Quick Hits for Labor Day, 9/7/15

* - It's Labor Day, time for us to reflect on what our lives would be like if not for the work of the Labor Movement and unions.  We'd all be working today, starting at the break of dawn and working until the boss said you were done.  You'd be lucky if you didn't work seven days a week, as true ultra capitalists didn't care about religious doctrine in the age before worker's rights.  You got paid barely enough to get by, usually in credits at the company store.  You didn't get sick days, breaks, or overtime.  You didn't get a 40-hour work week, minimal pay, or vacation days.  There was no healthcare, pensions or retirement accounts.  There was no safety regulations, and no one mourned if you were seriously wounded or died while performing your tasks.  There was no retirement, or minimum working age either.  Eleven year olds were working next to 70 year olds.  You were a line item on an accounting form, next to paper, pencils and staples.   It was an employment system much more akin to a fiefdom, where one person exuded complete control over all aspects of the people beneath them, but, in America, it wasn't some ancient title which granted you such power, but money, buying off law enforcement, judges and politicians, ensuring your way of life was the only way of life.  And if you dared complain or get out of line, they took you out back and shot you, evicting your family from their house and the community after the funeral.

The 1950's were great (although we weren't dealing with minority rights and women's rights, something we still need to address today).  They were great because it was the Golden Age of workers rights.  Even the conservatives back then understood an equal tide raised all boats.  Since the 1960's, Republicans have been doing everything in their power to undo the workers rights we've earned in this country.  Looking east into Wisconsin, and seeing the nightmare worker's world created by Scott Walker, it shows how close we are to returning to a fiefdom system on the 1890's.  I believe in Democracy, I believe in fair and responsible Capitalism, I believe in fair wages and a fair tax rate imposed on all citizens, in all income brackets, and I believe in workers rights.  The only question I have for people who make less than a million dollars a year, and who continue to vote Republican, is why don't you?  The GOP's official platform is to take away your rights.  They use the frustration created by their own employment policies to whip up an anger campaign against 'perceived enemies,' all while eroding worker rights further and further, to the cheers from the GOP voters.  Happy Labor Day, and remember, if you keep voting Republican, it will eventually be renamed 'Hard Labor Day.'

* - Speaking of Republican history, think about World War II and how we look at FDR today, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, the war in the Pacific.  Even though we rightly continue to debate the use of nuclear bombs to end the war, the conflict itself is viewed as this noble cause, stopping the Axis powers on their quest for world domination.  In 60 years, how will we look back at the Bush administration?  We can point out 9/11 failures, Hurricane Katrina, obscene cronyism and the economic collapse, but to do an apples to apples comparison, lets focus only on the Iraq War.  The W. Bush administration started an unjustified war in Iraq, cultivating public support off the country's raw emotions from 9/11, costing thousand of American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives, trillions of dollars, completely mismanaged Iraq afterwards, due to administration arrogance and short sightedness, and destabilizing the entire Middle East, just so Dick Cheney's corporate buddies could have the greatest government funded payday in US history.  No one will fondly remember the Iraq War or the W. Bush administration's actions, but then again, maybe this is the reason conservatives are trying so hard to rewrite high school text books; to change the facts into something more GOP friendly, a propaganda technique the far right learned from Communist Russia.

* - I keep hearing from angry leftie guy about how Democrats are no better than Republicans, and how I'm part of the great misinformation machine because I endorse the Dems.  Please.  I've pointed out the differences between the Democrats and the Republicans numerous times.  To say they're the same is fool hearted, and a simpleton's mindset.  There are problems which have permeated both parties, namely the influence of Wall Street, but I'm sure if John McCain would've been in office the last 6 1/2 years, this country would be in a VERY different place.  That aside, I'm not against a third party, but I'll fall back to what I've said before about them.  Give me an option that's real, not something which might exist in four election cycles.  Give me something to talk about, a party that can compete nationally, not just for one city council seat, in one major urban city.  When you show me something, I'll pay attention.  And for the record, Bernie Sanders is running as a Democrat.  You do realize that don't you?  To imply the Democrats are a lost party, but then praise Bernie is purposely omitting his party affiliation in an misguided attempt at achieving hipster political uniqueness.

* - And finally, the Minnesota State Fair.  I was at the Fair for a long time yesterday.  I'll post some photos later today on the blog.  I love the Fair, an over the top celebration of all things Minnesotan, without getting too weird.  Sure you can get non-Minnesota elements, like deep fried gator and frozen Key Lime pie on a stick, but at the heart of it all is a true Minnesota experience.  There was a girl standing outside of the Grandstand yesterday.  She was the ubiquitous State Fair girl,  doe-eyed elegance, looking both lost and found at the same time, a ghost of State Fair visitors from my youth.  I recognized her, but not because of retro fashion.  Quite the opposite, her outfit was all modern, but it was what she represented that was timeless.  I turned back and she was gone into the mass of Minnesotans, a phantom to be spotted again next year.  I love the Fair.  Try the mint chocolate milk shake at the dairy barn (you have to ask for it), and gyros, walleye sandwich, deep fried pickles, fries, pronto pups and even a Sweet Martha cookie or two as well.

Have a great Labor Day everyone!