Force of Labor

Imaage created by author using Dall E-3

Americans love to pretend they live in a democracy where voting and possibly attending a peaceful march actually matter. In the meantime a foreign lobby operates with total impunity, a sitting Congressman is being primaried into oblivion for insufficient loyalty to a foreign power, and the “middle class”, an anomaly in human history, is being dismantled.

Power concedes nothing without demand, demand backed by at least the real threat of action. Sometimes that demand requires shutting down entire cities like we see in Bolivia currently, the same way we used to do it...

Let’s rewind to 1934, America came closer to actual insurrection than most people realize. That single year saw three near-insurrectionary level strikes. Auto workers, truckers, and dock workers essentially shut down Minneapolis. In San Francisco, longshoremen and dock workers brought the entire city to a halt. Then came the national textile strike, 400,000 workers, the largest in American history at that point. Police and National Guard were deployed, things turned very violent, people died on picket lines.

But it terrified the ruling class, as they should have been.

The following year the wave of strikes had made legalizing union organizing unavoidable. The National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) passed, giving workers the legal right to organize. That same year, workers built the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) to organize entire industries instead of craft-by-craft. They turned chaotic, uncoordinated strikes into permanent structural power, power that changed the material conditions of millions.

Then came the real pressure, two massive movements emerged that terrified the political establishment. One, led by figures like Huey Long, had 7 million people demanding we cap personal fortunes and guarantee every family a decent income. Another movement, Townsend Clubs, had 2 million people demanding cash payments to every American over 60, the early precursor to Social Security.

Then in 1936 United Auto Workers pulled off one of the most brilliant tactics in labor history: the sit-down strike. They occupied General Motors plants, the largest industrial corporation in the world, and refused to leave for 44 days. GM capitulated within two weeks and recognized the union. There were then an additional 87 sit-down strikes in Detroit that year.

The next year U.S. Steel, the country’s largest steelmaker, signed a labor contract without a strike after watching what happened to GM, for fear they’d be next.

An exceptionally violent clash occurred on Memorial Day that same year, Chicago police opened fire on peaceful strikers outside Republic Steel, killing 10 (many shot in the back). Paramount actually filmed the massacre, but the footage was suppressed.

The success of the so called American middle class wasn’t a natural byproduct of capitalism. It was forced into existence through organized violence, economic disruption, and fear of the working class. Pressure that the government couldn’t ignore, so it began redirecting massive industrial profits back to the people actually creating the wealth.

By 1944 Franklin Roosevelt proposed a Second Bill of Rights, a genuine economic bill of rights that included the right to a decent job, a living wage, healthcare, housing, and education. He argued, echoing Thomas Paine, that anyone born on this Earth has a natural right to share a piece of it.

Unfortunately he died 15 months later, and due to the DNC swapping out Wallace with Truman, the Second Bill of Rights died with him.

Without constant pressure from below, the system always reverts to its natural state, upward redistribution to the already wealthy.

Today we see a U.S. Congressman, Thomas Massie, one of the few with the spine to question blank-check support for Israel, losing his seat due to millions of dollars from pro-Israel donors, including Miriam Adelson funding smear propaganda.

AIPAC and affiliated groups operate with near-total impunity, never forced to register as a foreign agent under FARA despite functioning as one of the most effective foreign influence operations in Washington. Israel can bomb hospitals, assassinate journalists, and operate with what can only be described as complete impunity, while any American politician who mildly objects faces political destruction, and increasingly any workers critizing Israel being blacklisted, or put on watch lists.

The contrast is grotesque.

In the 1930s, workers shut down entire industries and forced real concessions, while today Americans are expected to politely vote between two parties both owned by the same donor class, while foreign lobbies help pick which “representatives” get to keep their jobs and continue to send U.S. taxpayer money abroad to commit atrocities, while Americans go bankrupt due to medical bills and rising costs of living.

The Cold War propaganda campaign against labor rights and collective action was wildly successful.

Americans have been taught that working together for common goals is somehow un-American, while worshipping at the altar of “individualism” that somehow always benefits billionaires and foreign governments more than citizens is “patriotic”.

That propaganda needs to be reversed, ruthlessly.

The success of the working middle class wasn’t a gifted to the people from some enlightened capitalists. It was clawed into existence through strikes, occupations, deaths on picket lines, and raw political power.

If there is to be any semblance of it coming back, some basic economic rights restored, then the same methods that worked in the 1930s will be required again.

Sometimes, you have to shut the whole machine down before they start listening.

The question isn’t whether Americans still have the courage to force change. The question is how much worse things have to get before they remember that they do.

[embed]Religion and Politics at The Dinner Table - Medium Read writing from Religion and Politics at The Dinner Table on Medium. I'm a US emigrant who loves discussing religion…medium.com

[embed]The Great Man-Made River Massacre Fifteen years ago, NATO attempted to teach Libya, and by extension the entire African continent a very important…medium.com

[embed]Who Was God’s Wife? Are there still traces of her in the Bible?medium.com

[embed]Bolivia’s Puppet President VS The People I’m often annoyed with the average American, and how quickly they’re willing to be complacent with their bread and…medium.com

[embed]Miriam Adelson Few people who pull the real strings of power from the shadows are as brazen as Miriam Adelson, although not many…medium.com

[embed]The Epstein Files Purge Donald Trump who on the campaign trail promised to release the Epstein files and “expose the swamp,” has apparently…medium.com

[embed]Jesus the Seeker Did Jesus study Hinduism and Buddhism?medium.com

[embed]Gay Couples in the Bible A discussion of gay couples in the Biblemedium.com

[embed]The Inerrancy of the Bible Does a lie become true if told enough times?medium.com