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Tenacious D

Tim Knight from Slope of Hope's picture




 


From the Slope of Hope: Many of you probably heard the news yesterday that teachers unions received a nasty (and well-deserved) blow from the Los Angeles Superior Court. I grew up in a fiercely anti-union household, and as a child, if I did a poor job making my bed, my mother would scowl and angrily say, "Union Worker!" I knew at that point I damned well better do the bed properly.

Mercifully, as a businessman, I never had to deal with any union issues. I did, however, at one point have to grapple with a salaried employee who, years into her employment, decided to get cute and threaten a state case to retrieve overtime wages based on the idea her job should have been an hourly one. She did not prevail. But it deepened my dislike for any prospective interference of the state into such matters.

Back to the topic of school, however, I spent all twelve years of my pre-college education in public schools. For elementary schools, exactly three of the teachers were excellent, and three sucked beyond belief. To this day, I question how much better a thinker I would be if all six of those years were good ones. Subsequent years were also hit-and-miss (and let me be clear, all twelve of these years were in good, solid, middle-class schools; not the utterly crappy schools that so many millions have to attend).

Even as a youngster, it galled me that the shitty teachers were paid exactly as much as the excellent ones. Even though my own children attend (very, very expensive) private schools, I help fund local schools with my five-figure property tax bill every year, and as a matter of fairness, it has continued to bother me that tenure in any form exists at ALL.

So when I was listening to the radio yesterday, and the reporter was saying that California teachersBad Teacher Photocall - London are granted "tenure at eighteen...." I naively assumed the next word was going to be "years." Nope. It was "months." After just eighteen months, these people get what is effectively guaranteed lifetime employment. Even, as in the court's case, the teacher just sleeps at their desk or browses the web.

My view differs somewhat from that of the AFL and NEA. I think that at any point, for any reason, a teacher (or any employee, for that matter) should be able to be dismissed without cause. Period. There's a relationship between employer and employee. The employee is there at the will of the employer. If the employer doesn't like the employees work............or voice.........or hair color........or anything else about them - bang - there's the door.

I believe any interference on the government's part on any private matter is offensive. Public schools are a bit blurry, I suppose, since they aren't private enterprises - - - but to my way of thinking, there is still a business relationship going on between the employer (the school district) and the employee (the teacher). The notion that this particular profession is blessed with a special right of some kind is vile to me.

Of course, the teachers union headmistress Randy Weingarten (who looks every bit as grotesque as a person in this role should look) puked up her own disgust at the court's ruling, claiming "student achievement" was the focus on her union's strongarm tactics. Teacher's unions are about ONE thing and ONE thing only - - ensuring the most money for their members as possible, irrespective of performance, and, in turn, ensuring high salaries for the union leadership - such as the presumably female Ms. Weingarten. End of story. Their purported concern about students is a cover story that is in reality complete bluster.

I am pleased at the court's ruling, and I hope it is just one more nail in the coffin of unions in this country, whose membership has been withering away for decades now. Indeed, it's getting to the point that unions are virtually non-existent in the private sector. They are almost entirely in the realm of the public sector, which is why I can look at the obese bus drivers here in town, driving their almost totally-empty double-length buses, and take comfort that these uneducated, unskilled laborers are each pulling down a six-figure salary (and, no, I'm not kidding).

Some folks have already stated the 9th Circuit will overturn this ruling. I guess they might, particularly considering their famous loyalty to the left wing. But if I can cling on to hope that equity markets may function normally again some day, it's easy for me to figure that this ruling has a chance of surviving.

 

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Thu, 06/12/2014 - 15:38 | 4849836 Andy Lewis
Andy Lewis's picture

Suck my dick, Tim - ya fuckin' scab.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 15:42 | 4849846 cifo
cifo's picture

You' a teacher?

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 19:51 | 4850819 Andy Lewis
Andy Lewis's picture

No - just an ex-student.  From back in the day when we had things such as unions.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 12:06 | 4848730 kurt
kurt's picture

The wages of the american worker track the strength of the labor union. Since 1977, unions were at their peak, and the middle class was at it's peak, as were reletive wages. If you reduce it to this: the union negotiates with the employer as the "owner" of the labor. You have plant, equipment, capital and we have labor; let's talk.

All you peckerwoods, including you paid anti-union fox news type shills, republicans and other elitist scum troll fuck toys, NEVER had it so good as when the unions were strong. Testimony to the success of the fascist media/government/corporate centipede to get all you dummys thinking the same way. In fact you all are so OVER programmed that you're pounding nails into a coffin that is already more nail than wood.

Anyway, I hate you suited cock suckers and Little Lord Fontleroys, you wanna be Richey Riches and Sadistic users of people, fuck 'yall.

                         Now Up Arrow if You Hate Unions!

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 15:30 | 4849807 moneybots
moneybots's picture

"The wages of the american worker track the strength of the labor union. Since 1977, unions were at their peak, and the middle class was at it's peak, as were reletive wages."

 

I remember the New York film unions priced themselves out film productions, as producers decided it wasn't worth it to film in NYC any more.

In 1977, price inflation was nearing its peak.  In 1980, the phase of the cycle changed.  It is always nice to wax nostalgic of some bygone era, but the cycle phase is always changing.  Deflation always follows inflation.  The down phase of a cycle always follows the up phase.

Nothing ever stays the same.

 

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 13:55 | 4849354 Zeta Reticuli
Zeta Reticuli's picture

The unions don't make the jobs good. They are parasites that target the high-paying jobs and suck off the wages of the workers. You have cause and effect confused. But you are a union member, so I won't expect you to understand what I just said.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 14:12 | 4849429 kurt
kurt's picture

Oh contrare mon Z Rectumi,

It is gratifying to note on my vote count overwhelmingly says that MOST respondents love unions. Your right, most unions don't employ a lot of people. Some volunteer from the employee base, others run for a limited term office. I believe a little research will show that most union represented jobs are middle tier jobs but higher pay than their non-union counterparts: that wouldn't make you jealous would it?

The "high-paying" jobs are in executive and higher management and most of those are non-union. It is gratifying to help to educate you. Your cute!

God Bless

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 11:04 | 4848456 QQQBall
QQQBall's picture

My mom was in the teamsters union. She was really frugal having grown up in the Depression. Anyway, she liked her job and was paid well - the union calld da strike and the company simply starting hiring people released from jails and other  non-union workers. My mom never got another job as stable and well paying.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 13:57 | 4849369 Zeta Reticuli
Zeta Reticuli's picture

I was a Teamster twice in my life. They are a bunch of thugs. Over half of the members have done serious jail time and the stewards and management are all Mafia. What a cesspool!

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 14:14 | 4849479 kurt
kurt's picture

How did you get fired twice from a Teamsters gig?

Fri, 06/13/2014 - 09:43 | 4852516 Zeta Reticuli
Zeta Reticuli's picture

They were summer jobs when I was a student.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 10:51 | 4848397 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

I will give teachers in the inner cities some credit though.

Given the some of the abysmal raw materials they are forced to work with, like under-nourished kids with little supervision at home, a culture that considers achievement as 'acting white', crime and drug use combined with acceptance of non-achievement fostered by a welfare system that penalizes work and rewards indolence, it's not surprising that they constantly get low test scores.

You can't fix schools if the students are broken before they even get there. You can only throw patches on them and hope for the best. The only realistic solution would be to use the ridiculous amounts of money spent on these schools to place kids in boarding schools to remove them from these toxic influences.

I can't see something like that being acceptable to school unions or lefties in general. Both would cry "More Money Is The Answer" in Krugmanist fashion.

 

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 10:24 | 4848301 silentboom
silentboom's picture

Well the purpose of a union is to gang up in order to blackmail an employer (negotiate) for something that you can't negotiate for yourself because you don't have the skills, talent, or intelligence (opportunity).  I've found that if I wasn't happy with my job, I first decided whether I was being reasonable or not.  If I was I would speak to my employer about fixing what I saw as the problem.  If we couldn't come to an agreement, I informed them that it was time for me to move on.  See this is how adults solve problems.  Thugs form gangs, become pack animals.  Even if that thug wears a skirt and has an apple on her desk, she's still the same filthy violent scumbag that probably voted for our current demon in chief.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 15:43 | 4849848 The Most Intere...
The Most Interesting Frog in the World's picture

Well stated...

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 12:17 | 4848814 Clueless1
Clueless1's picture

The text block is mainly lifted from wikipedia.

 

People join groups for a multitude of reasons. A major reason is that group membership often results in some form of need satisfaction on the part of the individual. Membership in a group can fulfill numerous needs, including some that group members may not realize they benefit from:  

  • Companionship – groups provide members to simply be in the company of other people.
  • Survival and security – From a historic or evolutionary perspective our ancestors would partake in group experiences for hunting and defence.
  • Affiliation and status – membership into various groups can provide individuals with certain socials status' or security.
  • Power and control– with group membership comes the opportunity for leadership roles; individuals who feel they need to exert their power and opinions over others can have such experiences within group settings.
  • Achievement – groups have the capability to achieve more than individuals acting alone.

Organizations typically form groups to accomplish work related tasks. However, a member of a work group may unintentionally reap numerous benefits that are independent of the original group construct.

 

You're against collective bargaining by an organised group?  Are you against nations?  Political parties?  Professional associations?  Organised religion?  Do any other notable collectives of individuals be they alliances, confederations, coalitions, syndicates, guilds or clubs stick in your craw?  What is it about unions, in particular, that separates them from any other body that (in theory) represents the interests of it's members? 

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 13:39 | 4849243 silentboom
silentboom's picture

"People join groups for a multitude of reasons."

I agree and let's stop there since the rest is irrelevant.  This article is about employment and yes the reason employees form unions (a specific type of group) is to negotiate supported directly or indirectly by threats of such things as strikes, walkouts, or even the bosses son's puppy gutted and left on the lawn for his morning trip to the school bus.  Employees may also form groups around the watercooler and that's ok with me as long as they don't kill puppies.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 14:36 | 4849574 Clueless1
Clueless1's picture

What about an employer hiring thugs with clubs and attack dogs to break up a strike?  Less common than it used to be, at least in my country, but it still happens.  Do a little research on union busting.  It's a growth industry.

 

Of course you can use incendiary rhetoric to justify antagonism toward any group.  Liver eating Muslims.  Baby-killing Jews.  Pet-eating Chinese.  Puppy-killing unions.  Kiddy fiddling clergymen.  Limp-wristed democrat.  Ignorant republican.  Divide et impera. 

 

"That's exactly what the company wants - to keep you on their line. They'll do anything to keep you on their line. They pit the lifers against the new boys, the old against the young, the black against the white - EVERYBODY to keep us in our place."

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 10:28 | 4848320 silentboom
silentboom's picture

and don't think she's not teaching those same filthy violent corrupt ways to your children.  She just smiles as she does it.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 10:04 | 4848230 Orwell was right
Orwell was right's picture

This article is EXACTLY why we have the burden of labor rules.    The author states

"The employee is there at the will of the employer. If the employer doesn't like the employees work............or voice.........or hair color........or anything else about them - bang - there's the door."

It is exactly that sort of narrow minded, arrogant, I-am-the-boss-you-are-the-wage-slave kind of attitude that pushed the need for unions in the first place.
....(see Ned Zepplin and Matt above).....

Yes...I believe Labor Unions overstepped badly, and in many ways became the antithesis of what they started out.   Yes, I believe that total protection from being fired, no matter how grevious the behavior, is clearly counter productive for all concerned.

Having said that however, the author's article makes a strong case for why Labor Laws...(in a more well thought out form)....are necessary in the first place.

 

 

 

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 09:42 | 4848114 blue gkm
blue gkm's picture

without unions everyone would be subject to corporations kick ass tactics. I make more then my non union counter part and I have ben in their shoes it sucks!! Should have left the privates years ago.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 11:17 | 4848538 CharlieMike
CharlieMike's picture

Looter.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 09:42 | 4848112 bbq on whitehou...
bbq on whitehouse lawn's picture

The problem is money, not ethics. Money needs to exist as coin without any lending. This would limit size, power and influence of all. Without barrowing or lending you would be limited to paying employees with production. No production no employees. Boom and bust would take on a whole new meaning and fear would create the focus and respect needed for success. Nature would do the rest. It the resistance of nature that is at the root of these problems.
Money needs a foundation of fear and respect.
Or if you dont like business cycles you can just cap money for everyone and everything like any other video game. You reached your money cap "congradulations you win".

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 08:52 | 4847973 FranSix
FranSix's picture

So, the argument is to give them back their right to strike in exchange for easy tenure?

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 07:49 | 4847820 messymerry
messymerry's picture

[Of course, the teachers union headmistress Randy Weingarten (who looks every bit as grotesque as a person in this role should look) puked up her own disgust at the court's ruling, claiming "student achievement" was the focus on her union's strongarm tactics.]

That woman needs to laid, bad, really really bad...

;-D

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 10:30 | 4848327 silentboom
silentboom's picture

I'm not volunteering, you try it.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 07:27 | 4847793 OC Sure
OC Sure's picture

"Teacher's unions are about ONE thing and ONE thing only - - ensuring the most money for their members as possible,"

And don't forget that when the government prints currency to pay public employees with conjured currency that they turn around and exchange it in the economy for real goods and services that this lowers the purchasing power of the currency for everyone. Any attempt to mitigate this process by then taxing everyone as a means of covering for the initial conjuring of currency then removes any productive activity going on in the economy.

So, we have Theft, Robbery, and generations of eager followers indoctrinated to defend and vote for more theft and robbery.

Someone please explain why this tyranny persists.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 10:15 | 4848251 Panafrican Funk...
Panafrican Funktron Robot's picture

""Teacher's unions are about ONE thing and ONE thing only - - ensuring the most money for their members as possible"

How is this different from, say, a corporate compensation board?  And they say all kinds of bullshit to obfuscate their purpose as well.  Just saying, both the large unions and large corporations are pretty much drowning in bullshit at this point, to the specific detriment of the citizenry as a whole.  

It's also just supremely ironic to me that a bottom-feeding leech financial "worker" is railing on shitty teachers.  Maybe do something that adds productive value to our society, Tim, instead of leeching off of the productive labor of others and then bitching about your 5 figure property tax bill (what a nice problem to have).  I hate taxes too, but you have to be leeching a fuckload of money to be owning that kind of property that isn't a business.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 13:01 | 4849065 NoTTD
NoTTD's picture

Well, a couple of differences are that (1) the Board doesn't usually run around claiming to do everything "for the children" with no ulterior motive, and (2) most Boards don't have the power to extract tax money by force.

 

So, yeah, some differences you may want to think about.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 07:01 | 4847771 orangegeek
orangegeek's picture

yet another case of unions and the destruction of quality and ultimately quality of life

 

what else is new

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 06:43 | 4847762 Dollar Bill Hiccup
Dollar Bill Hiccup's picture

Good.

When the public school systems are run for profit by corporations, maybe unions would serve as a balance.

Now, you really have to ask why schools funded out of tax dollars have unionized staff where, the pendulum has swung so egregiously, some of those staff are untouchable.

Unions offset corporate power. Corporate power is fostered by tax dollars as well, which is equally wrong.

Reign em both in. Not by telling them what to do, as much as cutting them off the teat.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 06:07 | 4847723 Comte d'herblay
Comte d'herblay's picture

"....should be able to be dismissed without cause. Period". 

As a dictatorial Fascist you take the cake.  While I got older (growing up is another story) I too grew ever more against unions as I heard my dad's friends (he was always self-employed) brag about how they used to take the night shift at greater hourly rates, and then promptly went to sleep in some hidden alcove, or even in their offices, while they maintained a REAL non union job during the day.  This went on for years, decades until finally the USW finally way overreached demanding 20 weeks "vacation". In one year.

That ruined the steel industry in Pittsburgh. And everywhere else.  They finally killed off their jobs.

HOWEVER, when I went to work in the employment business, I eventually became adept at placing Industrial and labor relations pros, as well as HR folks.

After a few of these were on the job for several union negotiation cycles, the hourly union workers naturally threatening strikes if they did not get what they wanted, I noticed that the unions ALWAYS got pretty much everything they demanded.  When one of my placements came to me after several years, ready for a step up to Manager of Labor Relations, I asked him why the unions always seemed to win.

He said the dirty secret in union shops is that "the more the union people get, the more the salary people get, including me". 

Then it became clear that management deserves as much if not more blame for the state of labor in the United States. The opposition management put up to unions was token at best. 

While it has been fashionable for many decades to deride unions as corrupt, infiltrated by the mob, and self-defeating in the long run---all truisms----letting management off the hook for their own complicity in stripping the company of every dollar in favor of the workers, tanking their stock prices, and eventually putting them out of business, or expediting their move to foreign or southern states, is being ignorant of the facts.

The adversarial nature of unioin and management was never in the 70s 80s and 90s as it seemed.  

re: fired without cause is inhumane, destructive, and ultimately an immoral, unethical stance to take towards worker bees.  They deserve more information and fairer treatment than that. 

This does not apply to Public Employee unions like AFSCME and essential services.  Unionization should be illegal in those venues. And now they comprise the biggest segment of unionized 'labor". 


Thu, 06/12/2014 - 10:45 | 4848382 WeeWilly
WeeWilly's picture

I'm with you, Comte. I agree with much of the article but "dismissed without cause" is a real affront.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 12:29 | 4848887 donsluck
donsluck's picture

Dismissal without cause is the whole point. Tenure is a guarantee of due process, nothing more. You can certainly fire a tenured teacher with due process (and cause).

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 03:21 | 4847643 Stonepark
Stonepark's picture

I have no problems with unions ensuring the welfare and safety of their members (which is why many were started to prevent unnesesary suffering and deaths) to ensure a safe working environment.

 

I do however have a problem when they get involved in the salary/rewards area and  supporting wasters in job positions where they are failing to perform.

 

If unions were limited to the former, a great deal of good would be done but they, like all institutions come to believe that the institution is more important than the reason it was set up.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 00:59 | 4847518 the show
the show's picture

One thing always seems to be missed in the union debate - the reason union salaries are too high (and yes, if you include their benefits they are WAY too high) is because most union contracts are tied to COLA (cost of living adjustments).  So it's not so much union wages are rising too high, it's that private industry jobs have not kept up with inflation. 

And in case you're wondering, I am a self-employed businessman who definitely appreciates the struggles having employees.  But to blame unions on us all getting screwed by inflation / FED is to miss the point.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 08:29 | 4847909 messymerry
messymerry's picture

It's not entirely inflation. A lot of what should be employee compensation is being eaten up by executive packages, ivestors, bankers, and other assorted leeches on the business system. Frankly, the business climate today is to SQUEEEEEEZE as much blood out of the staff as possible...and whose fault is that???

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 00:28 | 4847486 Clueless1
Clueless1's picture

My mother used to work for a Catholic school.  At the time she was being ripped off.  The school was getting funding from the government as though all the teachers were on the state award, the teachers were getting paid the stipend that nuns and priests received, which at the time was a 6k salary , as opposed to the 11k  she was supposed to be getting (this was the 70's).  The school administrators were pocketing the difference.

 

So my mother brought this up, got a whole heap of excuses and guilt tripping from the school board.  My father heard about it and got in touch with the teachers union.  A campaign of harassment started against my mother, including putting an undertow warning-sign in her parking space (my brother drowned when he was caught in a rip while surfing).  End result: teachers at that school starting getting paid what they were supposed to and my mother was ostracised for making the school look bad.  The arseholes commiting fraud had no charges made against them and got away with their rank manipulation of the system.

 

I don't think that power corrupts.  I think that the corrupt are drawn to power, like flies to shit.  There are self serving pricks in unions, just as there are in government and other institutions.  The feral, anti-union stance that some people have beggars belief though.  In my country, the initial workforce was brought to this country under conditions of slavery and without the efforts of the union movement, the population would still be little better than serfs existing at the whim of landowners.  Even in recent years, unions have been behind industrial relations laws designed to protect workers in the workplace, you know, shit like mandatory e-stop buttons and safety guards on machinery, things that a cluessless suit who has not ever seen a factory floor, thinks are an unneccesary expense.

 

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 09:45 | 4848129 dizzyfingers
dizzyfingers's picture

"I don't think that power corrupts.  I think that the corrupt are drawn to power, like flies to shit."

Excellent distinction to remember, though there may be some who are in the first category.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 05:37 | 4847707 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

I once worked for the benefit funds for the Sheet Metals Workers Union in a very large three state region.  As such, I had to go to various Union Meetings and stuff.  My non-union per diem was $100/day.  The leaders per diem was $5,000/day.

I controlled $5 billion in union assets at the time.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 09:58 | 4848189 Clueless1
Clueless1's picture

My old man told me a story about when he was working, prior to working for the Army.

 

He had completed his apprenticeship, carpentry/joiner, and had got a job at a local factory fabricating frames and trusses for local builders.  He was also working on the side as a tiler, with my uncle.  He was not only supporting his family, but my mothers family at the time.

 

At the factory, there was friendly competition going on between the workers.  Who could make the most, the fastest, without wasting any materials due to mistakes.  After a year of this, all the workers were so comfortable with the procedures, their tools and each other that they were doing in minutes, what would take an apprentice an hour.

 

Management steps in.  "Oh, you boys decided to stop sleeping on the job?  Too little, too late.  I don't want to fire men with families, but I also don't need all the workers, now that you have finally decided to start being productive.  The thing is, now you're too productive and producing more than we need.  So I'll compromise and cut your hours instead of laying people off."

 

My father was furious.  He and the other workers were being punished for developing expertise at a task.  Union steps in.  "Falsify the time sheets.  Meet your quota and go home early.  Management goes home early every night.  He doesn't have a clue what happens on the floor.  The fat cunt has had dinner and is in bed while some of you are still here at the factory cleaning up..."

 

So my old man quit that job and started tiling full time.  Moral of the story?  If caught between a rock and a hard place, crawl out from under the rock.  Doesn't help you if you lack the skills to crawl on your own though.  Maybe the moral is : If you have skills, work for a comission.  I don't know.

Wed, 06/11/2014 - 22:33 | 4847226 are we there yet
are we there yet's picture

If unions could unionize themselves, and outsource themselves overseas to look over the US jobs that they sent overseas, it would help.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 11:28 | 4848595 Emergency Ward
Emergency Ward's picture

They could move to Asia and unionize some of those jobs back to the USA.

Wed, 06/11/2014 - 22:18 | 4847188 juangrande
juangrande's picture

I'm seeing some of the ZH members here had bad history teachers. Otherwise assinine comments like, " The private sector can look after itself," would never be stated. Unions are here for a reason, it's just that they are run by people, and over time, people take it too far with self interest. But they were born, thru bloodshed, as a necessary answer to corporate, elitist greed! 

As with all things, a balance needs to be struck for things to function properly...

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 01:00 | 4847520 Seeking Aphids
Seeking Aphids's picture

Absolutely true J. Unions are like democracy...the worst possible system, except for all the others.  They can be elitist, corrupt and stultifying to business but, in some cases, they are necessary. A necessary evil to some but necessary nonetheless. If anyone doubts this look at the way wages and working conditions in the private sector have been pushed back...precisely in line with the destruction of the unions. It may be that unions will go the way of the DoDo bird - I hope they do - but that can only happen when working conditions and salaries are adequate for all.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 16:42 | 4850072 moneybots
moneybots's picture

" If anyone doubts this look at the way wages and working conditions in the private sector have been pushed back...precisely in line with the destruction of the unions."

 

There is really more to it than that.  Everything moves in cycles.  Inflation peaked in 1980.  Disinflation, leading toward deflation, changed the dynamic of the economy.

Reagan cut taxes, but the top tax rate was 90% when Eisenhower was President and the phase change to lower taxes was when Kennedy was President.  Reagan fired the air traffic controlers, but along with the peak of infllation, a long term political phase had changed as well.

Wed, 06/11/2014 - 23:08 | 4847315 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

I don't know why you were junked.

You certainly are correct when you allude to the inability of humans to exercise self control in the common interest. 

There are no boundries limiting the principle of the tragedy of the commons to corporations or unions.

And anyone who thinks corporations have somehow reformed their ethical ways, should take a look at the GM ignition switch fiasco.

Meanwhile, the immunity of public school teachers to negative performance reviews is just one of many  problems contributing to the demise of America. How else do you wind up with college students who can't read or multiply.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 11:53 | 4848708 Its_the_economy...
Its_the_economy_stupid's picture

williambanzai7

How else do you wind up with college students who can't read or multiply.

This occurs when collleges seek to fill ever more slots "students" who can obtained evermore loans without regard for outcomes.

 

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 00:09 | 4847441 AmCockerSpaniel
AmCockerSpaniel's picture

<<<<How else do you wind up with college students who can't read or multiply.>>>>

There is not one answer to your question, but you know that. The politics of who

gets a diploma are well know. The pressure to pass all is just to great. The funding

to get smaller class sizes is just not there. That's why home schooling is making a

big comeback .

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 11:03 | 4848455 silentboom
silentboom's picture

Government and union influence is why home schooling is making a comeback.  Parents can't take it anymore.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 12:14 | 4848813 donsluck
donsluck's picture

As long as you are generalizing, home schooling is the only way religious zealots have of fully indoctrinating their children.

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