Ronald Reagan: "Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost."

Saw this on the Daily Show Moment of Zen tonight, had to share:

Ronald Reagan speaking about unions and collective bargaining in reference to the Polish Solidarity movement in 1980:



fast forward to 7minutes 31seconds here

But restoring the American dream requires more than restoring a sound, productive economy, vitally important as that is. It requires a return to spiritual and moral values. Values so deeply held by those who came here to build a new life. We need to restore those values in our daily life, in our neighborhoods, and in our government’s dealings with other nations of the world.

These are the values inspiring those brave workers in Poland. The values that have inspired other dissidents under Communist domination who have been willing to go into the Gulag and suffer the torture of imprisonment because of their dissidence. They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost. They remind us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. You and I must protect and preserve freedom here or it will not be passed on to our children and it would disappear everywhere in the world.

The people of Wisconsin just watched a piece of their freedom get stolen away by the NCO (New Corporatist Order) today and yet the FOX News-bots have naturally rushed in to defend and celebrate this injustice.

It never ceases to amaze me how many FOX News-bots there are these days (especially on a conspiracy website no less) but how's that cognitive dissonance feel like when your own Republican Jesus speaks out against the brainwashed ideologies you're being spoonfed?

Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.

Wow!

I feel ashamed. I always considered myself far more moderate than Ronald Reagan, more like Dwight D. Eisenhower or Thomas E. Dewey.

Well while this definitely is a huge slap in my face I think maybe it is time for me to go back and rethink some things. I do thank you for bringing this to my attention though.

If I am misinterpreting it, which I do not believe I am, could someone please point this out or is the OP completely correct?

reply to post by mc_squared


In this, Ronald Reagan and I are in agreement.

It is the duty of all peoples under all governments to both voice and enforce their preferences over those of their leaders.

This does not mean violence, Ghandi showed that you can resist opression without violence.

You will not fight against them using violence but you WILL win.

intersting point about this....this was prior to his election....he not unlike the following presidents did not practice what they preached....i think once you dig further you will see RR is the Father of this Alien Agenda, and the NWO....Project Blue Beam...

I won't spoil the surprise for you about him...interesting he was a Hollywood actor aswell...and big hint...he is the only president to suffer a mortal wound and survive...and while he was experiencing this near death experience he was quoting lines from movies, even while in the hospital....hmmmm always an act...hmmm RR thinks to himself...what would be the coolest biggest movie ever.....and where is the stage.....exit stage right for me in this thread

Totally joking of course,...just pointing out some of the unusual things...

reply to post by mc_squared


Nice, but it was taken out of historical context. No where did they have a deficit like the one we are facing today, no where did they have the outrageous "packages" that they have today.
It's the same as looking at the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and saying how horrible nuking someone was, without looking at the ENTIRE historical context.

Shame! For taking a great man like RR and using his words to defend something that has been bastardized 30 years after the fact.

Ronald Reagan is probably one of the most anti-union presidents in U.S. history, to try and spin him in any other way is laughable.

In fact, while an actor and member of the Screen Actors Guild, he sided with management in all labor disputes.

One of his first major actions as POTUS was to crush the air traffic controllers union by FIRING over 13,000 striking union members.

I could give you even more instances of RR's anti-union stance, but I think you get the point.

reply to post by Misoir


Just to clear some things up - I'm not necessarily even defending unions. I think they're very important to keep the man in check, but just like everything else they themselves can be corrupted by too much power. But there are much smarter ways to keep that in check than just by taking people's rights away altogether.

It's just another power grab for the elitists.

People need to get over all the rhetoric about "isms" and freedom and everything else and just understand that too much power in any system corrupts people. Those at the top end up really liking the positions they find themselves in and turn it into a self-preserving oligarchy rather than anything that's supposed to serve and advance society.

This is why Communism turns into Totalitarianism, Capitalism into Corporatism, Unions into the Mafia, etc...

But what's scaring the **** out of me these days is all the so-called conspiracy theorists who aren't looking at these things critically or rationally anymore - they're just regurgitating whatever rhetoric most closely fits their political ideology.

reply to post by vimanarider


Yeah, well it's funny what politicians will say to get into office and then what they do once they're in office, isn't it?

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by mc_squared

 

Nice, but it was taken out of historical context. No where did they have a deficit like the one we are facing today, no where did they have the outrageous "packages" that they have today.
It's the same as looking at the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and saying how horrible nuking someone was, without looking at the ENTIRE historical context.

Shame! For taking a great man like RR and using his words to defend something that has been bastardized 30 years after the fact.

The pro-union people in Wisconsin have lost.

Now all they have left is cherry-picking quotes out of the past and starting witchhunts against the people they feel are responsible.

There is no right to bargain for more of the taxpayers money.

Not a single freedom has been lost.

You whine about the Fox news bots, yet where are you getting your info from? Maddow? Moore?

Lets try dealing in facts here. No liberty was taken away.

That was not Ronald Reagan...

That was a union thug dressed like Ronnie, who works for acorn pushing the agenda of George Soros and Chairman Mao


Long Live The Corporations!!!

Next Stop,,, Minimum Wage, zen we compete with za Chineze!

Originally posted by Janky Red
That was not Ronald Reagan...

That was a union thug dressed like Ronnie, who works for acorn pushing the agenda of George Soros and Chairman Mao


Long Live The Corporations!!!

Next Stop,,, Minimum Wage, zen we compete with za Chineze!

edit on 11-3-2011 by Janky Red because: (no reason given)

Finally!

An honest assessment from you of the situation.

Originally posted by HaveAnotherOne
Not a single freedom has been lost...No liberty was taken away.

Probably the most accurate statement here (sorry I cut it down to the important parts).

Originally posted by mc_squared
The people of Wisconsin just watched a piece of their freedom get stolen

I am "people" of Wisconsin. I work in the private sector.

I have lost nothing this morning that I had before this began.

I have lost no freedoms, no money, no respect, no perks, no retirement above and beyond, no promised raises every year ( I have to earn mine! )

A few in Wisconsin have lost rights to bargain for wages over the cost of living ( and by which hold the state taxpayers hostage if not agreed upon )

What have you lost today?

Dorian Soran

Reply to post by mc_squared

So now the left is going to start championing the cause of Ronald Reagan?

It is obvious that Reagan was talking about private sector. How can we know? He fired public unionized air traffic controllers and replaced them with people who, you know…worked.

inb4 twisting of words to say something else.



Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

I think it is a bit ridiculous to use this as an example.

The trade union Solidarity was the quickest and easiest way to destabilize the Soviet Union, so of course Ronald Reagan would feed them pro-union talking points. If Ronald Reagan came in bashing collective bargaining, think they would have accepted US funds from the National Endowment for Democracy?

Of course, the tragic story of Solidarity is a clear example of why collective bargaining is essential.

Originally posted by centurion1211

Originally posted by Janky Red
That was not Ronald Reagan...

That was a union thug dressed like Ronnie, who works for acorn pushing the agenda of George Soros and Chairman Mao


Long Live The Corporations!!!

Next Stop,,, Minimum Wage, zen we compete with za Chineze!

edit on 11-3-2011 by Janky Red because: (no reason given)

Finally!

An honest assessment from you of the situation.

God Bless America

Ronald Reagan is a curse word for me. Growing up with him as prez made my life horrible, to say the least. He cut the vet's pension, my stepdad, a WWII vet had his pension cut in half. That put a ton of stress on my parents and trust me, it was not fun. My mom had to get help from Oberstar at the time and I believe she got it reinstated somehow, but she spent hours in this endeavor. Lots of drunken nights and arguing going on at that time. He was an actor and I'm sure he was in their union, just like Beck and Calamity Sean and O'Neil and and what's his face....oh, Limbaugh. I'm sick to my stomach.

reply to post by queenofsheba


Whose fault was it your parents were drinkers?

They made the choice to get drunk and argue, no one else made that choice for them.

reply to post by HaveAnotherOne


RR got in bed with the corporations and he was all about the money. This country has not been the same since and the parents drank because of the stress he put upon the family's finances. I guess I'm never gonna agree on those that think he was something special, not gonna happen so that's my final answer.