My Takes
Political Ideas of a Blue-Collar Factory Worker
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Chapter 4 This is What it is Now, there was plenty that the Constitution didn’t do to include all peoples that were or would be its constituents under its power, but it was amendable to be able to change to serve all of the people as a living, breathing document. No other government is perfectly inclusive for all of its citizens either, nor is there any other government that has such diversity in the citizenry of its population than the U.S. government does. This creates a melting pot unlike any other which has created many problems to try to overcome. Rights have been extended to more and more peoples under its power since the Constitution’s inception. This was a bulwark against complete majority rule giving many rights to many individuals and minorities, over time, more than any other country really has before. However, it is a government of its time. It’s a living, breathing document, like the most powerful technological progressors of its time; living, breathing people. Times have changed, and as they have, so has technology. We need a government that moves at the speed of said technology, and not at the creeping pace of just living, breathing people, but at the faster pace of the ever-growing speed of our technological advances. This federal government has become more centralized over the years, making it more powerful and more easily corruptible as well. All the while becoming less transparent and more secretive. This government was created under an agrarian society where everyone was responsible for themselves and not pulling your weight could mean your death. There were not the many amenities of today’s society where the trains all run on time and whatever you may need for sustenance can be found within walking distance. Most people can afford to take care of their needs, even those considered poor. In its earlier days the country was still a wild untamed land with natives that had to be fought and forests that needed to be cut through before a society could be built. Today the distribution and logistics run so well that very few people of our enormous population know anything about farming. When the country was young most everyone knew how to farm. Farming was essential to the survival of the individual and the village. Now, available time to work has been doubled simply by the inventions that made electricity possible, because no electricity meant the only way anyone could see at night was by fire or candle light. Today people do not have to worry about these things, so their time and minds are set on other pursuits. The government worked slower as many of the men in government had to worry about a lot of these things that slowed life down. They were less encumbered, but they still moved at the pace of that type of life. They had people to take care of a lot of their menial tasks for them, because as usual those who get elected are the type of people who came from families that had money, and that money afforded them the free time to become educated and more able to do the jobs of elected officials. Many of these people, especially in the south, had slaves to do the menial work that could have kept them from their political pursuits. In the north they just paid citizens or businesses to do the work they did not want to do for themselves. This free time helped them to be better politicians, but also gave them more time to be corrupted by other wealthy people who paid others to do their menial work as well. Politician after politician throughout the many catacombs of this government got caught taking money and got caught in underhanded dealings to enrich themselves and hurt their constituents. Like the Teapot Dome scandal under the Warren G, Harding administration, this and many more examples of corruption exist for all to see. They would get a slap on the wrist and then they continued living off of the largess created by their corruption. It does not matter which side of the aisle; politicians do corrupt things. People are corruptible and politicians are people. We must find a way to streamline government and make it so transparent, to where being corrupt is simply an impossibility. Most corruption is done on local or state levels. Many donors to campaigns hope to get a do nothing job on a cabinet position of a lower executive body or other patronage. Tammany Hall, the political machine of the Democratic Party in nineteenth century New York City is well known in its corruption of graft and kickbacks by overcharging vendors. Also, during Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency, his administration’s corruption is well documented. Many believe the poor old general didn’t even know what many in his cabinet were doing illegally. We have the technology today to spy on countries all over the world. We have intelligence organizations like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security, and the Central Intelligence Authority (CIA) among others, that fight organized crime and try to find international terrorists, wherever they may be. We have satellites and communications and groups of internet hackers, as do other countries. 17 There is no reason we cannot make laws to use this tech, not only on enemies, but also internally to make sure that the politicians who are trusted with the running of government, are doing their jobs on the up and up. We need the most transparency that our technology can provide. If they can spy on the citizenry, the citizenry also needs to have that same power to know of the government’s goings on. Both sides keeping each other in line is the best way to keep the country from falling into an authoritarian dictatorship or worse. People, unfortunately, are not equal. Not under this system, and not in their natural talents. Those who are the haves, in this haves versus have-nots system we are currently under, continuously want more and this system is set up to give more to those whose talents continue to push for corruption for their gain. Transparency is necessary to stop this continued corruption. The media is just as susceptible to being corrupted as politicians are. The media craves ratings and sales. Corporations pay the media to advertise their products. This fact gives them an advantage to get the media to cover them more favorably. During the entire pandemic, I can’t tell you how many times I heard, “Brought to you by Phizer!”, while watching the news. 18 19 20 21 The big pharma ads all over television proves this point. Only the U. S. and New Zealand permits pharmaceuticals to be advertised on its television air waves. In all other countries, such advertising is illegal. 22 Misinformation and disinformation will be the death of the media. If it is not dead already, it is certainly dying, which can be seen in the mainstream media’s lack of ratings in recent years. Now the people are scattering to podcasts and other agenda based media. Some are getting better information, still many follow those who are simply saying what the listener wants to hear. 23 24 25
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About the Book
Politics from the shop floor, not the studio. A GM line worker from Michigan takes readers through how the rules actually work (elections, counting, media trust), then the fights that hit real paychecks—immigration, health care costs, crime and guns, addiction, defense, and the factory-floor economy. Plain-spoken and fully sourced with checkable endnotes, this isn’t punditry; it’s a worker’s-eye view of what’s broken, what still works, and practical fixes—including a fair, level-headed look at a modern Constitutional Convention. If you’re tired of cable noise and want something useful for union halls, classrooms, or book clubs, this book gives you arguments you can verify and next steps you can act on. One-line hook: Politics, explained by the guy on the clock—not the guy on TV.
About the Author
What does politics feel like from the line? Not like cable news. It feels like shifts, layoffs, premiums, and pay stubs. In POLITICAL IDEAS OF A BLUE-COLLAR FACTORY WORKER, Elbert Havard IV—GM line worker since 2006—walks readers through the arguments that actually hit the floor: elections and media trust; immigration and health care; crime, guns, and drugs; defense and the shop-floor economy. Plain-spoken and sourced with clean endnotes, this is a working American’s case for practical fixes—including why a Constitutional Convention deserves a fair debate. It isn’t the end-all, be-all. It’s an invitation to keep working at it. He has lived this book, and he has a bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, with a minor in History and a Specialization in Writing.