Ramblings

Bloviating: to you, from me. Chide me if you will. algot@runeman.org

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Thu, 28 Apr 2011

Isolation

Individuals.

That's what Americans want to be. We want to avoid being seen as a faceless member of the crowd.

Two recent trends may help us reach this nirvanah. 1) Collective bargaining is under steady, nationwide assault. In the name of taxpayers, legislative bodies are steadily voting to restrict unions to bargaining only for money. Working conditions, health care, pensions, etc. are being removed from the bargaining process. Gradually, the individual contract will replace contracts negotiated collectively. 2) The U.S. Supreme court handed down a 5-4 decision which makes it more difficult to create class action lawsuits. You are going to be able to "equally" face a corporation to demand retribution for their product failures. You cannot band together with others. You get the chance to stand alone with a well paid lawyer at your side. If you win, you'll get the price of the faulty device, likely a commodity item made in China.

Who benefits? You rugged individualists, certainly. Oh, and the corporations, of course. They've recently become "persons" before the law. They can donate money to politicians just like you. They are just another individual. Does it matter that a corporation has more money to donate than you?

Good luck. Stand up and speak for yourself. It is your right.

Is anybody listening?