29
Fri, Mar

Laboring to Find Those Who Truly Care about ... Labor!

ARCHIVE

ALPERN AT LARGE-This is Labor Day--a day to celebrate and proclaim the value and critical importance of labor.  So what is the average American to do when those who claim to fight for labor are the very forces who undermine and destroy it? 

Typical of those "speaking for labor" and passing themselves off as economists is the Los Angeles Times own Michael Hiltzik, who has consistently been a 24-7 shill for the Democratic Party and for President Obama instead of speaking the truth.  Purportedly a learned man, Hiltzik questions why there is "a sour mood despite sweeter outlook". 

And, the answer is pretty straightforward for those daring to step down from their ivory towers and walk among the masses--which is how the Wall Street elites and liberal elites view the average American, and do so as opposite to the early American democratic/equality views of Tocqueville as any we've ever seen.  

Hiltzik, Wall Street, the environmental and educational elites, chambers of commerce and even labor unions are simply wrong about the cluelessness and "stupidity" of the ordinary American when it comes to that American feeling pessimistic.  The ordinary American is spot-on in being pessimistic, and is also spot-on in wanting more from life. 

But the ordinary American is understandably exhausted in looking for a champion  and is overwhelmed by the seemingly hopeless path to success through hard work--particularly since the type of hard work, or "labor" is now as mental as it is physical, and involves savvy and risk as much as we've ever seen in our nation's history. 

Of course, the terms "American Dream" and "Melting Pot" and "Playing By The Rules" have been so shredded and demeaned for political and other purposes that the ordinary American (who is, in MY book, still worth fighting FOR) remains all the more confused and disheartened. 

But there IS hope for the future, including contributors and columnists for the LA Times such as Ronald Brownstein and Sandy Banks, who've noted that we need to improve our education goals and leadership towards jobs and credibility via a smarter and less corrupt public school system. 

The need to move beyond high school as babysitting is critical--if the GED test to graduate high school is, roughly, eighth-grade level then what the heck is grades nine through twelve but babysitting?.  School needs to steer young people to jobs.  Work-study, teaching what a budget is, teaching what paying taxes is, teaching what a stock or mutual fund is, teaching what a car-loan or home-loan is, etc. is job #1 for high school. 

The need to think about careers is similarly critical, and rather than just steer towards two weeks of Advanced Placement (AP) testing (which makes the month of May a living hell for high school students) the need to ask ninth- and tenth-graders if they want to go to college and have them take local junior college courses instead is an idea that needs more consideration and daylight.  

If a student is motivated, then he/she can easily achieve an AA/AS degree by high school graduation through their hard work--or close to it, which is by far better a method to teach college-prep than the AP tests.  I scored high on five of them when I was in high school, and took a junior college course in calculus in high school as an alternative to the AP Math test, and tutored math in college--so I have a first-hand knowledge in APs' limitations.  

Similarly, the ability of a young man or woman to become a plumber, electrician, nurse and a host of other professions can be greatly enhanced by a high school that means something.  A high school that teaches the value of preparing for life, and for doing work at starting wages as a first step in one's career. 

But those first steps and starting wages are ALSO under attack by the educational and labor elites who claim to speak for "the masses"--but who consider themselves "above" them.  

The ability of doing low-skill jobs at starting wages is harder than ever for young Americans, and if/when one complains about that, one is "shut down" and demonized by being called an elitist by those who really ARE elitists, and a racist by those who really ARE racists.    

For example, I think it's great to have more ability and encouragement for American teenagers to do janitorial and gardening work for money--I did years of weekend and holiday park maintenance, and from cleaning public bathrooms to emptying trash/debris/maggot-filled trash cans, it helped me achieve the right work ethic.  Ditto for doing chores around the house and mowing the lawn as an expectation by my parents. 

Anyone proclaiming the virtues of continuing that tradition of not being above hard work now gets one a litany of scolding about, among other things, the need for jobs for immigrants (be they illegal or otherwise).  Furthermore, the unspoken, horrible truth about those believing our youth is "too good" for those type of jobs is that we should have uneducated Latinos do those types of jobs, instead.  

Unspoken, horrible, and certainly racist--but a scary attitude that pervades our society, and particularly by those who proclaim themselves above racism.  Furthermore, these same "enlightened" leaders also proclaim how wonderful it was the LAUSD spent over $500 million on iPads for their students despite the corruption and inefficiency that dogged that program from day one...but complain about that and YOU are the problem. 


 

{module [862]}
{module [662]}


 

 

Finally, the need to really follow through the illegal immigration problem to its ultimate logical conclusions may be "ugly" but is now critical.  Complain about the fiscal and societal costs of illegal immigration, and one is demonized as a racist and hater, despite the fact that everyone--including illegal immigrants--must face the consequences of a society that sooner or later requires laws. 

The impacts of immigrants--illegal or otherwise--who come in and set up businesses and learn English and adhere to the American flag and tradition of Tocqueville, Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln and MLK is relatively minimal.  

The impacts of those who wish to export their past countries' cultures to America, not learn English and not achieve economically is something quite different, however.  By and large, we see only one prominent segment of illegal immigrants who believe in that problematic attitude (I'll give you a hint--it's NOT the Asian, European or African illegal or legal immigrants who don't want to be part of the American fabric). 

The optics of President Enrique Pena Nieto proclaiming his citizens in California and other American states as his "other Mexico" should concern righteous citizens on both sides of the border.  After all, the logical conclusion of "what's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine" is that we have the right to take over whatever Mexican state or Latin American country to the south and "create jobs" and "share resources". 

"What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine", right? 

Not all nations have Mexico's attitude, and not all Latinos are Mexicans--too many of them are moral, hard-working folks who deserve a break and would gladly stay at home if given the opportunity. 

But if more nations don't share Nicaragua's attitude (as the Times recently reported) of limit-setting its criminals then the logical conclusion of illegal immigration is that the United States invite foreign states and nations the opportunity to join what could be a larger United States. 

Which would take away from the agenda of Sacramento's fighting the "scourge" of plastic bags and giving the film industry the subsidies that ALL industries deserve, and of Washington's dancing around "the broken immigration policy" paradiagm, while focusing on environmental policies that are cost-effective and truly will be successful, and that REALLY create jobs and lower utility bills. 

So are we really, really, REALLY able to "go there" and do what it takes to create jobs, to make utility bills affordable, to throw away the shrill chants of the environmental, education and "pro-labor" elites who live quite well in their big homes and self-congratulatory worlds but send the majority of hard-working, laborious Americans straight to the hell of decreased expectations and hopelessness? 

After all, we've catered to and elected, re-elected and re-reelected the same environmental, education, "pro-labor" and "job creator" elites for decades...and it's gotten us...where, now? 

Again, this is Labor Day--a day to celebrate and proclaim the value and critical importance of labor.  

So what is the average American to do when those who claim to fight for labor are the very forces who undermine and destroy it?

 

(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee.  He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] .   He also does regular commentary on the Mark Isler Radio Show on AM 870, and co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us.  The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)

-cw

 

 

 

 

 

CityWatch

Vol 12 Issue 71

Pub: Sep 2, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays