conflict in the land of the fried cheese curds

Agatha

one thing that struck me is the idealization of labor. now, don't get me wrong–in some ways, any labor that we enjoy can definitely be seen as 'ideal,' but what is most interesting is the tendency to take idealize historic methods of labor that were truly not that ideal. Thompson cites the weaving industry as an example, reminding us that while pre-capitalist weavers may have retained a little more autonomy, or perhaps gained somewhat better compensation for their work, they were nonetheless often under similar stresses of oppression that are often solely linked to capitalism (271-2).

for some odd reason, the immediate comparison i thought of was that of the chimney sweeps in the Disney film Mary Poppins. do you remember them? they were these cheerful, cheeky lads with a bit of soot on their brows and a spring in their step, who mostly seemed to spend their time dancing on rooftops. in fact, as a child, i desperately wanted to be a chimney sweep because it just seemed like so much fun! only in high school, when i learned about Charles Dickens' critique of the chimney sweep, did i learn how horrifying a job it was, and how brutalizing to children (hope those two sailor suit-wearing kids in the disney film didn't get tuberculosis). now, maybe the original novel version of Mary Poppins is one of those texts that, like The Wizard of Oz, had some deep political message that was erased in the transition to film. Hollywood obviously has its own deep level of guilt when it comes to idealizing labor so that it fits better into a musical number. but why do we feel the need to idealize what is so far from ideal?

reading this my mind also couldn't help drifting to think about the conflict raging in wisconsin over workers' collective bargaining rights. it was a bit chilling to read that the "prosperity of the weavers aroused feelings of active alarm in the minds of some masters and magistrates" (277) and think of the connection to wisconsin. Chris W. posted a transmission of a conversation between governor Walker and a prank caller, revealing Walker's plans to privately withhold automatic paychecks from the democratic senators who refused to return to wisconsin, instructing staff to lock them in their desks in the state senate. the idea was to force the dems back to the state senate, where the reps would immediately be able to declare a recess and then a quorum, allowing the republican senators to vote without the democrats. what? what?

according to CNN, one representative remarked that essentially Walker has already "'got what he wants' in concessions on pension and health insurance contributions and [should] relent on curbing collective-bargaining rights." so…if this conflict isn't even about the money being spent, it's really just about a fear of too much worker power.