So What is Normal, Anyway? by Frank Jimmy Hines There is a saying that history repeats itself and, time and time again, it’s proven to be true. While precise details can never again be replicated, the fundamental aspects of our history – both good and bad - have a tendency to recur like the skipping of a broken record. Take for example the 1930’s: The gap between the rich and poor was tremendous; workers were forced into unsafe conditions, received little pay, and were made to live in poverty by company owners who exploited them for excessive profits… sound familiar, anyone? But also in the 1930’s came another monumental event: an uprising of the workers. Poverty seemed an inevitable part of life; it was considered normal to struggle day to day, paycheck to paycheck… that was, until the workers started asking themselves why. Why was it ‘normal’ for workers to suffer when the company profited hand over fist? Why was it ‘normal’ to accept poor treatment when working harder than the bosses who merited so much respect? Normal, they realized, is not indefinite; if you decide to change the way things are, then you set a new precedent for what is ‘normal.’ Banding together, these workers formed unions to create much needed changes. Forty hour work weeks… overtime pay… a livable wage… safe working conditions… none of these things were normal at the time, but became the standard at which Americans now live. While these changes have greatly impacted our lives for the better, another uprising has come due. With new times have come new methods of worker exploitation for company profit. You may find it normal if your company only allows you to work part-time in order to avoid paying for your health insurance. You may find it normal if you’re paid wages low enough to still qualify for government assistance. You may find it normal to take annual cuts in wages or benefits, despite record breaking company profits… after all, they’re all going to pack up and move to china, right? It may be normal to get a write-up if you’re injured on the job. It may be normal to ‘work through your break’ to catch up. It may be normal to choose between bills and groceries… who doesn’t these days, right? Wrong. There is a difference between normal and cruel… though sometimes they are the same thing. You do not have to accept these cruel circumstances as normal. You’ve been brainwashed my friends, as many of our forefathers were before. Day in and day out, you’re taught to obey. You are taught that you work your way up or seek another job to “do better” in life. Well the time has come that there is nowhere to go. Promotions are rare and every other job pays the same pathetic wage. We must now look to ourselves, our existing companies and situations, to change what is wrong from the bottom up. Workers must join together as they have so many times before. To organize your workplace – or to become an active member if you are already part of a union – is not something to fear, but something to strive for. It is an amazing thing to make the impossible not only possible, but a standard of living. Imagine a world where you could pay your bills and buy groceries in the same week, where everyone was insured, where pensions weren’t something of the past. Oh, and that’s not the limit. Paid lunch? Yup, that used to happen. COLA (Cost of Living Allowance)? Add it on. Paid sick days? Throw those in too. Christmas bonuses? That’d be great. Severance packages? Why not? Go crazy with ideas of your perfect world and maybe one day those too will be possible... I’m sure that a forty hour work week sounded crazy to those people who worked mandatory 16-hour days. The point is, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. So WAKE UP. Wake up, join forces, and take these corporations by storm. With the new technology of this day and age (i.e. cell phones, social networking, etc.) organizing has never been easier. It’s now time for the better part of history to start repeating itself. It’s time for workers to take back their dignity and respect – to demand a better life for themselves, their families, and even complete strangers – because as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We must live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.”
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 00:22:32 +0000
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