Old anti-union and protesters’ tactics still work and are used by the corporations and large and small governments, cities, counties, state and federal. A tactic from the old days was to keep workers and workers’ families from getting together and comparing notes. The bosses worked people sun up to sun down six to seven days a week. Today, workers work two to three jobs at a time. They also used people’s ethnicity to keep people apart, such as the Irish, Asians, blacks and browns.
The idea was to keep the workers from forming relationships so the bosses thought if they could keep the workers overworked, uneducated and suspicious of each other. They, the 1 percent, control the masses. The only place toilers could go and be together was church, which was again split into different religions and should be taken with a grain of salt for many were controlled by the rich.
Today’s protests we see the Wall Street protesters and the police tactics, which are getting closer and closer to our militarisms in equipment and maneuvers. In fact, they look alike even the armored vehicles being used in Ferguson, Missouri’s police look just like the people and equipment from Iraq and Afghanistan and probably even hired some ex-military personnel who served in these places.
Also an old tactic was to use where the protesters were made to keep moving so they would not be able to talk to each other and exchange ideas. In the old days this worked, especially with the very young and the very old who cannot walk all day long. But today, we have social media, instant contact to get the message out. Sooner or later the 99 percent will figure out that 90 percent of our problems at this time are wage disparity and inequality of lifestyles, and no hope of breaking out of poverty.
The shooting in Ferguson is the result of this, but the cause is poverty and loss of hope. We must treat the result, but solve the cause with better wages, free education up to at least a bachelor’s degree, and free healthcare for all. You may be asking where the money would come from. It is in the hands of the corporations, who are or have raped and pillaged our commons and economy, and then skipped the country without paying their taxes. This is where the money is. Also, it is a proven fact that when you respect and offer people resources, such as education, crime rates go down and the economy goes up.
Yes, they are coming for us. Workers need to have one another’s backs because no one else will. Neither the broader labor movement nor the Democratic party are prepared to meet the urgency of this moment. So it’s going to fall upon the rest of us to mount a real resistance against Trump’s authoritarian takeover. We’re going to have to get our hands dirty. I don’t care if you have a good, well-paying union job and you are in the middle class now—if you see a worker being dragged out of his workplace regardless of how skilled the job and potentially taken to another country, you should be ready to be there for that worker. When I.C.E. shows up, gather around and shame them into leaving. It has worked in other places. America is sleep walking into authoritarianism, and if there’s anyone out there who is a member of a labor union that is safe—at this point— and doesn’t think this applies to them. Understand that they just haven’t gotten to you yet. They’re coming for all of us. There are ...
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