The Minion Class

“Attendance was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend the event.” Robert Moore, Chief Operating Officer for Murray Energy, said about the coalminers that claimed they were forced to attend a Romney rally. No comment was made about the cash contributions that are deducted out of the paychecks of the employees that go to the Mitt campaign without permission. Clean coal? I guess Murray Energy wants us to fall for it, so do the Koch brothers, but some of us haven’t forgotten about black lung and the dangers of the emissions of burning coal. Sorry voter’s, there is no such thing as clean coal. Sorry to Murray Energy, because they are a pathetic company that uses their employer status to force politics on their workers. This used to be against the law, and it still is, but how well can it be enforced when the workers are afraid to speak out over fear of losing their job?

Missouri, Utah, and Maine, want to lift child labor laws allowing kids of any age to work. That puts free enterprise at the top of the list for enabling kids to quit school, work for slave wages, and to lock themselves into limited learning situations. Newt thinks kids, even at 10, should work as janitors in schools in the poorest districts. Teddy Roosevelt pushed to protect the American children. He was a republican, but he wasn’t a republican based on the billionaire’s dollar.

The spin says we don’t need environmental protection, OSHA, or any other hazardous chemical protection. The Koch brother’s wanted to lift bans on certain pollutants even though they may be cancer causing. They are fined, repeatedly, for their pollutants, yet they don’t stop. They continue to buy judges and create groups that will satisfy their personal needs without caring who hurts from their creations. Know anyone who has suffered from cancer that lives by the nation’s second largest free enterprise company, Koch Industries? They fight to hide the dangers and the labeling of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, and we allow it.

Wages have declined and we are living with the division of labor close to that of third world countries. The conservatives whine about the 43 million people collecting food benefits, but they don’t realize the number of working poor who work hard only to bring in a minimal paycheck. No matter how many hours worked they still can’t reach the level above poverty. Food stamps replace what free enterprise stuffs in the pockets of their dinner jackets.

America set the stage. We stood tall in protecting our working class. We created groups to shield us from pollutants and unhealthy working conditions. We put emission controls on our cars to protect the air we breathe. We raised the bar on starving American’s, low wages, unsafe working conditions, chemical pollution, and environmental destruction. We stood tall and proud and told the world that our workers were respected. We were somebody, no matter what our job consisted of, we were proud American’s. We did that by and through collective bargaining. We created the working class, a dignified position, no matter if you swept floors or cleaned toilets, you were a valued employee.

Today, America no longer has a working class. We have the minion class. This class of workers has been forced to backslide and kiss the ass of the upper class. This class of minion workers is grateful to have any job in this economy. This is the class that will take us back over sixty years, without pride or self respect. We will remain stuck serving the desires as Fredrick Douglas served his masters and with just as much shame and disgrace. Though the real disgrace and shame should be launched on the shoulders of the masters, it isn’t, it’s passed down to the people, just as it was passed on to Fredrick.

Just look at where we are in our free America today. Murray Energy is demanding political support from their workers to a party chosen by the leader of the company. How much more anti American can you get? Aren’t we in big trouble when our employers have that kind of power over us? So many will say it’s an Obama lie, because that’s how it’s now told in the world of spin. The conservatives will ignore Robert Moore’s words, and all will be blamed on the liberal party, no matter what the real truth is.

I never thought I would see the day when all the years of raising the bar with higher wages and better protections would spiral backwards. I never thought I would see American’s reach down and compete for the lower wages of outsourced workers instead of being American and reaching for the top. It’s here and there are people embracing it. The new mindset is all about free enterprise and even those in the minion class, the ass kissing class, are voting for the rich to have the right to keep their money in their pockets. Have American’s been so brainwashed that they think of their contribution to these companies as worthless? Don’t they realize that without our working class the billionaires have nobody to fill their labor slots? Has the American worker become so discouraged that they have decided to live by the old adage: If you can’t beat em, join em?

If you haven’t noticed, free enterprise doesn’t care about our health and well being. They will make every decision for you, without your input. They will tell you how to vote and who to contribute to. They will take your earned dollar to fund their own agenda if that is what they choose to do. They will pollute our air and stifle the life of our children and grandchildren, because there won’t be any environmental group to protect them. Our own will inhale dirty cancer causing coal dust that is being sold as clean coal. Clean coal, what an oxymoron.  

Without collective bargaining rights our work force is doomed. It is these simple workers rights that keep us competitive. It is collective bargaining that keeps us from becoming totally dependent on our employers. No matter if you belong to a union or not, the wage you earn is directly linked to the standard set by the union shops. Once all unions and collective bargaining is dissolved, so is our pride and freedom in what was once known as the land of the free.

Vote YES to collective bargaining.

Till the next time, Peace

Pam