Labor

Labor Day Parade, N.Y.C., 1882.

Today is Labor Day in the United States. In the current political climate in the U.S., Labor Day has renewed significance. This is a time of resurgence of a self-satisfied bourgeoisie, represented loudly by the Tea Party. The bourgeoisie have historically exploited laborers for profits in their own businesses and in the corporate businesses, in which they invest.

I heard a story about South Africa today on the radio. South African miners,who recently went on a strike, bashed down by government police who killed some of the miners, are being held accountable for the deaths of their coworkers under an old apartheid-era law. The government goons who did the killing have walked away without charges.

Human greed often trumps human wisdom. Laborers do the work which keeps a society civilized. When greed is allowed to trump human rights of laborers, the whole society suffers. When looking at the U.S. economy, that suffering becomes obvious.