As a result of legislation to destroy unions across several states and the continued attempts by Wall Street to wrest ever more wealth from what is left of the Middle Class, one topic that has entered the public discourse from alternative media and the left is the idea of targeted strikes or a general strike. While I believe the theory behind strikes would make them a potent vehicle for the vast majority to send a message to elites throughout this nation, I simply do not believe that Americans are disciplined enough to pull them off.
As he does every Monday, Chris Hedges penned another powerful essay, "Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand" this week. At the conclusion of this week's missive, Hedges quotes the great orator Frederick Douglass.
It is because of this lack of genuine understanding that I think a general strike would be doomed to abysmal failure. For one to work, it must be total and long-standing. It must bring the wealthy elite to their knees.
Unfortunately, with good jobs so hard to come by, there are millions of people out there who would eagerly and gladly cross the picket line, particularly those who have internalized the spin of the oligarchs against the notion of unionized labor.
Many who went on strike would lose their nerve and resolve if the strike lasted more than a few days as they have bills to pay and people to feed. I don't see any good coming from a brief strike as the elites and the media would quickly turn the majority of the American populace against the effort and, in 2012, the majority of voters would readily elect more Scott Walkers and Rick Snyders to obliterate what is left of organized labor.
And then, of course, there is the genuine threat of violence, both from some citizens and the apparatus of the state itself. Those citizens who already oppose unions would egg each other on to attack picketers and to create general mayhem. States would call out the National Guard and President Obama -- the man most responsible for the continued torture of Bradley Manning -- would most likely follow suit by calling on the armed forces.
While many European countries could pull off a general strike because their citizens understand class struggle and solidarity, Americans have grown too soft. We are left with few tools left in the bag to halt the onslaught that beckons at our door.
As he does every Monday, Chris Hedges penned another powerful essay, "Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand" this week. At the conclusion of this week's missive, Hedges quotes the great orator Frederick Douglass.
“The whole history of the progress of human history shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of struggle. ... If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. ...”I don't dispute the elegant words of Douglass or Hedges, but the sad fact is that most Americans no longer understand what true struggle entails.
It is because of this lack of genuine understanding that I think a general strike would be doomed to abysmal failure. For one to work, it must be total and long-standing. It must bring the wealthy elite to their knees.
Unfortunately, with good jobs so hard to come by, there are millions of people out there who would eagerly and gladly cross the picket line, particularly those who have internalized the spin of the oligarchs against the notion of unionized labor.
Many who went on strike would lose their nerve and resolve if the strike lasted more than a few days as they have bills to pay and people to feed. I don't see any good coming from a brief strike as the elites and the media would quickly turn the majority of the American populace against the effort and, in 2012, the majority of voters would readily elect more Scott Walkers and Rick Snyders to obliterate what is left of organized labor.
And then, of course, there is the genuine threat of violence, both from some citizens and the apparatus of the state itself. Those citizens who already oppose unions would egg each other on to attack picketers and to create general mayhem. States would call out the National Guard and President Obama -- the man most responsible for the continued torture of Bradley Manning -- would most likely follow suit by calling on the armed forces.
While many European countries could pull off a general strike because their citizens understand class struggle and solidarity, Americans have grown too soft. We are left with few tools left in the bag to halt the onslaught that beckons at our door.
I hate to say it, but you're right about this. After I started the series I'm on Chaplin's, "The General Strike" essay it began to become obvious to me as well that our culture is no more ready today than we were in 1933 to stand together with anything resembling a firm resolve.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the saddest part about it is that there is a growing minority among us who see (or are beginning to) that something is terribly wrong and needs to be done, but there aren't yet enough of us to make a realistic stand - and there may never be. I fear for my children's future.