Tapsearch Com EditorAn attack on workers' dignity
November 16th 2011 00:27
Big money gets bailed out and put back in charge while the suffering of workers is ignored
By Ray Tapajna
I am going through Rerum Novarum again . Rerum Novarum is an economic encyclical by Pope Leo issued in 1891. It covers many thing related to human dignity in the work day. It stood the test of time for more than a 100 years as a standard for workers' rights, ownership etc. It supported the right of workers to organize for the sake of fair living wages. It has been thrashed in recent times by both liberals and conservatives. Both major parties in the U.S. have participated in the degradation of human dignity in the workday through free trade and I wonder why we all let it happen. Free trade has proved to be the tool of Raw Capitalism.
I can not understand how people of good will like Gov. Kasich
and Senator Portman from our state, led the way in the betrayal of workers dignity through free trade. They allowed the degradation of the value of labor and workers and still want to do more. Gov. Kasich pushed the passage of a bill limiting government workers unions. The people rose up and got a referendum for ratification of the bill by a popular vote. The people voted it down.
The bill was an assault on the value and dignity of labor and work. Workers are not property. Free trade and globalization have "commoditized' them as if they were. Workers are not tools of capitalism. ( Re. Pope John Paul ) It is just the opposite. Capitalism should be the tool of workers to seek a better life.
On a recent presidential debate, there was a great opportunity to get into things like this but the whole panel quickly pass it by. Former Senator Rich Santorum followed Ron Paul comments about the primary rights of an individual in society. Santorum followed and told how the family holds the primary rights and delegates these rights to the state. The state do not hold power over the rights this basic family unit. Ron Paul immediately countered that before the family there is the individual and our constitution starts from there. If we lived in a more balanced society, the flow of the debate should have centered on this for a long time. It could have been the whole debate since it is the basis of all we do and say about fixing things. We need to find the starting point and go from there.
At the time I just got finished reading through Jacque Maritain's distinctions again about individuality and the personality or person and how it sets up the priorities of our society. I finally understood why Ron Paul Liberatarianism bothers me. He is too close to the Rousseau's liberalism that has harmed our society for such a long time. Individuals can claim many rights under the Constitution but as persons they are also members of a family and communities where as individuals they must subject themselves to the common good for all.
This all set the stage for me to read through Rerum Novarum again and to
try to understand why we let so many elite groupings betrayed the rights of workers. Now conservatives in our state who passed the bill to limit workers' rights, are trying to get a new Right to Work bill going. This would challenged both the private sector and government workers unions. We have had some rough lock outs in our state and a passage of a Right To Work bill most likely would lead to companies being able to lock out union workers and bring in replacement workers at much lower wages.
It is time for all to review Rerum Novarum again especially all who are in favor of human dignity in the work day. It can be read in light of Pope Benedict's economic encyclical where he emphasizes the practice of "subsidiarity" which means all decisions should be made at the lowest level possible. The people can challenge both liberals and conservatives who are responsible for the new working poor class and the underclass with these documents. Any leader who claims to be a person of good will and for the common good, would have to answer for any process that openly degrades the nature of labor and workers.
This is not the time to degrade the value of workers just because free trade smashed the middle class who were paying the toll for government services.
Workers Dignity Betrayed reference link
He says we have to be more competitive in the global economic arena
By Ray Tapajna
I am going through Rerum Novarum again . Rerum Novarum is an economic encyclical by Pope Leo issued in 1891. It covers many thing related to human dignity in the work day. It stood the test of time for more than a 100 years as a standard for workers' rights, ownership etc. It supported the right of workers to organize for the sake of fair living wages. It has been thrashed in recent times by both liberals and conservatives. Both major parties in the U.S. have participated in the degradation of human dignity in the workday through free trade and I wonder why we all let it happen. Free trade has proved to be the tool of Raw Capitalism.
I can not understand how people of good will like Gov. Kasich
and Senator Portman from our state, led the way in the betrayal of workers dignity through free trade. They allowed the degradation of the value of labor and workers and still want to do more. Gov. Kasich pushed the passage of a bill limiting government workers unions. The people rose up and got a referendum for ratification of the bill by a popular vote. The people voted it down.
The bill was an assault on the value and dignity of labor and work. Workers are not property. Free trade and globalization have "commoditized' them as if they were. Workers are not tools of capitalism. ( Re. Pope John Paul ) It is just the opposite. Capitalism should be the tool of workers to seek a better life.
On a recent presidential debate, there was a great opportunity to get into things like this but the whole panel quickly pass it by. Former Senator Rich Santorum followed Ron Paul comments about the primary rights of an individual in society. Santorum followed and told how the family holds the primary rights and delegates these rights to the state. The state do not hold power over the rights this basic family unit. Ron Paul immediately countered that before the family there is the individual and our constitution starts from there. If we lived in a more balanced society, the flow of the debate should have centered on this for a long time. It could have been the whole debate since it is the basis of all we do and say about fixing things. We need to find the starting point and go from there.
At the time I just got finished reading through Jacque Maritain's distinctions again about individuality and the personality or person and how it sets up the priorities of our society. I finally understood why Ron Paul Liberatarianism bothers me. He is too close to the Rousseau's liberalism that has harmed our society for such a long time. Individuals can claim many rights under the Constitution but as persons they are also members of a family and communities where as individuals they must subject themselves to the common good for all.
This all set the stage for me to read through Rerum Novarum again and to
try to understand why we let so many elite groupings betrayed the rights of workers. Now conservatives in our state who passed the bill to limit workers' rights, are trying to get a new Right to Work bill going. This would challenged both the private sector and government workers unions. We have had some rough lock outs in our state and a passage of a Right To Work bill most likely would lead to companies being able to lock out union workers and bring in replacement workers at much lower wages.
It is time for all to review Rerum Novarum again especially all who are in favor of human dignity in the work day. It can be read in light of Pope Benedict's economic encyclical where he emphasizes the practice of "subsidiarity" which means all decisions should be made at the lowest level possible. The people can challenge both liberals and conservatives who are responsible for the new working poor class and the underclass with these documents. Any leader who claims to be a person of good will and for the common good, would have to answer for any process that openly degrades the nature of labor and workers.
This is not the time to degrade the value of workers just because free trade smashed the middle class who were paying the toll for government services.
Workers Dignity Betrayed reference link
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