The Cultural Oppression Of Working People

Wisconsin Assembly Passes Anti-Union Bill as Senate Democrats Stay Away

Over shouts of protest from Democrats, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Assembly passed a bill in the early morning hours Friday that would strip state employees of most of their collective bargaining rights. But there was no sign that a stalemate over the proposal would end, as Democrats in the Senate remained out of the state after fleeing to prevent their own vote on the proposal.

What we are witnessing in Wisconsin, Indiana and other states is no less important than the "social networking revolutions" we have seen in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and soon, ensha'allah, Iran. The struggle in Bahrain has to do with the equitable distribution of wealth, influence and political power in the face of tyranny, fascism and domination by a minority of that society. Having lived and taught in Bahrain, I know first hand the plight of the Shi'ite majority in that nation. The Sunni ruling class, along with a handful of wealthy and influential Shi'ite families that have been co-opted into the ruling class, have all the benefits offered by the government of Bahrain. While the nation offers free health care and education, the quality of both are not of the highest caliber. There was, when I was in Bahrain, one private school run by St. Christopher's Episcopal Church that followed the British system of education and offered a value for the price paid.

But workers in Bahrain were predominantly expatriots from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Great Britain and the US. Most Arab citizens of Bahrain did not usually work because of the social welfare system in place. Even if such a system was not in place, the level of education available to most Bahraini children was not such that it would have prepared the future generations for the world of work. Even the private school options were not all the effective, organized or focused on achievement.

Just like what we are/have been seeing in the "Maghreb" of North Africa and the Mesopotamian/Gulf parts of the Muslim world, we are beginning to see that same disdain, unfair treatment and fascist efforts to deny working people their rights in Wisconsin, California, Arizona and Indiana. We must give props out to the Wisconsin legislators that have taken a stance against such fascism, as well as to Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana who took the high ground (at least in this case) and proposed that Indiana Republicans back off the copycat approach to anti-union, anti-worker legislation. But before I get carried away offering praise for Daniels, let us remember that he is gearing up for a presidential run with promises to slash Social Security and other benefit programs for the working people that pay the majority of taxes for our state and federal governments.

How can anyone justify giving big business a $142 MILLION tax break and thereafter seeking cuts in pay, benefits and rights for working people... and call it fair, reasonable or even American?

We Americans have been cheering the search for social justice around the world all the while ignoring the streak of fascism that is overtaking us at home. It is time for the majority of Americans to wake up and smell what the conservatives have been shoveling under the guise of "fiscal conservatism," but is actually a war on working people. It is also time that the Christians among us begin to recognize that what the conservatives and neo-conservatives--in politics and in religion--are offering is anti-Christian and AGAINST THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST! A Woody Guthrie song entitled Jesus Christ says it all...

The Revolutionary African/Middle Eastern World

What has been happening in Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt and now Libya has been coming for over a decade. In 1995-1996 I taught in a private K-12 school in Bahrain, with some of my responsibilities taking me into "The Kingdom" (Saudi Arabia) on many occasions. It was clear then that the Sunni minority, along with some very wealthy Shi'ite business people, were the powerful in Manama and other parts of Bahrain and the Gulf Arab States. While Bahrain is considered one of the more liberal Gulf States (you can buy pork products in Bahrain, for example), the Amir at the time was struggling with what to do with the Shi'ite majority that would protest by blowing up store fronts and other structures using makeshift bombs that relied upon LPG tanks as the explosive base.

But the public schools in Bahrain are not very good. The Labor Ministry does not protect workers. The parochial school in the outskirts of Manama was the only decent school in the country. The private school I worked at was run by a family concerned only with the cashflow the school generated, not service to the community, education for its students, or improving the lot of Bahraini citizens.

What we are seeing now in Bahrain has often been blamed on rabble-rousing by sources in Iran, which is PARTLY true, but not the entirety of the situation nor the entirety of the truth. The real truth of the matter is that the vast majority of Bahraini citizens do not have an adequate education, lack working skills, are paid benefits by the state/royal family, and most of the workers in the tiny island nation come from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philipines or other nations where expatriot workers can be had for cheap money and can be exploited as slave labor.

At the school I worked at we had about 8 Sri Lankan workers that worked six days a week, often 14-16 hours per day, and were physically and psychologically abused by the owners of the school for less than $120 US per month. I suppose we should be grateful we live and work in the US, but we are seeing the mighty, the powerful and wealthy attack the hard workers of our nation with greater hostility, aggression and arguments that don't hold up under genuine scrutiny.

What is happening in Libya is related to the insanity--as illustrated by Qaddhafi's rambling, nonsensical news conferences where he blames Arab youths taking "hallucinogenic pills"--that Col. Qaddhafi and his family has imposed upon the Libyan people since the middle of the 1960s.

What we saw in Egypt is no less surprising. That similar stirrings are happening in Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Iran and other fascist-controlled African and Middle Eastern nations is no surprise either.

But while our collective eyes are facing East into the Mahgreb (North Africa) and the Muslim parts of the Middle East, we should be mindful of the fascism, industrialism and ultra-conservativism that is threatening the progressive policies that made the US what is has been in its heyday.