We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, June 8, 2012

The Failure of Business Unionism

Click here to access article by Kim Scipes from Z Blogs.

It's back to the drawing board for Wisconsin activists.
Business unionism has prevailed for over 60 years in the US labor movement, since the CIO expelled 11 left-led unions in 1949.  By "business unionism," I'm referring to a form of unionism that only focuses on the wages, working conditions and benefits of their own members, regardless of impact on other workers.  (If benefits extended to non-members, that was ok, but that was never the intention or purpose.)  It is, quite frankly, collective individualism.  It doesn't care about others--it is the epitome of the "I've got mine, screw you, Jack" culture and society that predominate in the US today.
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