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Glenn Beck to Jobless Workers: Go Work at McDonald’s
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Glenn Beck has a message for long-term jobless workers: You’re a bunch of un-American losers.
Beck went on a tirade this week against workers who have been unable to find a job for 99 weeks or more and come to the end of unemployment benefits. Showing a video of a rally by jobless workers in New York, Beck frothed:
I’d bet you’d be ashamed to call them Americans….Go out and get a job. You may not love the job. Work at McDonald’s. Work two jobs….Two years is plenty of time to have lived off your neighbors’ wallet.
He went on to accuse jobless workers of being anti-capitalist and socialist. It’s hard to imagine that 21 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Communism that talking heads like Beck still think there’s a red threat lurking. Worse, they making millions and billions of dollars doing so.
Unlike the 1.4 million Americans who have been out of work more than 99 weeks, and can’t feed their families.
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12 Comments
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I listened to an interview with the author of this book, on our local Pacifica Radio Station KPFK, which is using this book as a fundraiser premium. From the interview and comments of interviewer, it seems that Glen Beck is demonized and again implying that all we need to do is support the “Progressives” (and implicitly the Democratic Party) to oppose Glen Beck and the Republican right wingers. Unfortunately, it is not so simple as this. Why has organized labor been so inefective in publicly opposing the destruction of working people led by such people as Glen Beck?
Glen Beck is permitted to propagandize anti-worker garbage every day due to Fox News Network owner and internatinal right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The constant barrage of propagda from this network alone, 24 hours/7 days a week, for many years has thoroughly indoctrinated millions of working people who have no other informatin source readily available to critically opposed the Glen Beck, Ruish Limbaugh babble.
There is absolutely no programing on national broadcast media, including PBS and NPR, that daily provides the economic perspectives of working people or the labor movement. There is never a “Fair and Balanced” coverage on the FOX Network (or most others for that matter) of the economic needs and conditions of working people, the labor movement, etc. A big part of the responsibility for this must rest with the “leadership” of the AFL-CIO for not waging a mass media campaign and programming to counter the pro-corporate lies against working people.
What is the Public Opion of Labor today? This interesting article, posted on CommonDreams originally from IN THESE TIMES periodical is worht noting.
Perhaps also is the several comments about what the polling results actually mean are perhaps even more interesting. (Yes, I had to make a comment which is still posted by CD.) Follow the link below to this interesting article and comments.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/08/18-9
Published on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 by In These Times
Labor’s Popularity Declines Amid Criticism Of Public-Sector Unions
by Akito Yoshikane
With increasing attacks on public sector unions, it’s not surprising that labor has become unpopular in the court of public opinion. A new Gallup survey reveals that approval ratings for labor unions continues to struggle one year after their popularity reached a historic low.
The survey, released last Thursday, found that 52 percent of Americans have favorable views of unions, the second-lowest ever recorded since Gallup began documenting this trend 70 years ago. The ratings are a marginal increase from last year when public opinion dropped below majority levels for the first time to 48 percent, an all-time low. Even as union membership continues to decline, Gallup says Americans have also become weary about the labor movement’s growing influence.
,,,. (follow the link above for full article and comments).
(below is my comment… rant… manifesto…)
I agree with the fact that the Afl-Cio has not done their job that is one of the reasons why the Carpenters Union broke away,they figured why pump so much money in and not get anything out,the AFL-CIO should use the money to attack idiots like Glenn Beck and Fox.Why are you not creating commercials to refresh peoples minds of the fact that Unions have been warning everyone to buy American,to keep the money and jobs here,all you have to do is show those huge cities that we the American taxpayer have built in China and other places,they manipulate their currency to their advantage,Donald Trump is the only one with a clue how to get our trade imbalance back and that’s because he takes it personal when he sees the Chinese laughing at us,when is the AFL-CIO going to really start to bring the truth out and take it personal,you are supposed to be representing the working class get a freaking clue!!
Heaping scorn on the unemployed is nothing new- it’s the basic motor for eroding the bottom end of the labor market. The jobless must be pariahs if they are to be properly “incentivized” to find work at a grueling, menial job for substandard wages.
I agree with Jerry that we need to vigorously organize our counter-attack to this kind of rhetorical attack.
First, however, we have to isolate the pointed tip of the charge- which came (in the above example from Glenn Beck) after the quoted passages.
Glenn put up a picture of someone (who “just happened” to be black) with a sign saying “A job is a right.”
This stance takes the AFL-CIO out of its comfort zone. I’m not sure that I agree that a job is a right, but if we are to get beyond the position currently put forward by the AFL-CIO- “Good Jobs Now”- which fails to really address the structural nature of unemployment, we have to look at this thorny issue and talk about how full employment might be achieved (and how, if it is, inflation can be controlled).
I don’t regard this as a simple task, but we won’t find any better answers unless we start asking more difficult questions!
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I find it intriguing that so many people dismiss Glenn Beck who have obviously never heard him or read his books. Beck raises valid arguments, is he always right, well no. But is Barack Obama always right, I don’t think so because if he were he would have to be Jesus and he is not. We must read and listen to as many points of view as we can and then using our own knowledge and our own wisdom come up with the true picture of what we must do to fix America.
We are in probably the most perilous time since the very birth of these United States. Unless we can draw upon the wisdom of our founders and all since then to reroute this nation into a direction consistent with the ideals of the founders and the dreams of all Americans we are doomed. We have been hoaxed and cheated by our politicians, all of them.
F*^k Glen Beck and everyone that beleives his bull shit
You first, Glen! Give up your shows? Give up your gold. You work for Mc Donald’s at minimum wage. See how you like it.
The founding fathers were nothing more than crooks. If people want to call me a socalist,commie,red or even unamerican. That’s fine by me. The people need to look past the brainwashing we are bombarded with everyday.shut the t.v. off and open a book,but not becks book,because that guys an a-1 clown. Zinn wrote” capitalisim has always failed the poor now it’s beginning to fail the middle class”. Nothing will ever change if we keep believing in our one party two branch system.
Many of the long-term unemployed ARE anti-capitalist, with good reason. Few of them are yet socialist, but, from my experience, currently unemployed people, and also some of us still working, whose jobs are always insecure, are taking a look at socialism.
I’m disappointed in reading Tula Connell use phrases like “red threat.” That puts her in the same boat as Glen Beck.
The irony is that Beck, and Limbaugh and other pro-corporate , anti-worker gas bags in their hysterical ranting about “socialists” are actually pricking the interest of downtrodden workers, who have a natural interest in a system that stands for universal prosperity, full employment, and world peace.
i DO NOT CARE WHAT TALK SHOW HOSTS SAY. i ONLY CARE WHAT IS HAPPENING. WHAT i SEE IS HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE. nO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE DOING IN wASHINGTON ITS NOT WORKING. pLAYING THE BLAME GAME IS BS. dO SOMETHING AND INSTEAD OF PLAYING WHO SAID THAT.
The AFL-CIO need to get busy and get on radio and t.v. station across the U.S. so that these evil republican slanted programs can feel the heat of screwed workers’ anger,we need labor backed programming to rally workers across america to take the fight to anti-worker scum like Beck,Limbaugh,and other Republicans!!!
howler that’s a great idea and your right the AFL-CIO needs to get on radio and tv and start giving it right back to these idiots the differance will be you’ll be telling the truth and what the real working people want to say to a;ll these idiot bastards like Beck
He has a hell of an idea. 10 millions of us can work for Mcdonald’s. Just thinks how convenient it would be, with 3 Mcdonalds on every block. Eat your heart out, Starbucks. I think he picked McDonalds, a big Republican contributor, for a reason. Of course, the company would be short of capital for the expansion, so we would have to work for, say, 50 cents a day, until raises bring it up to $2/day. After all, how many burgers and fries can us fat-ass, diabetic Americans eat anyway?