I have just begun to read the The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell-only 10 pages in. It was written in 1906-1910 by an Irish housepainter/worker.
Like most i recoil at the word philanthropy but I think he is referring to, according the book jacket, "the philanthropy of an unenlightened workforce who give away their rights and aspirations to a decent life so freely."
Tradesman Frank Owen when he had a small bit of a break at tea time would read.
Considered a crank by his very poor and exploited co-workers Owen had come to the conclusion that "in the world a small class of people were possessed of a great abundance and superfluity of the things that are produced by work. He also saw that a very great number -in fact the majority of the people -lived on the verge of want....and semi-starvation from the cradle to the grave " and some "maddened by privation , killed themselves and their children in order to put a period to their misery."
"And strangest of all -in his opinion -he saw that the the people who enjoyed the abundance of things that are made by work , were the people who did Nothing. And seeing all this he thought that it was wrong, that the system that had produced all this was rotten and should be altered. And he had sought out and eagerly read the the writings of those who thought they knew how it might be done."
I read this on the streetcar on the way home -and thought how true, how always true in semi-colonial countries and now close for so many in advanced capitalist countries.
Over twenty percent of Americans have had or are about to have their homes stolen from them by "the people who do Nothing."
Unemployment figures rise daily. Auto workers are on the brink-retirees who have worked for decades -may end up with no -no pension. Pensions stolen by the people who do Nothing.
Education and health care in Canada , a precious and hard won right won through the struggle of the working class -being jettisoned . Nurses to be laid off and barely a peep from the trade union leadership so busy selling out and bragging about which health care union is "the best" deliberately refusing to join together and take action. It infuriates me -I am a nurse and what may not seem evident to many has always been as clear as the finest crystal for me-what kind of society denies the right to care for the sick , the disabled , the most vulnerable. Sometimes it is hard when we are healthy to see how despicable the denial of this most basic right is -but when we are sick and we see people who are so sick and so vulnerable -how much closer to barbarism can we get.
Leaving work tonight I had time to introduce a brief statement on the economy. I was speaking to a retired nurse who works the occasional night shift as she was taking over from me.She is enjoying her retirement-her husband is a unionized tradesman for CBC . I mentioned that I was happy for her-and that even though i could not retire until I am 70 I will not be alone and how a recent poll reads that 45 percent of Canadians now in last month have realized they will work well past 65.
She expressed disgust-she is a very Christian women but has always been a good union woman and supporter as is her husband. Her 2 grown children live in the South - Georgia or Alabama -and they were telling her that the homes of many very well off are being walked away from. She was amazed when her kids told her that everything is left behind-furniture and in her words "big" flat screen tvs. She said "what will people do-what will they do?"
Sometimes I get very sad and very angry and I think -what is wrong with workers-why do they not get mad , very mad , why do they seem to hide their heads in the sand -and then I know they are very mad and they are very scared and they are not really in denial.They just do not know where to turn-there is no leadership.
That is why i shook myself out of a very deep but brief episode of pessimism -because there are so many of us like the housepainter in the book who do see and do know whats up and we need to keep at it and keep talking and keep struggling and sooner or later as someone said not too long ago on this blog the American/Canadian and workers everywhere will drag themselves up on their elbows and sooner or later start to demand what we deserve .
There is lots of potential leadership - , many oppositionists in the unions and angry people in our communities and if we keep at it we will boot the dead in the water traitors out.