Speaking of, I've been rewatching the early seasons of The Wire in preparation for the release of the final season on Tuesday. The second season is brilliant -- well the whole show is brilliant, for so many reasons -- for its depiction of the sort of unionism that is completely opposed to Stern's apolitical technocracy. Frank Sobatka is sickened when he has to network with politicians; Stern loves it and feels like he's one of them. Sobatka's office is in a shipping container; Stern's looks like the office of a CEO. But it's not just cultural and lifestyle differences. Sobatka's corruption is not for charity or personal enrichment or to make him a political player: it's all about greasing the political wheels, not joining them, to get projects that are good for the union and about getting the members through tough times. Sobatka sees involvement in "politics" as a means to an end, while Stern seems to see it as an end in itself. But Sobatka is nevertheless always political because he tries to influence and shape political situations that benefit the membership, while Stern just wants to make the union a player.
Sobatka's form of unionism is dead, of course, a fact I refuse to mourn. But Stern is almost enough to make me nostalgic for the good old days.