Labor Day Alert: Bosses are trying to erase U.S. Labor History

The Blair Mountain Battle was a pivotal event in our nation’s history: 10,000 abused miners were set upon by thousands of armed rent-a-cops and Brute Squad members. Lots of poor workers died, and the battlefield (seriously, it was that bloody) is on the National Register of Historic Places, as it damned well should be. From the article at Archaeology:

CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA—Today marks the 93rd anniversary of the beginning of the battle between more than 10,000 union coal miners and thousands of local law enforcement officers and coal company guards along Blair Mountain Ridge—the largest armed confrontation in American labor history. Now, two mining companies want to strip-mine coal from areas near the Blair Mountain Battlefield, and from the battlefield itself, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. According to a report in The Charleston Gazette, environmentalists, preservationists, and the United Mine Workers continue to work for stricter regulations to preserve the landscape. “Some historians recognize the Battle as a principal catalyst for passage of the National Labor Relations Act [in 1935], the federal statutory framework for worker organizing and the peaceful resolution of industrial disputes,” Laura P. Karr, a lawyer for the United Mine Workers, wrote to the Army Corps of Engineers last year. Charles B. Keeney III, chair of the Friends of Blair Mountain, adds that artifacts related to troop movements, buried weapons, shell casings, entrenchments, and possibly even human remains are likely to be at the site, and they would be lost by any potential mining activity.

Got it? Big Business and Bosses are trying to shove this shameful episode in their history down the memory hole, so they can more easily re-enslave us. They’ve done it before, of course. But this one was big – the slaughter of striking workers. Another article goes into greater detail:

…But in 1921, that sound was replaced by the rattle of machine guns and the pop-pop of squirrel rifles, when the valley was just one corner of a battlefield sprawling across 10 miles of ridgeline. In late summer of that year, a force of striking coal miners crept through this hollow, dodging fire from anti-union forces stationed above. The Battle of Blair Mountain, as it is called, involved more than 10,000 men and was the country’s largest civil conflict besides the Civil War. Though the battle is little known outside of union and historian circles, it was a key moment for the American labor movement.

…As the miners neared Chafin’s three-mile defensive line along Spruce Fork Ridge, open war broke out. Archaeologists estimate that a million rounds were fired over the battle’s five days…In early September, federal troops arrived to end the conflict. The state of West Virginia charged the leaders of the strike with treason, and though none were convicted, the trial exhausted the UWMA’s coffers and broke the union there until a dozen years later, when the National Industrial Recovery Act officially recognized the right to organize. After that, led by some of the same men from the march, the southern coalfields of West Virginia became a stronghold of union sentiment (at least until more strikebreaking in the 1980s). Union leaders from Appalachia also helped organize other industrial heartlands. “If you work for a living, if you get unemployment, if you have minimum wage or better, paid vacation, or health insurance, you owe it to those folks who stood their ground on Blair Mountain,” says Barbara Rasmussen, a historic preservationist and president of Friends of Blair Mountain.

The archaeology on the mountain, and the story it is beginning to tell, has helped bring together an unusual coalition—including the Sierra Club, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a number of local organizations—in what some are calling “The Second Battle of Blair Mountain.” It is certainly a fight over historic preservation, but for many involved, including local archaeologists and historians, the mountain is symbolic of much more—labor struggle, the social effects of resource extraction industries, and what they see as a century-long class conflict.

This post is a day late, because a goodly part of the Cranky family took the day off yesterday and spent the long weekend camping. This was possible because of unions, people. It was ONLY possible because of unions. They may be pooh-poohed today, but labor unions were and are responsible for much of what American workers take for granted today.

And the bosses know this, and fear the resurgence of unions. So they are busily working to erase the memory of unions’ struggles against the plutocrats. Today, say “thanks” to any union workers you meet, because we owe them a lot.

And remember those who died for you, on battlefields like this one. In spite of Corporate America’s efforts to the contrary, remember.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Obamacare is a Compromise. America itself is a Compromise.

Back in the 1700’s, there was a lot of debate as to what sort of government we should create. Some wanted a democracy, some a republic, some even wanted a constitutional monarchy. In the end, no side won the argument, and we have a hybrid that isn’t a pure version of any model that was considered.  Our very system of government is a compromise.

So when House “Republicans” shut down said government because they refused to compromise, they weren’t just being petulant little brats; they went outside of the Constitution and indeed,  acted in a manner that is fundamentally opposed to the entire history of America. America is always arguing – it is who we are and what we are. Our nation was founded on an argument that was never settled, and never will be.

And the same is true of our laws. Very few of them are “pure”. Obamacare is a good example. It is a private-sector solution with government oversight, requires participation but doesn’t enforce it, based on Republican ideas but passed entirely by Democrats. Nothing there is free of compromise: everything there IS compromise.

Anyone who refuses to compromise is not functioning in reality. That means the Teabagger caucus is living in a friggin’ dream world, and someone needs to wake them up,  kick them out, or both.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

 

There is a Foundation that We All Build Upon

Mr. Blunt and Cranky, as many of you know, is a musician/composer of sorts, and has been educated in the history of music. He is fully aware of the essential contributions made by Pythagoras, Mozart, Leo Fender, and manymanymany others who have gone before him, creating the mathematical and sonic body of knowledge upon which he bases his work. He does not for an instant think that he invented the western scale and other music theory, devised and built the instruments he plays, or invented and constructed the equipment used to record and reproduce the music that he writes. He is equally happy to take credit for the music that he writes, because that is his original work, built on the foundation created by others over a millennium or so.

Sounds pretty reasonable, yes? It is an attitude based on historical fact, and gives credit where due, both to Mr. B & C and those who came before him. Indeed, you’d be hard pressed to find a sane individual who would care to argue the point.

But if one changes the word “music” to “business”, oh my, what shrieks will emerge from some parts of the business community and their bought politicians. Evidently, the centuries of innovation and decades of publicly funded infrastructure, research and investment that facilitate and enable a prosperous business community don’t exist to these blinkered yahoos.

When one lets ego, talking points, or political philosophy distort their view of historical and contemporary reality, one is no longer living in the real world. For Mitt Romney to claim that he was successful in business solely because of his own brilliance and work ethic would be like this writer claiming to have invented the Fender Bass he uses: flattering to the ego, but a complete fantasy when looked at objectively.

We work best when we face cold, hard reality and deal with any resulting hits to our egos: all of us are to some degree dependent on those who came before us, and to those who share the world with us at this time. This does not in any way add to or diminish our own work ethic, intelligence, talent or other character traits. It just means that others play their part, too.

America is a great place to do business, due to our long tradition of social, regulatory and economic policies that provide infrastructure, educated workers, and tax incentives designed to encourage business success.  Anyone who favors a totally independent environment might want to consider doing business in Kenya, Ethiopia, certain Pacific Ocean islands, or other nations with less law and public investment. This writer predicts that once you see the alternative, you’ll agree with what the Prexy said last week (even though he said it poorly).

Mr. B & C

They Tell Us What They Will Do, But We Don’t Believe Them

Waaaaay back in the day, Moses told Pharaoh the contents of the cans of whoop-ass that would be opened if he did not free his slaves. Pharaoh said to himself “Awwww, he doesn’t really mean it”, and Egypt’s ass got well and truly whooped upon. Can after can, until Pharaoh showed his belly and let em’ go.

In the early decades of the last century, a disgruntled political prisoner wrote Mein Kampf, announcing his agenda and intentions for after he got out on parole. The parole board said to themselves, “Awwww, he doesn’t really mean it”, and nearly half the planet’s asses got well and truly whooped upon.

After Watergate, an influential conservative wrote the Powell Memo, detailing how Righties would whoop the asses of the Lefties. The Lefties said to themselves, “Awwww, he doesn’t really mean it”, and the Left’s collective (pun intended) ass got well and truly whooped upon.

Flash forward to the present day: Romney and Obama are the both of them a-runnin’ to be the Prexy. Both of them are telling us what they will do if they get into the Oval Office, so maybe we had all best learn from history and listen this time around.  Short form: Romney will kiss the institutions and whoop ass on the individuals, and Obama will kiss the individuals and whoop ass on the institutions.  (They have each said as much about their agendas on more than one occasion, albeit not in this writer’s blunt and cranky phraseology.) Listen to both of these  yahoos, and vote for the vision you prefer come November.

Just don’t, PLEASE, for the love of God, say to yourself “Awwww, he doesn’t really mean it”. Not unless you have one helluva cushion for your ass.

Mr. B & C