AFL-CIO Chief: Word “Freedom” Is A Right-Wing Catch Phrase

[Locutus]

Or something.


Via Beltway Confidential:

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has a 4th of July-themed column in the Huffington Post musing on the word freedom and how it is interpreted by the Republican Party. His conclusion is that they use the word to con people.

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.
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According to Trumka, giving people or groups complete discretion in how they conduct their affairs is a bad idea because they might make the wrong decision. That is, they might decide to do something that Trumka thinks is a bad idea, such as opting out of Social Security.
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via Weasel Zippers

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[damngrumpy]

I don't agree with the entire message but part of what he says in some
cases is right. Today we don't regard freedom the same way we did a
few decades ago. Today freedom can mean anything, it is no longer
tempered with the other half of the equation (personal responsibility)
and that is where the mistakes come in.
It may be just fine to go without health care for example, until one runs
into a serious medical problem. Then the persons loses their home and
so on. That might be fine for a single person, but for many it means it
impacts an entire family putting children at risk. Not only that society
might feel the impact as, after bankruptcy the person becomes a burden
on the system.
Today convincing people they can do whatever they want has consequences
for society as a whole. We are as a civilization hoping to move improvement
down the road of history, not going back to a simpler time that never existed.
I also agree that government and society in other areas treads into areas they
do not belong, and that ends up encroaching on personal freedoms in other
areas of life. Where is the balance?

 

[Highball]

damned grumpy,
I vote right along with you. Just look around in the US and tell me about just how we are now being tracked. The Electronics age is now becoming a real threat to privacy for anyone on this globe. Try and go visit a bordering country for a day or two. Or make a wise crack about a highly placed public official and then find out who heard it and reported it. You may become "A person of interest."