I have no illusion about unions. Any organization where some wield power over others, which is to say all organizations, will eventually get corrupted by self-serving elites. It's the Iron Law of Oligarchy.
I think unions can be quite good, not a necessary evil, but often they end up not being that. I do support unionization of 'journalism', as that may give journalism just the push off the cliff that it needs, as well as of Amazon and other Megacorps, as they have far too much power as it is.
And as I always tell TheImpossible1, someone need not be your friend in order for you to use them to balance others. Nixon used China to balance the Soviet Union quite productively. You can't win a war against all simultaneously, you have to pick and choose what the greater evils are, and fighting against who can be deferred.
"Let's align with the Old Marxists against the Intersectional Marxists!"
The irony is that trade unions were historically a bulwark against ideological Marxism. The reason why Stalin hated them and Social Democrats so much is because he thought they prevented revolutions in Western countries.
American schools have been unionized for decades. The Federal government is now bailing unions out directly.
Teacher's unions are very bad, I agree.
Yes, that's turned out so well for us.
First of all, I'm not 'us' - but yes, that worked out very well from an American strategic perspective. The fact that future American presidents continued helping China even when there was no more need to help China is not the fault of what Nixon did.
And I'm not even saying that it was right. I'm saying that it worked, and that it can be used.
I have no illusion about unions. Any organization where some wield power over others, which is to say all organizations, will eventually get corrupted by self-serving elites. It's the Iron Law of Oligarchy.
I think unions can be quite good, not a necessary evil, but often they end up not being that. I do support unionization of 'journalism', as that may give journalism just the push off the cliff that it needs, as well as of Amazon and other Megacorps, as they have far too much power as it is.
And as I always tell TheImpossible1, someone need not be your friend in order for you to use them to balance others. Nixon used China to balance the Soviet Union quite productively. You can't win a war against all simultaneously, you have to pick and choose what the greater evils are, and fighting against who can be deferred.
"Let's align with the Old Marxists against the Intersectional Marxists!"
Let's not.
American schools have been unionized for decades. The Federal government is now bailing unions out directly.
No.
Yes, that's turned out so well for us.
The irony is that trade unions were historically a bulwark against ideological Marxism. The reason why Stalin hated them and Social Democrats so much is because he thought they prevented revolutions in Western countries.
Teacher's unions are very bad, I agree.
First of all, I'm not 'us' - but yes, that worked out very well from an American strategic perspective. The fact that future American presidents continued helping China even when there was no more need to help China is not the fault of what Nixon did.
And I'm not even saying that it was right. I'm saying that it worked, and that it can be used.
Obviously not. They pushed policies that destroyed American prosperity. And they always have.
They hardly resulted in the downfall of Western Europe. They're not just good on paper. They can be good in real life, and have been.