Did unionization put America on a path to communism? When we look at one of those voting maps – showing voting patterns by county, there are blue islands in a sea of red. Major cities almost universally vote Democrat – the party with a decidedly socialist agenda. Of our 50 largest cities, only one (Bakersfield, CA) voted Republican in the last Presidential election. Our cities are densely packed anthills of Democrat party supporters. Why is that?
Industrialization created the mega-cities. Factories required a concentrated workforce to manufacture products for an entire economic region. Productivity was high, but working conditions were harsh.
The labor unions changed everything. They introduced collective bargaining – with the emphasis on “collective.” But labor contracts went far beyond negotiating for better compensation and working conditions. Individuals only do the jobs stipulated by contract. By contract, a machinist can’t also be a welder. Expansion of an individual’s contribution is discouraged. People work according to their role – as negotiated by the union. Individuals are not rewarded according to their contribution, but according to the criteria of the contract. They’re paid for the job they do; not how hard they work at the job.
Even more significantly, labor contracts place the welfare of the collective, above the welfare of the individual. When the union says to stop working, you stop working – even if the family still needs to buy groceries. In exchange for the benefits of collective bargaining, workers accepted the conditions of joining the union – entrusting their work-life to the collective.
Collectivism is the relinquishing of freedom over one’s work. It is also a step towards communism – the relinquishing of freedom over one’s life. Contributing and receiving as specified by labor contract is not much different from Marx’s vision of, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” – with the contract negotiators defining what the “abilities” and “needs” are. Marx understood this and was a promoter of labor unions.
As unions grew, so did the collectivist mindset. Our modern-day communes emerged. The cities where industry was concentrated, predominantly voted Democrat – the party of centralized control.
Union membership peaked in 1954 at almost 35 percent of the workforce. Unions provided the means to redistribute wealth. The industrial barons had to share their bounty with the workers, and the middle-class exploded.
Then things went awry. Unions contributed to the political party that supported collectivism – the Democrats. Next, cities and states began legalizing public employee unions – led by Wisconsin and New York in 1958. In 1962, President Kennedy signed an executive order authorizing unions for federal employees. What were previously professional associations (like the National Teacher’s Association) transitioned into labor unions, negotiating on behalf of their members. Public employee union membership swelled to over 4 million by 1970. It reached 7.1 million in 2022.
The rise of collective bargaining in both the public and private sectors fundamentally changed customer/supplier relationships. Corporations gave sweetheart contracts to their union workforces, and raised prices to pay for it. With all major corporations doing the same, consumers had no alternative to paying the tab. The corporations were rewarding the ant colonies with our money.
The politicians gave sweetheart contracts to the unions – which were their biggest donors – using our money. Taxpayers became the servants of the “public servants.”
The concentrated labor of the ant colonies no longer serves an economic region. The economic region serves the ant colonies.
The role of the big cities is changing as factories move offshore, and private sector unions are in decline. Cities are not the manufacturing centers they once were. They are increasingly becoming the centers of finance, technology, entertainment, healthcare, education, and governance.
But the collectivist mindset remains. It shouldn’t be a surprise that people who prefer living atop one another in glass and steel anthills, tend to think collectively. If the commune dies, their preferred lifestyle dies as well. Public sanitation, public spaces, public housing, public transportation, and mutual security depend on the health of the commune
But our modern-day anthills have two vulnerabilities. Their ideology has made them easy to attack, and technology in conjunction with their changing role has made them easy to escape.
Collectivism can be used to persuade individuals to behave in ways that are not in their best interest. The “fundamentally change America” radicals have leveraged that vulnerability to minimize the importance of individual rights and undermine the relevance of our Constitution. They have convinced the ants to adopt measures detrimental to individuals, but supposedly beneficial to the colony.
The radicals sent the community organizers to promote social justice – for the health of the colony. In the name of “justice,” we have:
- Sanctuary city declarations,
- Decriminalization of socially destructive behavior,
- Redistribution of wealth,
- Delegitimization of science (i.e., transgenderism and climate alarmism),
- Scholastic indoctrination,
- Destruction of the nuclear family, and
- Moral relativity.
Because the ants are told that it’s good for the colony, they don’t question any of it. They just do it. Sacrificing their own wellbeing – as the good worker ants they are.
The end result of this collectivist social engineering has given the cities:
- Falling scholastic achievement,
- Skyrocketing crime,
- Homelessness,
- Drug abuse,
- Business failure, and
- Declining quality of life.
However, not all occupants of the anthill are ants. Some are only captives because their employers are members of the colony. However, technology is releasing them from their captivity. Many workers no longer need to be geographically located with their employer. Fewer are operating machine tools, while more operate computers and telephones.
COVID sold the concept of “work from home.” One doesn’t need an office on Wall Street to manage a client’s financial portfolio. One only needs a laptop and an internet connection, and can work from his deck overlooking the mountains in Idaho. The anthills are beginning to empty out.
People who value their individual prosperity over that of the colony are leaving. The great conservative migration is underway. The sea of red is getting redder and the blue anthills are getting bluer.
The office vacancy rate in New York city has grown by 70 percent since the pandemic. An astonishing 17.4 percent of business space stands empty. That’s 94 million square feet of prime real estate which stands idle. The situation is even worse in San Francisco – which has a commercial vacancy rate of 30 percent.
As the migration continues and money leaves the cities, waiters lose tippers, builders lose contracts, doctors lose patients, and cabbies lose clubbers. More redistribution becomes necessary to maintain the anthill. The burden on those who produce increases, and the exodus to accelerates.
Eventually all that will remain will be the ants – and those who prey on them. The cities are dying because the radicals have convinced the ants to commit suicide – for the social justice of the colony. The radicals think they’ll build a new society on the ashes of America. But all they will inherit will be burnt out craters surrounded by a sea of red – those who have rejected their ideology.
Author Bio: John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He has written for American Thinker, and American Free News Network. He can be followed on Facebook or reached at greenjeg@gmail.com. This is an update of an article which first appeared in 2021.
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