An Editorial

Could We Kill Each Others' Bosses?

I've been in dozens of conversations about why it is so hard in modern America to get people to come out in public actions on their own behalf. Oh, it's getting better I'll admit. I saw about 400 American Airlines victims picketing together just last week, and I expect more of them next week. But consider that over 9,000 of them are slated to lose their jobs and 130,000 of their retirees are likely to get part of their pensions stolen. Where are the rest of them?

Some people say that Americans just don't understand the danger. Others say that they haven't heard about it. Others say that we have simply lost the tradition of protesting that was so important to workers' gains in earlier periods. Some say they just don't know how. As a protester in Texas for more than 40 years, I'm not buying any of those excuses. Here's the real reason:

The American people are generally too afraid to protest!

What are they afraid of? Maybe embarrassment, maybe they're afraid of the polilce or afraid that one of their fellow protesters will do something to get them all into trouble. But I don't think those are the main reasons. They are afraid of their employers. That's the real reason.

There's a simple solution

Why don't we just switch off? I'll picket your employer and you picket mine!

Strangers on a Train

Moviemaker Alfred Hitchcock made it all clear in 1951. Two guys, played by Farley Granger and Robert Walker, meet on a train and make a pact to murder each others' wives. It's simplicity itself. Each husband gets an airtight alibi for the time of his wife's murder and they both get away with it. If Farley Granger hadn't gone all soft, it would have worked perfectly!

Join Jobs with Justice

When you think about it, helping with each others' bosses is exactly what Jobs with Justice is about. You join in an organization that pickets other peoples' bosses and they picket yours when the time comes! Everybody wins! Nobody gets fired!

I have found that almost everything of value can be learned from movies.

 

 

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