WE ARE ALL WISCONSIN

 FDR signing the
National Labor Relations Act, 1935

We work too hard.

Those of us who enjoy the right to work at all, that is. This notion was addressed in Juliet B. Schor's landmark 1993 book on the subject "The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline Of Leisure."


MORE SIMPLE TRUTHS

Those who read my last blog post, "THE SIMPLE TRUTH," will know what I mean when I say you don't even need to read a book on the subject to know it's been going on for a long time. It seems in so many jobs we're asked to work longer and longer hours, while "benefits" (such as they are in this country) are constantly eroding, salaries are shrinking, the minimum wage is a human rights abuse, and it's an employer's market. So if you dare "do an Oliver" and ask for a little more, it's straight off to the unemployment line for you.

Which is why we should be equally concerned about labor representation -- or the lack thereof -- in America. And recent events in Wisconsin show us that the worker doesn't have the whip hand, thanks to the incestuous relationship between capital/corporations and the body politic. Now, I've had my fair share of experiences with unions and I know they aren't perfect. But they at least give the working person a leg to stand on.

Of course, unionization is anathema to our faux capitalism and the money grubbers who make all the profits. To such an extent that corporations like Wal-Mart (a notorious example) will videotape and badger and fire their beloved "associates" if they even look like they're talking about forming a union. (Check out the DVD "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" for more on this and other delightful W-M practices.)


WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

Until we remove our faux capitalism and install a fairer, more meaningful, system of production and distribution, we should all care about labor representation. I'll give you just a few basic reasons from my personal experience and observations:

1/ Overwork affects your physical, mental and emotional health.
2/ There are social costs: less time with family and friends, for example. Less time to engage in chosen endeavors. Less time to do worthwhile work in your community.
3/ And less time to agitate politically! This is no accident. The people who own the system want to keep you busy so that you don't have time to cause them problems and take away any of their power. They also want to keep you scared. And who isn't scared of losing their job?
4/ We're losing basic rights, like the 40-hour week and safer working conditions, that came as a result of a great deal of struggle by a lot of brave people. (Which proved it can be done!)
5/ You're working your life away.


SUCKED IN

The many ladder-climbers I've seen who are absorbed by their careers, seem to have bought into the whole game and lost their way. They want to be promoted, they want to buy sexy things like BMWs and big houses, they want to have "prestige."

But to what end? Are these things even real? Really important? And what "progress," what greater good, is their energy poured into: Making more useless stuff for us to waste money on? Or, in the case of a company I worked for, Harrah's Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment), to get as many people as possible to gamble away as much money as possible. And all the good little MBA-owning execs would slit your throat (metaphorically) to top the sales charts and get promoted.

My "greater good" argument does not generally apply to nurses and doctors and others who provide essential services, and aren't just involved in selling crap, fantasies, or Wall Street's "funny money." Although they have their problems too. Furthermore, any privatization of essential services like health, education, the judicial or prison systems, or public safety is just plain wrong (as is privatization in general).These things are meant to serve society, not be profited from. It's a plain conflict of interest.

Pro-labor protesters rallying at the Wisconsin Capitol.

CONCLUSION

This is not an easy road. It can be a risky, painful one. I know this from experience. But corporations -- and other types of bully employers -- are just like any other bullies: If you let them shove you once, they'll shove you again and again. The light at the end of the tunnel is, as with anything, over time, things can change. Maybe for us, or maybe for our kids.

Think about where you stand and what you can do. (Go here to lend your support to the workers of Wisconsin on April 4.)

Take care,
Adrian

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at THE HYPOCRITES ON THE HILL -- LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

LET'S TALK ABOUT STRESS, BAY-BEE

I didn't go to work today.

I didn't go to work because I am so stressed out by the place and the continuing soap opera that plays out there that I just ran the white flag up the pole. The details pertaining to my particular situation aren't all that relevant. At the end of the day, I'm just one more person in the pandemic of work-related stress.

I don't consider myself to be a weak person. I started out in blue collar jobs at a relatively young age and got my hands dirty for many years before seeing the inside of a college. I know the value of a dollar and the meaning of hard work. I pride myself on my resilience.

But have you noticed how the working life has gotten harder and harder, as a general trend, over the past years and decades?

Why is that?

I think there are many interwoven reasons and one overarching one: The beast that is corporate-driven capitalism. I will lay my cards on the table and say up front that I am not a fan of capitalism. But even if I were -- or if you are -- anyone who has studied any economics at all knows that we do not have pure capitalism anywhere on the planet.

Is our capitalism driven by fair and open competition? No way. In the United States, the corporations with the most lobbyists in Washington DC win at will. Just think of it as another form of insider trading.

And all this guff about welfare to the poor being a waste of taxes and harmful to the economy and blah blah blah. Guess who are, BY FAR, the greatest recipients of taxes-funded welfare in the United States. Yep, corporations. The recent bailout of banks and various other crooks was only one of the more transparent examples of this. It's been going on a long time and the guys at the top know how to take care of each other. So if you're wondering where your hard-earned tax dollars go, better to look up than down.

The point about capitalism goes on and on but I promised myself I'd keep these blogs somewhat bite sized. So we'll come back to that another time.

So, "stress." If you work in the private sector, capitalism and the corporate culture have a lot to say about your stress level. (And even if you aren't in the private sector, you're still going to be heavily impacted.) This culture will determine your pay level, how much time you get off, your sick days, what you do for eight or 10 or more hours for five or more days per week. It will impact your self image, your self esteem, your family, your friends, your sleep, your entire private life. That's pretty significant, right?

No wonder we're stressed to hell. And hey, most of you reading this aren't living in the Third World: a chorus of countries that gets kicked in the groin by capitalism whether they like it or not.

If we are to feel fulfilled and happier and healthier, this all has to change. Simple logic. We need to talk to colleagues about how we feel (you'll find most of them feel the same way). We need to voice our complaints where and when we can: factoring in the risk of being fired, of course. We need to join unions if they are available to us. We need to read and educate ourselves on work, on our economy, on stress, on the institutions that dictate the shape of our lives (corporations, the body politic, the public relations industry and the media). We need to voice our concerns to these institutions and join public action/social change groups (even if only via the Internet). We need to take every opportunity we can to reach out and reach up.

This is not impossible stuff. Big things are changed by many voices and united actions. And if you share any of the concerns here you are NOT in a minority. You are the majority! It's just that the fat cats own most of the media so you aren't going to get any smoke signals about your partners-in-change from them. They like things just the way they are. And keeping the masses divided is the age old way to subdue them.

I have to end this here and promise to keep circling back to, and elaborating on, the various issues I've raised.

For now, here are three resources (of the many available) that might help you get started on joining the fight for a better world and feeling more optimistic:

1/ www.democracynow.org -- if you want the real news, you will get it here.

2/ "The Overworked American" by Juliet B. Shor -- a landmark book on, well, how we're overworked in the U.S.

3/ www.care2.com -- you can sign up here to get email bulletins about online petitions on important issues. So for 60 seconds of your time each day, you could add your voice to thousands of others on a critical issue and, yes, politicians do pay attention to these things. They love lobbyists but they also have to heed their constituents. Don't give up this power!

4/ Just about any book by (or DVD featuring) Noam Chomsky (pictured). Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest minds on the planet, his books are quite easy to read and devastatingly revealing. And many of them are quite short and in Q&A interview form.

I'll share more such sources with you in coming weeks. Perhaps you'd like to share some too by writing a comment with your thoughts on how to fight the good fight.

To end on a light note, the great radical comedian Bill Hicks once said: "Bosses. They're like gnats on a fishing trip." Doesn't go to the heart of the whole problem, perhaps, but it's a fun thought to roll around in your head on those days when work is getting you down and levering your stress up. (More on Hicks another time.)

Thanks for reading and I will try to pick up the thread started in my first post when I return here tomorrow.

Take care and onward!
Adrian Zupp