Carl, I agree with Miriam and I hear what you are laying down. Any change to
the status quo is a roll of the dice and humans are not perfect beings.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2016 2:36 PM
To: Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: a lesson in how an activist becomes a tyrant
And therein lies the conundrum.
Any new system we devise will include the same old people.
The Bible teaches us that we must be Born Again, giving up our old lives and
embracing that life laid out for us in the Scriptures. But there again, some
folks refuse to, or simply cannot change. And so, even in religion, a new
approach to living according to the Scriptures winds up only creating a new
Organization, a new structure that will oversee our behavior. And within that
new organization there will be those who seize the opportunity to take control.
The problem lies within us, but we always look outside for answers.
If we were constructed differently we might simply throw up our hands and join
in, grabbing what we can grab for ourselves. But I see the mess we're in as an
opportunity. I seldom think in terms of winning or losing. The mess is far to
vast to talk in such terms. The opportunity to suggest to folks ways of
looking inside themselves and beginning to think for themselves. And to trust
themselves. This is not a win lose thing. It is a never ending process. And
until enough of us are truly able to turn inward and think for ourselves, we
will continue to live in a huge mess.
Who knows how it will all end. We are not psychics. So we go on plowing the
fields while looking to the Stars.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/29/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Which is why I think that one must take individual differences into
account rather than assuming that if we change to a different system,
our problems will be solved. We may have, what appears to be, a better
system, and within that system, there'll still be people with varying
personality types, some of whom may be sociopaths.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Jarvis [mailto:carjar82@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 11:16 AM
To: blind-democracy
Cc: Miriam Vieni
Subject: a lesson in how an activist becomes a tyrant
How do you tell if that activist working alonside you is in the fight
for the good of the many, or is waiting for the moment they can step
on your face in their climb to the top?
I looked up good old Dave Beck, one time president of the Teamsters
International(1952-1957). Here's some snippets that track the move
from activist to dictator.
As an aside, I remember the "takeover" of the Boeing machinists by the
Teamsters. The Machinists were effectively broken and Boeing quickly
instituted an "Open Shop" policy. The interference of the Teamsters
set the employees back many years. And later the Teamsters tried to
muscle in on the Farm Workers in California, attempting to move Caesar
Chavez out, greatly weakening that Union's effectiveness.
.
Carl Jaarvis
***
As Beck's influence rose, Tobin attempted to check his growing power
but failed.
Beck was elected a vice-president of the Teamsters in 1940, and he
began to challenge Tobin for control of the union. In 1947, Beck
marshaled his forces and defeated a proposed dues increase to fund new
organizing.
In 1942, Beck began a six-year campaign to seize control of the
International Teamster newsmagazine. He ousted its editor and won the
executive board's approval to install his own man in the job in 1948.
In 1946, Beck successfully campaigned to amend the union's
constitution to create the post of executive vice-president. He
subsequently won the 1947 election to fill the position.
In 1948, Beck essentially supplanted Tobin as the real power in the
Teamsters union. On April 22, 1948, the Machinists (which was not a
member of the American Federation of Labor, or AFL) struck Boeing in
Seattle. On May 28, Beck announced that Teamsters would seek to
organize the workers at Boeing, and formed Aeronautical Workers and
Warehousemen Helpers Union Local
451 to raid the Machinists. Beck and Boeing officials made a secret
agreement in which Boeing would hire members of Local 451-essentially
hiring Teamsters as scabs and strikebreakers. After as many as a third
of the Machinists had joined the Teamsters, the Machinists agreed to
return to work without a contract. Beck's actions were nearly
universally condemned by members of the AFL Executive Council. The AFL
Executive Council met in August 1948 to take action against Beck. The
day before the meeting, Tobin privately told associates that he would
repudiate Beck. But at a secret meeting that afternoon, Beck and his
followers on the West Coast confronted Tobin with a fait
accompli: Beck had allied with his long-time enemy Jimmy Hoffa. He now
had more than enough votes on the Teamsters executive board to
overrule Tobin if he tried to fire Beck. At the AFL meeting the next
day, Tobin was forced to defend Beck's actions. Unwilling to embarrass
an AFL vice president and create a confrontation with the Teamsters,
the AFL Executive Council condoned the Teamster raid on the
Machinists.
Five months later, Beck won approval of a significant reform of the
union's internal structure. Instead of the four divisions which
existed under Tobin, Beck proposed 16 divisions organized around each
of the major job categories in the union's membership. Although nearly
1,000 Teamster leaders attended the conference in which the
restructuring was debated and approved, Tobin did not.
In 1951, Tobin's tenuous hold on the Teamsters was further exposed
when Tom Hickey, reformist leader of the Teamsters in New York City,
won election to the executive board. Tobin had needed Beck's support
to prevent Hickey's election, and Beck refused to give it.
Presidency
On September 4, 1952, Tobin announced he would step down as president
of the Teamsters at the end of his term. But as the mid-October
Teamster convention neared, Tobin and his supporters formed a draft
movement designed to subvert Beck's control of the delegates. Beck
retaliated by publicly supporting the draft movement, but privately
threatening to strip Tobin of his pension and benefits should he lose
an election.
At the convention which opened on October 14, the 77-year-old Tobin
was paid well to vacate the presidency. His pay was increased from
$30,000 to
$50,000
and the executive board was authorized to pay him this salary for life.
Beck
submitted a resolution asking Tobin to stay on as president, but
forced Tobin to refuse. As further humiliation, Tobin nominated Beck
for president.
He was elected by acclamation. Beck pushed through a number of changes
intended to make it harder for a challenger to build the necessary
majority to unseat a president or reject his policies.
