[lbo-talk] How to explain things to (right-wing) libertarians

[Carl Remick]

>From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
>
>On Mar 31, 2007, at 1:36 PM, Carl Remick wrote:
>
> > Gee, if only AFL founder Samuel Gompers had known that the "win/
> > win" POV is the key to sucess, he might have been an effective
> > labor advocate.  It's a pity he was mired in an adversarial frame
> > of mind reflected by comments like:
> >
> > *  "We do want more, and when it becomes more, we shall still want
> > more. And we shall never cease to demand more until we have
> > received the results of our labor."
> >
> > *  "It is impossible for capitalists and laborers to have common
> > interests."
>
>I only just recently learned that Gompers was a Marxist of some sort
>before he left Britain for the U.S. It was in the U.S. that he
>discovered that national health insurance would emasculate the
>American working class.

Well, Wikipedia alone reveals many problematic details about Gompers, e.g.:

*  "Focused on higher wages and job security, he fought against socialism 
and the Socialist party."

*  "He enthusiastically supported the war effort in World War I ...."

*  "His philosophy of labor unions centered on economic ends for workers, 
such as higher wages, benefits, and job security. His goal was to achieve 
these without political action ...."

*  "Gompers viewed unions as simply the labor component of a business, 
neither superior nor inferior to the management structure."

Whatever.  As an organizer, the man was clearly a titan compared to the 
homunculi who run unions today.

(Apologies for being an aerobic overposter.  I shall be rigged for silent 
running the rest of today, pondering the thoughts of other listers.)

Carl

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