HERE is a pretty good, succinct history of Labor Day. It answered some of my questions about the day, I hope it does yours, too. This day celebrates our American worker and his great contribution to America and the world.I think that those of us who really 'labor' (I mean hard, roll-up-your sleeve work) need to be in larger numbers. There is no one more respectful of the white collar worker than I am; I'm rightwing enough to know that you don't have laborers without their bosses so we have to protect those bosses in order to protect the laborer's JOB........ but hope America gets back to having more true people of LABOR in the future; those people who will work steel
and concrete and plastics and all those things which contribute to the manufacturing effort that made us so strong.Don't demand your kid goes to college, see what his talents are and, if college is the answer, go~! If it's not, don't get tied down by the 'you won't make it unless you go to college' thing. In Germany, one goes to college or one goes into a trade, a REAL trade, a trade with high expectations and certification that's only achieved with years of study, internship and completion of the requirements. Don't even ask how difficult it is to get to own a car mechanic shop, for example...it's hard enough to get trained well enough to work in one!
Honor the LABORER in your lives (that includes you MOMS who work at home, too!), honor and encourage the children who you feel will do better at real manual exertion and productivity...
.we need all types!On this LABOR DAY, let's celebrate and encourage ALL TYPES of workers........white collar and blue collar, and aproned ones(Moms or not!) with the same respect and admiration.
I tip my hat to ALL workers..Have a great day!
z
32 comments:
Celebrating terrorism? "Labor Day" is a remembrance of the Pullman Strike, where rioting terrorists led by socialist Eugene Debs destroyed several million dollars (adjusted for inflation) worth of railroad infrastructure after around 120,000 railroad workers organized an illegal strike and began assaulting Irish and black workers who took their jobs after they walked off the job. Labor Day is also tied to the left's legacy of celebrating violence and mayhem with the Haymarket Riots, where left-wing anarchist labor activists threw dynamite bombs at cops.
Nah, I'll be working today.
If it were up to me, I'd change the name of the holiday to "Leftist Body Count Day."
In other words, Labor Day is a "holiday" where people STOP WORKING to celebrate the concessions awarded to violence and terrorism undertaken by other people who STOPPED WORKING.
There's nothing "labor" about it.
unionism = terrorism
Couldn't resist one more to contemplate over your barbecue today:
The leftist Mussolini would be proud
As unions represent roughly 13% of all "workers" in America, and over half of those union "workers" are government employees, the Democratic Party has a nice racket.
Union dues cut from government employer paychecks go to support Democrat candidates, and are tax deductible, hence someone else picks up the tab for the promotion of candidates that gives unionized government employees more money to fund the Democratic Party. Government is expanded, and even more union jobs become government jobs.
Happy "Labor" Day, suckers.
Same to you Z, you certainly are a hard worker.
Don't demand your kid goes to college...
Not many parents are accepting of the fact that not every student should be college bound.
z, you ever had a job?
I'm of two minds on this.
I do agree with you Z that we need to show our support and respect to laborers. I have always thought, what would those white collar workers do if they did not have a janitor to empty their waste baskets and clean their bathrooms? There is no menial job that is unimportant.
As far as Labor Day itself, I think it is more for the promotion of unions than the workers.
Unlike a lot of conservatives, I am not opposed to unions if they are employed properly. I think it is good for an employee to have someone representing them, a corporation will run over it's employees given half a chance. I do not think it is okay to protect lazy or inept workers like the NEA and many other unions do. I think employees should be able to negotiate for a good wage. I do not think we should be paying $50,000 for a vehicle that is worth maybe $20,000 because we need to pay someone without a high school education $100,000 a year to screw bolts into the car.
As far as Labor Day - if the unions really were for the worker, they would let them get the recognition they deserve on this one day instead of using it as self-promotion.
beamish, thanks for the information.
I'm no union fan, either...and they sure hold a lot of power particularly with this administration.
MK...on the blog? I love this stuff!
Always: College is a great thing but it just doesn't stand to reason that ALL kids need to go ... Sadly, most jobs in America which don't require a college degree aren't respected as much and don't get as much money. Those well trained workers in Germany who have TRADES (like we used to call them) sure do make a good, respectable living.
Chuck, most corporations do pay awfully well and this administration's job has been to denigrate big business, that's for sure. A very, very dangerous thing to do, unless you don't live in a capitalist country, so I guess they don't see the harm.
I do think some unions are okay and they do give voice to workers but some industry's unions are in it for their leaders and not the people, in it for the LEFT, not America.
Ducky, I'm not an heiress.
I'm dead set against labor unions which, for the most part, are parasites sucking the blood (i.e. wages) out of their members only to fatten the bosses purses & their waistlines. You can't show me very many skinny union leaders. Unions have been the downfall of cities like Detroit due to their contract abuses. They are the major cause of companies locating offshore, & other countries are coming up in the world, but we seem to be on a downhill slide. GM & many other companies that are in severe financial troubles can trace a multitude of their problems to uion contracts & perks.
My husband will be 84 on 9-11, not hard to remember, operates his 790 John Deere backhoe, a bulldozer, has farmed 5,000 acres in past, had cattle, & served in both the Navy (WWII) & as a paratrooper during the Korean War, even though he wasn't deployed to there. Unions have nothing to do with his work, & he has no use for them.
Thank you Beamish for your well presented thoughts---as usual.
Silvrlady
I have to admit the article I linked puts a 'glow' on union labor, especially near the end, but I thought the history was worth knowing and I thought it goes without saying some of us DO celebrate laborers and not all labor means UNIONS.
Z, sorry to hear that you are not an heiress. Darn! I guess it's back to the salt mines for us....
LOL Z !
Hasn't Ducky often bragged about how he's an heir?
Don't worry, Ducky. I have a video about your fellow brownshirts up at my blog you can enjoy.
Great post Z... I'm off today and thanks to Obama's stimulus, it's without pay...
Thanks to Mr. Sunsett, we are reminded that once again Americans have been fooled into celebrating a Marxist institution. Now given who is in the White House right now, considering the number of unemployed people there are thanks to Marxist social policy, I can’t imagine that anyone with brains is celebrating Labor Day. Don’t get me wrong, I like a day off too … and beer, but I love free markets and personal liberty more.
Maybe we should change Labor Day to Pre-Autumnal Equinox Holiday.
tio
Great post, Z... part of what's wrong with our culture is that we've lost respect for manual labor. That's what college is for, in fact... to keep our white shirts clean and hands uncalloused. Of course now a traditional university education is basically worthless, unless you major in hard sciences.
Thing is, history shows that this attitude is a harbinger of decline.
What I observed about education after 15 years in the classroom is this: counselors and teachers are pushing students in two directions: (a) college, and (b) crime. When teachers and high school counselors keep telling children they won’t amount to anything without a college education/degree, they are in effect reinforcing the mistaken idea that there is no honor in pursuing craftsmanship. It is amazing when one considers that the parents of these same counselors and teachers were more often than not blue-collar workers. The last I checked, auto-mechanics make a heck of a lot more money than college professors, and high school teachers, and very often, high school principles. Craftsmanship is a skill one maintains for an entire lifetime. We should reinforce trades and crafts; we should restore America to those who know how to produce things. Therefore, Karen is correct and the elitist journalists who prevent communities from embracing secondary vocational and technical training are pushing us ever steadily toward eventual ruin.
well, folks, I have to say, I still want to celebrate American workers....many are NOT in unions and so I hope everyone feels appreciated for their contributions to our country.
Except the Obama administration, of course, whose labors are tearing us asunder and far worse.
Mustang, that's mostly why I did this post, I don't usually give a hoot for labor day but I got to thinking our workers should be appreciated.
And Karen it SO right...as I said in my post, we do not honor tradespeople anymore and that's a serious and stupid mistake.
We have one child who attended college, and one who chose not to.
They both ended up very good at what they accomplished in their chosen fields. It's that old tried and true work ethic, that served them both very well.
It's also taking advantage of every door that was opened to them. They walked through them, and took advantage of their opportunities as they earned success.
It really doesn't matter what vocation or profession one chooses, it matters that you're dedicated to doing your best, and giving it your all.
So, if you're the best you can be at what you do for a living, it's rewarding, and doors will open that you may not have dreamt of when you began.
It all comes down to your work ethic, and how much you're willing to do, or how hard you're willing to work at what you do, to achieve success.
As for unions, I believe they exist for those who need to rely on the excellence of others' superior contributions in the workplace, to carry them.
Merit is secondary, and unions destroy incentive.
To me, it's a socialist program which encourages a one size fits all agenda, regardless of the cost, or whether it's earned.
"Maybe we should change Labor Day to Pre-Autumnal Equinox Holiday."
tio, I love this. It's so, well, today!
Pris
so well said Pris.
Seems to me that if you join a union, you are saying you would rather be judged based on the average of the whole rather than on your individual accomplishments. This works well if you are below average. But if you are below average, why would the union want you? In other words, I would be wary of joining any union that would have me as a member.
tio
tio..for your dues? :-)
Anyone looking for a homework assignment? Maybe someone could compare how much tax money goes into paying for university education versus other forms of education.
tio
z,
oh, yes. that.
tio
Z,
It was not my intent so much to take away from your attempts to sanitize "Labor Day" from its origins in left-wing terrorism to celebrate "workers," but I think too often we refuse to dismiss the asinine and absurb notions some people have that posit that leftists actually possess the capacity for rational thought.
The legacy of leftism, from Robespierre forward, is not one of intellectualism, but rather one of violence.
Labor Day is an attempt to mythologize the American Left as having a positive role in American society. I'd rather the pipe bombs, dynamite blasts, and Molotov cocktails speak for themselves. The American labor movement was one of wholesale, irredeemable violence, leftists historically and mentally being incapable of producing anything else.
No Labor Day for me. I'm too busy laboring.
Beamish.."my attempts to sanitize.."? WHAT?
You really think your pinko commie blog friend is Stalin or something? :-)
Z,
You've never walked out of a job interview to see your windshield smashed out and tires slashed while striking union "workers" didn't "see a thing."
I know you were making a tribute to people who work. I just wanted to nix the whole thing concerning the origin of Labor Day in your link. It doesn't even mention the violence that brought it into existence.
Beamish, thanks. Anything with the word LABOR sounds Commie to me these days, I must admit, but I guess the DOL puts a spin on the Day...
Anyone think of THIS? Your Big American Government is now IN the business of making student loans so, of course, Big Gov PUSHES people into college because it will PROFIT from the LOANS it just took control of, FROM the private sector.
Conflict of interest, anyone?
BZ
Z,
Well you know Z, the unionized police department didn't investigate my broken windshield and slashed tires because the union "workers" picketing outside my job interview "didn't see a thing." The windshield and tires apparently vandalized themselves.
The cop told me "it's not a good idea to cross a picket line" as if that were serious advice.
When I'm President, if I'm President, the AFL-CIO is going on the State Department list of terrorist organizations.
Anyone think of THIS? Your Big American Government is now IN the business of making student loans so, of course, Big Gov PUSHES people into college because it will PROFIT from the LOANS it just took control of, FROM the private sector.
Conflict of interest, anyone?
Of course it is. So is federal employees unions lobbying for higher taxes and being reimbursed for their political activism via tax exemptions.
The largest recipient of corporate welfare is the Democratic Party itself.
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