Unions & Allies Need A Plan

A number of months ago, a union member friend of mine and I were talking about the decision to try to recall the Governor of Wisconsin, Republican Scott Walker. We both agreed that while we certainly didn't like Walker, the recall idea was not a good one. It was overreach and it was made in haste and in anger. I certainly understand the anger, but these kinds of decisions need to be thought through. The whole thing was terribly misguided, as it used valuable resources of money and effort that will be sorely needed in this year's election in the fall. Walker's success has now put unions on the spot, although I'm not so sure as much as some people believe. At least let's hope not, but that remains to be seen.

Why did the effort fail? It wasn't because Walker's opponents didn't try. Many gave their all, but the recall gave conservative donors and groups a single target on which to concentrate their efforts. In most cases, and maybe all cases, unions and Democrats cannot financially compete with the kinds of financial resources available to the political right.* While Walker's opponents blame these huge sums of money poured into Wisconsin to save the Governor as being the reason, that's not the only reason Walker held on. You must remember, many, and probably most, Americans have only a casual interest in politics. You can say Americans need to pay more attention, stomp your feet, throw a tantrum, or whatever, but that's not going to change that fact at the moment. There are times Americans pay somewhat more attention to political issues, and perhaps this time Wisconsinites did so, but overall, recalls have a difficult time, as people do not want perpetual elections. If Walker had been defeated, the situation in Wisconsin would not have improved, as Republicans would have then targeted Tom Barrett, who was Walker's Democratic opponent on the ballot. The political battle would have then raged against him. People want some sort of peace and quiet for a while. My God, here in Ohio, a key battleground state, you can't put on the television for fifteen minutes without seeing several ads for both sides, and it's only June! It gets on your damned nerves, and I'm interested in politics. How do you think Ohioans far less interested in politics feel? And I can only imagine how relieved Wisconsinites must feel now that the recall is over.

The thing is, now unions and their allies need a plan to thwart the plan of destruction that has already been plotted by the corporate bigwigs and their allies, unfortunately some of whom are terribly misguided, as they are people of average means. Make no mistake about it, the corporate leaders and wealthy interests are moving in for the kill. The 2008 elections, the costly struggle over health care, the 2010 elections, the Wisconsin debacle, the fight in Ohio over collective bargaining rights, the coming elections, and other issues I've undoubtedly forgotten have all put a strain on the finances and organizations of America's labor movement, and of progressives in general. This is just what our opponents want, a battle on many fronts where progressive resources are dissipated. The sums of money being raised by the other side only goes to show that they DO NOT need more tax cuts. More tax cuts for the super wealthy lead to more donations to conservative candidates and groups, helping to elect more "tax cutters" and supporters of the right wing agenda, which, if left unchecked, will continue toward an out and out fascist-like system.

Progressive leaders of varying viewpoints, from unions to Democratic Party leaders to leaders of the "Occupy" movements nationwide, need to sit down together and work out a plan to combat those who will totally dominate the country if the labor movement goes down. Then no one will be secure in their income or benefits, including non-union workers, some of whom erroneously seem to think they'll somehow be exempt from cuts. Workers at all levels must be shown what can happen to THEM if the already rich and powerful become even more rich and powerful. Efforts must be thought through, with financial and organizational resources strategically committed to where they can do the most good. Running third party candidates will only serve to help the opposition. THINK! Let's NOT learn the lesson of disunity the hard way! Would you prefer a whole bunch of Scott Walkers in office across the country, including in the presidency? Progressives can't be "purists," but certainly a fairer society must be at the core of principles. Not everyone will always agree on every single issue, but if "fairness" remains at the center of issues, the disagreements hopefully can be limited to details, rather than to overall substance.

* Remember folks, the wealthiest 400 families in America have as much wealth as the bottom 150,000,000 (that's 150 million!). If you think wealth isn't concentrated in America, think again!

WORD HISTORY:
Plan-This word, a close relative of "plain" and "plane," goes back to Indo European "pleh," which had the notion of "flat, spread out." This gave its Latin offspring "planus," which meant "flat surface." French, a Latin-based language, had "plant," which initially meant "layout of a building." The whole concept of "plan" goes back to "laying out a drawing/design on a 'flat' surface." English borrowed the word from French around 1700, and gradually "plan" broadened in meaning to just about any "design," whether by drawing or in the mind. The verb came from the noun in the 1700s. It was also borrowed by German as "Plan" (German nouns are capitalized).

The German Question, Part One Hundred Seventeen

Hitler Rules Germany, Part One/C
"Consolidation of Power/Hitler Gets Full Power"

The Nazis banned German labor unions, and in their place, they established the "German Labor Front" ("Deutsche Arbeitsfront"). The Labor Front set policies for workers and employers, and strikes were forbidden. Labor front officials also arranged special low cost tours and cruises for worker vacations.

Now that the Nazis had achieved their "revolution" of gaining power, a split in the party began to become more obvious. Remember, the Nazi Party had both "Socialist" and "Worker" in its full name, "The National Socialist German Workers Party," and the true "socialist" wing of the party wanted that part of the party's ideology to be implemented in German society. As part of this continued "revolution," there was talk of the Nazi Stormtroopers,* which by then had a couple of million active members, actually taking over the German military. The army was extremely conservative, and such talk made German military leaders very uneasy. The head of the Stormtroopers was Ernst Röhm (also spelled "Roehm"), and he coveted the notion of his becoming the head of the German military. By that time too, the Stormtroopers were also making many in the public nervous, as they bullied or assaulted civilians known, or thought to be, Nazi opponents. The rowdy and often crude behavior of many in the SA made the more conservative elements of the government, as well as businessmen, protest to Hitler.

Hitler was only somewhat interested in the "socialist" aspects of the party, and he knew he needed the support of the German military if he were to remain in power, and then to begin a reversal of the Versailles Treaty. In late June of 1934, Hitler and the most trusted part of the "SA," a branch known as the "Schutzstaffel," began a purge of the "SA" and certain party leaders, claiming a conspiracy to overthrow the government. The "Schutzstaffel," which simply means "defense, or protection staff," was responsible for Hitler's protection dating to when he gave speeches in numerous beer halls in Germany. Although little known at that time, it would become all too familiar in the years ahead under its better known initials, the "SS." How many people were killed during the purge is not really known, but certainly dozens, and perhaps hundreds. Röhm was killed, as was former German Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and his wife, and former Nazi leader Gregor Strasser, who had been more inclined to the socialist side of the party. Hitler's dramatic action against members of his own party showed everyone that he was in charge, and that he would not hesitate to act ruthlessly. With the Stormtroopers subdued, conservative forces, including President von Hindenburg, approved the action. (The Stormtroopers lost their overall prominence in the Nazi movement, but the organization remained to provide "muscle" and for ceremonial purposes at Hitler's public speeches and at Nazi rallies. Many prominent Nazis held some high ranking position within the Stormtroopers, although these positions were often more "honorary" in nature. The organization never again held the power it had had up until the purge.)

On August 2, 1934 Paul von Hindenburg, nearing age 87, died. Hitler's last obstacle was gone. He now took over the presidency, combining it with the chancellorship. The German military had to swear an oath to Hitler personally, not to Germany. Hitler was now truly the Führer of Germany.

* The Stormtroopers were actually a Nazi organization called the "Sturmabteilung" (storm or assault detachment), or "SA" for short.

WORD HISTORY:
Fuehrer-This word came into English during the first half of the 1930s because it was the title used by Hitler for himself, and it simply means "leader;" obviously patterned after Mussolini's title, "Il Duce," "the leader." Since English does not use the umlaut; that is, the two dots over certain vowels to indicate a variation in pronunciation from the standard vowel, we spell the word with the "ue," which can also be used in German, but much more commonly in German it is "Führer," with the "u" with umlaut being the equivalent of "ue." For those learning German, the word is masculine, making it "Der Führer." The word goes back to Indo European "per/por," with the basic idea being "go/going, passage/pass over." This gave the Old Germanic spinoff "faranan," with the meaning "travel, go."^ From the idea of "traveling/going," came the further development of "lead;" that is, "travel takes; that is, leads you somewhere," and this gave Old Germanic a variation of "faranan," which was "forijana," with the meaning "to lead." This then gave Old High German "fuoren/fuoran," and then later "vueren," then modern "führen," and the noun was derived from this verb. Low German Saxon has "föhren," with several related meanings, including "to lead."

^ This is the source of numerous English words, for example: "fare," "the charge you pay to travel" or also "a person who pays for travel, most often in a taxi;" "farewell," which means "travel well;" that is, "have a good/safe trip;" "fare," as in "how are you faring?" (Literally, "how are you going along"); "wayfarer" ("someone who travels"), "seafarer" ("one who travels by sea"), and "ferry" ("a boat that transports people, usually for pleasure travel"). The other Germanic languages have various forms of the Old Germanic word too, for example, German has "fahren," the cognate equivalent to English "fare," and the German verb means "to travel, to drive," and the noun "Fahrer," which means "driver," "Fähre," "ferry (boat)," "Fahrrad" meaning "bicycle," and the phrase "Fahrrad fahren," "bicycle riding, ride a bike."