- Too Stupid To Run Our Own Lives After All

In most cases I think the underlying Democrat philosophy of assuming that individual Americans are too stupid to make their own decisions, is totally misplaced. And then I hear what unions are supporting. Living in NJ, it’s all too easy to find examples of the union rank and file supporting ideas which are not only clearly contrary to their interests, but aren't even consistent with one another.

As an example, there was this guy who used to commute to the city on the same early train that I did, who always wore a pro-union T-shirt. Written across the back was the phrase “No Human is Illegal” in both english and Spanish. The obvious idea there was that the union supports the importation of illegal immigrants, even though those same illegal immigrants were clearly taking jobs from their union members. It was astounding to me that the union leaders could convince that idiot that not only was this a generally good idea for him, but could also convince him to advertise his stupidity by wearing a shirt declaring it.

Then there was the ‘genius’ at my gun club who announced for anyone who would listen, that the real cause of the financial crisis was ‘corporate greed’. This kind of broad based and unspecific indictment is exactly the kind of thing that appeals to the typically uneducated union rank and file. It didn't matter at all to him that the greedy corporation helped him buy a $750,000 house with no money down and an income that couldn't support it. To him that was one fo the good side benefits that he'd managed to wrangle out of the system. And when he couldn't pay his mortgage and he was kicked out....guess what... more corporate greed.

His solution to this social problem was to unionize everyone everywhere, and have the government take over any industry like the banks, that wouldn’t cooperate. A world where everyone was paid what a carpenter is no matter what they did, made far more sense to him. But when he was challenged on the issue he claimed that “Oh no… he’s not a socialist… he just thinks the government should tell these greedy corporations what to do.”

My point is, there is a reason Democrats think we’re all too stupid to decide things for ourselves, and as near as I can tell, that reason is that most Democrats (and all union members) really are too stupid to decide things for themselves.

Personally, I don’t think that’s reason enough. I think if you’re too stupid to decide how to run your life you should be allowed to gain the knowledge that comes from making mistakes. And sure enough, in no time you WILL know enough to run your own life. No one, not even a union member, is dumb enough to keep making the same mistakes over and over again if they have to bear the consequences of those mistakes. But so long as it’s someone else who bears the burden of mistakes made by the unions, they will have no reason to learn how the world really works.

When the American industrial base reacted to strong unions by moving overseas and automating, American big labor moved into those areas that can’t be sent offshore…. specifically the building trades, and government. And now that they’re in government and have bought themselves a big-labor presidency, they intend to remake America based on their own, poorly thought out design. This healthcare exemption is just the beginning of that:

“Unions tentatively struck a deal Tuesday to exempt collectively bargained healthcare plans from a tax on high-cost plans expected to be used to help raise revenue for the healthcare overhaul,” CongressDaily reports.

So if you're in a union you get one tax level, and if you're not in a union, you get another. That sounds fair right? Meanwhile, the union leadership can't see that they are killing the golden goose. They are trading 20 years of power for assuring the inevitable collapse of the American govenrment. You can't spend money you don't have forever... and the bill is going to come due for the govenrment and for the unions as well.

But the rank and file of the unions clearly don't understand that. If they did...an angry mob would be chasing Andy Stern, Richard Trumka, and Ron Gettelfinger through the streets right now.