The virtue of Democracy for many is precisely because it is a “legitimate” way to exercise power over the majority by the few. It is really tiring to hear the defenses of democracy on the grounds that it offers some sort of protection of the minority from the tyranny of the majority. But how am I being “protected” right now? Virtually every single thing happening right now is killing my family’s pocketbook, is violently amoral in my eyes, and is extremely poor economic policy. Yet what is my protection? Fleeing to an even worse place?
Anyhow, here is how the democrats practice democracy these days. At least they are honest about it.
The board plans to stack the deck for organized labor in union elections. Under a proposed rule, unions would no longer have to get the approval of a majority of airline workers to achieve certification. Not even close. Instead, a union could win just by getting a majority of the employees who vote. Thus, if only 1,000 of 10,000 flight attendants vote in a union election, and 501 vote for certification, the other 9,499 become unionized.
This radical break with precedent is the handiwork of President Obama’s appointees to the three-member board: Harry Hoglander, once president of a pilots union, and Linda Puchala, former president of the Association of Flight Attendants.
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Indeed. The AFL-CIO letter was inspired by Delta’s acquisition of Northwest. Northwest was largely unionized but Delta wasn’t. The unions are now struggling to win the required new elections, and they want the Mediation Board to manipulate the rules in their favor. It is growing clear that Ms. Puchala and Mr. Hoglander are in on the game. So too, presumably, are the folks who appointed them.
See the rest here.
Unsettling, if not at all surprising.
Don’t discount exit. Voice is important, but it isn’t everything. Think of all the people who were trapped behind the iron curtain and the people trapped in Cuba and North Korea today.
Democracy may not protect the minority from the majority, but it does a decent job protecting the majority from the minority. Democratic institutions make politicians cater to the needs of large groups of people, instead of small groups of military leaders and elites. Democracy does not ensure liberal values, but neither does any other form of government.