America paid again
An effective phrase or slogan is worth its weight in gold. Pro-life and right-to-work state are two that are still floating around and riling us up.
Only a few of us really old inhabitants of Arkansas remember the America First movement of Charles Lindbergh and Father Charles Coughlin; they fought to keep us from joining the allies in defeating the Nazis in WWII.
How about the pro-war “Fifty-four forty or fight?” This proposed land grab tried to absorb a rather big chunk of Canada.
But it is “right-to-work state” that sticks in my craw the most. It sounds so compelling. Unfortunately, my more accurate slogan, right-to-takeadvantage-of-others’-efforts state, just doesn’t have the same impact.
My father left his beloved farm to work on the docks and in unionized chemical plants. He didn’t return to his tractors and cows until my brother and I both had good educations. He kept us fully insured. The taxpayers didn’t have to provide any of that because my dad had a good salary, good medical, plus retirement benefits.
I’m not saying that unionism is the solution for today’s economy. Any day now the Republican Party may return to being a serious party of ideas instead of slogans, and come up with a few new ideas other than more tax laws that allow corporations and individuals to pay zero taxes.
But until this happens, we need to keep the union solution on the table even if for no other reason than to scare Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and other giants of retail and industry by keeping the pressure on to keep wages up. I don’t think it would injure and stifle their inventiveness drastically to pay better wages and insurance benefits.
Of course, there is always the option to return to the days of pre-union, 12-hour shifts, six-day work weeks and an endless supply of child labor. We need a catchy slogan for this retreat, something other than “Make America Great Again.”
DANNY HANCOCK Lonoke