Tuesday 12 May 2009

Vulgarity of Mind That Defiles The Idea Of Trade Unionism

Death or dissolution will remove a Speaker from office. The only other means is resignation and, in Speaker Martin's case, that's as likely as Gordon Brown going to the Palace. The two are joined at the hip in their determination to downgrade and denigrate the Legislature and its restraints on the Executive.

Particularly galling is Speaker Martin's vulgar take on what is a trade unionist. There is another, decent and human world and tradition where trade unionism is a co-operative and representative institution, the organised, widely supported voice of labour, listened to with respect for its contribution to production and our economic well being by entrepreneurs and by capital. In this world such categories are peopled by workers who invest and invent and organise; and by entrepreneurs who work at all levels of an enterprise and invest, and by investors whose profit-seeking embraces such general goods as social well-being.

In Speaker Martin we have a throwback dressed in gold braid who bedizens his greed and partisanship in the trumpery of class war and entitlement.

5 comments:

Sackerson said...

"bedizens"; a nice turn of phrase, HG.

hatfield girl said...

Thank you, S.

Bedizened like a strumpet, as in:

'Did you see that Mrs x? Walking into mass bedizened like a strumpet'

Lot of range in language use has been lost in only a generation or two. Lot more effing and blinding these days, which was unthinkable for us, so distaste was more accurately delineated. Long line of school teachers on my mother's side too.

mikey said...

You'll love this, hg....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Superior-Persons-Book-Words/dp/0747553378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242157565&sr=1-1

there are two further volumes as well. I love them all

dearieme said...

"There is another, decent and human world and tradition where trade unionism is a co-operative and representative institution." What a sweet fantasy.

hatfield girl said...

Mitbestimmung, D.

(well, it's better than Speaker Martin's view of trade unionism).