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The Sponge
By Del Castle
Concentrations
of wealth is like a sponge. It soaks up anything it can reach. The rich, in
other words, are the
real "spongers."
The obvious answer to inequalities of wealth is to
squeeze the sponge. Unions are an organized direct
squeeze.
Hence it is not difficult to see the nature of class conflict. The sponge is
constantly striving to build
protective
walls around itself. Anti-.union laws, propaganda, spies, police and troops are
all part of barriers around
the sponge. All of these methods have been seen in U.S. labor history. This
conflict becomes sharper and
more violent as labor organizes more powerful and better ways to apply the
squeeze; and as the sponge
uses more powerful and violent protective
measures. It can be assumed that labor will eventually succeed
because it surrounds the sponge and represents the
majority. Its historical role according to Marx is to apply
the full squeeze. Welfare
programs are a gentle squeeze. A little wealth drips out and people are
partially satisfied. A social revolution squeezes the sponge
as dry as possible and wealth is shared. Many say "human
nature" being what it is, sponging is
inevitable New sponges will replace the old. This seems to have happened
in the Soviet Union under a bureaucratic command
economy. The
object and result of this campaign is to drive down the living standards of the
people. It is succeeding. The reports on decline in average
wages since 1973 is ample proof. The decline in jobs in all but low
wage service sectors is further proof. The
anti-union drive in industry is another move in the same direction.
Union membership has declined from 30 percent of
the work force to 12 percent. Most of that decline resulted
from massive downsizing.
Unemployment
is a further push to lower wages. It is not easy for employed workers to maintain existing wages when more and more
unemployed are looking for jobs. The so called global
economy incentive for competitive lowering of
costs of production adds further downside pressure. If all this is
combined with an available global labor supply, the future looks bleak for
labor and the people generally. If we
look at this picture in conjunction with its repetition in every industrial
nation, we can see a full
blown
disaster in the making. One has only to think of lowered living standards
on a world
scale to realize that disaster
on a scale never equaled in history is facing us.
This
colossal deception is another indicator of historic turn. It is an admission
that the system cannot, or
will not provide "a car in every garage and a chicken in every pot,"
as Herbert Hoover lied in the 1928
election
campaign before the depression of 1929. The present is to be a period of
"diminished expectations"
during which,
however, the rich will get richer. It is now commonly accepted that the younger
generation will be
worse off
financially - and environmentally - than their parents. The Balance the Budget
campaign is a cover for further
sponging by the ever greedy rich.
I am now into
my fifteenth year of retirement. It has been a new freedom. No longer does the
relentless time
schedule suck the life out of living. No longer do I have to do something
someone tells me to do, except in
family
responsibilities. Now I can devote my time to those things I consider important.
I have time for reading on
those subjects which interest me. I can write whenever I wish on any subject of
my choice - from political,
economic and
historical subjects to self examination. I can devote time to gardening and
exercise routines that I enjoy
ranging from Tai Chi and barbell workouts to daily walks with my dog,
"Pepper."
My health coverage is total
under the union contract. All in all a pretty gratifying life style - a life of
"longshore socialism." Everyone
could enjoy
it if we could only squeeze the sponge more fully. It is one that unionism
strives to gain for everyone.
Brother Castle, longtime editor of the Rusty hook wrote this in 2006. He
died Sept. 12, 2006
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