I nearly forgot that today is May Day, that pagan cross quarter celebration cum international labor celebration. I guess my forgetfulness is probably centered on the fact that I have become a part of the dark side (i.e. management), and can't fully comprehend the travails of the working class any longer. I do, however, remember a time when I was very in touch with the concept of worker's power and the need for an international brotherhood to rise up and end the failings of our current capitalistic nation-state based approach. Wow, what fun it was to read Marx, Engels, and Trotsky in eighth grade in Southern Indiana. Talk about a political pariah... I'm now sure how a socialist makes it in the the swath of land between the forks of the White River.
On a more policy sounding note for the day, I do believe that some of the criticism of NAFTA and free trade deals are legit, but that these should focus on the labor standards being inadequate in the other countries and not the underlying chauvinism that is often perpetuating the criticism. I'm all for fighting for international worker's rights, but I sometimes think this is a veiled attempt at American job security chauvinism. I understand the comfort of job security, but we need to understand that a secure social safety net is the answer more so than complete protectionism.
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