Boeing's Doings

Boeing's Dreamliner has caused some rifts
within the labor movement. (Image by Dave Sizer)

I confess that I am an avid reader of The Economist and I thoroughly enjoy it. It is not that I agree with everything the magazine publishes, but that I appreciate reading a different point of view. This is something that I find to be missing in most political discourse. Rather than discussing politics and current affairs with those who have differing opinions, many pundits and commentators simply gravitate towards people that agree with them. This provides little exchange of ideas and people's horizons are not expanded. The Economist is far more economically liberal than I am. This stance, which is has been reclassified fiscal conservatism over the last couple centuries does not mean that I cannot learn from the magazine. Indeed, there are times when I find that the editorial stance of The Economist and my own stance are broadly similar.

One such instance is the recent labor dispute between Boeing and the labor union representing its manufacturing employees. There has been an ongoing dispute between labor and management (not a terribly surprising situation). The National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that Boeing violated the law by building a new plant in the American southeast rather than their traditional home in the Pacific northwest. The Economist article summarizing the incident can be viewed here. The idea that a corporation can be punished for an act that is not retaliatory and does not reduce the number of workers in Washington is laughable.

It is also frustrating when everyone on "the left" gets lumped in with those who are fighting this battle. As a member of this directional group, I find it somewhat insulting when others fight for unions rather than workers. I have resigned myself to the capitalist system in which we live (for the time being, at least). As such, it is difficult for me to justify any action that will allow someone in the world to earn a fair wage for their labor. In this case, workers in another part of the United States are getting just such a chance. There may not be new jobs added in the Pacific northwest, but there are new jobs being created. I imagine that the labor movement would be much stronger if we all tried to make life better for our fellow workers rather than an impersonal group of workers in the form of a union.

Lucius Junius Brutus

What is Vexillology?

The flag of Chicago (top) is
great while the flag of
Illinois is horrible! (Images from
the public domain)

Those that follow my Twitter feed (@lucjunbrutus) will know that I have a deep and abiding interest in vexillology. Surprising as it may seem, many people in the world do not use the term vexillology in their day-to-day conversations. I thought that it might be instructive to share a little bit about the term, the community surrounding it, and the impact of the field at present. Vexillology, as an good Latin scholar can probably surmise, is the study of flags. The word itself is an unattractive mishmash of Latin and Greek. Vexillum is a Latin word meaning flag while -ology is a fairly common ending derived from Greek and meaning "the study of." Thus vexillology is the scholarly study of flags.

The discipline has its origins in in the middle of the last century. That is when the term was coined and there are several organizations that promoted vexillology. The North American Vexillological Association, of which I am a member, is the largest group on this continent. They do all of the things that learned societies are supposed to do: publish a journal, hold colloquia and symposia, and organize educational events to discuss their esoteric topic of choice. Those who study flags in a scholarly way are known as vexillologists while those who design flags are known as vexillographers. I dabble in both of these!

My main interest is in the quality of flag designs. These banners serve a specific function--identification--so it is important that they are quickly and easily able to be seen and recognized. My big kick right now is the flag of my home state. As a lifelong resident of Chicago, I have grown up seeing the flag of my fair city. It is well designed and easy to recognize. The flag of Illinois, on the other hand is an abysmal creation that is difficult to identify or draw and serves my state poorly. I'm sure that you'll read more about flags here (specifically, that of Illinois) again, but this will have to serve as a crash course for now.

Lucius Junius Brutus

Who Runs the World?

Since beginning this blog, I have been introduced to more and more thinkers with an amazing array of views. One that recently hit my radar is a young woman named Amber. She has some great insights on feminism and the ways that woman are portrayed in modern media. This timely video blog post brings all of her thoughts together in a critique of a Beyoncé Knowles music video.

I am probably just jumping on the bandwagon, but this is, I suppose, what social media is for. If we can use it to encourage thoughtful social discourse, then we can drown out the Kardashians and Sheens of the world. Well done!

Lucius Junius Brutus

Le Pen is Mightier Than Her Father

 

Marine Le Pen is looking
forward to 2012. (Image by
Marie-Lan Nguyen)

The recent downfall of Dominique Strauss-Kahn came as a shock to most observers. DSK, as he's apparently known in France, was a capable leader of the International Monetary Fund. He is, of course, presumed innocent, and the burden of proof is on the prosecution to demonstrate that he committed a crime. Even if he is exonerated, it seems likely that his political career is over. The speculation has been made for a while that he was planning to leave the IMF soon to begin mounting a campaign to be the next president of France. It was very probable that he would have been successful given the unpopularity of Nicolas Sarkozy who is running for a second term. If DSK were to be cleared of the charges leveled against him, it would undoubtedly happen too late to help him into office. The big winner in this whole scandal is not necessarily Sarkozy, however.

Marine Le Pen may benefit most from DSK's legal troubles in New York. With the reforming Socialist out of contention, the party must now endure some infighting to find a viable candidate. The options are now nearly as attractive as DSK was. Ségolène Royal is running, but it is difficult to believe that she would have any more success than she did in 2007--and the latest polls bear this out. The other candidates are equally unlikely to appeal to the voters. In the end, the Socialist Party may not be able to field a candidate that is positioned to make it past the first round of voting next year.

Though the National Front is a far-right party with xenophobic tendencies, Marine Le Pen has smoothed the image of the party. At worst, many now see it as a party with slightly disagreeable plans for dealing with France's problems. At best, it is seen as an anti-establishment party with sound policy plans for the future. It has been thought for several months that Le Pen might be able to squeak her way into the second round of voting ahead of Sarkozy. Her father accomplished the same feat in 2002 at the expense of the socialist candidate. With one major party now burdened by an unpopular incumbent and another working its way out of a shocking scandal, she just might be able to get past round one and into the presidency. My track record in predicting results of elections has not been very good. Given that this vote is still months away, much could still change. Only time will tell if DSK's downfall will be a windfall for MLP!

Lucius Junius Brutus

Overthrowing Capitalism?

Though I am not a member of any trade unions or the Industrial Workers of the World, I did enjoy this recent blog post regarding the overthrow of capitalism. I can already imagine what some of my acquaintances and other readers will say when they read it, but I'm interested to hear other's reactions to it. Let me know what you think!

Lucius Junius Brutus

One Curriculum to Rule Them All

President Bush signs the infamous
"No Child Left Behind" Act that
he requested. (Image from the
public domain)

When I read this article last week, I must confess that I was a little bit confused. I totally agreed with the column itself. The idea of a federally mandated curriculum for schools across the country--from West Virginia to Washington--is totally ridiculous. The needs of students in those states and, indeed, all the cities within those states are unique. One cannot expect students in completely different settings to learn with the same national curriculum. This has been a concession for which teachers--and their unions--have been fighting for years.

The confusing portion of this column is plethora of comments left by readers. Many of them seem to support the author's thesis, but blame the left for the problems that he lays bare. I suppose that, in the interests of full disclosure, I must confess that I do have a tendency to lean left on a lot of issues. For educational reform, this is certainly true. Since the George W. Bush administration passed legislation mandating that no child be left behind, there has been a lot of conflict with teachers and their unions.These education professionals immediately saw NCLB for what it was--an attempt by the federal government to grab power in the field of education. They mandated all sorts of actions from teachers and school districts without providing funding for them. Teachers were up in arms about the necessity of teaching to the standardized tests that were required. Rather than providing authentic learning experiences for students that challenged them and developed their critical thinking skills, educators complained that they had to teach facts for recall on irrelevant standardized tests.

A proposed national curriculum would be just another step in the right's plan to co-opt public education into the federal government. This seems to be a bad idea that will lead to more problems. It would be impossible for any government agency at the national, or state, level to craft a curriculum that effectively educates children in both inner-city Chicago and affluent Beverly Hills. It is, perhaps, encouraging to thoughtful columnists and pundits that their ideas are so closely aligned with those of educators themselves. Perhaps some changes will be made that help our children to succeed.

Lucius Junius Brutus

Phone Books?

Phone books have seen better
days. (Image by CGord)

I must confess that when I first heard of this story, I was a bit surprised. I honestly cannot remember the last time that I have used a telephone book. Even for someone like myself, who is a bit of a Luddite, it is far easier to simply look a telephone number up online than in a bulky phone book. That being said, I do receive at least one phone book every year. It is often unceremoniously plopped on to my front porch and duly put in a cupboard in my kitchen. I cannot think of the last time that I consulted a telephone book, but I imagine that it was around the last time I used a pay telephone on a street.

It seems odd that those who print telephone books would be fighting this so hard. I suppose that the fault lies with those that advertise in this medium. For seem reason, these companies continue to pour their money into advertising that is very unlikely to reach many people. My own inclination is that the "ban" on phone books is a good idea. I can understand that takeout Chinese restaurants can blanket an apartment building with menus. They don't need every resident's permission because this is a minor nuisance. Aside from the environmental impact, it is preposterous that someone I don't know is within their rights to dump a large book on my property that I will never use and have not requested. At the very least, an opt-in program for telephone book delivery will help bring the advertising rates down to appropriate levels. If the printers of these books know how many people are going be using their product, they can come up with reasonable rates for their ads. This way, pizza deliverers, escort services, and mechanics can get their money's worth.

Lucius Junius Brutus