"Labor Day is meaningless." Explanation by the effete, for the effete.

[Boreas]

From the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal.

"...Labor Day--in its origins no better than a kind of blue-collar Kwanzaa--"

"...the day, as currently anointed, is meaningless,"

"...there is no tradition anymore in the U.S. of harking back to (and still less of celebrating) the Great Moments in Labor History, when the Union was one's mother-and-father, or the Guild one's temple."

(He does note the attempted assasination of Frick by Berkman, however.)

"Rosie the Riveter is now Rajyalakshmi the Techie Guest-worker, and "jobmates" and "apprentices" sound more like words from "Harry Potter" than staples of the workday vocabulary."

Dripping with scarcasm, the standard tone of the clueless ugly rich when explaining aspirations of workers, (people who actually keep the country running,) to other clueless ugly rich, he denigrates labor as if he was only doing his aristocratic duty.

Any member of the court of Louis XVI would agree with him.

Forgot the link: http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110003941

[DBoon]

1. Too bad they don't have a "Capital Day"

to celebrate the accomplishments of the monied elite whose manipulation of multi-billion dollars in investments makes the US what it is today (sarcasm).

[The Zanti Regent]

3. Ha, EVERY day is MONEY DAY for the Wall Street Pravda

Amazing--they love to BS about Jesus, but they follow the footsteps of Ayn Rand.

Joseph Schumpeter warned us that this would happen, he's spinning in his grave!

[meow2u3]

4. We ought to create a "Wealth Day" for all the fat cats

....and celebrate the legalized fleecing of American workers :eyes: The date would be some time in September. </sarcasm>

[ret5hd]

2. It was meaningless the day it was enacted...

Labor Day was enacted to draw attention from and discourage participation in May Day, the true labor day. I say, only somewhat sarcastically, that we agree with him, reclaim May Day and celebrate labor's achievments with the rest of the world.

[stevedeshazer]

5. About what you'd expect

from the leading publication of people who make all their money on the backs of workers.

Ever notice that your newspaper always has a "business" section. Somehow, I can't seem to find the "labor" section.

[tom_paine]

6. You are right about the Louis the XVI bit

We are rushing headlong backwards -- 1920 -- 1890 -- 1790 -- 1590

[Jack Rabbit]

7. The conclusion is thought-provoking

The conclusion is thought-provoking, although the thoughts it provokes are not the ones intended by Mr. Varadarajan .

On the positive side, America's preference for "blue collar" suggests a widespread belief that bottom-of-the-heap need only be a transient state. Why ossify a group into an enduring class when the aim of most individuals in that group is to leave it? Come to think of it, that's American labor's great march. Onward, and upward. Workers of America unite, you have nothing to lose but your blue collar.

Such remarks would make a great deal more sense if everybody could be a winner, but that is not the case.

I am quite weary of the way defenders of the system, such as people who write for the Wall Street Journal, spew out anecdotal evidence of rags-to-riches stories to justify American capitalism. It may be true to Horatio Alger stories are more plentiful in America than elsewhere. However, that does not make them commonplace.

[srpantalonas]

8. Just back from Labor Day march in Pittsburgh

Labor is not dead. Unions are not dead. Unionized workers are real people fighting to keep their livelihoods and job quality. I marched with a group of terrific blue collar families today and I can tell you I believe much more in their America than in WSJ's America. WSJ doesn't have a clue what it's like to live in constant fear of first losing your job (due to WSJ-advocated Free Trade), then your health insurance, then your home. This is happening all across America. Today Bush finally acknowledged that "thousands" of jobs have been lost due to WSJ-style policies. Millions, George, Millions.

--C Crystle, US Senate Candidate, PA