What will unfold. The Tragedy of Failed Expectations.
Back in 2009 I wrote a blog called, “Social Unrest.” (SU) I spoke of the fear that SU stirs in the hearts of the ruling class. Now just 18 months later the world seems to be in the grip of an epidemic of SU. The present SU Scoreboard looks something like this. (This does not include the USA. I will deal with that separately.) Wow this is overwhelming and hard for me to believe.
The young 15 to 25 year old Tunisians, out of work and with nothing but time on their hands decided it was time to bid their their old Dictator goodbye. They succeeded and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is gone.
In Egypt the youngins have driven out their 30 year President Mubarak. In Libya the people have finally come to the conclusion that having a cuckoo, named Qaddafi running their country is a bad mistake. This does not in anyway help the youngins find a job, or career unless you are one of the few in the Dictators personal department.
In Yemen the protesters have so far managed to get seven lawmakers from from their Dictator Abdullah Saleh to resign and form a new opposition party, Bahrain King Hamid is releasing political prisoners. All are from the opposing tribal group including 23 Shiites. (Reminder, this whole part of the world is made up of thousand year old tribes that hate each other.)
Saudi Arabia. The US needs to be very careful as they are our major oil supplier. The Saudi Sheiks have given the Saudi people interest free home loans and sweeping debt forgiveness. That’s just to keep their folks calm and quiet. In Israel Netanyahu doesn’t know weather to cheer, cry or just pray for what all this means to his countries stability.
Back here in Washington the President and the Secretary of State are hanging by their finger nails trying to decide WHO THE F@%& DO WE SUPPORT AND WHO DO WE CONDEMN?
What happened that triggered all this SU? The jobs-career crisis in Tunisia reached the breach point. Millions of young people between the ages of 15 and 25 began to find each other through a whole new gateway for organized action. Yupp, I believe that the Cyberspace, Internet, Face-book, Twitter, Tweeter, and plain old E mail was the Paul Revere rounding up these out of work, out of patience out of money youth to demand a change. The organizing tool was simple. Lets all gather at the Central square in the middle of the city and demand a change in leadership. It was a perfect way to vent their anger at a very specific target. The dictator, oft times elected, became the rallying cry, “Out With Mubarck in with us.” Who is “the us?” That is the question.
Ahaa’ you got it. What does it mean? Egypt is the best example. As I wrote in my Egypt blog, the Country is and has been controlled by the Army. Mubarak served at their discretion. he left at their discretion. Egypt is being run by them now as it was before Mubarak as it will after Mubarak.
I Have spent a good part of my life in the front lines of SU. We understood the importance of having all your demands clearly spelled out. That required a well disciplined organization that could then guarantee the results of the change. You have to have a plan. Alas, that does not exist. This is true particularly in Egypt where the military holds all the cards. In some of the other places it’s a mixed bag. What have we learned so far?
SU, continues to be a critical element in achieving change. However for it to succeed in guaranteeing the desired change it requires some kind of well disciplined organization that will be able to take over the governance of the change or at the very least participate in its execution. I hope that will evolve.
The tragic side to all this SU is the stark reality that most of these countries do not have the resources, natural and otherwise to create jobs for all those young people out there in the City Square. Yes, there could be a far more equal distribution of the oil wealth for those that still have it. As in Saudi Arabia. That also helps increase the false idea that this oil gravy train gonna run on forever.Yes I’ll say it again. It’s finite. That's what the leaders in those oil rich Kingdoms continue to hide from the masses. Those youthful protesters are in for some real disappointment.
Coming soon the Social Unrest in the US. A horse of a different color.
PS. Abu-Dhabi is the greatest monument to human stupidity ever erected any where's in the world.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Unions at Another Crossroads
Back in November I wrote an open letter to Richard Trumka president of the AFof L-CIO urging him to take the lead in a fight to save the Unions from the coming right wing GOP onslaught against Labor. Sorry, but I never got an acknowledgment. Oh well. That part is easy to deal with. If only they had launched some kind of fight to save what is left of the Unions. Sad to say they have done nothing.
Scott Walker the newly elected Republican Governor of Wisconsin has drawn a line in the sand. He is determined to destroy the rights of Public Employee unions to bargain collectively. Incidentally a right won many years ago in Wisconsin.
What I find so appalling is the conservative right wing crowd use to decry the fact that there were not free trade unions in communist controlled countries. This was the ultimate evidence the they were not democratic. They use to say, “there is no democracy without free trade unions.” The GOP just keeps moving further to the right. This is what is going on in Wisconsin.
I must pay tribute to those feisty, brave, determined union supporters who have taken over the Capital Building in Madison. (Must acknowledge, it includes my son.) They have broken through the barrier of silence that has engulfed us since the 2010 election. They have made known the real intent of the right wing GOP crowd which is to destroy what is left of the American labor Movement.
It is precisely because of that simple fact that every Union leader worth their wait in salt ought to be up there in Wisconsin supporting their fellow Brothers and sisters who are out there on the firing line. The President of the National Education Association, Dennis Van Roekel is there. Where is Richard Trumka, Randy Wiengaten President of the Teachers Union. Andy Stein President of the SEIU? Yes and the leaders of the UAW, the Teamsters etc etc. Don’t they understand the very life of what’s left of the Labor Movement is once again being challenged? Don't they remember “Solidarity Forever for the union makes us strong.?”
Need I remind them of the turning points that continues to reduce the relevance of unions? Start with the Taft Hartley Law 1948. I wrote a pamphlet back then, “This Is Aimed At You.” "How the Taft Hartley Law is out to destroy the American labor Movement." The Union leadership with a few exceptions like, John L. Lewis President of the Miners, went along with the new law. (Trumka, Lewis should be your guiding star.)
At the end of the War the employers launched yet another attack on the unions. The Yale & Towne Lock Company decided to cancel its contract with the Machinists Union. The Machinists in NY Conn. and Mass. organized a General Strike in Stamford Conn. We stopped that anti union drive in its tracks. No, that wasn’t the end of the war against the unions. Just one more battle.
Then came the Traffic Controllers Strike in 1981. Reagan fired them and the Labor Movement just slept through the whole episode. Further decline of the unions. Now this frontal attack on the Public Workers right to collective bargaining. There needs to be a united response from every union in the land. This is aimed at all of them. If those folks in Wisconsin lose this fight it may well be the swan song of the Labor movement. That would be a great tragedy for American Democracy. Unions represent a critical countervailing force against employer greed as well as being a great equalizer. Without them we lose a critical part of our Democratic process.
The Wisconsin sit-in, sleep in, fight in, our heartfelt thanks, we are with you all the way.
Scott Walker the newly elected Republican Governor of Wisconsin has drawn a line in the sand. He is determined to destroy the rights of Public Employee unions to bargain collectively. Incidentally a right won many years ago in Wisconsin.
What I find so appalling is the conservative right wing crowd use to decry the fact that there were not free trade unions in communist controlled countries. This was the ultimate evidence the they were not democratic. They use to say, “there is no democracy without free trade unions.” The GOP just keeps moving further to the right. This is what is going on in Wisconsin.
I must pay tribute to those feisty, brave, determined union supporters who have taken over the Capital Building in Madison. (Must acknowledge, it includes my son.) They have broken through the barrier of silence that has engulfed us since the 2010 election. They have made known the real intent of the right wing GOP crowd which is to destroy what is left of the American labor Movement.
It is precisely because of that simple fact that every Union leader worth their wait in salt ought to be up there in Wisconsin supporting their fellow Brothers and sisters who are out there on the firing line. The President of the National Education Association, Dennis Van Roekel is there. Where is Richard Trumka, Randy Wiengaten President of the Teachers Union. Andy Stein President of the SEIU? Yes and the leaders of the UAW, the Teamsters etc etc. Don’t they understand the very life of what’s left of the Labor Movement is once again being challenged? Don't they remember “Solidarity Forever for the union makes us strong.?”
Need I remind them of the turning points that continues to reduce the relevance of unions? Start with the Taft Hartley Law 1948. I wrote a pamphlet back then, “This Is Aimed At You.” "How the Taft Hartley Law is out to destroy the American labor Movement." The Union leadership with a few exceptions like, John L. Lewis President of the Miners, went along with the new law. (Trumka, Lewis should be your guiding star.)
At the end of the War the employers launched yet another attack on the unions. The Yale & Towne Lock Company decided to cancel its contract with the Machinists Union. The Machinists in NY Conn. and Mass. organized a General Strike in Stamford Conn. We stopped that anti union drive in its tracks. No, that wasn’t the end of the war against the unions. Just one more battle.
Then came the Traffic Controllers Strike in 1981. Reagan fired them and the Labor Movement just slept through the whole episode. Further decline of the unions. Now this frontal attack on the Public Workers right to collective bargaining. There needs to be a united response from every union in the land. This is aimed at all of them. If those folks in Wisconsin lose this fight it may well be the swan song of the Labor movement. That would be a great tragedy for American Democracy. Unions represent a critical countervailing force against employer greed as well as being a great equalizer. Without them we lose a critical part of our Democratic process.
The Wisconsin sit-in, sleep in, fight in, our heartfelt thanks, we are with you all the way.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
On Abortion
"LATEST HIDDEN VIDEO BY ABORTION FOES SHOWS BRONX CLINIC OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD" Headline NY TIMES FEB. 10 2011
I intended to stick with Egypt but then this abortion thing hit me. Please indulge me this moment.
On Abortion
Nothing stirs my anger as
The “Live Action” whacko show at Planned Parenthood.
Make believe pimps prostitutes, children
Abortion for 13-14 year olds. No We don’t do that.
Live Action out to destroy Planned Parent-------.
They just don’t get it. Abortion,
A women’s body, her right to control it.
Long long ago a little boys mother
After the oatmeal, kissed him off to PS 34.
With an extra long hug said, “Neighbor will make lunch.”
Never ever happened. Never!
It’s the month of May.
Empty junk strewn lots. The North Bronx
A sea of wild flowers amidst the junked cars.
Skipped to school through the daises.
Three o'clock home, lunch neighbor still there.
Something is terribly, terribly wrong.
Try as she may, neighbor’s tears give her away.
“Everything will be alright, everything will be alright” she pleads.
A cold shiver of fear took hold of me.
Where’s my papa? Where’s papa? More neighbors appear.
He’ll be here soon, he’ll be here soon, he’ll be---- it died away a mumble
A shadow of my big papa comes home. No,
No hidden Hershey in the vest pocket.
In his arms, through his tears. “You will have to be brave.
You will have to be brave!
"Mother is gone on a long trip.” Where papa where? Can’t I go too?
Along our garden path, papa walks, bursts into tears.
The garden wall blood red from papas head.
A big man, rapt into a human ball.
Decades pass. Mama’s “trip” abortion alley.
Surgical tool, wire coat hanger. “Live Action” damn you!
Stupid bastards. Return of the back alley killers. Sorry,
I try to understand I really do. But my papa’s tears, won’t let me.
I intended to stick with Egypt but then this abortion thing hit me. Please indulge me this moment.
On Abortion
Nothing stirs my anger as
The “Live Action” whacko show at Planned Parenthood.
Make believe pimps prostitutes, children
Abortion for 13-14 year olds. No We don’t do that.
Live Action out to destroy Planned Parent-------.
They just don’t get it. Abortion,
A women’s body, her right to control it.
Long long ago a little boys mother
After the oatmeal, kissed him off to PS 34.
With an extra long hug said, “Neighbor will make lunch.”
Never ever happened. Never!
It’s the month of May.
Empty junk strewn lots. The North Bronx
A sea of wild flowers amidst the junked cars.
Skipped to school through the daises.
Three o'clock home, lunch neighbor still there.
Something is terribly, terribly wrong.
Try as she may, neighbor’s tears give her away.
“Everything will be alright, everything will be alright” she pleads.
A cold shiver of fear took hold of me.
Where’s my papa? Where’s papa? More neighbors appear.
He’ll be here soon, he’ll be here soon, he’ll be---- it died away a mumble
A shadow of my big papa comes home. No,
No hidden Hershey in the vest pocket.
In his arms, through his tears. “You will have to be brave.
You will have to be brave!
"Mother is gone on a long trip.” Where papa where? Can’t I go too?
Along our garden path, papa walks, bursts into tears.
The garden wall blood red from papas head.
A big man, rapt into a human ball.
Decades pass. Mama’s “trip” abortion alley.
Surgical tool, wire coat hanger. “Live Action” damn you!
Stupid bastards. Return of the back alley killers. Sorry,
I try to understand I really do. But my papa’s tears, won’t let me.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
On the Crisis in Egypt
I mean with all the punditry blah blah blahing on the 24 hour cable circuit I was really trying to stay out of it. Alas, I can not. The problem with the Punditry is they are all saying the same thing. Will Mubarak go, will he stay until September? Who will take over? What’s Obama doing, what did Hillary say? Yeah and what about the Israelis? I’m wading in because nobody seems to be aware of the CLASS STRUGGLE that is taking place in Egypt.
The whole idea of the class struggle got out of favor after Fukuyama wrote “The End of History.” The collapse of the Soviet Union would usher in the era of capitalism as being the only surviving system ipso facto the end of history. That would also include the end of the class struggle. (Pssst, also the end of Marxism.) It wasn’t long after that anyone who used the word “class” in politics was accuse of starting a “class war.” God forbid. Maybe it is this phenomena that now keeps otherwise intelligent people from refusing to look at the class content of the struggle in Egypt.
It has been acknowledged that a million and a half of young people 15 to 25 are unemployed with no chance of finding a job. There’s another million employed workers who are paid substandard wages. Jobs for women are almost non existence. Yes that’s why the street demonstrations have been led by youth. Like the “old man” said, “they have nothing to lose.” Then I started looking for, who are the major employers in Egypt? Wow, guess what I found?
“The army in Egypt is a great power, not only military, but also economic. The army is the main employer in the country , capitalist 1. The military receive contracts for the construction of bridges and roads, and for the production of gasoline and olive oil, and they own tourist hotels and hospitals. The military elite is an integral and important part of the corrupt bureaucratic system. (Sort of like our very own Haliburton but more so.) “And at the same time, in the eyes of the Egyptian people the army is is the symbol of “independence.
Remember Eisenhower’s warning about the “Military Industrial Complex? Guess what? That’s who is actually ruling in Egypt.
Wow! talk about a nifty setup for the military. No wonder they don’t want any class warfare. They are the ruling class who control the whole works. Yes, the production facilities, the infra structure, the roads, the sewers the water works. (Just like the Anaconda Copper Company back in Montana 1953.) How did it happen?
After the 1979 Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed it left the Egyptian Army with little or nothing to do. So, they went into business and they have been there ever since. They are the elite bunch who have sponsored and kept Mubarak in power for 30 years. They will now have Suleiman as the transition boss who will certainly make sure that the business interests of his army buddies is in no way disturbed. Now our leaders seem to have gotten the message. “Oh yes we have to give the Egyptian Government time to “transition.” This so called transition is pure Kabuki. “You are now with Mubarak and will transition to Suleiman.” Guess what? It’s the same old Army Industrial Complex that will continue to rule.
There you have a class analysis of what’s going on in Egypt. Will the removal of Mubarak make much difference? I don’t think so unless the demonstrators can get their stuff together and start negotiating some real concessions from the RULING CLASS.
That’s the problem when an unorganized band of angry people take to the streets without a well disciplined organization. In that situation what is essential? A clear set of demands need to be articulated. Leaders are needed, who represent the will of the demonstrators and can negotiate with the Ruling Class. Otherwise it will just be another brave effort that ends up leaving everything as it was before the uprising. What comes to mind is Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia 1969. Or the Shipyard workers in Gdansk Poland. They had real power and leaders to do the negotiating. That’s the lesson of history.
The whole idea of the class struggle got out of favor after Fukuyama wrote “The End of History.” The collapse of the Soviet Union would usher in the era of capitalism as being the only surviving system ipso facto the end of history. That would also include the end of the class struggle. (Pssst, also the end of Marxism.) It wasn’t long after that anyone who used the word “class” in politics was accuse of starting a “class war.” God forbid. Maybe it is this phenomena that now keeps otherwise intelligent people from refusing to look at the class content of the struggle in Egypt.
It has been acknowledged that a million and a half of young people 15 to 25 are unemployed with no chance of finding a job. There’s another million employed workers who are paid substandard wages. Jobs for women are almost non existence. Yes that’s why the street demonstrations have been led by youth. Like the “old man” said, “they have nothing to lose.” Then I started looking for, who are the major employers in Egypt? Wow, guess what I found?
“The army in Egypt is a great power, not only military, but also economic. The army is the main employer in the country , capitalist 1. The military receive contracts for the construction of bridges and roads, and for the production of gasoline and olive oil, and they own tourist hotels and hospitals. The military elite is an integral and important part of the corrupt bureaucratic system. (Sort of like our very own Haliburton but more so.) “And at the same time, in the eyes of the Egyptian people the army is is the symbol of “independence.
Remember Eisenhower’s warning about the “Military Industrial Complex? Guess what? That’s who is actually ruling in Egypt.
Wow! talk about a nifty setup for the military. No wonder they don’t want any class warfare. They are the ruling class who control the whole works. Yes, the production facilities, the infra structure, the roads, the sewers the water works. (Just like the Anaconda Copper Company back in Montana 1953.) How did it happen?
After the 1979 Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed it left the Egyptian Army with little or nothing to do. So, they went into business and they have been there ever since. They are the elite bunch who have sponsored and kept Mubarak in power for 30 years. They will now have Suleiman as the transition boss who will certainly make sure that the business interests of his army buddies is in no way disturbed. Now our leaders seem to have gotten the message. “Oh yes we have to give the Egyptian Government time to “transition.” This so called transition is pure Kabuki. “You are now with Mubarak and will transition to Suleiman.” Guess what? It’s the same old Army Industrial Complex that will continue to rule.
There you have a class analysis of what’s going on in Egypt. Will the removal of Mubarak make much difference? I don’t think so unless the demonstrators can get their stuff together and start negotiating some real concessions from the RULING CLASS.
That’s the problem when an unorganized band of angry people take to the streets without a well disciplined organization. In that situation what is essential? A clear set of demands need to be articulated. Leaders are needed, who represent the will of the demonstrators and can negotiate with the Ruling Class. Otherwise it will just be another brave effort that ends up leaving everything as it was before the uprising. What comes to mind is Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia 1969. Or the Shipyard workers in Gdansk Poland. They had real power and leaders to do the negotiating. That’s the lesson of history.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Another Decade for my Great Grandson
Soren the 1990s
Party time, “We Can Have it All.”
The end of a millennium
The Y2k problem hung ou’er our heads.
(Hang in, I’ll tell you later.)
I lived 83 years in dreams of utopia.
Soviet hope of socialism implodes.
Dream, each according to need.
75 years later with no bananas, no socialism.
In the end. nothing is what it seems.
NASA shot a telescope into space.
Hubbell’s picture of infinite vastness.
Creationists, “God did that few millennial back.
I’m with “fifteen billion year evolution.”
Thanks, Bronx Zoo Chimpanzee’s.
Had a quickie war in 92. Over?
Kuwait oil fields. No oil, we stall, kaput finished.
Dolly a sheep, got cloned. Made a perfect copy.
People someday maybe? Creationists go berserk.
“Only God can make a tree.” and a sheep.
Grandpa, can make furniture.
And the Y2k pendulum looms ouer our heads.
Crazies tried impeaching President Clinton.
He had a wee wee problem, where to stick it.
Lesson. “Think with your head not your wee wee.”
Astrology folk or such making ready
Millennium could be end of the world?
With Y2k thing waiting for the end?
Diana, world Princess dead, 100 miles an hour
In a Paris tunnel----- end of world sign?
Citizen, terrorist blows up Fed building. Oklahoma City
Timothy doesn’t like Federal Government.
Kills 168--- 19 children. Tim says, “Sorry-- collateral damage”
Yes Y2k? Computers all at 99. Ball Drops in Times Square
Goes to 00, “Wide wide, world goes down.”
Herr Computer, Ruler of our lives.
Internet is? Connective tissue.
Relax, Soren boy. 2000 comes. Ball drops. Guess what?
Suns up, coffee’s on the stove, life’s beautiful.
Livin in the 21st Century worry most
Every inch of Bountiful Planet being used up.
Might never be able to fix it.
The way your Mommy and Daddy fixed that
Old Rockin Horse from Great Grandpa Bob.
2011 up ahead. Hope The NY Times Makes it,
To 2012 grandpa be 95 by then.
Love, from your Great Grandpabob.
Party time, “We Can Have it All.”
The end of a millennium
The Y2k problem hung ou’er our heads.
(Hang in, I’ll tell you later.)
I lived 83 years in dreams of utopia.
Soviet hope of socialism implodes.
Dream, each according to need.
75 years later with no bananas, no socialism.
In the end. nothing is what it seems.
NASA shot a telescope into space.
Hubbell’s picture of infinite vastness.
Creationists, “God did that few millennial back.
I’m with “fifteen billion year evolution.”
Thanks, Bronx Zoo Chimpanzee’s.
Had a quickie war in 92. Over?
Kuwait oil fields. No oil, we stall, kaput finished.
Dolly a sheep, got cloned. Made a perfect copy.
People someday maybe? Creationists go berserk.
“Only God can make a tree.” and a sheep.
Grandpa, can make furniture.
And the Y2k pendulum looms ouer our heads.
Crazies tried impeaching President Clinton.
He had a wee wee problem, where to stick it.
Lesson. “Think with your head not your wee wee.”
Astrology folk or such making ready
Millennium could be end of the world?
With Y2k thing waiting for the end?
Diana, world Princess dead, 100 miles an hour
In a Paris tunnel----- end of world sign?
Citizen, terrorist blows up Fed building. Oklahoma City
Timothy doesn’t like Federal Government.
Kills 168--- 19 children. Tim says, “Sorry-- collateral damage”
Yes Y2k? Computers all at 99. Ball Drops in Times Square
Goes to 00, “Wide wide, world goes down.”
Herr Computer, Ruler of our lives.
Internet is? Connective tissue.
Relax, Soren boy. 2000 comes. Ball drops. Guess what?
Suns up, coffee’s on the stove, life’s beautiful.
Livin in the 21st Century worry most
Every inch of Bountiful Planet being used up.
Might never be able to fix it.
The way your Mommy and Daddy fixed that
Old Rockin Horse from Great Grandpa Bob.
2011 up ahead. Hope The NY Times Makes it,
To 2012 grandpa be 95 by then.
Love, from your Great Grandpabob.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Welcome To Social Unrest
Back in 09 I wrote a couple of Blogs about the roots of Social Unrest, SU. Now here we are with SU. shaking much of the Arab Middle East right down to its bones. Back in 09 I was trying to show how SU. can effect change. Capitalists were really scared when the masses took to the streets. It was seen as a direct challenge to the very existence of the system in power. Back then the underlying fear was over a takeover by left wing organizations to establish a socialist system of government.
In the case of the present Middle East SU. the issue is not a threat of an alternative system of government. It is primarily a notion that if we throw out the Dictators in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt Jordan and Yemen etc. somehow, maybe, things might get better. As my Tunis born barber says, “listen things couldn’t be worse.” That’s the threat to the long time rulers.
However there is a real domino effect here. If Mubarak in Egypt goes down the US. and Israel lose their major Middle East supporter. Remember we give the Mubarak government $I.6 Billion a year for him to be nice to us and our ally Israel. What happens if the street protesters chase him out of country? (He will find somewhere to live happily ever after on the money he’s probably got socked away in a Swiss Bank?)
Oh, man this puts Obama once again between a “rock and a hard place.” If he supports the very justified protesters he is undermining our old, maybe only, Middle east ally. If he even appears to be supporting Mubarak and his oppressive regime he will lose all credibility as champion of Democracy. So, he tries the tightrope walk. “Now Mubarack we understand the spot your in just, please don’t start shooting the protesters. That would be shades of the Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square running over student protesters. Yee Gods we don’t want that.
In case you haven’t noticed we are living in extremely volatile times. We now have many countries with emerging economies. They are the ones with a disproportionate number of young people looking for work. Their job markets are simply unable to absorb the millions in need of jobs. The anger of the frustrated gets directed at the corrupt dictators and their cronies. The basic problem however is the lack of a feasible alternative. That is exacerbated by the absence of any organized left
.
Here’s my “light bulb minute” (Thanks Miss Friedmen my 4th grade Public School teacher.)
In the good old USA it seems we have solved the above problem with the Two Party System. When the Dems are in power and folks get mad, ie The Tea Party Crowd yells, “THROW THE BUMS OUT.” Okay, in 2010 we throw them out. Maybe they even keep up their run and in 2012 they throw Obama out.
Hold on now. Comes 2014 the Dems.Coffee Party Crowd will yell "THROW THE BUMS OUT." And that's how the political dance of Tweedildum and Tweedildee came about. You’ve got to admit. For the Fat Cats it works pretty good. For an Old Geezer like me it remains a mystery why folks can’t see through it? My departed historian friend Herb Gutman would remind me how we suffer from “social amnesia.” Nobody remembers what happened two weeks ago. What happened two years ago? Ancient history, gone and forgotten.
In the case of the present Middle East SU. the issue is not a threat of an alternative system of government. It is primarily a notion that if we throw out the Dictators in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt Jordan and Yemen etc. somehow, maybe, things might get better. As my Tunis born barber says, “listen things couldn’t be worse.” That’s the threat to the long time rulers.
However there is a real domino effect here. If Mubarak in Egypt goes down the US. and Israel lose their major Middle East supporter. Remember we give the Mubarak government $I.6 Billion a year for him to be nice to us and our ally Israel. What happens if the street protesters chase him out of country? (He will find somewhere to live happily ever after on the money he’s probably got socked away in a Swiss Bank?)
Oh, man this puts Obama once again between a “rock and a hard place.” If he supports the very justified protesters he is undermining our old, maybe only, Middle east ally. If he even appears to be supporting Mubarak and his oppressive regime he will lose all credibility as champion of Democracy. So, he tries the tightrope walk. “Now Mubarack we understand the spot your in just, please don’t start shooting the protesters. That would be shades of the Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square running over student protesters. Yee Gods we don’t want that.
In case you haven’t noticed we are living in extremely volatile times. We now have many countries with emerging economies. They are the ones with a disproportionate number of young people looking for work. Their job markets are simply unable to absorb the millions in need of jobs. The anger of the frustrated gets directed at the corrupt dictators and their cronies. The basic problem however is the lack of a feasible alternative. That is exacerbated by the absence of any organized left
.
Here’s my “light bulb minute” (Thanks Miss Friedmen my 4th grade Public School teacher.)
In the good old USA it seems we have solved the above problem with the Two Party System. When the Dems are in power and folks get mad, ie The Tea Party Crowd yells, “THROW THE BUMS OUT.” Okay, in 2010 we throw them out. Maybe they even keep up their run and in 2012 they throw Obama out.
Hold on now. Comes 2014 the Dems.Coffee Party Crowd will yell "THROW THE BUMS OUT." And that's how the political dance of Tweedildum and Tweedildee came about. You’ve got to admit. For the Fat Cats it works pretty good. For an Old Geezer like me it remains a mystery why folks can’t see through it? My departed historian friend Herb Gutman would remind me how we suffer from “social amnesia.” Nobody remembers what happened two weeks ago. What happened two years ago? Ancient history, gone and forgotten.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Sargent Shriver Poverty Fighter
The death of Shriver at age 95 reminds me that our 1960s breed of anti poverty fighters are rapidly dyeing out. I never met Shriver. Yet he played an important role in my career. It was at Mobilization For Youth. MFY it was one of several big city experiments to see what kind of interventions might help Ghetto youth become gainfully employed members of society. At the time MFY was far and away the best known of those efforts. I came to work at MFY when a sociologist Professor at Brooklyn College asked me if I would be interested in running a work program for 4-500 Juvenile Delinquents on the lower East side of Manhattan? As a result of being blackmailed I had ended up working as a Chief Engineer for a division of United Shoe Machinery Corp.
After a brief Washington meeting with Bobby Kennedy, the Attorney General I had extensive interviews with the folks who were putting MFY together. After some tough bargaining about pay, that would be a lot less than I was making I took the job. It was a better fit for someone who had spent his working life in the Labor Movement. (I had been expelled 3 times from my union. A Guinness Record.) This time I would be helping Ghetto kids make it the world of work.
We were about 6-7 months into creating a series of workplaces, Gas Station, Restaurant, Print Shop, Woodworking shop sewing shop, construction, etc. when the Daily News made a front page attack. We were accused of printing a large Poster that showed a Policemen with a skull and crossbones over him. He had been accused of shooting a Black kid. Besides they charged that MFY was overrun with “commies and assorted radicals.” We were besieged with demands for people to resign. The City Administration got into the act be demanding the the Legal Aid an MFY Project stop organizing tenant strikes against landlords.(MFY Legal Aid for the poor continues to this day.)
We organized a Staff Committee to Save MFY. We raised a lot of money and declared “That nor single member of our MFY staff would be victimized as a result of the attacks. Now the real question was what would Washington funding source do? That’s where Shriver came in. I got a call from his office saying that he was dispatching Jay Rockefeller his I.G. to take a look at our Programs and report back to him.
The following Monday a tall skinny young man in dungarees appeared in my office door announcing he was here for Shriver to see what we were doing. “Can I just follow you around.” He asked. “Be my guest. It’s a public project with citizens money so I assume anybody can come here and see what we’re up to.” He said fine and we were off. He spent a week arriving every morning around 8. We had coffee, a bagel and we were off to the work sights. At each one of our operations he would wonder around ask the enrolees as well as the Crew Chiefs what exactly we were doing. Then he would ask the enrolees, "what are you learning?"
Upon realizing that he was a real "blue blood" Rockefeller I was duly impressed with his commitment and discipline n trying to understand what we were trying to do. In the print shop he made extensive inquiry about the alleged “Poster.” Of course we didn’t print it as we did not have the capacity to do so. Several times he would ask if we had any “printing facility in the basement.” My reply was always, “okay lets go look.” Of course there was none as we never had such a press. Our budget never would have approved it. We never would have printed such a poster even if we could have.
At the end of the week Jay and I retired to the local Bistro run by MFY. He wanted the answer to a few more questions. Most of which had to do with my background in the unions. We had a long conversation primarily about what the MFY type of programs could teach us about working with troubled Ghetto kids. With a warm handshake and a “Good-luck with all the great things going on here" he left.
A short time later we received a copy of a letter Shriver had written to the MFY Board. He said he was very proud of the work we were doing and held it up as exemplary for others to emulate. Sargent Shriver was a dedicated public servant. He would not be intimidated by all the Tabloid hysteria about reds and radicals running anti poverty programs. In his report Jay Rockefeller said, paraphrasing, “If we can’t have the kind of people we have at MFY running those work programs we can forget our anti poverty efforts.” He did eventually become the Senator from West Virginia. Shriver continued his own journey in making this world a little better place for the disadvantaged. He will be missed.
After a brief Washington meeting with Bobby Kennedy, the Attorney General I had extensive interviews with the folks who were putting MFY together. After some tough bargaining about pay, that would be a lot less than I was making I took the job. It was a better fit for someone who had spent his working life in the Labor Movement. (I had been expelled 3 times from my union. A Guinness Record.) This time I would be helping Ghetto kids make it the world of work.
We were about 6-7 months into creating a series of workplaces, Gas Station, Restaurant, Print Shop, Woodworking shop sewing shop, construction, etc. when the Daily News made a front page attack. We were accused of printing a large Poster that showed a Policemen with a skull and crossbones over him. He had been accused of shooting a Black kid. Besides they charged that MFY was overrun with “commies and assorted radicals.” We were besieged with demands for people to resign. The City Administration got into the act be demanding the the Legal Aid an MFY Project stop organizing tenant strikes against landlords.(MFY Legal Aid for the poor continues to this day.)
We organized a Staff Committee to Save MFY. We raised a lot of money and declared “That nor single member of our MFY staff would be victimized as a result of the attacks. Now the real question was what would Washington funding source do? That’s where Shriver came in. I got a call from his office saying that he was dispatching Jay Rockefeller his I.G. to take a look at our Programs and report back to him.
The following Monday a tall skinny young man in dungarees appeared in my office door announcing he was here for Shriver to see what we were doing. “Can I just follow you around.” He asked. “Be my guest. It’s a public project with citizens money so I assume anybody can come here and see what we’re up to.” He said fine and we were off. He spent a week arriving every morning around 8. We had coffee, a bagel and we were off to the work sights. At each one of our operations he would wonder around ask the enrolees as well as the Crew Chiefs what exactly we were doing. Then he would ask the enrolees, "what are you learning?"
Upon realizing that he was a real "blue blood" Rockefeller I was duly impressed with his commitment and discipline n trying to understand what we were trying to do. In the print shop he made extensive inquiry about the alleged “Poster.” Of course we didn’t print it as we did not have the capacity to do so. Several times he would ask if we had any “printing facility in the basement.” My reply was always, “okay lets go look.” Of course there was none as we never had such a press. Our budget never would have approved it. We never would have printed such a poster even if we could have.
At the end of the week Jay and I retired to the local Bistro run by MFY. He wanted the answer to a few more questions. Most of which had to do with my background in the unions. We had a long conversation primarily about what the MFY type of programs could teach us about working with troubled Ghetto kids. With a warm handshake and a “Good-luck with all the great things going on here" he left.
A short time later we received a copy of a letter Shriver had written to the MFY Board. He said he was very proud of the work we were doing and held it up as exemplary for others to emulate. Sargent Shriver was a dedicated public servant. He would not be intimidated by all the Tabloid hysteria about reds and radicals running anti poverty programs. In his report Jay Rockefeller said, paraphrasing, “If we can’t have the kind of people we have at MFY running those work programs we can forget our anti poverty efforts.” He did eventually become the Senator from West Virginia. Shriver continued his own journey in making this world a little better place for the disadvantaged. He will be missed.
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