Labor Day: Happy?

On this Labor Day, it seems fitting to remember one of Ursula Le Guin’s more insightful quotes from her 2014 National Book Award speech: “Capitalism[’s] power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings.” Taking one day a year to honor workers is consistent with a system in which a handful of the highest paid CEOs make more than 300 times the salary of their typical employee. What’s one day out of 365?

One who helps me maintain some semblance of groundedness these days, Heather Cox Richardson, has provided an historical political perspective on Labor Day. You can find it at Letters from an American.

The preceding presents us with another opportunity to call (again) to your attention Ecocide – Kill The Corporation Before It Kills Us. A number of news articles have popped up the past few days about the economic and public health costs of invasive species, such as this one in The Guardian. Will the preventative regulations needed to control and eliminate the transport of invasive species survive corporate attacks and World Trade Organization review?

Labor Day parking lot: empty

Photo by J. Harrington

The divine right of kings was about power. So is capitalism. On this Labor Day we propose a return of Power to the People. Since those of us who are retired don’t get a day off work for holidays, we’re going to be brief and close with an up note. Go enjoy Folk Alley’s Essential Folk Songs for Labor Day, but first, read the poem.

Labor Day

By Joseph Millar

Even the bosses are sleeping late

in the dusty light of September.

The parking lot’s empty and no one cares.

No one unloads a ladder, steps on the gas

or starts up the big machines in the shop,

sanding and grinding, cutting and binding.

No one lays a flat bead of flux over a metal seam

or lowers the steel forks from a tailgate.

Shadows gather inside the sleeve

of the empty thermos beside the sink,

the bells go still by the channel buoy,

the wind lies down in the west,

the tuna boats rest on their tie-up lines

turning a little, this way and that.

********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.