What the media really means when it comments on industrial action\u2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The firefighters strike has provoked a rash of media and New Labour politician hysteria and venom. Terms like “modernisation,”<\/em> “union dinosaurs”<\/em> and such like have been bandied about like people knew what they meant. Here is a modest attempt to help everyone to understand the media and New Labourite Newspeak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “40% pay rise”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 A totally unacceptable figure, unless it\u2019s for politicians and bosses<\/p>\n\n\n\n “placing lives in danger”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 A totally unacceptable thing to do, unless politicians and bosses do it (see “modernisation”<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “modernisation”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 a return to theworkplace feudalism of the 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “flexibility”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 doing what your boss tells you, when they want you to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “government for all the people”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 government for the capitalist class (thank god for coincidence!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “sectional interests”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 the interests of anyone bar the capitalist class (i.e. the majority). See “undemocratic.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “high wage increases”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 selfish, unacceptable demands by those who do the actual work. By definition, bad for “the economy”<\/em> (q.v.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “high profits”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 unselfish, altruistic, acceptable demands by those who give the orders. By definition, good for “the economy”<\/em> (q.v.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “union”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 a form of free association which harms “economic liberty”<\/em> (q.v.) and can result in “industrial anarchy”<\/em> (q.v.). An unacceptable reminder that picking a master does not equal liberty. In extreme cases can turn into “syndicalism” <\/em>(q.v.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “union bullies”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 workers standing up for themselves and placing “economic liberty”<\/em> (q.v.) in danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “union dinosaurs”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 workers who do not wish their rights to go the same way as the Stegosaurus and take annoyingly effective action which the government and employers cannot ignore (see “direct action”<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “strike”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 an unacceptable and unpleasant reminder of “the bad old days”<\/em> (q.v.) and that the “working class”<\/em> (q.v.) still exists and has the power to change the world. A particularly effective form of “protest”<\/em> (q.v.) and “direct action”<\/em> (q.v.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “sympathy strikes”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 unacceptably expressing selfish regard for your fellow workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “the bad old days”<\/strong><\/em>\u2014 <\/strong>when working class people did not know their place and caused “industrial anarchy”<\/em> (q.v.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “protest”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 a right everyone has, but no one should exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “justice”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 a clear sign that the speaker has not subjected their ideas to “modernisation”<\/em> (q.v.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “direct action”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 any form of collective resistance which unacceptably puts your betters into the unpleasant situation of having to think about what those affected by their decisions may think and want (see “working class”<\/em>). By definition, “undemocratic”<\/em> (q.v.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “industrial anarchy”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 what results when people apply the extremist nonsense that workers are people and should not leave their rights, humanity and liberty at the workplace door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “working class”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 a class which does not exist but somehow still manages to do all the work. Has been known to effectively resist the decisions of the “ruling class”<\/em> (q.v.) and stop their plans for the betterment of “the economy”<\/em> (q.v.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “ruling class”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 a class which does not exist but somehow still manages to govern the world and give the orders. Has been known to be terrified of the non-existent and its power (see “working class”<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “democracy” <\/strong><\/em>\u2014 the embodiment of freedom, where a handful of politicians, elected by 25% of the people, do what they, the politicians, want for 4 years. Anyone objecting to this “government for all the people”<\/em> (q.v.) are simply expressing “sectional interests”<\/em> (q.v.) and anyone turning words into action are being “undemocratic”<\/em> (q.v.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “undemocratic”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 the embodiment of tyranny, where the people affected by a decision collectively organise themselves to influence it or, even worse, make it themselves. Any attempt by people to govern themselves rather than letting those better able to judge in the matter do so is, by definition, undemocratic. As in “undemocratic anarchy” <\/em>(q.v.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “the economy”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 our new god, for which no sacrifice made by you on our demand is unacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “economic liberty”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 do what you are told to do or be fired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “free market”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 the natural order, as created and maintained by state action (see “laissez-faire”<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “laissez-faire”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 the doctrine that state interference and intervention is only acceptable when it is in the interests of the capitalist class (see “economic liberty”<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “capitalism”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 another name for “economic liberty”<\/em> (q.v.). An economy where people\u2019s choices are unaffected by differences in wealth and power. The embodiment of liberty, defined as having to sell that liberty on the “free market”<\/em> (q.v.) in order to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “the state”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 an institution which has no place in the “free market”<\/em> (q.v.) and so must be gotten off our back and onto the back of the “working class”<\/em> (q.v.) (see “laissez-faire”<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “wealth creation”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 the process by which the bosses get both the credit and the goods produced by the workers who sell their liberty to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “undemocratic anarchy”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 the activity of those extremists who believe in the nonsensical idea that those affected by a decision should make it rather than leave power in the hands of a few politicians, bureaucrats and capitalists. Inspired by “anarchism”<\/em> (q.v.), these extremists use “direct action”<\/em> (q.v.) and aim for “anarchy”<\/em> (q.v.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “anarchism”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 an evil doctrine which spreads the nonsense that liberty is more than picking masters and that another world is possible (also see “syndicalism”<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “syndicalism”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 the industrial form of “anarchism”<\/em> (q.v.). Promotes “strikes” <\/em>(q.v.) and other forms of “direct action” <\/em>(q.v.). This results in “industrial anarchy”<\/em> (q.v.) and “high wage increases”<\/em> (q.v.). Can lead to “anarchy”<\/em> (q.v.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “anarchy”<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 an impossible dream which, annoyingly enough, has worked remarkably successfully when put into practice. Based on the ridiculous notion that humanity deserves a better way of living than “capitalism”<\/em> (q.v.) and that society should be one of free people cooperating together as equals, sharing the world to directly meet their needs and desires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What the media really means when it comments on industrial action\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237,"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anarchistfaq.org\/anarcho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}