We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, December 16, 2013

Union, politicians press Boeing workers for revote on rejected contract extension

Click here to access article by Hector Cordon from World Socialist Web Site.

The ongoing issue of whether Boeing uses its facilities in the Seattle area or move to numerous other sites across the country is an excellent illustration of the power of these huge corporations. They appear more powerful than the State of Washington which has proposed giving it record setting tax write-offs if they stay in the state. And, of course, there is no contest when they are put up against labor unions. 

Unless you believe, like many liberals and other social critics, that these corporations can be downsized sufficiently to give local communities, states, and unions more power when confronting these mammoth corporations, then the only alternative is to socialize these corporations under public ownership.

Meanwhile, The Globe and Mail reports that Boeing has so much cash that they are buying their own stock and raising dividends to its stockholders (read wage-slave holders).