Norman Ravitch *62

6 Years Ago

Unions and Education

Without any evidence but my own historical knowledge, I am sure that Princeton before the end of the 20th century had never supported the idea of labor unions, being a school for most of its history for the rich and the Republicans. So I am glad to see this study about the role of unions in moderating economic inequality. Unions are also important, perhaps even more so, in that they provide the working class with the only education into civics and political economy it can ever expect to get. It does not get it in schooling, where in fact it gets very little; it does not get it on TV nor on the social-media sites. It does not get it in newspapers, even liberal newspapers. The Right has benefited enormously from the decline of unions and the decline of working-class knowledge about the evils of the GOP and their own employers. Long live the Proletarian Revolution! I could say, but I am also a sort of conservative.

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