This excerpt from Rush Limbaugh's Radio Show, featuring a call from blogger/troublemaker Mike Stark, is highly revealing of the right wing's aims with regards to labor unions. First we hear Limbaugh trying to stir resentment in his listeners against unionized public employees by listing many of the ways unions bargain with employers to increase the standard of living of their members.
Now let me ask you, those of you who are not members of a union, are you allowed to negotiate the length of your shift? Are you allowed to negotiate when you start and when you finish each... Are you allowed to negotiate your vacation schedule and time..and length? Are you allowed to negotiate your sick days? Are you allowed to participate in whatever the disciplinary priocess at your company is?
I think Rush makes a very good case why everyone should join a union, don't you? Of course the average dittohead, being trained to accept subservience to his or her
For me, the most interesting and revealing part is Rush's Orwellian rant against the word "worker" later in the video. Limbaugh's claim that usage of the term is some kind of communist plot is patently absurd of course, so what's really going on here? Rush is training his listeners to accept the notion, gleaned from the philosophical ramblings of twisted sociopath Ayn Rand, that business owners are the only true workers. This philosophy is authoritarian to the core. Employment is not a contract between equals but an act of charity bestowed upon you by the sole creators of wealth, the bosses. Worker benefits such as insurance and retirement security are not the right of everyone who works, but a reward to be meted out or taken away by employers at their own discretion.
This is what conservatism is all about, folks: Making sure the unwashed masses know their place. Judging by some of the comments I've read about the happenings in Wisconsin, they appear to be learning quite well.
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