Labour Day In Crowsnest Pass.

 

 

Labour Day In Crowsnest Pass.

There is a unique history embued in this place. I no longer remember the details, which I learned at university a long time ago, but I feel a shiver when I see the old places. People fought and died here a long time ago. Maybe it wasn’t so long ago. Some old people remember it.

Labor Day is not another holiday like Christmas when we have a family meal and exchange presents. The young people are grateful for a long weekend at the end of a short Canadian summer and another chance to use the trailers and boats. But it wasn’t always like that. Labor day is a celebration of labour winning a decent life for a while. A hundred and thirty years ago they were fighting for a nine-hour workday.

There was a time when the hard-working people of the deep coal mines had to fight to stay alive. Dad was listening for the mine whistle to announce if there will be work and pay the next day. Weekends were not a joyful time with the family. The guys were often away working on a farm in exchange for food for the family. Mother took care of the many kids and couldn’t ever have a day off or anything close to it.

In 1932, a bitter strike in Coleman made the news. Coal prices were down and competition for employment and consequently for life became bitter. Labor clashed with police. This is still a reality today. It is the poorest people who are almost crushed to death and find themselves fighting with the police. The police are often poor people who wear uniforms and are trained in crowd control. They fight for “law and order” which often are not laws that favour labour. The revolutionists in Europe fought kings and Tzars while today they fight corporations.

I watch labour in its eternal struggle to survive, and I see great gains during my lifetime. Working people are better off than we used to be. Longer life, more toys, improved education, and health care. I wonder why are we fighting? Why are black people fighting about police brutality, kids fighting about global warming, women over equal rights, First Nations about sovereignty over their reserves?

They are all fighting about beliefs. People believe what they want to believe, not necessarily the truth. Those who lie unabashedly and gain all the wealth and privileges tell them things that are not true while the poor can see smell and feel that their lives are not as rosy as people believe. This became obvious now in the pandemic.

People describe a good vision as 2020. The Labor Day in 2020 came when the eyes of the workers, “labour,” have just been opened. A few still believe that supporting the big fish will place them closer to the food, able to get crumbs, but most chose to believe science and what they truly see.

It was just a short while ago when we were working together like never before to reduce the spread of a dangerous virus while our hospitals and other primary services were getting ready. They should have been prepared, but they weren’t. People all over the world were beating pots and pans, cheering labour in the form of essential workers.

Another truth stood out clearly. The small business we call “Mom and Pop shops” went under fast. People now know that most North Americans are only $400 away from bankruptcy if they have their own little business or are employed and renting. Our labour force is a slave to debt.

There is an illusion that we are the best, that in God we trust, but truly we suck up and kick down. We learned to worship a fake. Labor fought and lost the class war waged against them and didn’t even know it. They blamed governments, not the corporations who outsourced the good jobs, and we miss the fact that the politicians don’t work for the voters.

Now “labour” is facing a bleak future. Throughout our history, the majority, which was always deprived, existed by selling their work. Work provided food for most, plus wealth for the few powerful people. Slaves, serfs, industrial workers did it, and as it is today, providing services to the rich and each other. Now technical advancements are quickly removing the need for labour, both physical and white-collar. We no longer even need the large population of soldiers to kill each other.

People demand that elected governments will provide jobs, but we simply can’t dream some up. The economy is growing without more jobs. The “labour” which is celebrated is now surplus. When they/we lose our ability to create income, the economy shrinks faster, as we see now with COVID. We must find alternative solutions fast.

The first option I foresee is to face our problems and not believe that we have no problem. The days of having the luxury of believing what is not provable are gone. Humankind has grown up and make-believe games are out. If it doesn’t walk like a duck, quack like a duck, it’s not a duck. Call it what it is.

The new world will have to accept that we don’t need the labour or work of all the people. The value of people is in doing what they are good at and like to do, and the creative powers of the human mind. We will not need to force each other to suffer through many hours of performing unwanted tasks and producing manufactured junk.

In my youth, people used to appreciate skilled handiwork and great craftsmanship. We used to be proud of a high-quality, well-trained service. We must come back to it, cherish it, and pay what it’s worth. Above all, we must recognize not what makes the most profit for the big fish, but what advances our society towards the next step in evolution which we can’t avoid taking.

Here is a link to my blog: https://thesimpleravenspost.blogspot.ca/  Feel free to check other articles and comment.