AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka on freedom.
"Let’s call this right-wing 'freedom' catch phrase what it really is: a
grossly political strategy to dupe the public, which holds the word 'freedom' as something sacred."
Trumpka was raised Catholic.
Will is appetite.
One of the writers who brought this to my attention, was Saul Bellow. Mr. Bellow died a few years ago, but a few years after I was born, he wrote a book called Henderson the Rain King. Maybe he did introduce the idea of the Magic Negro. (I think it was Mr. Clemens.)
One of the questions nagging Eugene Henderson was the persistent echoing nag of "I want." Little pedestrian but that I was at the time, I looked at my thesaurus, and found that want was synonymous with lack. Dearth, desire, wish, crave, fall short of. Mr. Roget had more. This list is illustrative, not definitive.
Ask yourself this question; "do I lead my own life, or do I let others tell me what to do?"
Will is appetite. Do you know who coined the phrase? Do you have a sense of what it means? Appetite, what we choose. Preference, based upon individual tastes, is the best determinant of what is best for you. Your tastes don't need to match my tastes, although, if you were to ask me which of two things I would choose, I would unabashedly share my view of my own, personal taste. Do I always assert my tastes?
No. I was a young man when I learned about boorish behaviours. My dad was a teacher and an impresario, and I always found those who surrounded him with fawning opinions. He had men who coveted his status. Covetous men always want.
Mr. Trumpka is a man who wants something that is antithetical to freedom. He wants control He isn't the first person I've known that wanted that thing, that antithesis to freedom. And yet, I find myself unable to supply the term, that single word, that would describe the condition that Mr. Richard Trumpka wishes we would wake up tomorrow, and finding ourselves. What could that word be? What single word, that denies want, denies wishing, denies craving, what could that word be?
Because, Mr. Richard Trumpka is a big dog in the world of American politics. Mr. Trumpka represents the will of the worker--and really, based upon his membership, a lot of his members do real, manual work--and that will should have some traction when assessing the needs of the political sphere, translated into voting blocs. Mr. Trumpka should have no problem in industrial states, states like Indiana.
Will is appetite. Mr. Trumpka's appetite is to have power. Saint Augustine didn't look for power. Thomas Aquinas wasn't looking for power. Mr. Trumpka seeks power.
And yet, I've erred.
Augustine and Aquinas did seek power. And, in my view, authority. Where does this Trumpka seek authority? And why is authority different than power? The answer, in my view, lies in "power over what or whom?" and "authority over what or whom?"
Augustine and Aquinas had a common view that they held over power and authority. They had unquestioning belief in the power and authority of God. But that view of power and authority led them to believe that other than God, the only person who could hold as much power and authority over them, was they, themselves. God does not do well, when His authority is competed for. And yet, God grants us, to follow in His footsteps. My God is a jealous God. (Exodus 20: 4-5) A man, thinking for himself does well, as long as he doesn't compare himself as equal to God. But God wants us to follow, not to supplant him, And yet, it's possible, that you haven't heard of the word, "volition." Volition is an interesting word, when compared to "want." Volition is the product of a man's earnest endeavors.
God has granted us powers, to perceive, to feel, to rationalize. What is our volition? What is it, that we choose? And, trenchant to the title of this post, who is to determine the choice?
Thug Trumpka will tell you, that those of us who are still dedicated to the teachings of the Church, or to the examination of truth, through such old school techniques as the study of philosophy, that we're better off listening to Thug Trumpka. Trumpka will decide whether or not a thought is worthy to be held. Thug Trumpka will tell his acolytes, whether or not to agree, or disagree.And Trumpka is a son of the Church.
Trumpka is a thug. Freedom is an enemy of such a thug. I'm not surprised that he is a thug, since, from what I can see, his career has been to be a thug. Mr. Trumpka doesn't believe in freedom, the preference to choose, for ones own self.
Hope and change. This is the best they have to offer?
1 comment:
I was going to mention the fact that Trumpka is a thug, so it was gratifying to see that you worked your way down to that fact.
He does not, however, represent the will of the worker - at least, not the majority of them. This is why Trumpka and his fellow thugs at SEIU and AFSCME fought so deperately to remove Wisconsin Governor Scott Brown from office. Like Oregon, Wisconsin was a forced-union state, and as is the case here, most are in the public sector. Despite the accusations of "union-busting", etc., Brown did no such thing; he did something far worse: he signed into law rules banning automatic deduction of union "dues" from employee paychecks, and a requirement for annual recertification.
He gave government workers a choice.
They could vote to remain unionized, and they could choose to write a check for their union "dues" and mail it in.
Given the choice, 70% of union "brothers and sisters" opted to keep their money and to not "re-up" for union membership. The thugs knew that would be the likely outcome, and with it, a big hit to their coffers - and worse yet, a concomitant loss of power and control.
Freedom is anathema to them.
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