I am full of questions and a lack of answers, where this thread has headed is a bit confounding to me. I'd like to see what some of you think.
Quote:
|
There's power in numbers, but when there's no numbers you have no power.
|
I don't know if you have read <u>Who Governs?</u> by Robert Dahl, John Gaventa's <u>Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley</u>, <u>Power: A Radical View</u> by Steven Lukes, "The Two Faces of Power" by Bachrach and Baratz, and other writings providing models of power, influence and control. Looking at these models, particularly Gaventa's, seems to provide some insight into the discussion going on here.
What I am reminded of here in this thread is the difficulty of managing power and how the people directly affected by the power structure tend of have real difficulties grasping the power that they should have access to. I've never been a part of a union, so my only access to unions comes from accounts of others and the news. What is striking is how it sounds like many union workers here feel as though their union provides them no real power, and that people not in unions resent unions for creating monopolies on labor. I am still a little confused about how people are so quick to say "if you don't like your job, then leave it", when the facticity of most people's lives makes that option incredibly difficult. There are less jobs than there are people, this has been institutionalized by our government.
Gaventa notes that in some circumstances when it is reasonable or expected for a group to resist and attempt to create change that the group does not. Reasons for this include lack of education or education being provided with a bias by the empowered class, a history of being defeated repeatedly, symbolic significance of landmarks and other items used daily that support the power structure, and several others. The question that is burning in my mind now is - if unions are so bad and seemingly worthless to so many union workers, <i>why haven't they don't anything to change it?</i> If so many are dissatisfied with unions within and without, why isn't anything being done? Or, is there actually plenty being done, and this discussion is actually signifying some other problems with the American system or culture? In any event it seems there are serious perceived problems, and perceived problems deserve attention... where is the disconnect?
Certainly in a union you have numbers, and if there is power in numbers, what is preventing this power from actualization? And, in the rest of the labor force, there are numbers as well, if there is such strong anti-union sentiments, why hasn't the rest of the labor force done something about it? Is everyone so powerless and angry, that all we can do is complain about the system and no one can do anything about it?