by Frank Thomas
Did I hear correctly that Wisconsin passed legislation aimed at eliminating the bargaining rights of workers? If true, it’s clear the ultra-right is determined to turn America into a governing autocratic anachy with the common folk being common servants at slave wages to serve the viscious avarice of the Kochs and like company. If this isn’t symptomatic of the war being declared on working class Americans, then I don’t know what is. It’s the Republican game plan of shifting the blame, shame, and pain onto the middle-class for systemic economic breakdowns caused by the upper class. I’m very sad for my country!
That the money-influenced bought Gov. Scott Walker and his promotion of ending the basic rights of unions to represent workers as a way to reduce a state deficit he helped create is disgusting beyond words. The situation we have now of other crony Republican Governors humping this solution to structural deficit problems – whose primary origin lies in other directions – reminds me of the film, “Saving Private Ryan” in WWII. George Marshall initiated the assignment of an Army Ranger team to rescue Private Ryan since his three brothers had already been killed in battle actions. The code name given this very dangerous mission by the rescue team was “FUBAR.”
FUBAR meant, “F****d Up Beyond All Recognition.” This is exactly how I would describe the state of our governmental affairs today in handling deficits and a steady trend – that has been accelerating the last three decades (see my study of historical job growth) – of destroying and minimum-wage Wall-Marting of middle class jobs.
Wisconsin is setting a destabilizing societal divisive precedent of entrenching the upper 10% class that owns +85% of all wealth while placing all other blue-collar Americans in a fight to simply economically survive, and this struggle is only made worse without fair, effective union representation. Is this what thousands of Private Ryan common folk soldiers nobly fought and died for in WWII? An expanding Have and Have Not Divide making us all ultimately the LOSERS ?
People, including the President, will get just what they deserve if they cannot muster the courage to stand up to the monied-interests’ rape of our democracy by, among other ways, eliminating the average working man´s collective bargaining rights for obtaining a decent standard of living and job growth prospects. Until people unite and say, “Enough is Enough,” cannibalizing middle-class social nets such as Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid will be next on the ultra-right’s hit list. Gov. Scott Walker´s trampling on worker-bargaining rights in concert with job and benefit cut threats is just more nails in the coffin on America’s already sad state of social-cultural cohesion and equity for ALL citizens.
Yes, the right word for our current chaotic, brain-dead approach to “Saving Our Nation’’ and solving in a banking, fiscally and economically balanced, creative fashion (like North Dakota) the nation’s short and long-term structural deficits can also best be described as “FUBAR: F****d Up Beyond All Recognition.”
Benjamin Disraeli (British Prime Minister and Novelist, 1804-1881) long ago principally captured admirably our race to institutionlizing an increasingly morally corrupt, massively class divided society based on money and survival of the fittest:
"Two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws." "You speak of -- " said Egremont, hesitatingly, "THE RICH AND THE POOR."
Frank Thomas
The Netherlands
March 15,2011