Union Perspectives

For a little history in the ways to control people read Joss Sheldon’s book, “Democracy: A User’s Guide.” He writes about the different types of governing bodies from democratic societies, which lasted for hundreds of thousands of years we went to gerontocracies, the rule by elders. Other ways to rule were the priests, sorcerers, prophets and the wealthy, who controlled land, enslaved people and all of the livestock.Then came the militias, who killed anyone who refused to bend to their will. The leaders named themselves “kings” then surrounded themselves with knights, secured their loyalty by giving them land and declaring themselves appointed by god with the divine right to rule, and secured their legacies by handing power down to their offspring. This was done during the age of feudalism and manorialism. Kings ruled over their lords, ladies, princes and priests. These nobles ruled over everyone else, and they all became rich by taking from the peasantry. Much like it is today. Then

With a new government in town, now is the time for big changes, which will get people thinking about good things instead of trying to destroy our democracy. Healthcare or Medicare should be for all, climate change has to be addressed and minimum wage of at least $24 to keep up with inflation or implementation of a universal basic income of $2,000 to supplement people’s incomes and stimulate the economy. This needs to be done now for by 2040 or sooner the 2.7 million truck drivers will be replaced by driverless trucks, and it will be up to the civilians to stay out of the way of these driverless vehicles, according to a recent NPR story. Vending machines are already taking the place of some stops and self-check-out lanes are taking the place of cashiers. Two million jobs were lost in human resources, finance and information technology and new research software means a single lawyer can now do the work of five hundred lawyers. There are fewer secretaries, file clerks, telephone operator

Why did all these people go to Washington, D.C.? Did they go just to break things? Or just because one person asked them to? Some say they went to take down our government. If that is true, then what type of rule or government do they want to replace it with? As outlined in Machiavelli’s The Prince: there are three kinds of government: principality, aristocracy and democracy. But, others say there are six types of government: three are good, principality, aristocracy and democracy; the three are bad are tyranny, oligarchy and anarchy. The good types are fragile and can easily slip into one of the bad. This happens when a democracy turns into anarchy, and aristocracy becomes an oligarchy or a principality becomes a tranny. An example of this slippage of one government becoming another could be seen in our own country last week. What if they had succeeded in their mission? What kind of government would we be ruled by today had they succeeded—anarchy? Some say democracy is the dictatorshi