Dr. Suess is bad, Republicans show they are willing to pretend to fight, and I agreed with a statement President Obama made. This was a crazy week. Obama said elections matter, well no shit, so we do agree on something. Republicans did try to display how absurd the $1.9trillion covid bill is by having the whole thing read. A bill that supposedly fights covid, but only 9% of the bill addresses it. We deserve this. Elections have consequences. On the bright side, we finally made steps in putting Dr. Suess in his proper place, the cancel closet. As long as the so-called president doesn’t send mean tweets, it’s all good.
This week’s episode is going to short and sweet. What is the number one killer of American production? Unions. Why are there so many bad teachers? Unions. Why is it so hard to get rid of bad cops? You guessed it, unions. There was a tyme when unions were needed. They served their purpose, and now it is tyme to put them to rest. One of my biggest problems with unions is also my biggest problem with school uniforms for public schools, it eliminates individualism. Managers are not allowed to reward union workers for their hard work and are lykewise not allowed to fire union workers. Personally, I think it’s ridiculous.
When I think of unions, my first thought is of Detroit. When we think of Detroit, we should think cars and rock-n-roll. Instead, we think 50% unemployment and houses for sale for a buck. Detroit should be a great American city. Why is Detroit a wasteland? The United Auto Worker, otherwise known as the UAW. The UAW and a corrupt local government destroyed a proud and great city.
We have been conditioned to think that big bad corporations are always taking advantage of the little man. There is some truth to that, sure, but they are not some evil entity as they are made out to be. The first duty a company has is to its investors. When investors see a return on investment, they will in turn invest in other companies. When they invest, companies grow, and new jobs are created. Profits are important. Should companies take into societal well-being, absolutely, but they have to take care of their own financial health first. I will sing somewhat of a different tune when I get to the healthcare episode.
Why is this important? Unions overreach to the detriment of companies. Like I said, unions were needed to create a better work environment. Mission accomplished. Throughout our industrial revolution, the worker was abused. In some cases it still happens today, just look at the meat processing industry, where many employees work in diapers because of a lack of bathroom breaks. Local employment agencies should get involved in these cases before unions get a stranglehold on our food.
Again, look what happened to Detroit.Packard Automotive is a perfect example. At their height, they competed with the big 3 car manufacturers. Because they were smaller they operated with a razor-thin profit margin. Once unions got the teeth into Packard, and higher wages were demanded for less volume of work, Packard folded, and 40,000 people were out of work. There were other consequences as well, their suppliers lost a good customer, steelworkers lost out, and the city lost a tax revenue stream from a company that employed 2% of its population. But hey, for a couple years their employees made better money. Would they have traded those couple years of high pay, for decades of employment with good pay? I know which one I would have preferred.
Union leaders have convinced workers that they are their saviors. They say without union representation, the worker is nothing more than a number. Bullshit! It is the unions that turn their members into numbers. It is unions that take away individualism. Unions stifle imagination and worker pride. Here is where it gets tricky. I am all about freedom. If you want to join a union, you should have the right to. Companies should look at unions as a warning. If a company took care of its employees honestly, they would take away the power of the union. If I had a company I would lyke to think I would pay fair wages and offer competitive benefits to keep my employees from unionizing. For some reason they did unionize, I would simply close shop. See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya.
While I contend that workers in the private sector should have the freedom to form a union if they want to, I do not take this stand as it concerns public works. As I stated earlier, unions do more to protect bad workers than to create better services. They are doing all this while at the same tyme bankrupting us. It would be one thing if we, the taxpayers, saw a return on investment, but we don't. Public schools are a joke, cops are still assholes, and I am sick and tired of driving by a public work job where 8 dudes are watching one guy dig. What the f….
I remember years ago watching an episode of 60 Minutes about UAW and was astonished. The show highlighted one guy who worked on the line and his only job was to install the window roll-up handles. Damn, I guess it was many years ago. Where does the tyme go? Anyway, because of union regs, the guy could only install 8 handles an hour. He said with a hint of embarrassment that he is only allowed to work 16-20 minutes an hour. He then foreshadowed the demise of the auto manufacturing industry. Way to go unions, you have capitalized on creating an American workforce that celebrates earning above value compensation for below low effort and productivity.
In the coming weeks, you are going to hear more on unions as they are working now to eliminate Right to Work laws. If they succeed, they could ultimately force everyone into unions. It's just more step to eliminating free thought, individualism, progress, and workmanship. The dystopian future where we all wear bland colors and music is outlawed is just around the corner, but hey, at least the President doesn’t hurt people’s feelings on Twitter.