There have been many individuals wondering whether people would have to take to the streets to\u00a0 awaken our legislators, and most importantly President Barack Obama that \u201chello, there are progressives out here, and we\u2019re feeling ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps it took a frustrated and principled individual in Tunisia named Mohamed Bouazizi who expressed his objections to government policies through self-immolation to get things moving. <\/a> Reports are unclear as to whether he had a university degree or not even a high school diploma, but it seems that he was one of hundreds of millions of individuals around the globe who are under-employed.\u00a0 He was trying to support himself as a street vendor.\u00a0 But in the spirit of \u201clet no good deed go unpunished,\u201d he couldn\u2019t ply his wares without constantly being harassed by public and private officials for money, to comply with silly regulations, and to accept his \u201clow station in life.\u201d\u00a0 And then in the spirit of Howard Beale in the movie \u201cNetwork<\/a>,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019m mad as hell, and I\u2019m not going to take this anymore\u201d by literally going up in flames.<\/p>\n This was enough to strengthen the protests of the oppressed in Tunisia to the point where they could rally and overthrow their government.\u00a0 A day or two later, people took to the streets in Egypt to seek the ouster of their dictator, Hosni Mubarak.\u00a0 Since then the \u201cpower to the people\u201d movement has spread throughout the Middle East to Bahrain, Jordan, Iran, Libya, and Yemen.<\/p>\n It may be coincidental or it may be causal, but in the third week of February 2011, public employees in the state of Wisconsin hit the streets.\u00a0 A Republican Governor and most of the Republican-dominated state legislature want to curtail or abolish the right of public employees to organize and engage in collective bargaining.\u00a0 Teachers and others did something that progressives have been talking about but not doing ever since the first doubts about President Obama\u2019s commitment to, or even tolerance of, a progressive agenda arose.<\/p>\n Union membership has fallen from 33% following World War II, to 24% in 1979, to 14% in 1998<\/a>.\u00a0 Now it is under 9%.<\/a><\/p>\n The captains of industry tell us that it\u2019s all in the interest of keeping prices low for American consumers.\u00a0 If jobs were not outsourced, American companies couldn\u2019t compete and more workers would lose their jobs resulting in even less consumer demand.\u00a0 Perhaps that is true, but it is doubtful that the motives of most outsourcers are altruistic and based on concern about American workers and consumers.<\/p>\n However Republicans in Wisconsin and elsewhere try to frame their positions, what they are doing is (a) starving the beast, (b) busting unions, (c) justifying low taxes, and (d) laying guilt trips on public employees who are among our most dedicated workers, but susceptible to being called unpatriotic when they are abused.<\/p>\n