Labor Day's forgotten ones.

September 7, 2003 10:22 PM

Labor Day's forgotten ones. "...there is one class of workers who are largely ignored during Labor Day celebrations, even as our country remains at war on multiple fronts: members of the U.S. armed forces."
posted by skallas (11 comments total)

From the group blog - open source politics. [about]
posted by skallas at 10:24 PM on September 7, 2003

Also the memory hole is running a couple pieces on the "forgetten wounded." Stories of each individual solider. Story w/ pics.
posted by skallas at 11:11 PM on September 7, 2003

Perhaps the American armed forces need to unionize. Maybe something like the Netherlands Armed Forces Union.
posted by MiG at 11:17 PM on September 7, 2003

TRANSCRIPT OF NSA INTERCEPT IRQ09-7A | 08 SEP 2014
--- begin ---
ahmed: "agents of the great satan approach now!"
abduhl: "do not fire until you see the union label."

posted by quonsar at 11:34 PM on September 7, 2003

Bart: I just think our veterans deserve a little recognition.
Lisa: That's what Veteran's Day is for, Bart.
Bart: But is that really enough to honor our brave soldiers?
Lisa: Eh, heh, heh...they also have Memorial Day.
Bart: Oh, Lisa, maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong! The important thing is, veterans deserve a day to honor them!
Lisa: [through clenched teeth] They have two!
Bart: Well maybe they should have three.
posted by Ljubljana at 11:38 PM on September 7, 2003

Joe Hill (don't know him? do a search): don't mourn for me boys, organize. Our military is often a place people go to when job opportunies lousy. Labor=the right to organize. You can't do that as things now stand in our military.
The funny thing here is that most of labor in shit shape and"forgotten" these days in America. But if it is a consolation, white collar jobs next.
posted by Postroad at 4:27 AM on September 8, 2003

In fact the recent US "Job-Loss Recovery" has hit white-collar workers especially hard. The robotics industry has not quite figured out how to build robotic replacements for police, firemen, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, waiters and waitresses.........

But IT jobs of all kinds which are not dependant on specific local idioms ( as is, for example, much of the legal profession ) - from financial analysis to software to engineering design - are in the process of being exported to the developing world: and as this occurs, those remaining crudescences and cultural cesspools ( conscious or not ) which assert some sort of inherent Northern European superiority are in for a bleak awakening -- there are hundreds of millions in the developing world, chinese, indians and others, who can do such jobs just as well but for a fraction of the cost.

Let us hope that the social dislocation from this mass job exodus , in the US and Europe, does not feed into a new xenophobic and belligerent strain of nationalism to be cynically exploited by sleazy politicians with extensive military-industrial ties.

Meanwhile, the best job security may lie in the US Army, in a posting to Iraq. We'll be there for decades. And (I almost forgot) - Halliburton is hiring too.
posted by troutfishing at 6:38 AM on September 8, 2003

Was this a post to remember or "post" your bitterness?
There is no way you could feel their actual pain so why try. Seems here the sites are adding salt to the wounds not helping them. Do you ask one's well being or remind them how poorly they are?
PS skallas this is the same tactics pro-lifers use, showing pictures of tiny embryos with little fingers being aborted to push their issues, bitterness.
posted by thomcatspike at 2:52 PM on September 8, 2003

>There is no way you could feel their actual pain so why try.

Yes, why even bother writing about the lousy working conditions and pay of the military. Yes, tomcatspike why bother posting on metafilter? Ask yourself that if you're just going to bitch about a valid post.
posted by skallas at 4:19 PM on September 8, 2003

>Our military is often a place people go to when job opportunies lousy.

The people I know who have served in the military do so to learn job skills they often complain about not being satisfactory and of course, the college money. Its almost dystopian to turn yourself into a human shield just to be able to get some higher education.

Of course, education in the US isn't that bad off. If your state school is too expensive try another state, overseas, etc and with today's interest rates things aren't that bad, but Bush's pay cuts:

Against this backdrop, Rumsfeld and Co. continue to shaft the troops. Last month, Army Times reported that the Pentagon opposes the Congressional hikes in both danger and family separation pay; officials are asking Congress to return the pay levels to the lower level when the fiscal year ends on September 30th. According to the reporter, “defense-compensation officials say they plan a worldwide review of eligibility for imminent-danger pay in the next few months.” That’s reassuring, no doubt, to the soldiers currently in imminent danger.

Yet in 2004 he will be the pro-military candidate.
posted by skallas at 4:25 PM on September 8, 2003

Skallas felt the site's approach could have been better.
Using post was incorrect as it pointed at skallas, should have said site. if you thought I was pissing on your post skallas, apologize it was directed at the site with all the wounded pictures and I said why in my PS to you.
posted by thomcatspike at 4:53 PM on September 8, 2003