The hostile occupiers of America are called...
Elected leaders come and go, but public unions just say no.
by framersqool:
Public Unions vs. the Public Good - Elected leaders come and go, but public unions just say no.
Unlike trade union negotiations, public employee unions have little downside risk with excessive collective bargaining demands—no matter how much unions take from taxpayers and the public good, government can't go out of business.
Nor is there any other organized opposing force—just the broad interests of the public good. Against this backdrop of little resistance, public employee unions have become the elephant in the room of American politics—one of the largest campaign contributors and also the largest source of campaign workers. All this political power is consolidated toward one goal—protecting and benefiting public employees against decisions by elected officials and public supervisors.
When I see or hear anyone whining about 'the government,' I usually end up wondering if they even know what that word means in American life.
According to the usual mythology, the assumption is that what 'the government' does all day, whether referring to federal, state, or local deployments of official powers, is (somehow) determined by these creatures commonly known as 'politicians.'
The standard formulation of 'activism' or 'getting involved in politics' with a view to some version of more preferable governance or another is, more or less: elect better politicians, who will, in due course, see to the implementation of better programs and policies, and as if by magic, government as a whole will then be more suited to the needs and preferences of whichever faction in politics manages to elect more office-holders.
Which is, of course, total bullshit.
Government is a separatist caste that holds the public interest hostage in American life and regards 'civilians' who are not passengers on board the government gravy train as the enemy.
And this has absolutely zero to do with electoral politics of the voting-booth variety.
What we have which is supposed to pass as 'democracy' is, in fact, a counterfeit.
Regardless of what individuals aligned with which faction manages to purchase elective offices for themselves, and irrespective of whatever form of ideological boilerplate is meant to explain why they want to do what they say they were elected by 'the people' to do, the everyday functions of the machinery of government depend entirely and exclusively on what the goddamn public-employee unions require.
And no politician ever elected has anything even close to the reach and grasp for seeing their wishes granted that the unions do.
This is why I want as little to do with any form of government power as possible and have approached government itself as a hostile occupying force all my life.
Having indifferent and unaccountable officials tell me what to do or not do is bad enough, but knowing that they are themselves owned and operated by Bolshevik fronts which have unlimited powers to dictate their daily operations in whatever manner best protects their separatist and anti-constitutional interests, is intolerable.
As long as American governance is nothing more than a job-security cash cow for an entrenched bureaucratic caste that regards the rule of law and the rights of the citizenry as needless procedural nuisances, don't even speak to me about 'getting involved' or 'trying to make a difference.'
framersqool
framersqool is an aging bachelor of no particular consequence. He is in command of more opinions than facts (but occasionally the facts, or the lack thereof) and can make a thing seem worth writing about.