I just joined a labor union (IEA-NEA). Yay!
And what did you do for the preservation of the nation-state today?
21 responses to “Preserving the Nation-state”
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So how do you personally connect joining a labor union with the preservation of the nation-state?
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OK, everybody, attention, a pop up quiz! 🙂
Why is a labor union an attribute of a nation-state and why can’t it exist in a fluid post-nation state? 🙂
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I’ll take a stab. Without the state to protect the rules / rights of the union business will simply ignore it, or fire the members, or move production more easily elsewhere since there is no governing body / framework to allow for the bargaining and agreed up union and work rules?
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Very good, matt!
A union also implies a stable workforce that stays in place and envisions shared interests. When everybody is in transit, that becomes harder.
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For the record, I share an interest in seeing shared interests in companies being way more important. I just think unions are a bad vehicle, due to lack of competitiveness which has seemed to occur in the US historically.
From the little I know, work councils in Europe (germany as I have heard) are more flexible.
Ultimatley I think shared equity, sort of like ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans) are a good rough model. Reagan pushed them pretty hard I think, but their idea hasn’t really been carried out very well to this point.
So in short, we are absolutely failing to have any sense of share / fair / equitable distribution of benefits in the current crony capitalist / oligopoly market, but I think broadly worker owned equity (25-50% of companies vs 0-5% now in most places) is the way to align incentives, not with unions.
Unions have a hard time lasting without having non-competitive industries (for example govt. institutions).
Tricky thing is getting any of these changes to work on a broad based national level.
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We are a public university, not a company, though. We are non profit.
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A broader question: “Without the state to protect the rules / rights of (basically EVERYTHING),” since all workable, enforceable laws exist within the framework of nation-states, how can the post nation-state world that’s supposedly right on the horizon be anything but anarchy?
And don’t answer “international law” — which is a farce where nothing matters except brute force. (Ask Putin.)
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I used a taxi (and not uber)!
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Yay!
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I can’t imagine one of these services being better than what I have now, I call a number and within a few minutes a real taxi shows up and it’s very reasonably priced.
One would have to be a miserable motherfucker to want savings on what I pay (about 4 dollars w/tip to get home last night).
Supposedly uber is working in Poland (home of many notorious cheapskates) but the phone taxis work so well that I’m sure the ones using them have shriveled up miser souls or are doing it because they think it’s trendy or some other nonsense.
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I notice that you took your time joining the teacher’s union. Were you not under any significant pressure to do so?
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We don’t have a union at my university. We are only now trying to get one. These union organizers have been very elusive. I’ve been trying to hunt them down for years. 🙂
Our part-time faculty is unionized but we aren’t yet.
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Well I ride the city bus every day. So that should count for something. 🙂
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Absolutely. 🙂 I work for a state university.
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As I have said repeatedly (I know that nobody on this website agrees), the nation-state is an immortal part of civilization. It will last as long as the human race stays out of the Dark Ages.
So it doesn’t need my help. 🙂
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[this description of an action of nation-state preservation was redacted in accordance with the Official Secrets Act …]
BTW, the Secret Squirrels bid everyone a pleasant peaceful evening. 🙂
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So joining a union is one way to preserve the nation state. Can you write a list of actions an individual could take to help? “Top Ten Ways You Can Help Preserve the Nation State Now” ? 😀
Thus far based on your posts and comments:
Raise Awareness (You are great at this, obviously.)
Join a Union
Take a taxiI typed a grinning face, but I am asking seriously. I hope this is not a silly suggestion, but I make it anyway. Are there even ten things one person could do?
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That’s a good question. A good, difficult question that deserves a separate post. Thank you for asking!
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
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