A FACT-DRIVEN VOICE FOR MIDDLE WISCONSIN VIEWS

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FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE STATE FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS

Middle Wisconsin News

www.MiddleWisconsin.com October 22, 2011

IN THIS ISSUE:

LABOR HISTORY
By

Northwoods Grassroots Labor Activists

Labor History . . . . . . . . . .1 Working Wisconsin . . . . . .4 Hmong Perspectives . . . . 5 Emerge Wisconsin . . . . . 6 Beyond Wisconsin . . . . . .7 Challenging the Myth . . . . 8 The Great Inequality . . . .10 Money or Sense . . . . . . .12

The long memory is the most radical idea in America. Utah Phillips

Last March and April, as Wisconsin workers said No! to Scott Walker and the Koch brothers, several people in Rhinelander began to talk with each other about the importance of knowing our history as working people. Each brought a different set of experiences in the labor movement, but each realized that Wisconsin workers were facing an attack unlike any other in generations. They realized how important it was the lessons workers have learned at great cost not be forgotten. Northwoods Grassroots Labor Activists was formed to keep the long memory alive. The Walkers and Kochs do not want us to remember that working people have fought and struggled forand won - their rights for decent wages, hours and working conditions. These men who are trying to turn the clock Wisconsin workers say NO back one hundred and fifty years do not want us to remember what our parents, and grandparents and their parents have done to claim a minimum of dignity and respect from employers and from the government. The new robber barons do not want us to remember Eugene Debs and Lucy Parsons, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and William Haywood because they led workers in pitched battles against the old robber barons. The new robber barons do not want us to remember the Bayview Massacre or the Ludlow Massacre, the Italian Hall disaster, or the Republic Steel Massacre when workers and their wives and children were killed by power and wealth driven by greed for more.

SOLIDARITY

A girl works in a textile mill

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LABOR HISTORY CONTINUED . . . .

They want us to forget the long list of brave men and women like Albert Parsons, Joe Hill, Fannie Sellins, Frank Little, and Karen Silkwood who were killed to intimidate other workers into accepting whatever their bosses had in store for them. Why do they want us to forget? Utah Phillips, a labor organizer and folk singer, has said, The long memory is the most radical idea in America.. Working peoples memories include the long list of injustices from fourteen hour work days to conditions that used up workers lives and health. In 1912 the women on strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, sang, Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses! We remember them and we remember that together we can win. We can win decent pay and decent conditions for working and for living. We can win the bread and the roses.

We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. --Albert Schweitzer

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn speaks to striking textile workers.

Chicago police fire into workers families marching toward the Republic Steel mill on Memorial Day, 1937

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LABOR HISTORY CONTINUED . . . .

have a rich history, not just of progressive legislation at Madison, but of direct action and struggle in the work place.

Wisconsin Workers

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. You must do the thing you think you cannot do. --Eleanor Roosevelt

Wisconsin workers led the nation in the fight for the eight hour workday. A Wisconsin governor sent the National Guard who killed seven workers on the south side of Milwaukee in 1886

In 1898 Oshkosh woodworkers struck most of the mills in the city. The lumber barons attempted to jail the union leaders on trumped up charges. The whole country watched as Clarence Darrow led a successful defense.

Northwoods Grassroots Labor Activists Upcoming Presentations

October The Rhinelander Paper Mill laborers as many around the state were involved in many conflicts to win rights for workers. This program features their stories. November In November we remember Joe Hill and the Little Red Song Book still fanning the flames of discontent. December On Christmas Eve, 1913, on the Upper Peninsula thugs killed seventy-three, mostly children, of striking copper workers..The Italian Hall Disaster was just one of many times that women and children were killed by the greed of the bosses.

The Kohler Strike which began in 1954 was one of the longest, but Wisconsin workers fought through to a victory.

Facebook Page: Northwoods Grassroots Labor Activists Blog: http://northwoodssolidarity.blogspot.com/

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Working Wisconsin Labor News and Views

By John Spiegelhoff

Collective Action
Labor unions have long engaged in what is called collective action. The great equalizer for workers regarding collective action is to withhold from the employer their labor. This is commonly known as a strike. A strike, in theory, would force the employer to negotiate with their employees as the employer could no longer produce a product or service. The history of the United States near the turn of the 19th century was rife with strikes as workers endured 16 hour days, 6 day workweeks and wages barely enough to survive on. In some parts of the country, the workers were paid in currency or credit in which the worker used them at the company store to buy food and pay rent on their company owned homes. Workers rose up against the robber barons with collective action and created a myriad of changes such as the eight hour work day, eliminating child labor and compensation for workers who were hurt on the job. Unfortunately thousands of brave workers were seriously hurt or killed fighting for dignity and fairness in the workplace. Examples of this would include the Bayview Massacre in Milwaukee and the Pullman Strike in Illinois. If you didnt know it, Labor Day was created as a national holiday by President Grover Cleveland to appease labor unions for the violence inflicted on them during the Pullman wildcat strike. There is an old adage that says Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Unfortunately, we have forgotten where we came from and history is again repeating itself. We are in the age of the New Robber Barons. Crushing the working and middle class has been in the works for over thirty years. Republicans have been hard at work repealing the New Deal championed by President Franklin Roosevelt with attacks on social security, Medicare and workers rights along with a corporate friendly legislative agenda. This legislative agenda coddles the wealthy and give tax breaks to corporations disguised as job creation. Leona Helmsley once so famously said to a maid who testified at her federal income tax evasion trial in 1989, "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes. The time has come once again for collective action. The age of the New Robber Barons is upon us. Only collective action has changed the course of our history. In laymans terms, take it to the streets. The protests at the Capital in February and March 2011 over stripping public workers of a voice in their workplace have created a movement. This led to the recall elections this last summer and surprisingly the Occupy Wall Street movement thanked the Wisconsin protests for their inspiration. It is not enough to be a keyboard warrior. It is only through taking it to the streets that true change will occur. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved - ask around. In the same breath, changing the nature and direction of our country and our communities also means getting off your butt. Politics is not a spectator sport. Run for local office and if you cant or are unwilling, then call your friends and neighbors who may be able to. There are plenty of elections coming up at the local, state and federal level that need progressive candidates. Volunteer to knock on some doors or do some mailings. There is plenty of work that you can do to make a difference. Turn back the New Robber Barons - dont let history repeat itself.
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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Gandhi

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Hmong Perspectives
Hmong history and culture can be found in the form of oral stories, oral poetry, textile art, and music but there is no written account of Hmong life, by a Hmong hand, passed down through the centuries. As an undergraduate, BurleeVang experienced this void when he received valuable advice from his English professor: Write about your people. That story has not been told. If you dont, who will?

Mekong Fresh Meats-Processing the Freshest Meats Today and Tomorrow

By

Neng Soua Yang and Katong Yang

When the first Hmong family arrived in Wausau, WI in 1977, they had no resources for finding livestock such as chickens, hogs, and cows. As more families moved into the area finding livestock became more difficult. A language barrier among the families and American sellers was problematic because both the consumer and seller were unable to understand one another. I saw an opportunity that would generate income and benefit the Hmong people in a way which provided fresh meat for their families. Therefore, with this endeavor Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc. was born. Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc. was established in 1993 at 924 Locker Rd, Mosinee, WI 54455. Our mission was to provide and help Southeast Asian families find live chickens, pigs, and cows so they could continue their traditional practices of butchering animals, using sanitary methods. The company assures that whatever kind of meat purchased is fresh and not contaminated. From 1993 to 1997, Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc. operated with custom butchering services only. We would bring in live animals into the facility and the customers would come and pick their animals which were then butchered on site. For those who practiced the Hmong culture, they were given permission to use the outside pan (opening are) to perform Hmong rituals with no extra charge. We have helped and served local communities for many years and decided to extend our services to other communities throughout the state of WI. Therefore, we obtained a state permit that allowed us to process and deliver chickens, pork, and beef to other communities. In this way, many families who lived outside the Wausau area had the same opportunities to get fresh meat. In 2003, as Mekong Fresh Meats grew from custom butchering to a state facility. We decided to apply for a Federal Permit that was regulated by the Unites State Department of Agriculture (USDA), so we could make more products to ship to customers outside of the state of Wisconsin. We currently ship these products: oriental style sausages, smoked beef, smoked pork and chicken. These products are delivered all over the United States. Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc. not only serves Southeast communities, but also provides services to farmers who would like to butcher pigs, chickens, and cows. Many farmers bring their chickens in to be butchered, wrapped, and labeled so they can sell them at the Farmers markets. Since Mekong Fresh Meats, Inc. was established, we have helped many families continue their cultural customs and helped satisfy the needs of many farmers. We will continue to serve our customers for many more years to come.

A Hmong American Literary Anthology

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EMERGE WISCONSIN
By

Nancy Tabaka Stencil

Moving forward from the cold winter days we marched in Madison to the budget

In the Orthodox spiritual tradition, the ultimate moral question we ask is the following: Is what we are doing, is what I am doing, beautiful or not?
-- Carolyn Gifford (Orthodox Theologian)

hearings held around the state in April, Wisconsins future looked bleak. June rolled around and Mandy Wright and Nancy Stencil heard of a program called Emerge Wisconsin while attending a Democratic Party meeting. Applications and references were filed a month later and we waited. This year saw abundance in candidates applying and all were interviewed. Fast forward to September and we find ourselves sitting in class. We have been selected! What is Emerge Wisconsin? Emerge is a seven month program that helps Democratic women tap into their potential and provides essential training and networking to increase the number of women in public office. Teaching Democratic values, the most recent success story of Emerge is Jess King, State Senator in District 18. Backed by some of Wisconsins finest, the Board of Advisors are Tammy Baldwin, State Representative Donna Seidel, and U.S. Representative Gwen Moore, to name a few. The figures are sad for women holding public office in the United States. Emerge states that the United States ranks 84th in the world for women being elected for office. Only 17% of the U.S. Congress are women. Women are 50 % of Wisconsins population and are severely under represented. Here we are on our first weekend of class - twenty-six of us. Some already hold public office and one announces her candidacy a week later. Emerge provided us a wealth of information from top-notch presenters this first weekend. We are strong women of varied backgrounds and by the end of this first weekend the camaraderie is overwhelming!

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Beyond Wisconsin
THE FIVE PILLARS OF THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
By Virginia Kirsch

During the First Great Depression in the 1930s, the recovery image was a car in every garage and a chicken in every pot. During the Second Great Depression (2008 - ?), I think the slogan should be solar panels on every roof and hydrogen-storage batteries in every garage.
Virginia Kirsch

Where are the new jobs? Why are businesses hesitant about investing in new jobs? The excuse is uncertainty. But what is uncertain? Is it the workforce? The market? Perhaps the reason is one that Jeremy Rifkin points out well in his many books. We are now in a post-oil era. The production of oil peaked in 1976 (based on per capita production figures). What jobs are based on oil and what jobs are based on alternate energies? Have US businesses admitted we are now in a new era, one of dwindling oil supplies, but with potential alternatives in wind and sun? Here is the vision of the next Industrial Revolution. According to economist and social thinker Jeremy Rifkin, the five pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution must be implemented together. If one pillar gets ahead of the others, the synergies are never created, you waste billions and you never get the system in place. Its the entire five pillars that make up a living infrastructure that will create a collaborative commons economy. 1. Shift to renewable energy. Hydroelectricity is the largest source of sustainable energy in Europe. In the next 10 years, wind energy will take over the lead position and solar energy will become increasingly important. 2. Convert buildings into micro power plants. All new construction must be energy neutral. The requirements for existing buildings are less strict. Solar panels can be on every roof. 3. Make green energy easy to collect. Large-scale electricity storage is already a reality, but small-scale storage of sustainable energy in batteries has not progressed beyond research. 4. Connect the energy Internet across continents. Using electricity from a neighboring roof requires smart information and communications connected to the Internet. Smart electricity meters need to be installed on a massive scale. 5. Plug in green transport. Set a timeline in which fossil fuel-powered cars will be eliminated. There is technology to charge car batteries in 15 minutes A number of European countries have opened tenders for a national network of quick-changing stations.

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And if all others accepted the lie which the party imposedif all records told the same tale then the lie passed into history and became the truth. George Orwell, 1984

Challenging the Myth . . . Earning a Living

Questioning the Premise

The critical task at hand is to harness the public capital, the market capital and especially the social capital of the human race to the mission of transitioning the world to a Third Industrial Revolution economy and post-carbon era.
- - Jeremy Rifkin

By Dave Svetlik

Many Americans who grew up in the 50s and 60s, when a single income supported most families, can recall predictions for the turn of the century. Automation would usher in an age of prosperity where machines would do the work and people would need to learn how to constructively use their growing leisure time. Half of this prediction became true. Automation did vastly increase our ability to produce the stuff of an abundant life. However, it now takes two incomes to support most families, and leisure time is a diminishing luxury. What is seldom considered in this time of high unemployment is that as many well-paying jobs were lost to automation as to outsourcing. The elegant technologies that might have freed us are instead leading to impoverishment. There is no lack of productive capacity to abundantly support humanity, but our ancient concepts of earning a living, and our reflexive you or me hoarding instinct prevent us from realizing our true wealth. Automation is growing in virtually every industry, but its typical results are most visible in manufacturing. When a manufacturer automates they almost always become significantly more productive and profitable, and they generally require less manpower. Although some of the increased profitability is a result of eliminating employees, most of it is because machines can do the repetitive tasks of manufacturing more quickly and accurately than humans. In other words, an automating company is actually more capable than before of supporting the employees it is eliminating. Most of the jobs lost to automation are gone for good and they should be. Robots and computers are better at doing mindless operations than humans. But herein lays the quandary. By automating, industries have become more productive and profitable, but because employees are eliminated, fewer people can afford the very products that are now more available. It is the equivalent of

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Challenging the Myth Continued . . .

requiring people to starve in a garden of plenty while watching the food rot because they are no longer earning the right to live. We can produce all that is necessary to support everyone, but in doing so we are producing fewer and fewer jobs. We must profoundly rethink what it means to earn a living. Virtually all of the gains from automation have gone to the wealthiest one or two percent. CEO pay has gone from 40 times the average employee income in the 70s to 300 times today. Had the Assembly Line Robots gains continued to be distributed as equitably as they were from the 50s through the 70s, we would be living in a far healthier economy, and people actually would be seeing growing leisure time. The 20 hour work week to support a family would be a realistic goal. For thousands of years the you or me hoarding instinct was necessary for humans to survive. The current gross wealth inequality is the continuation of this reflexive behavior. However, those same years provided all of the hard won knowledge required for humanity to overcome this ancient need. We can choose to end our current downward spiral, but we are not going to do so thinking like cavemen in a nanotechnology world. Humanity can afford to do whatever the laws of physics will allow, and it is infinitely beyond the self-imposed limits of our now utterly inadequate, disconnected economic systems. As we did with the GI Bill after World War II, we must begin paying people to go back to school, to pursue the work they love, to do that which humans do best think. Maybe even to go fishing. The return on investment for mankind will be enormous and we can no longer afford not to do this.

We cant afford it, people will say. I refuse to believe this. Whenever a President wants to go to war somewhere, he can always find $3 trillion to do it. Whenever banks need bailing out, suddenly trillions become available. So dont tell me we cant afford it.
- Matthew Rothschild The Progressive

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The Great Inequality and the Republican Myth Perpetuation

By John Spiegelhoff

Tax evasion by offshoring money and corporate home offices is desertion of America

I have lived in Wisconsin most of my life, expect for a brief stint in Michigans Upper Peninsula. Wisconsin was one of the most progressive states in the nation but we have been high-jacked by radical Republicans through an echo chamber which promotes and encourages us to vote against our own self interests. It is simply amazing to me how this could have happened to us in Wisconsin and also in the United States. We have become a nation where 2% of Americans own more assets than the bottom 80%. We are at a tipping point with the wealth inequity in our nation. Here is how it happened: Republicans belief system: Individual initiative trumps all. You either make it or you dont. If you dont make it then you failed to take advantage of a free market system which gives you the ability to start your own business and become rich and prosperous. If you failed to become rich, then too bad for you. You are on your own. If you didnt get rich, then you were not disciplined enough and dont deserve handouts from the government. This completely ignores any sense of collective responsibility in our communities for those who are in need. It is by its very essence unchristian and contrary to Wisconsin values. Free markets should be unrestrained and unburdened by the government. This would explain the battle cry of lets get rid of the DNR and FDA among other watchdog governmental agencies for the public good! I would submit to you that if this would occur, our lakes would be polluted, our food tainted and our water poisoned. Such shining examples of this would be the Cuyahoga River fire in 1969 and the unregulated meat packing industry at the turn of the century (read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair). The Republicans believe the free market economy is natural and moral. A Darwin sort of thing. The free market creates jobs and should be unrestrained by government. By extension this means that the wealthy are the most deserving of tax payers money (the very system they loathe) since they supposedly create jobs. This would include significant restraints on what ordinary citizens can sue a corporation who made a defective or harmful product (tort liability). Corporations know best. This is particularly codified in the 2010

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The Great Inequality Continued . . .

Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission decision which stated that corporations are people under the First Amendment and are allowed to give unlimited amounts of money in the political arena. It is no wonder we are fast becoming a nation ruled by the wealthy. Use the political system by passing laws to maintain their power and advance their agenda through voter suppression and stealing the vote if needed. What is astounding is that the Republicans really believe that they speak for the ordinary citizen in the United States. What is even more astounding is that when offered proof contrary they ignore the evidence and advance their agenda. This is extremely evident when the Republicans opined there was voter fraud in Wisconsin. The statistics show there was only .003% voter fraud in Wisconsin and the Voter ID law was certainly not warranted. The Republicans suppressed the vote because they were in power and aim to stay in power. Their legislative agenda does not comport to what ordinary citizens and their communities believe. They speak about jobs but offer no tangible program for people to get back to work. They support the exportation of American jobs overseas. They then demonize ordinary citizens as being lazy and unworthy of taking part in public programs. They defund unemployment compensation benefits, Medicaid and other social safety net programs. Social security and Medicare are also under attack given their belief that everyone is responsible for themselves and social security and Medicare are handouts. Enough is enough. Turn off the Fake (Fox) entertainment network. Reject the agenda of the right which is unchristian and contrary to the values and mores of our communities. Advance and support progressive values which once made Wisconsin a progressive beacon. I wish to live in that State again. DISCLAIMER: Many of these points and arguments come from authors George Lakoff and Drew Westen. They have written such books as Dont Think Of An Elephant (Lakoff), The Political Brain (Westen) and also Whose Freedom? (Lakoff) I highly suggest that you read these books. If you cant read them all at the very least read Dont Think Like an Elephant as it is very easy, instructive and you cant put it down type of reading.

One of the reasons we have so much inequality is that the top one percent wants it that way.
--Joseph Stiglitz

Im heartened by the fighting spirit Ive witnessed all year in Madison, Wisconsin, and seen elsewhere in Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio
--Matthew Rothschild

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Making Money or Making Sense

By Dave Svetlik

Civilizations throughout history have experienced critical moments of reckoning when they have had to change their course radically or face the prospect of demise. Some were able to transform themselves in time; others were not.
--Jeremy Rifkin

We are all aware of the global economic turmoil currently driving millions of people into poverty. What is ignored about this crisis is that before the economic collapse in 2008 the world was capable of supporting these people, and after the collapse it was not. Clearly the supportive capacity of the planet has not gone away it is physically as capable of providing for us in 2011 as it was in 2007 so one must look at flawed economic models and patterns of thinking as major contributors to the problem. One of the first steps we might take in effecting the mental metamorphosis required to overcome old paradigms is rephrasing the question how do we make the most money? to how do we make the most sense? Doing so results in dramatically different answers and shifts human perspectives. Asking How do we make the most money automatically reduces thinking to selfserving scenarios for limited numbers of people. Multinational corporations have understood the world is a closed, interdependent system since the time of the British and Dutch East India Companies in the 1600s, and have ignored national boundaries for centuries. They realize resources and knowledge are distributed globally. However, the sole question asked by corporations is how do we make the most money and the singular goal is to exploit populations and resources everywhere to make a profit. People are kept mentally locked in their nation prisons to facilitate easy divide and conquer, and cultural and racial diversity are used as tools to alienate and exploit. How do we make the most money feeds on you or me thinking and justifies everything from sweatshops to war. It believes in and thrives on the worst in human nature. Asking how do we make the most sense is inherently global in perspective and understands that long term success for any requires long term success for all. It pursues the synergetic advantages of holistic thinking and recognizes that each part affects the whole. Advantaging one group of people at the expense of another is inevitably self-destructive. How do we make the most sense applauds cultural and racial differences as rich and necessary components of a healthy, functioning community. Rather than dividing, this diversity is cherished as the collective human intellect. Nations are complimentary not destructively competing organizational elements of the total human social fabric. Making the most sense treasures we thinking and deplores sweatshops and wars. It believes in and thrives on the best in human nature. Making money hoards knowledge and disseminates misinformation to gain advantage in the game of you or me. By destroying synergetic advantages it guarantees inadequacies and manufactures and manipulates scarcity as a tool for profit making. Making sense readily disseminates knowledge, understanding that the sharing of information is critical to gaining synergetic advantage. It cherishes truth as the path to a successful we. It recognizes scarcity as a problem to be solved for the common good.

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Making Sense Continued . . .

We didnt put a man on the moon because some company thought they might be able to make a profit doing it. It takes vision to involve the common good of the American people without regard for profit. If youre charting a course for this country and your big idea is, No, We Cant, then I dont want you leading the country.
--Rachel Maddow, MSNBC host
Making the most money promotes manipulation of financial systems for selfish gain. Exotic financial instruments and financial speculation are accepted as legitimate tools for tricking the public out of their claim to a decent life in the game of you or me. Advantaging ones self at the expense of others is normal, and ethical behavior is the domain of fools. It is the discipline of failure for millions of humans. Making the most sense recognizes financial manipulation as parasitic and destructive. It realizes that true wealth is the combination of resources and intellect in ever more effective ways to continuously improve the human condition. Money is understood as a means of exchanging true wealth, but an absolute commitment to ethical behavior prevents the piracy of financial systems for selfish gain. Making sense refuses to play games with human life. It is the discipline of hope for all humanity. Making the most money opposes any attempt to invest in the general welfare because working for the common good it is a threat to the ideology of you or me. Public education, universal national healthcare, guaranteed retirement income, and investment in clean energy, high speed trains, or infrastructure are all impossibly expensive. Poverty is normal natures way of culling the least fit the affirmation of survival of the fittest. It is only when money making feels threatened that true wealth becomes visible. Vast public funds are immediately and mysteriously available when war is deemed necessary to protect the interests of the money makers. Trillions of public dollars suddenly appear to bail out collapsing banks. But using public funds to help the public can never be afforded. Making the most sense recognizes true wealth as the ever improving use of resources and energy to serve all humans. We can afford to do anything the laws of physics will allow. In fact we cannot afford not to do that which makes sense for all humanity. Investing in the public in the success of we is the only sustainable economic system. The Earth, Sun, and Moon ask us to pay for nothing. They ask only that we care for our spaceship. When we begin making the most sense, we will find that no humans need ever suffer from poverty or lack of true wealth again. Making the most money sees the Earth and its people as objects to exploit. Harmful secondary side effects and environmental degradation are of no concern. Short term profits and selfish gains are all that matter in the battle of you or me. Earth as our spaceship is never conceptualized. Making the most sense recognizes Earth as the spaceship it factually is, and understands that protecting its functioning integrity is paramount. If the ship is lost, little else matters. Conceptualizing Earth as our spaceship and the success of all of its passengers as critical to human success in the universe becomes the overarching guidance system for all of our actions. Making sense becomes the heart and soul of visionary thinking.
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