The basic concept of unionism correctly recognizes the communal nature of the workplace. A workplace is not a collection of individuals who operate in isolation from or in competition with each other. It’s not every man (or woman) for himself. The workplace is not a family unit (I shudder when I hear an employer suggest this, because often it reveals his view of the owner as parent and the workers as children), but it is a mini-society.
The U.S. government is not currently well-disposed to take political lessons from what Donald Rumsfeld has memorably dubbed Old Europe, least of all from France. And the recent vote of the French National Assembly to ban the wearing of headscarves by Moslem girls in public schools has hardly helped to mitigate American suspicions about the political wisdom of the current French establishment.
We now live in an aesthetic culture: an “age of look and feel.” This new focus on the sensory nature of things—their visual, tactile and emotional character—has become a major factor (perhaps even the major factor) influencing the design of the things we buy and the environment we build.
The Cold War ended, and, since its collapse, a generation came of age unlearned in duck and cover drills, unafraid of Red Menaces, and unfamiliar with nuclear wasteland nightmares. A generation was born that wouldn’t look into a future of George Orwell’s 1984, as the book and the date became things of the past.
The lack of choice, which annoys me when it concerns my car or computer, has far greater implications for the modern workplace. Much has been said and written about making work meaningful, but much of it boils down to this: there is a strong correlation between job satisfaction and the amount of decision-making freedom a worker enjoys.
I love Waiting for Lefty, a play I first discovered in the midst of my undergraduate education at North Park University. Written by Clifford Odets in the 1930s, the story takes place in the union hall of New York taxi drivers… Waiting for Lefty is significant to me because the place in which the characters find themselves stuck symbolizes a place where many Christians get stuck.
Canada’s conservative parties have been faction ridden over the past few years, with democratic populists from Preston Manning’s Reform, economic nationalists led by David Orchard, social conservatives allied with Stockwell Day, Red Tories in the mould of Joe Clark, and tax and budget cutters associated with the Harris and Klein governments all claiming to be the true heirs of the conservative patrimony.
For the record, I believe the answer is No. However, discussing the question has as much merit as answering it. In an age where declarations of morality are considered impolite, if not outright suspect, the question highlights the significant challenges faced by those who would be our leaders.
The new economy is not a friendlier economy. Revamped hiring practices make it easier to discharge workers… If you’re in, great. If you’re out, well, it’s awfully difficult to get inside. Imbalances in the organization of work make it tough to argue for a civil society where all the spheres, including the economic realm, are largely self-regulating.
As regular readers know, our particular purpose with Comment is to deepen and broaden dialogue about work and economic life. As of this issue, we will try and reach, in particular, college and university students and young working people.
The challenge of the Christian’s call to remember.
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