Speak out Holland! (no.27)
Peter Frei
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Comments:
Posted on 6 Aug 2011, 10:36 by Hyp o. CritLook inside yourself
You say that any offensive comments will be deleted, shouldn't you say any comments that are against your opinion will be removed? Because some people might find the recent comment under the eagle pic quite offensive. You know about clawing peoples eyes out? But i guess it's in line with your viewpoint and that is all that matters to you.
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Posted on 6 Aug 2011, 10:49 by Michael Moore
30 years ago yesterday.
From time to time, someone under 30 will ask me, "When did this all begin, America's downward slide?" They say they've heard of a time when working people could raise a family and send the kids to college on just one parent's income (and that college in states like California and New York was almost free). That anyone who wanted a decent paying job could get one. That people only worked five days a week, eight hours a day, got the whole weekend off and had a paid vacation every summer. That many jobs were union jobs, from baggers at the grocery store to the guy painting your house, and this meant that no matter how "lowly" your job was you had guarantees of a pension, occasional raises, health insurance and someone to stick up for you if you were unfairly treated.
Young people have heard of this mythical time -- but it was no myth, it was real. And when they ask, "When did this all end?", I say, "It ended on this day: August 5th, 1981."
Beginning on this date, 30 years ago, Big Business and the Right Wing decided to "go for it" -- to see if they could actually destroy the middle class so that they could become richer themselves.
And they've succeeded.
On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days.
It was a bold and brash move. No one had ever tried it. What made it even bolder was that PATCO was one of only three unions that had endorsed Reagan for president! It sent a shock wave through workers across the country. If he would do this to the people who were with him, what would he do to us?
Reagan had been backed by Wall Street in his run for the White House and they, along with right-wing Christians, wanted to restructure America and turn back the tide that President Franklin D. Roosevelt started -- a tide that was intended to make life better for the average working person. The rich hated paying better wages and providing benefits. They hated paying taxes even more. And they despised unions. The right-wing Christians hated anything that sounded like socialism or holding out a helping hand to minorities or women.
Reagan promised to end all that. So when the air traffic controllers went on strike, he seized the moment. In getting rid of every single last one of them and outlawing their union, he sent a clear and strong message: The days of everyone having a comfortable middle class life were over. America, from now on, would be run this way:
* The super-rich will make more, much much more, and the rest of you will scramble for the crumbs that are left.
* Everyone must work! Mom, Dad, the teenagers in the house! Dad, you work a second job! Kids, here's your latch-key! Your parents might be home in time to put you to bed.
* 50 million of you must go without health insurance! And health insurance companies: you go ahead and decide who you want to help -- or not.
* Unions are evil! You will not belong to a union! You do not need an advocate! Shut up and get back to work! No, you can't leave now, we're not done. Your kids can make their own dinner.
* You want to go to college? No problem -- just sign here and be in hock to a bank for the next 20 years!
* What's "a raise"? Get back to work and shut up!
And so it went. But Reagan could not have pulled this off by himself in 1981. He had some big help:
The AFL-CIO.
The biggest organization of unions in America told its members to cross the picket lines of the air traffic controllers and go to work. And that's just what these union members did. Union pilots, flight attendants, delivery truck drivers, baggage handlers -- they all crossed the line and helped to break the strike. And union members of all stripes crossed the picket lines and continued to fly.
Reagan and Wall Street could not believe their eyes! Hundreds of thousands of working people and union members endorsing the firing of fellow union members. It was Christmas in August for Corporate America.
And that was the beginning of the end. Reagan and the Republicans knew they could get away with anything -- and they did. They slashed taxes on the rich. They made it harder for you to start a union at your workplace. They eliminated safety regulations on the job. They ignored the monopoly laws and allowed thousands of companies to merge or be bought out and closed down. Corporations froze wages and threatened to move overseas if the workers didn't accept lower pay and less benefits. And when the workers agreed to work for less, they moved the jobs overseas anyway.
And at every step along the way, the majority of Americans went along with this. There was little opposition or fight-back. The "masses" did not rise up and protect their jobs, their homes, their schools (which used to be the best in the world). They just accepted their fate and took the beating.
I have often wondered what would have happened had we all just stopped flying, period, back in 1981. What if all the unions had said to Reagan, "Give those controllers their jobs back or we're shutting the country down!"? You know what would have happened. The corporate elite and their boy Reagan would have buckled.
But we didn't do it. And so, bit by bit, piece by piece, in the ensuing 30 years, those in power have destroyed the middle class of our country and, in turn, have wrecked the future for our young people. Wages have remained stagnant for 30 years. Take a look at the statistics and you can see that every decline we're now suffering with had its beginning in 1981 (here's a little scene to illustrate that from my last movie).
It all began on this day, 30 years ago. One of the darkest days in American history. And we let it happen to us. Yes, they had the money, and the media and the cops. But we had 200 million of us. Ever wonder what it would look like if 200 million got truly upset and wanted their country, their life, their job, their weekend, their time with their kids back?
Have we all just given up? What are we waiting for? Forget about the 20% who support the Tea Party -- we are the other 80%! This decline will only end when we demand it. And not through an online petition or a tweet. We are going to have to turn the TV and the computer and the video games off and get out in the streets (like they've done in Wisconsin). Some of you need to run for local office next year. We need to demand that the Democrats either get a spine and stop taking corporate money -- or step aside.
When is enough, enough? The middle class dream will not just magically reappear. Wall Street's plan is clear: America is to be a nation of Haves and Have Nothings. Is that OK for you?
Why not use today to pause and think about the little steps you can take to turn this around in your neighborhood, at your workplace, in your school? Is there any better day to start than today?
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Posted on 6 Aug 2011, 11:04 by Jim L
Its true
I guess if you find the eagle comment offensive..U must either be a corrupt worker on the town dole, a supporter of the corrupt ones and have something to gain , or be a mindless voter oblivious to the stench coming from Holland. In any event to suggest that the Avien Icon of Liberty and Democracy the Bald Eagle should be a mascot of Holland shows just how out of touch with reality people in this Town have become. A mosquito is probably too nice to be the town bird also.. Any other ideas???? Speak up.
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Posted on 6 Aug 2011, 11:04 by Jim L
Its true
I guess if you find the eagle comment offensive..U must either be a corrupt worker on the town dole, a supporter of the corrupt ones and have something to gain , or be a mindless voter oblivious to the stench coming from Holland. In any event to suggest that the Avien Icon of Liberty and Democracy the Bald Eagle should be a mascot of Holland shows just how out of touch with reality people in this Town have become. A mosquito is probably too nice to be the town bird also.. Any other ideas???? Speak up.
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Posted on 6 Aug 2011, 11:22 by Jim L
UNIONS Propoganda
Two cops watch 3 flagmen watch 6 DPW workers do a 2 man job. All getting paid high union salaries complete with health insurance an pensions. No wonder America has reached the debt ceiling.
Why does it cost 65 million Dollars to build a 20 million dollar school??? Unions are the only ones allowed to build them..
Why does it take a Union Crew longer to rebuild one bridge on Rt 20 in Palmer Mass then it took to build the entire Mass Pike. ?
The above post by Michael Moore is nothing more than union propaganda trying to mislead the average American whose IQ is around 90. Even worse is govt unions.
I will tell you that world war 2 changed America for good as all the women left their kitchens and homes and went into the factories to supply the war effort as most able body men were already occupied and there was a great shortage of workers. Women were the untapped workforce of the country and went in droves to the previously male dominated occupations. After the war there were twice as many qualified workers as before the war.
After the war many womwn did not want to go back to the kitchens as unpaid servants to their husbands and children. With the formation of NOW in the 60's women became a permanent fixture in the upper echelon of corporate America. Women also got elected to all phases of government and now seem to dominate the media.
Union or Non Union she took the jobs previously held by men.. With the influx of so many wanting to work business was put on a stronger footing and salaries went down. Couple that with human greed and wanting to live like the Joneses and you end up with the 21st century America we have today. The above is only one of many factors that contributed to the decay of our former way of life and American Ideals.
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Posted on 6 Aug 2011, 11:34 by Scott Nicholson
View from rank and file
Hey Jim...I am probably more conservative then anyone you know. The biggest Communist of all is sitting in the Oval office....when he is not busy golfing or shredding our country. As far as the unions go...I am not the guy you will see picketing or preaching to others about union policies. They are definitely flawed and probably the single largest group of thieves in the world. I worked prevailing wage when I first got into doing road work. That company decided to go union, and that is how I ended up in. I have a work ethic as strong if not stronger than anyone else I know, so please don't aim your comments at me. ...we aren't all like the douchebags you speak of
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Posted on 7 Aug 2011, 8:52 by Jim L
Politics in the workplace
Rank and file to give your family a decent standard of living is no crime Scott. However there are very few times you can use the word ethics and union in the same sentence. You do what you need to do to feed your family while the unions deny other non union citizens the same opportunities to feed theirs.
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Posted on 7 Aug 2011, 8:59 by Reagan Supporter
Reagan and the Air traffic controllers
Air traffic controllers decided to go on strike in violation of the terms of their contract. Hundreds of thousands of people fly daily and their lives and safety depend on the controllers who abandoned their posts without a care for the lives of their fellow citizens. All because they wanted more money and benefits to do their high paid union job. President Reagan was ranked as Americas all time best president over all the others for a reason. I wish he would have busted more greedy unions.
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Posted on 8 Aug 2011, 7:07 by Scott Nicholson,
I agree
I agree with you there, Jim. On all points
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Posted on 12 Aug 2011, 20:22 by Resident
Curious
I can't help but notice that there appears to be some logging or something going on near where the proposed senior housing buildings were supposed to go. The town had voted these down but can't help but wonder if they are trying to sneak something in anyways???
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Posted on 14 Aug 2011, 11:18 by Peter Frei
No, not at all..
The parcel where some trees are being cut is north of the Murrey residence, the small parcel where our town leaders attempted to squeeze-in the low income senior housing project lays south of the Murrey residence.
The owner of the parcel is just cutting fire wood, nothing sneaky is taking place.
Thank you Resident for being vigilant.
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Posted on 3 Sep 2011, 20:12 by someone who lives here
just a piece of info
mary vandenberg moved to michigan a month ago and died today.
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Posted on 3 Sep 2011, 24:20 by Jim L.
Good.
Good now she is getting her eternal reward. I hear it can be quite warm there.
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