Saturday, July 9, 2011

The Pendulum Swings

Rain today - which is a good thing.

In an economics course I took at university, they talked about a pendulum. How everything swings from one side to the other, from one extreme to the other. We were discussing communism and capitalism. Communism was at its extreme and has since swung in the other direction. Each time it swings back and forth, but not as far as the previous spot, and eventually settle somewhere in the middle. I wonder if capitalism is at its farthest point, or has it already started to swing back.

I mention that, because I was thinking about it in reference to unions. Coming from a coal mining town, where unions started a hundred years ago, it was a good thing. My uncles were twelve years old when they started working in the coal mine. I'm amazed they were able to learn to read and write. (Tomorrow is Sunday, Thank God for comic books.) After much blood, sweat and tears, the union pulled them up.

Then comes the pendulum effect. It went to its extreme and now is a hinderence in many ways. Take the Post Office for example. They really pushed in the 70's with their strikes and got what they wanted. Two weeks ago, they were on strike, and who actually cared. It convinced more people to go on the internet to pay their bills. A loss of more customers. At Christmas time, I tell my wife, stop sending cards, pick up the phone. In twenty years, or less, the PO will be nothing more than a small size parcel delivery service.

So the pendulum for the unions has already started to swing the other way. At one time, to get members to form a union, was a piece of cake. But now, take Michelin Tire for example. No way do they want a union. For them, the pendulum is at the other end, or is it at the center? There has been, I think, sixteen attempts for a union, and all have failed. I think they have been told, they should give it up.

So now, Will and Kate are gone to la, la land. I did notice, that in every article, they never failed to mention what she was wearing. I never knew it was so important. To be fair, they also mentioned what Will was wearing. Today, "he wore pants, a shirt, and a tie." Yes, that's a direct quote. As I said, I never knew it was so important. So, today I am wearing long pants, beige in colour, purchased from a high-end store in Cole Hbr, called Salvation Army Store. It is complimented by a short sleeve shirt, made up of verticle lines of different shades of green, with six buttons up the front, and having no man servent to button them, the buttons are on the right side. It must be an orential style, as it originates from China. My feed are shod with brown socks, and dark brown moccasins, in respect for our native brothers. The articles about Will and Kate don't mention underwear, so I won't.!/PensionersRant

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