K Hates The Daily Campus, part 9
Does anyone remember learning about how Pharaoh unionized all the slaves of Egypt? I sure don't, but I guess Nicolas Tomboulides is more privy to these things than I. In his commentary on 10-10-11, "Malloy's executive order is evidence of abuse of power", Nic compares Connecticut governor Dan Malloy to the infamous "Egyptian tyrant". It's vaguely racist in that regard, as if an Egyptian tyrant is the worst sort. Surely, the leader of a fascist regime in, say, Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia could never commit atrocities worse than anyone from Egypt.
But admittedly, that's just nitpicking. Nicolas' flagrant disregard for historical accuracy or a good analogy does not by itself falsify his argument. He states that these executive orders should only be enforced in an emergency, and he doesn't think that the need to unionize workers in home health care and daycare fits the bill. This is in stark contrast to statements from one of his earlier articles; for someone who thinks it is of the utmost importance to ensure that producers reap the full and unabridged yield of their product, lest they decide it's not worth it to continue producing, Nic sure doesn't seem to care about guaranteeing the financial welfare of workers, lest they decide it's not worth it to continue working.
And I can testify that the home health care and daycare workers do not have the proper incentives. I once worked as a home health care provider. Through a government project, I was employed to help families look after their elderly relatives who were suffering from Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The pay was terrible and there were no benefits to speak of, so even without other forms of income to rely on, I quit within a few months. Where does that leave those families? Where does it leave those patients? Are we to let our elderly, who have spent their whole lives feeding into society, simply rot to death? Do they not deserve comfort in their final years?
Given that, I would certainly say that the lack of a union for these workers constitutes an emergency. Daycare and home health care: These are the services that provide for our most vulnerable members of society. Our past, who have already worked so hard for our benefit, and our future, who we rely on to ensure that we indeed have a future. Are we to let these people go without the care they need? Once again, Nicolas Tomboulides ignores the plight of any group he is not a part of.
(The link is unavailable as The Daily Campus' site is down at time of writing, but as I've noted the date and article name, as well as the author, it should be no problem to find it once the site goes back up.)
But admittedly, that's just nitpicking. Nicolas' flagrant disregard for historical accuracy or a good analogy does not by itself falsify his argument. He states that these executive orders should only be enforced in an emergency, and he doesn't think that the need to unionize workers in home health care and daycare fits the bill. This is in stark contrast to statements from one of his earlier articles; for someone who thinks it is of the utmost importance to ensure that producers reap the full and unabridged yield of their product, lest they decide it's not worth it to continue producing, Nic sure doesn't seem to care about guaranteeing the financial welfare of workers, lest they decide it's not worth it to continue working.
And I can testify that the home health care and daycare workers do not have the proper incentives. I once worked as a home health care provider. Through a government project, I was employed to help families look after their elderly relatives who were suffering from Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The pay was terrible and there were no benefits to speak of, so even without other forms of income to rely on, I quit within a few months. Where does that leave those families? Where does it leave those patients? Are we to let our elderly, who have spent their whole lives feeding into society, simply rot to death? Do they not deserve comfort in their final years?
Given that, I would certainly say that the lack of a union for these workers constitutes an emergency. Daycare and home health care: These are the services that provide for our most vulnerable members of society. Our past, who have already worked so hard for our benefit, and our future, who we rely on to ensure that we indeed have a future. Are we to let these people go without the care they need? Once again, Nicolas Tomboulides ignores the plight of any group he is not a part of.
(The link is unavailable as The Daily Campus' site is down at time of writing, but as I've noted the date and article name, as well as the author, it should be no problem to find it once the site goes back up.)