Unions preserve the middle class

Reader Dave Souders (April 10 Fence Post) fields the granddaddy of all canards when he complains that labor unions turn people into lazy bums and make America function like “Russia (I think he means Soviet Russia), Lybia, Iran or China.” I feel constrained to point out that unions in the above-mentioned countries do/did not function like unions in America.

In the case of Soviet Russia -- the one I know best -- unions were controlled by the totalitarian state and functioned as disciplinary agents. The place to see how free, self-governing unions affect society is Western Europe, where the standard of living and citizen well-being are an example to the world. Germany, the economic powerhouse of Europe, has the strongest unions of all. Finland, often cited for excellence in education, has strong teachers unions.

Even in America, the period of our greatest well-being -- the decades after World War II -- were the era in which unions were the largest, most representative and best organized. Organized labor is a necessary counterweight to concentrated capital. Without it, the middle class disappears, and all that is left are arrogant billionaires and a vast mass of poor people such as can be seen everywhere in the Third World.

As a society, we are rapidly moving to join the Third World, and the fault lies entirely with the superrich bankers and corporate managers. It is not the “mediocrity” of our workers but the treasonous greed and thievery of the rich that we should really fear.

Anthony Nelson

Rolling Meadows