With the Trump election, we here in the U.S. must brace ourselves for privatization of our security and government services. Also, there will be a huge push in union busting activities and we will see more states pushing right-to-work laws, which will smash unions by reducing union dues. We are seeing this in Australia, Britain, Greece, and Israel.
These trends are now driving violations of labor laws, which is responsible for underpaying workers, and now Israel has the highest poverty level among developed nations, and it has the highest level of inequality among children.
Privatization is the fastest path to the bottom of the economic ladder. The model set by President Ronald Reagan and Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who both followed the hardline economist and privatization nutcase Milton Friedman, who has been one of the ones who have widened the inequality gap here in the U.S. and the world over.
With the Trump election, we will see privatization and wars on steroids, and the workers better have a plan on how to survive and sticking our heads in the sand will not do it. The next war is now. It is between the Havenots against the Wantitalls, and it will effect all of us, no one will be exempt. The 1 percent will get away with no damage. Hell, we are still trying for a living wage of $15 to $24 an hour minimum wage.
Our healthcare—what little we have—is in jeopardy, and there will be attacks on Social Security to be sure—as Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who grew up on Social Security from his late father, has already said he wants both Social Security and Medicare privatized. One only has to look to the school bus crash in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for how well privatization works.
The school district privatized its school buses with Durham School Services out of Warrenville, Illinois. The company provides contracted school bus services in Texas, California, Oregon, Idaho and Washington with 13,700 vehicles. Durham had been operating with a conditional federal safety rating, issued for past unspecified problems before resolving the problems in August 2015. The company’s recent history shows 346 crashes in more than two years, with three deaths (now nine) and 142 injuries (now more injuries with this recent crash), and 53 unsafe driving violations. What’s more infuriating is that the school administration said there was legally no way to discipline “someone who is not our employee.”
All we need to do is just watch Ukraine, France, Britain, Greece, Spain, and South America to see the impact of immigration, wars and inequality. It is time to pick a side and be smart about it. Look at history, read, talk, listen, and then act for a new deal. Remember, Bernie Sanders is still here and still fighting.
Also, remember that 43 percent of union members voted for Trump—and that is union leadership’s fault.
I hope that I am wrong, but what I see at this time is our unions are going to be in the fight of their existence. This is the most perilous time of our life. The life we had is threatened like never before. Unions are the largest organized group of people who can save our country if things keep going the way they are heading at this time. We need to all stand together for power, but we each must prepare and plan to take care of ourselves and our families. We can fight the big fight and not be distracted by worry about things that can and should already be taken care of. For instance, stashing at least one month’s pay and at least a month or even a year’s worth of food, whether the food is staples (pasta, rice, canned goods) and meat or chicken in the freezer. Keep your vehicles' tanks full and if possible a gas can full. It’s in your best interest to also save money for house or rent payments plus extra. This is not new thinking for us old trade workers who had to prepare when...
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