Well, if nothing else, Ashton Chase was certainly “recognized” at his passing – at the grand old ge of ninety-seven!! The man passed the proverbial “three score and ten” by miles, so he must’ve done something right!! But seriously, how do we really honour a man who’s universally considered a national icon?? With just words, or by actions? Your Eyewitness goes for n action – but what kind of action??
Chase lived for an idea that was supposed to benefit our country, So why not examine his idea and implement those aspects that deal with our reality today? He grew up during the Great Depression when the contradictions of the capitalist economic system in America had made the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the world “nasty, brutish and short”. Even some of the despised capitalists jumped off skyscrapers when the stock market crashed – making them into paupers!!
So what was the solution to capitalism’s crisis in Chase’s day?? Trade Unions to represent workers and governments that recognised the need for workers to earn wages to give them a decent standard of living. Unions never said capitalists employers – called such because they put up the “capital” for the business – shouldn’t make profits. But enough of those profits should go to the workers to move their way beyond subsistence levels. And the government?? It should ensure the said decent wages, and the safety of workers – and use fair taxation laws to provide services like medical and educational free.
So how applicable are these proposals today?? Still, sound reasonable to your Eyewitness! This sadly implies that not much mightn’t have changed since Chase’s days!! Take sugar workers in a beleaguered industry. The PNC govt had thrown 7000 of them into the breadlines – are they being assisted by the present to live in dignity while new jobs open up? But hey—we now got oil!!
Are the oil companies paying their fair share of taxes?? Your Eyewitness notices we got a severe shortage of nurses in the medical system – and the government’s talking about bringing in Cuban nurses. Has the government addressed whether the salary demands of nurses are fair?? And consider that Spanish-speaking nurses might be penny-wide, pound foolish since they can’t even communicate with our working class who used public medical services.
But to the credit of the government at least Chase’s PRINCIPLE of workers’ rights has become standard in our country. Sadly, the Trade Union field has withered and most unions are political in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. Chase recognized Unions gotta be political – but on behalf of their workers and NOT for any political party!!
Both entities should return to Chase’s first principles!!
…with dreams
This Friday, – in the midst of a strike in Hollywood – two big-budget movies are gonna be released. Hey…life goes on doesn’t it?? And what are those movies?? Well first comes the FIRST live-action BARBIE movie – after all those computer-animated version versions that were such hits with the kids. But the times are “a changin’’ – as one poet minstrel crooned – so what tickled the fancy of kids then, mightn’t tickle it now!
This time, “Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colourful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.” And that reminds you Eyewitness of the old gag where the aghast father asks why the “Divorced Barbie Doll” is 20 times more expensive than all the other versions.
It’s modern times, so this Barbie has to get Ken’s house, car, etc…etc…!!
…with death
The other movie released is “Oppenheimer” – the man who led the Manhattan Project that created the Atomic Bomb. Looking at the first test explosion, he quoted from the Bhagavad Gita: “I have become death, the destroyer of worlds”.
Guess why Japan ain’t showing the movie.
