Found my notes on recent Simpsons. Now and then they throw in pro-union stuff. And of course Lisa is intensely socially conscious. Season 34 Ep. 19 (2023.) Marge gets involved, too. Socially prominent people fund a huge headquarters for the Lisa Simpson Foundation and congratulate themselves at a very expensive banquet. It's ribbon infested 'blue washing' and tax deductions. Marge wonders why all this; the doctor's wife answers "we're raising awareness." Lisa asks"when do we help?!" Mr. Burns says "if we rich really wanted to help, we'd pay our taxes." The tag: we're a united way.
4/7/24 S35 E14 Night of the Living Wage For money to pay bills, Marge works at a ghost kitchen. They get min wage and are asked to give up overtime pay since it's a start-up. After finding out the owner is a billionaire, Marge leads a strike. Little of the media coverage is fair--one label calls her a "Communist psycho." After drones fail, the union workers are hired back.
I watched this. Something I don't do much since I read at least 2x speaking speed and would rather do books--where I can find references and arguments in detail. Besides, I write in the margins and often to the authors themselves. You and your two hosts were interesting because you understand one another and know the subject from first hand experience.
I also was involved with the Labor Party in Seattle 1996 because I witnessed how the Ds had dumped the New Deal and abandoned labor. I had given up on politics, returning to college (U of WA) in my late '40s botany major forestry minor but did take courses in political economy and labor history. An excuse to do a big research paper on what had happened aimed at the rank and file of the Labor party. It struck me that there was a disconnect between the old union people who took labor solidarity as a given and the young who'd never experienced that as a reality. And frankly, the same problem that unions faced in the '30s happened to the LP. The far left (whose actual names provoke instant fear) came early and stayed late. Also out-argued the less strident members. It's not that I don't appreciate that having a strong left wing keeps would-be moderates allied with workers since they need the support. I was trained by people who'd been '30s labor leftist organizers, my mentor's mentors. It's just that the '60s versions tended to operate on dogma rather than practicality. Plus I'm not the only one who resents the claim of vanguard, just another assertion of those who believe they're our superiors, like the elitist Ds.
BTW, in live broadcast you come across as heartfelt. While also a subtext of the book, it's really apparent in the way you speak. One of the reasons I take the time to comment is that as an acolyte, I want you to feel appreciated. It's one thing to argue from my own personal experiences. It's another to have mountains of data and reasonable conclusions yet few listen. It has to be frustrating; hell, it makes me want to cry.
I've been following Les for awhile, but really started to post comments after reading his book. I was a blue collar worker for 28 years and a local D campaign mgr. who fought the LBO of the D party by neolibs. As I graduated at 50, I was not very malleable and after grad school (an unrelated field) edged into being too old to be employable. Plus being heavily in debt--Boomer student loans are a thing. I ended up returning to my old maintenance skills and/or managed transitional housing and low income apartments. I saw what the healthcare workers and social scientists call "deaths of despair." Then ended up poor myself.
So from bitter first hand experience, I know Les is right. I also know that some of us workers can actually read, write, and think--my IQ didn't jump just because of hobnobbing with an allegedly better class. Of course it helps that my grandfather (a logger) was a Wobbly. The Pac NW familial attitudes run deep.
Found my notes on recent Simpsons. Now and then they throw in pro-union stuff. And of course Lisa is intensely socially conscious. Season 34 Ep. 19 (2023.) Marge gets involved, too. Socially prominent people fund a huge headquarters for the Lisa Simpson Foundation and congratulate themselves at a very expensive banquet. It's ribbon infested 'blue washing' and tax deductions. Marge wonders why all this; the doctor's wife answers "we're raising awareness." Lisa asks"when do we help?!" Mr. Burns says "if we rich really wanted to help, we'd pay our taxes." The tag: we're a united way.
4/7/24 S35 E14 Night of the Living Wage For money to pay bills, Marge works at a ghost kitchen. They get min wage and are asked to give up overtime pay since it's a start-up. After finding out the owner is a billionaire, Marge leads a strike. Little of the media coverage is fair--one label calls her a "Communist psycho." After drones fail, the union workers are hired back.
I watched this. Something I don't do much since I read at least 2x speaking speed and would rather do books--where I can find references and arguments in detail. Besides, I write in the margins and often to the authors themselves. You and your two hosts were interesting because you understand one another and know the subject from first hand experience.
I also was involved with the Labor Party in Seattle 1996 because I witnessed how the Ds had dumped the New Deal and abandoned labor. I had given up on politics, returning to college (U of WA) in my late '40s botany major forestry minor but did take courses in political economy and labor history. An excuse to do a big research paper on what had happened aimed at the rank and file of the Labor party. It struck me that there was a disconnect between the old union people who took labor solidarity as a given and the young who'd never experienced that as a reality. And frankly, the same problem that unions faced in the '30s happened to the LP. The far left (whose actual names provoke instant fear) came early and stayed late. Also out-argued the less strident members. It's not that I don't appreciate that having a strong left wing keeps would-be moderates allied with workers since they need the support. I was trained by people who'd been '30s labor leftist organizers, my mentor's mentors. It's just that the '60s versions tended to operate on dogma rather than practicality. Plus I'm not the only one who resents the claim of vanguard, just another assertion of those who believe they're our superiors, like the elitist Ds.
BTW, in live broadcast you come across as heartfelt. While also a subtext of the book, it's really apparent in the way you speak. One of the reasons I take the time to comment is that as an acolyte, I want you to feel appreciated. It's one thing to argue from my own personal experiences. It's another to have mountains of data and reasonable conclusions yet few listen. It has to be frustrating; hell, it makes me want to cry.
What a great comment. Thanks for taking the time.
I've been following Les for awhile, but really started to post comments after reading his book. I was a blue collar worker for 28 years and a local D campaign mgr. who fought the LBO of the D party by neolibs. As I graduated at 50, I was not very malleable and after grad school (an unrelated field) edged into being too old to be employable. Plus being heavily in debt--Boomer student loans are a thing. I ended up returning to my old maintenance skills and/or managed transitional housing and low income apartments. I saw what the healthcare workers and social scientists call "deaths of despair." Then ended up poor myself.
So from bitter first hand experience, I know Les is right. I also know that some of us workers can actually read, write, and think--my IQ didn't jump just because of hobnobbing with an allegedly better class. Of course it helps that my grandfather (a logger) was a Wobbly. The Pac NW familial attitudes run deep.
VW voted for a union today... there is hope.
Amen to that!!