Reply #17: "The solution..."

[ljm2002]

"...is for the international working class to follow suit."

I agree with that statement 100%. In fact I believe that global trade could potentially have all of the great effects that were touted -- but not in the form it has taken, which we all know was crafted to benefit the corporations, and not their workers but their bosses and shareholders only.

But we do have a world where travel and instant communication are a reality. There is no reason that labor cannot organize worldwide. And that is what must happen. The question is how can it happen. Because anyone who joins an international labor organization, whether here or in some other country, will be accused of disloyalty and outright Communism. Somehow the labor movement must modernize itself as well as its image so that people see the logic of it. Right now, some people work hard to bring to light the terrible conditions in factories around the world, and that is wonderful as far as it goes. But it is only half the equation. The other half is to get the masses to really, truly see that it is appropriate labor laws that will create an affluent middle class worldwide. Strangely, you'd think that the American middle class and blue collar workers would already recognize this. But unions and labor have been tarred with the "leftist" "Communist" brush and demonized, to the point where few young people will even entertain the notion that a union might be a good thing. And of course, sad to say, the Democratic Party has lost its bearings in this area, I won't say it has outright deserted its labor base but darned near.

It's time for a modern leader who can figure out how to grab the imagination of the idealistic people worldwide and simplify -- not distort -- the issues at hand: the material wealth of the moneyed elites and the grinding poverty of the masses, and the shrinking middle class, and the continuing trends in these areas. And the exploitation that is part and parcel of the whole thing.

We can sit here and say people don't see their own self interest; but people have their daily survival to worry about, and people in this country have been fed propaganda by masters of the trade. For a successful message to get through, the old rhetoric must be abandoned, while the principles must be updated. The old rhetoric of labor vs. management, workers of the world, just is too old fashioned and too open to the charge of leftist / communist thought (although it must be noted, no matter what is done, the charge will be made -- we already know that). The same ideas must be gotten across in a way that resonates with modern people, in a way that shows the connection between slave labor in Bangladesh and disappearing jobs at home -- and the international leader who puts this forward, must also be able to make the Bangladesh workers see the connection, see how their own lives can be made better. As for the principles, they do not change but need to be expressed in a way that resonates with their intended audience -- a living wage, safe working conditions, limited hours, no child labor, availability of health care, child care and education.

So sad that right now in our country, that last bit -- the living wage, etc. stuff -- is simply brushed aside. And nearly as much by the Democrats as by the Republicans -- the Democrats in their rush to embrace the Third Way, have eroded their base and have allowed corporations to dictate terms. International trade agreements simply do not address labor, and for a very good reason: corporations do not want them to.

One difficulty is that the inequalities that exist now internationally largely preclude labor in the wealthier nations from uniting with labor in the poorer nations. Basically their own self interests are at odds. For workers in this country, insisting that all workers have available health care and a living wage, simply gives impetus for the corporation they work for to export their jobs. For workers in less wealthy nations, they want jobs no matter what and are willing to undercut in order to get them -- it's a matter of base survival. Trying to get them to raise it up a level, to demand health care, education and the like, is a tall order. But if things are to change, that is where the change has to happen.

Workers of the world, unite! (oops) :evilgrin: