Actor Argues Against Reform
As Democrats and the media gloat over California’s reform plan defeat, I sense the same sadness felt when rioters gleefully burn down their businesses and neighborhoods. The thrill never lasts long. The loss is theirs, the sadness mine.
While gloating by Democrat Party and union leaders (masters and handlers) is understandable, the workers themselves have nothing to celebrate. Those who do display a sort of social onychophagia: The self-cutting behavior that some people use to relieve anxiety.
After objecting to my recent pro-reform essay on union labor and slavery, a union-actor friend of mine (I’ll call him Mark) argued against reform this way:
See, actors are like whores and their agents are like pimps. The actors you see thanking their agents when they get their Academy or Golden Globe award are the $2000/night hookers. They get limos, beautiful clothes, and never get their faces beaten in. The $40/blowjob whore gets constant abuse, long hours, (cheap) clothes, and has to contend with disease, drug addiction, and poverty. Me and (my wife) are the $40/blowjob whores and if it weren’t for our Union protecting us we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the humble, yet comfortable lifestyle that we enjoy.
Despite having better pro-reform arguments than my own, Mark voted against Prop 75. He continued:
If not for the union, actors would still be getting raped and exploited by the producers and studios. It’s as simple as that. The common working class actor has ZERO power in Hollywood.
Maybe I missed something, but what’s the point of having a union if members work like whores for low wages and achieve ZERO power? And who would understand struggling actors better than Governor Schwarzenegger?
The only actors with leverage are superstars and they make up 2% percent of the Screen Actors Guild. Hmmm… Kind of like the richest 2% percent of America who receive the most benefits from our government.
Although I had no idea that Barbara Streisand and Tom Cruise relied on welfare to survive, Mark’s acceptance of the union’s two percent tax dogma is something to be pitied, not argued. How does one talk of freedom to slaves too afraid to pursue it? What hasn’t yet dawned on Mark is that Hollywood is saturated with actors who rely on other professions while awaiting their “big break.†And while he struggles with $40 blowjobs, his son attends public schools where marginal teachers are shuffled like pedophile priests under the protection of other unions. My friend might be gloating today, but it won’t last long.
November 15th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
California Conservatives or any other of the new breed “conservatives”,hmmm interesting. Just what conservative concept do you folks support? Smal government? Minimal government spending? Accountability?
It seems to me that you would have much more credibility if you were to work toward increasing the minimum wage for as you pointed out, workers are generally working for low wages. What actions has the conservative californian action group taken to ensure that working Californians are earning a living wage? None. What actions other than blaming unions for getting their fair share of the profits being reaped by most corporate entities. Or are we trying to return the failed economics of “Trickle down”? Americans have watched the ACTIONS of the current conservative party and have decided that conservatives act only to conserve their grip on power. The current crop of conservatives blusters about the need for Americans to sacrifice when not one of those in power are risking or sacrificing anything. The Propositions were defeated because they represented a power grab not an improvement to the quality of life for Californians.
One last thing, corporations do not care about their workers and maybe unions don’t either but when was the last time you heard about a union laying off 3000 workers and declaring bankruptcy to avoid paying promised pensions to their workers.
November 15th, 2005 at 4:44 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..nice letter!!!!
LAME!