".... to honor those who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold"
Hmm. Eloquent sentiment that describes what wage slaves do to meet the needs of the Rich to feed their ever growing silk lined pockets.
No one can argue with those words really. Ownership in and of itself creates nothing tangible, physical, nor edible. All ownership does is create the focus of the energies of a group to one specific goal; producing the physical needs and wants of the larger group they are all part of. And for that, ownership grants themselves the largest piece of the reward pie. Fair or not, that's how it works.
I understand I am using broad strokes to attempt to describe the economic model we use in this country. It is not so straight forward as my first remarks might indicate. There are many influences, good and bad that can create or enhance the over all impact on the culture the economic system exists in.
The broad strokes though, in my opinion, fit into too many scenarios that have already played out many times in the past since Capitalism began its rise from the ashes of Feudalism during the Middle Ages. As a layman, former blue collar guy, and now, retired small business owner, I am thinking the failure of unrestrained free markets are as bad, if not worse than free markets operating under too many odious government restraints. The best results it seems, fall in the middle between the two, where Capitalism is the base system with a government that continues to rein in the worst excesses of the system. At the same time, The government does what it can to help maintain a healthy base economy.
A well managed forest will be more productive over the long term, than a forest cutover leaving nothing but stumps.
This weekend we celebrate the hard work of all the worker bees who built and continue to sustain the greatest Economy in the last century or so. A day only celebrating our workers isn't enough really. But like good worker bees, we take what we can get and go back to work on Tuesday.
My father once told me there is nobility in any type of work. Carrying one's own weight through the labor of their backs or minds is where the real pride comes from, as opposed to the false narrative that defines us through how much we own. As I said earlier, ownership produces not much by itself. Without a workforce, there would be no riches to own.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and please -
Keep it 'tween the ditches .............
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I thought I would search for a good labor tune. As I began my search, I remembered my favorite song of all time. "Willin", by Little Feat exemplifies my attitude towards work, pushing envelopes, and holding on. For me, "Willin" describes the the can do attitude of American Labor. It definitely described my attitude during the days I drove trucks over the road.
When I played it again, I realized "Willin" didn't dovetail nicely with the sentiment of the post. I will include it anyway, just because, well, it is my favorite song, ever.
To be more in line with the idea, the struggles, and promises our labor force has been part of, here is the original version of "16 Tons" as written and recorded by Merle Travis in 1947.
As promised, here is "Willin", a song that carried and sustained me through my years of pounding the superslabs, dodgin 4-wheelers and Smokies. It was the perfect finish to a precarious youth. I ended up having too much fun and finally got caught being stupid.
It was at that point, my life really began.
4 comments:
Labor Day for me is about a respect for the labor we workers engage in. But, especially for my manor of thinking, I pay especially strong respect to unions and union workers, and for me the unionization movement is, when it happens, the most important thing in helping to establish and maintain a strong, comfortable middle class in our nation. When the middle class is struggling, when the middle class dwindles to fewer numbers due to the “fat cats” then our nation is less than it can and should be.
PipeTobacco
Pipe Tobacco - Whatever people may think now, Union workers are the ones who created the huge middle class that has sutained this country for over 75 years at the least. They really came into their own after WWll.
I have been in a union. I was a Teamster for a couple of years. In the end, the local did not protect me from wrongful firing. However, rather than turning me into an anti union advocate, I realized that they did me a favor ultimately. I have never been a joiner or relied on anyone in the area of job security. Unions are a need entity in this country, their decline has certainly sped up the exploitation of our populous.
Now it appears unions may be on th erise again. That is good news for the country as a hole.
The thing about capitalism I don't understand is how the owners and management can be so clueless about how to grow the economy. They are always trying to squeeze as much money out of the workers and the poor as possible, when the more you pay the workers the more money they have to buy stuff!
"Trickle Down" means they are pissing on you. Money percolates up. As Will Rogers said, "Give a poor man a dollar and he'll spend it, but it will pass through several hands before it winds up in the rich man's pocket."
Kulkiri - Preachin to the Choir. When I was a mid- level manager in the transportation end of the recycling outfit I worked for, I felt the most important asset I had was my people, the ones that did the work that put the money in the Owner's pocket. He felt the same and treated all of us fairly.
When I became an owner of my small bike shops, my most important asset were the people I hired to help me.
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