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TRASHING THE AMERICAN DREAM
Workers did form the first successful unions when
Jefferson was President. They organized in support of their
basic needs. Then and now, unions are tools for workers in their
pursuit of the American dream. Capitalists are always eager to
give unions and workers just and only enough to maintain their
pursuit and temporarily appease their needs; as soon as they
give a little, the capitalists begin plans to recoup losses and
maneuver toward even greater profits at the expense of the
workers.
They have taken untold millions that they never
toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single
wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power; gain our freedom
when we learn
That the Union makes us strong.
(from ‘Solidarity Forever’ by Ralph Chaplin)
BY BARBARA DARBY
In the beginning the upper class had the American
dream. They knew they could build a wonderful life for them
selves if they just had someone else to carry the burden of
building it. All may have the dream but only so many can have
it be true. Capitalism is fundamentally flawed at giving every
one the American dream; you need to claim the top of the
mountain by standing on someone’s else’s shoulders.
When Columbus, and later other Europeans, came to
this country they found that the people who lived here would
give them anything requested, and they would take it and ask for
more. The times have not changed, just the faces and names.
When the Europeans saw what the Indians were willing
to give to them, they asked for more — they demanded the
Indians bring them more gold and in the process they worked
the Indians to death. In the end the aliens took their gold, their
food, their land and their health. These European Christians,
with the support of their Pope, made laws that only they could
own the land, or they placed tariffs on land, encomienda, and
made the Indians give them the benefits of the land. They
forced other Indians to give the proceeds of their labor, drafting
them to use for ‘public works' — unloading ships, building roads,
transporting supplies, etc. Other Indians became commodities
for trade and were taken to foreign lands to work for others.
These deeds were not new to the Europeans: they already
practiced them among their own peoples, bringing indentured
servants and prisoner slaves to work for them for the myth of
freedom. When the Native American people lay waste from
exploitation and disease, the European Christians ravaged the
blacks in Africa to fulfill their lust for power and domination over
people. These chosen Christian Europeans released the seeds
of the American dream.
At this time it was the inheritance of most white men to
dominate over the races and women.This domination still affects
our society today. Even after the Revolution and a new country
formed in the pursuit of freedom, it was only a select few that
were allowed privilege.
Throughout the history of the new and democratic nation
it has remained that some attained the dream and most did not.
Those who could not achieve the dream were called lazy by the
hypocrisy of the rich, but indeed this was not so. The cause in
fact was that citizens were separated into two classes, capitalists
who own the economy and workers who sell their labor for profit.
When there were not enough American workers to sell their
labor, the capitalists invited more Europeans seeking adventure
or fleeing oppression to labor for the capitalists' best interests.
New citizens historically were demeaned because of their
poverty, color, nationality, political ideas, gender, and sexual
orientation, and not permitted for these reasons to participate in
the great American dream.
The workers did try however, and many attained all
or a portion of the dream for their families and children. Many
climbed there on the backs of fellow workers or were smart
enough to skirt around the others and become among the first
in line. Religious superiority and native nationality claimed the
prize for others This led to the fallacy that if one works hard
enough s/he might obtain the prize, The Great American Dream.
The labor union movement is the history of the struggle to attain
the dream, and many times the spirit of the laborer felt the
beginnings of appeasement.* When women were able to work
for half the wages of men in the textile mills, they and they
children sighed in brief relief as they toiled on for long hours to
•July 5, 2004 is the 70th anniversary of infamous “Bloody
Thursday" when San Francisco police shot two longshoreman
to death and wounded more than a hundred during the Great
Maritime Strike of 1934 All West Coast ports were closed
National guards were called into San Francisco which was
the strike's violent epicenter. The strike presaged the other
major industrial strikes of the 1930s, and the maritime unions
marched every anniversary of Bloody Thursday for many years
feed their bodies. In the early 1900s, when Andrew Carnegie
erected libraries across the land, steel workers who read and
spoke little English had no time to notice; while among capital
ists Carnegie basked in a spot of sun amidst the blackness of
the steel mills he created at his workers' expense. When women
went on strike for the right to talk at work, they probably shouted
in the streets then returned quietly to their places of work.
Setting the course for much of the fabric of the labor
movement and its relationship to the upper classes was the third
President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. A principal
author of the Declaration of Independence (“We hold these
truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal"), he
wrote and spoke other truths that defeated some of his ideals
for the emerging country. Such as, “None will work for himself
that can get another to work for him.” He also stated; “What a
stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man! Who
can endure toil, famine, imprisonment & death itself in vindica
tion of his own liberty, and the next moment...inflict on his fellow
men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more misery
than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose.” (1786).
“Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, of morbid minds; education
& free discussion are the antidotes." (1816): and, “I, however,
place economy among the first and most important republican
virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be
feared." (1816). Jefferson seemed to think that workers and
capitalists together could both attain the American dream; his
thinking was flawed.
Then the cycle begins again: “Live to Work, Work to
Live” and the American dream is still only for the few.
From 1792 when the first local union, the Philadelphia
shoemakers, went on strike, the union movement has made
strides for workers' behalf only to be struck down by capitalism
or laws designed for capitalistic gain. Since their beginning,
unions have fought for basic needs in order to attain their share
of the American dream; the right to form and join unions, better
public education, reductions in hours worked in a day, safer
working conditions, health care for themselves and families,
more equitable profitsharing, a socialist society, ability to
assemble without being fired upon, women’s equality, the rights
of children to exist without being wage earners, civil rights, a
wage equal to their cost of living, and unemployment insurance
in addition to other rights the capitalists take for granted in their
own lives.
Indeed, the workers succeeded and obtained some of
what they needed. Today we benefit from their efforts and do
indeed enjoy many of the things they struggled to achieve such
as more family time, unemployment insurance and a minimum
wage. Should we expect more from a democracy? Yes! Large
numbers of our citizens live below the poverty line while capital
ists reap the rewards by keeping them hungry and homeless.
Living wage jobs are taken away from citizens and outsourced
by capitalists and government for higher profit margins, while
American workers lose completely or must fight harder for rights
and benefits they have slowly acquired over years of hard work.
Unions get weaker because citizens have lost faith in union
power against massive deregulated conglomerate corporations.
Capitalists enjoy their corporate greed and have no concern for
workers who need to work to eat. Capitalists also push credit and
credit cards to quiet workers' need for dreams; this way they can
make gestures of giving when in fact they are taking.
This country had a dream but that was all it was. It has
long been trashed at the expense of American workers. As long
as capitalists place power and money over morals, and value
competition more than creativity the American dream will only
be real for a select few.
Our “democratic” society is today full of citizens left
disappointed, unhappy and dreaming for more at every level,
there is always someone who has more and there is always
someone who has nothing to eat. Throughout our history we
have been over 90% worker pawns and less than 10% kings
of capitalism. This is the nightmare called the American Dream.
By the way, it is more than time for a new dream!
Barbara Darby lives in Astoria. Her article “The Fight for
Food & Health Care: Who Loses, Who Wins & What is the Price
of a Smile” appeared in the May/June 2004 issue of the NCTE.
TRASHING AMERICA ONE SCHOOL AT A TIME:
PREPARING OUR CHILDREN FOR THE GULAG ECONOMY
BY SUSAN SKINNER
What is the connection between deconstruction of public
education and the destruction of American democracy? It lies
in changing citizens' perceptions of what local, state and federal
government is responsible for — and in reducing what we as
citizens expect from our elected officials. Follow the dots:
First, replace all other sets of belief with the pursuit of
profit. The dictates of the “free market” system spares neither
the planet itself nor anyone on it. "Efficiency" is the goal. Our
lives and everything in them are industrial “products” to be
bought and sold It's all about cold, hard, and immediate cash.
Traditions which give us dignity in the face of life's tragedies
become commodified and fall away. The future is not discussed.
It will take care of itself, or not.
Next, reduce citizens' expectations of what our govern
ment provides, and promote the idea that money is scarce. Hide
the fact that our tax dollars subsidize the continued shenanigans
of the thugs at Enron (still out there looting!), Halliburton, GE,
Bechtel, Monsanto and our own Andrew Wiederhorn. Perpetuate
the myth that rich people “climb up the ladder" on their own,
unassisted by public services like schools, libraries, and social
security, and that personal wealth at any cost is what we must
strive for in order to be true Americans.
Then substitute the promise of a decent education in a
neighborhood school with the threat of endless war against what
ever. Throw money at the threat relentlessly. Plant the seed that
education is a privilege for the wealthy that cannot be afforded
by those less fortunate, and water it with the idea that tax cuts
are necessary because money is in short supply.
Reinforce this idea aggressively, with our tax dollars, all
the while spending billions more of our tax dollars on starting
wars and arming all sides, in places like Afghanistan, Iraq/lran,
Israel/Palestine, China/Taiwan, etc., blowing up lots of weapons
so they can be built yet again, and killing and wounding a bunch
of kids who joined the military so they could go to college.
Keep spending our money on ridiculous pork-barrel
projects like the Star Wars missile defense program, “smaller
more usable” nuclear weapons, the Oregon Lottery and its
gambling addiction treatment centers, Columbia River channel
deepening, and Homeland Security troops to keep our docks
free of sturgeon fishermen while uninspected cargo ships cruise
by.
Open more prisons and take more prisoners (prison
labor is the growth industry in the U.S.).
Emphasize the idea that anything that generates imme
diate profit is good while schools, which require public subsidies,
are bad (not immediately profitable).
Make primary education “efficient” by removing neigh
borhood schools and warehousing little kids to get them prepar
ed for life in the brave new world of consumer lifestyles in our
post-apocalyptic theme park. Disentangle parents from children.
Increase dependency on busses and cars, further reducing the
possibility of outdoor activity, and make us even fatter, more
depressed and complacent. Decrease the likelihood that children
will learn to interact appropriately with different ages and kinds
of people.Fracture the power of intact communities and increase
the attractiveness of private schools and “faith-based" education
schemes.
Encourage cynicism and distrust of elected officials
by holding public meetings, presiding over hours of passionate
testimony, and then not even bothering to pretend to listen to
our concerns before you vote. Make sure that citizens know
how much they don’t matter.
Make public policy by fiat and then blame the people
for taking democratic action. Promote the idea that citizens’
concerns about the behavior of their elected representatives
are somehow divisive or violent. Discourage discussion.
Encourage apathy and disengagement. Urge unity.
Keep your eyes on the TV for further instructions.
Susan Skinner is a registered nurse and lives in Astoria.