few civil disobedience actions in this country hit the economic bottom line that would force the ruling class to respond (I also doubt that the ruling class would be stupid enough to use more than token force as that may be the spark of a real revolution) by enacting reforms (that panacea envisioned by Hilary and Obomba in re: Egypt and other middle eastern civil disobedience actions). I think there has been talk re: a general strike which would be the kind of civil disobedience action that could nonviolently achieve some reforms although it would still be unlikely to alter the prevailing power structure. It would be an improvement over the current situation.
I didn't mean to suggest that revolutionary movements require violence greater than that used by the ruling class. I think the opposite is likely to be true. That kind of revolutionary change would be to fundamentally alter the system itself. I think that necessarily involves violence because the ruling class will not permit such a change without a fight. If revolution was pursued, then one would not need to pursue merely concessions. That would be a fight for a restructuring of the fundamental system. I there are a lot of left leaning individuals that have been influenced by the idea that peace matters above all else. I think for there to be revolutionary change, that idea may need to be revisited.
I think the optimism in the Y.E.S. article is for a kind of unproductive movement that neither creates any social reform nor does it offer revolutionary change. It's just a bit of false hope for a world desperately in need of some hope. I just think this kind of article is counterproductive, because until it is laid bare how the people keep losing and the ruling class keep gaining despite symbolic protest efforts, nothing is going to change.
Very good. Thanks for the clarification.
I agree with what you say here.
(continued)
The Intelligent
When workers study conditions and get a true understanding of the essential points, they can neither be chloroformed into inactivity nor carried away by half-baked theories. They do their own thinking instead of trusting to politicians or would-be leaders to do it for them. The science of economics gives the key to the understanding of conditions. Economics is the science which has to do with satisfying the material needs of man--with the production and distribution of wealth. Wealth is any form of natural resources adapted by labor to suit the needs of man. All wealth is produced by labor, but it is taken by the capitalists, who give the workers in the form of wages just enough to keep them in working condition and to reproduce their kind. The capitalists own the natural resources and machinery of production. Two percent of the population--the big capitalists--own sixty per cent of the wealth, while sixty-five per cent--the workers--own only five per cent. The capitalists live in luxury and extravagance never before heard of in the history of the world. They control government and all institutions of society by means of their wealth; they get their wealth by means of controlling the job, the source of all wealth; and they control the job because they are organized. Being comparatively few in numbers, it was easier for them to organize than for workers. Consequently they have organized first, and, as long as the workers remain unorganized, there is none able to dispute their power. By controlling industry, they control the means of producing all the necessaries of life--all that satisfies the material needs of man. Their power is economic. In their hands they hold the meal ticket of the world. Economic power is the basis of political, military, and all other forms of social power.
As long as the capitalists retain control of industry, nothing can break their power. Governments bow to them, courts hasten to do their bidding, politicians grovel at their feet, editors color the news and distort facts in their interest, the heads of great universities tremble at their slightest frown, and "dignitaries" of the church, with an eye to donations, fawn upon them as the embodiment of all that is divine on earth. They control all these elements of society by means of their wealth, and they get their wealth by virtue of their control of industry--the job. Therefore, control of industry by the employing class is the root of the tree of capitalism. Servile governments, corrupt courts, lying press, traitorous politicians and prostitute "educators" are only branches. It is useless to trim the branches or cut them off, for as long as the root is functioning, new branches will grow. The only way to abolish capitalism is to strike at the root, and thus kill the tree by cutting off the sources of its nourishment. This is radical action and it is the only radical action. The word "radical" is derived from the Latin word "radix," a root. It means "pertaining to a root." Radical action means action that deals with causes instead of tinkering with effects.
Wow, what was true in 1924 still rings with truth and poignancy today. Nice post.
I am afraid that almost all of the posts here range from "the dumb" category to "the half baked" category. All of the delusions he lists in those two categories get expressed here on a daily basis.
(continued)
The Half-Baked
If they misunderstand conditions to the extent of believing that, although wages are too low and hours too long, still the interests of labor and capital are identical; if they believe in a fair day's pay for a fair day's work; that their officials should receive large salaries and should run the union; that it is alright to scab if you have a union card; that the boss should be a member of the union; that only the white race should be allowed to organize; that in union there is strength but the best way to get together is to split up; that the best way to keep their officials straight is to make them bankers; that "labor banks" can scab Wall Street out of existence; if they believe all this they will organize in craft unions.
If they believe that conditions are bad, that labor is exploited, that profits are robbery, that the rich are parasites but--that the workers have the ballot and can use it for their own emancipation; that "working class" politicians are honest; that the government can run all industry like the post office; that the only effective way to strike is at the ballot box on election day; that capitalism can be over thrown by a count of noses, or smothered by an avalanche of ballots; that a "working class" government can purchase the industries; that the capitalists will bow to a majority vote and meekly surrender their power because the workers wish it, that "comrade" capitalists are good capitalists and will do all they can to vote themselves out of business; that widow women with large families, who do washing for a living, should have free water; that capitalists and workers should get together to fight the capitalists and workers of other countries; that the way to organize is on the basis of political opinion instead of economic interest; if the workers believe all this, like a lowing herd they will swell the ranks of some so-called working class political party.
If the workers are dissatisfied with capitalism but have no faith in themselves or their class; if they want to be led by politicians; if they believe political action is no good but are unable to take any other kind; if they aspire to capture the labor movement or believe in "boring from within"; if they think they can defeat the military power of capitalism with their bare hands, with wagon spokes, fire crackers, toy pistols or fountain pens; if they wish to make themselves raw material for the fool-killer "on the barricades"; they are then excellent material out of which to fashion a tail for the kite of ambitious politicians who lack ability to secure a roosting place on the decadent tree of capitalism.
(continued)
From an IWW pamphlet, 1924
Understanding
Organization means getting together with a common understanding and a common end in view, and working systematically for the attainment of that end. For the workers to organize effectively, they must have a correct understanding of their position in society and of the conditions under which they live and work. If they fail to understand these things, they will either not organize at all or will organize in an ineffective manner. The effectiveness of their organization depends on the correctness of their understanding. The better they understand conditions the more effectively they will organize.
The Dumb
If the workers misunderstand conditions to the extent of believing that they are all free and independent sovereign citizens; that all men have an equal chance to become wealthy and powerful, or to enter the White House as president; that it is a man's own fault if he is not "successful"; that they would starve to death without bosses to employ them; that the employers pay them in wages all that they are worth; that the rich gained their wealth by honesty, industry, self-denial and close attention to business; that there are as many opportunities for advancement today as there ever were; that workers are protected by the law, and get justice in the courts; that the boss is their best friend; that the way to improve their condition is to work harder; that poverty is a blessing and work a privilege; that profits are the wages of superintendence; that all are workers and that there are no classes in society; that all agitators should be lynched; that this is the best of all possible worlds, and that they will get "pie in the sky when they die"; if they believe all this they will not organize at all.
(continued)