This passage, extraordinary for its level of cognitive dissonance is a sign of how effective the half-century old screed against big government (aka in this case, public-sector unions) has been. The author here doesn't think to ascribe any responsibility to the companies which actually made the decision to relocate jobs to other countries (facilitated, incidentally, by the deregulation passed by small-government advocates) or to consider the implications of asking American workers to accept the same wages as their counterparts in countries where the cost of living is dramatically less (consumer prices including rent in the United States are 61% higher than in Mexico).
What's also remarkable in this symptomatic passage is the notion that unionized employees have caused everything from the erosion of our manufacturing base to our state budget shortfalls. As a point of comparison, consider Germany which has the highest degree of worker control on the planet since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Germany remains the 2nd largest exporter in the world behind low-cost China. They have six weeks of federally mandated vacation, free university tuition, nursing care, and childcare. For those pundits who decry the culture of entitlement that unionization fosters, it may be useful to note that the Germans equal or surpass us in terms of productivity, even though American workers work more -- 1,804 hours versus their 1,436 hours.
There's way more to it, and not enough time or space here to really get into it. The Geman standard of living is considerably lower than the American standard. I don't mean the quality of life, I mean the desire to keep up with the neighbors.
The Geman standard of living is considerably lower than the American standard. I don't mean the quality of life, I mean the desire to keep up with the neighbors.
Theres a huge difference between the two. I spent 8 years back in Suburbia when my mom became ill. It was a surrealistic experience.
A new lawn mower became a social occasion followed within weeks by several other new mowers. A new car in a driveway drew bets on how many others would soon appear. At first this was funny but by the time I moved on it had become somewhat sick.
In Europe people sacrifice "stuff" for time with family and time to actually enjoy life. At AT&T a retirement by a shop worker too often led to death within 2 or 3 years.
A good example of our priorities is The Home Shopping Network which for a fee will drop off new stuff at your door as often as you can afford it. I think investing in family, community and actual living bears better fruit.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
The Government provides for safe working conditions with plenty of perks.
Public Sector unions donate heavily to the Democrats to get them elected so the Democrats when elected will give them sweetheart deals. Where is the representation of the taxpayer?? I don't see much.
I don't think it is too much to ask for public sector union workers to contribute to their own insurance plan and retirement. Collective bargaining is a joke in the real world. As a whole, the public sector workers get paid a LOT more than private sector workers and the unions want more.
This country is in a mess and EVERYONE is going to have to bleed just a little bit to get ourselves out of it. What I think the Gov. is asking is more than fair.
"....free university tuition, nursing care, and childcare."
I think it is so funny how people keep using the word "free". They need to replace it with "paid for by someone else". BTW taxes are MUCH higher in Germany.
I also agree with the cultural differences mentioned. There is alot of materialism in the US which causes things to work differently over here..
there was no greed to affording the American Dream of buying a house and educating your kids.
Greed of the corporations created unions to begin with. Unions got us a 40 hour week, overtime and our weekends.
One flaw in Unions today is a response to a lawsuit the union lost. A POS worker was fired after several warnings and the union agreed the worker was useless.
The bum sued the union for not defending him anyway and won the lawsuit. Now unions feel forced to defend the dead wood and the good employee.
We need a Ombudsman for common sense in our law making process.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Why is it that our children can't read a Bible in school, but they can in prison?
I think you know the answer to that but dislike it. If Christianity was part of school equality under the law means the Quran, the Book of Mormon, the Torah and others would have equal claim to time spent on the bible.
Religion is for the church and the home, not schools. We had a perfectly nice Monkey Trial to settle that.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
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