Opting Out Goes Deeper Than Just Education

If you are not a parent with children in school, you don’t know much about Opt-Out.  If you are a parent with children in school, you are very much aware about Opt-Out….

Essentially what is now called crony capitalism simply took over American education during the recession when money was very tight.  They immediately tried to classify all children into little corporate boxes which they designed to provide a continuous incoming revenue stream (for themselves)…

Parents knew that children should be learning more about what’s important in life and less about how to act like corporate schill,  and so parents looked for a way to stop it. Since all the corporate actions depended on having this one single test show beyond doubt that American children were more stupid they they really were, parents realized that if they could disable the credibility of these test results through not testing their children, then and only then would their requests have merit on boards overseeing education now staffed with crony capitalists.  Crony capitalists are those who preach the benefits of capitalism, but get their money from governmental handouts because of who they know in government.

The only way parents would get their wishes heard (they rightly concluded), was to refuse the test which if done on a massive scale would render the  published results untrustworthy, costing Capitalists lots of money, and therefore to the crony capitalists, the act of  fulfilling the parents’ demands would appear the cheaper option.

And at this point this article is going to leave the topic of education. Because I want to talk about the bigger issue at play here and it basically involves the future of every Americans’ economic freedom.

Throughout out years of history there is something uniquely America about the way we opt out.   Back when Britain’s Parliament decided that the Thirteen Colonies must pay some of their costly governance (Stamp Act), most Americans chose to opt out.  When the Brits relented and said, “ok, since you don’t drink very much tea, we’ll drop our tax on everything else”, the Americans opted out of drinking tea.

America was founded on opting out…

When the Pullman company said “no” to workers asking for a livable wage, workers opted out of working until those demands were met. Not willing to succumb to that loss of profits, the Pullman company reverted to violence to force people to work, and when that didn’t work, they convinced President Cleveland to force them back with a decree and he did.  They returned to work disappointed but the strike movement was born and would soon sweep across almost every industry.

It had to, because Opting Out is the only power (other than anarchy)people really have when things are stacked against them. Although  our nation is often deemed a representative democracy, under the surface enough representatives kow-tow to powerful interests, so the will of the powerful becomes the law of the land.

And that shuts the major door which working people have to implement their requests. As long as democracy continues as “majority rules”, you really don’t need “opt out” …  Instead, you opt not to return an official you despise and replace him with one more inclined to follow your wishes.

Now with Citizens United in play we are not even in the same world politically, as we were only one year into the Iraqi War (2004) .. As plainly seen by today’s Republican Party, very strange people as candidates are propped up by hidden money and it appears that with so much money, even without popular support weird candidates could still win.

So in those times when government and your bosses business are allied against YOU, you have to take non-governmental action to express your sentiments in a costly enough ways, so you too become part of the discussion….

Talk is cheap; money isn’t.

So if they don’t talk to you sincerely about your money, you hit them in their money…. You opt out of working for them. “Nope, not taking this today”

As Americans we tend by our altruistic nature to put other people’s interests above ours.  Not all of us, but most of us really do feel that way. It is why the rest of the world likes us. But the time to worry over your bosses profits before raising the prices for your services, has probably past…. Statistics show so much money in the top 1% came from YOU, because our Republican Congress this past decade let them run their hands through money which should have been yours.  You are working far shy of your income potential just because they are paying you much less for your services than they could easily afford. External factors have all been ruled out.  The  reason you are not seeing your income grow, is because THEY don’t want you to see your income grow.

The simplest way to get more money in today’s world, is to opt out of working for that boss, either permanently or on a strike. Every billionaire sports franchise has suffered a player strike in this century.  The owners first balk at not meeting players demands, and the players opt out of playing in their events.

No one can argue that NHL, NFL, MLB, or the NBA employees are impoverished. Players strike because the owners’ profits comes solely from their labor and as profits rise, they  certainly are entitled and deserve a cut in on the action. So do those who make cars.  So do those who work for airlines. So do those who cook your fast food. So do those who teach.

Strikes are simply about “cuts and percentages of profit”… as in do we cut you in on our huge profit, or on the other side, do we cut you out of your huge profits until you let us in on the action?

Today corporate overreach is so big, it is eating our public schools. Most likely that means it already owns your life…pinched between your bills and  your bosses demands.  But don’t you really deserve better?  Don’t you wish you were paid more for the amount of work you do? Why should you roll-over and resign yourself simply to settling for basic survival, instead of really enjoying your short time on this planet?  Don’t the rules businesses use against each other, apply to you too?  And the sad answer is that up to now, you DO settle for subsistence because you have been trained “not to rock the boat” or you’ll lose your job.  Your obligatory duty has been to keep the charade of normality continuing at your bosses pleasure, an action which plays directly into the hands of the 1%.

“Look at these fools, performing at the highest productivity America has ever seen and doing it for peanuts, while I’m beach-partying.”

For just a little bit more each week, you too could be partying… Which is why I think that the opt out movement is going national here in the US… jumping the confines of education to spread through out the workplace.

It is already prevalent among the millionaires.  They’ve been opting out of taxes for years now.  They opt out of regulations they don’t like implemented to protect the health of citizens.  They opt out of zonings they don’t like.  They opt out of environmental regulations. They opt out of following OSHA requirements.  They have been opting out a long time, which is why they are so afraid you will too.  They know its effectability.

Today, at no harm to your kid, you can opt him out of testing knowing full well that only then will changes get made. Once you succeed, apply that philosophy to the rest of your life…  HB 50 is nothing less than preserving YOUR right as an American Citizen, to opt out.  Imagine if asking for higher wages put you in jail.  It may one day. It has in corporate-run societies of the past.  But it will not happen here if your government preserves your basic American Right…. to opt out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

America Is Based On One Thing: The Right To Organize

• it is how our nation was founded.  Groups of people gathered to say “this is ridiculous and we need to do something about them.”
• It is how the Anti-Slavery movement was begun… “this is ridiculous and we need to do something about it.”
• It is how the Civil Rights era began….”this is ridiculous and we need to do something about it.”

It is the foundation of America… Sometimes the organizers are right, and other times they aren’t.. But in either case they force an issue and it becomes resolved… For example in the Whiskey Rebellion  when George Washington himself led troops into Southwestern Pennsylvania and it dissolved upon the sight of him…. Because of that, our government is allowed to levy and take taxes.  But it was caused by groups of people gathered together…..

We are now about to have the TPP forced upon America…. It directly curtails the power of people to gather together to say:  “this is ridiculous and we need to do something about them.”

That will no longer be allowed… The proponents of the TPP are saying that this is good, because the same standard will now hold world-wide. The good side is American companies will not be bothered by Chinese organizing to raise labor rates.  But the balance also holds true.  They will not be bothered by Americans organizing to raise rates here on home turf…

The TPP is a game changer with consequences directly pertaining to the foundation and function of democracy…  The whole idea behind democracy is that if you provide an option to create change within the status quo that is supported by a majority of ones citizens…. you don’t have rebellions.  Rebellions are costly on both economic and societal scales. Democracy prevents those disruptions and prosperity continues unabated ….

The TPP stands to disrupt that process… Now,  instead of democratically elected nations, new feudal barons (not representing everyday people) will decide what is best; . Those privileged to own the horses and knights, will fight among themselves while we serfs try to stay out of their way, and pay our dues just in order to have the right to survive in this location for another year.

If we as the newfound serfs were to try to gather and say… “This is ridiculous” , this new law put in place will allow us to be suppressed, just like similar laws exist in areas of our country where cops feel they can freely shoot black people and get off with no charges…    We see signs of this already, where masses of police show up to monitor anti-corporate policies, while yet little or none show up to rallies supporting policies officially sanctioned by Corporate America against “The Government” : yet both have the same numbers of  angry people.
But fighting authority is what Americans do best .  It is what is in our genes.  It is how our nation was forged… The land of opportunity came with the clause, “accomplish whatever you can”… not “accomplish only what we tell you to”….

Our forefathers grasped this notion. and struck against  large employers in the 1890’s and early 20th Century…  Those strikes were often put down by force… But in all situations when scabs were not immediately  forthcoming to fill the empty spots of those on strike, the owners capitulated… Better to share the profits with labor than have none at all….

Today’s organized labor is bogged down in the mire of ancient rhetoric such as  “protecting the worker”; instilling “American values”; and “protecting the Middle Class”…  This is obfuscating and dodging the real issue…

Striking is simply a power play to get one’s fair share of the profit.  Essentially “going on strike”, is the “TPP “for organized labor.   Why should a company make billions, while it’s workers starve?  Without them, those companies can make nothing… So where then, is the workers “fair share” of the products?  It truly is no different than going after Chinese counterfeiters to get “your” fair share of what you invested into your product.  Workers deserve the same right; they do with their hands, what some dude or dudess does when creating an idea in his brain. They deserve and should have the same “share” of all profit put forth by that business or corporation…

Why should a billionaire have only minimum wage people working for him? Why don’t their employees simply stop work, until they too get a fair share of what they put in?

The simple reason is that rules are stacked against them. Those feudal barons, have made it either illegal or economically impossible for anyone to strike. It is like slave owners making it illegal to escape and making the penalty for doing so death.  There is no fair or reasonable moral grounds for doing so; it is just like another Taft-Hartley Act to preserve feudal barons’ self interests…  The serfs have no rights… Power plays have been enacted against them.

Yet the tactics derided by corporate barons against the strike, are the exact same ones use by them in their interactions with government or their competitors.

Therefore actions need to counter actions. Their adage of “We forbid you to strike” needs to be responded by:  “humph, we then will forbid you to resume production…. ”

it is interesting to note that in American the most successful recent national strikes have been undertaken by millionaires…

The NFL, NHL, NBA, and MBA have all suffered strikes in recent memory… And the players held out (because they didn’t need the money to live on) and won.  The owners capitulated..  Their argument was none of those  listed above.. They did not strike to “improve the Middle Class”. They did not strike to “improve the safety of the American Worker”.  The did not strike to “preserve American values”…..

No, they struck because they greedily wanted more of the profits… nothing more, nothing less, and the American people though grumbling, supported them over the owners who were saying they wanted to keep all the profits they had….

When American products go forth, they carry the work of American Labor… Those products could not be fabricated without labor, just as it could not be done without capital… It requires both and any system that benefits one side at the expense of the other, is no good…

WE have this unfair system in place, outlawing the employee’s only weapon:  forcing a strike ….

We made our own bed by supporting capital’s interest over employees, and now after laying in it for a while, we realize it is not the best way to go… Yet the TPP sets this feudal baron way as a new world order, since all trade partners will allegedly be part of it.  If we can’t strike, which is nothing more then forcing our play, we are nothing more than serfs…

Striking needs to be redefined as holding out for our fair share of profits… After all, under the new world order beset by the TPP… the accumulation of profit, is the only good thing…..

Workers simply are not receiving their fair share… What makes up “fair share” needs to come through negotiation… and barring that, a strike… The TPP makes strikes illegal which by default, makes all negotiations null…  The TPP must be voted down and we must again see more strikes…

Our forefathers who grew up with no protections, knew this very well.  Unfortunately their children who unknowingly grew up taking for granted all the support that strikes provide, disregard it…  Now, the next generation needs to step up and realize that it is all about getting one’s fair share of the profit… After all, how much are you indeed worth?   Too little?  Well we’ll see how you investors and profit-takers feel about that after you go through a long period of being shut down while your competitors are not…..

Any piece of legislation preventing organization is simply un-American…..