Some Workers Are More Equal Than Others

George Orwell, the brilliant English author, is best known for his dystopian novel 1984, describing a future in which a “Big Brother” government absolutely controls its citizens, including their very thoughts. A lesser known, but equally important Orwell work is his short novel, Animal Farm, a brilliant satire on communism. In Animal Farm, a group of farm animals throw off the oppressive bonds of Farmer Jones and claim the farm for themselves. The animals, led by the smartest and most organized animals, the pigs, establish their own society, based on the “Seven Commandments of Animalism”, the most important of which is the seventh commandment, “All animals are equal.” As the story progresses, [SPOILER ALERT!] the pigs wrest more and more control. Finally, the animals awake one morning and find that the seventh commandment has been amended to read, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Animal Farm was written as a satire, but today we can also see it as prophecy. This week, President Obama and leaders of the House and Senate met for a full-day meeting with heads of the labor unions. The labor unions have been vocal in their opposition to a component of the “health-care reform” bill that would tax so-called Cadillac health plans – those plans given to employees by employers that have premiums greater than $8,000 for a worker and $12,000 for a family (this includes both the workers and employers contributions to the plan.) The unions have a very good reason for their opposition – most union employees have such a plan.

It is now being reported that an agreement has been tentatively struck which would exempt those Cadillac health plans that were the result of a collective bargaining agreement. In other words, two workers, making exactly the same wage, receiving exactly the same benefits would be taxed differently solely because one of those workers belongs to a labor union while the other does not.

Apparently, according to the Democratic leadership in Washington, you do not matter as much if you do not belong to a union as you do if you belong to a union. All workers are equal, but some workers are more equal than others. This should be of no surprise to anyone. In Washington, your needs are not important. What is important are the votes you can deliver to those who are in power. The unions are a reliable constituent of the Democratic Party that deliver a lot of votes and a lot of money. Ergo, they are important and worth protecting. You are not.

This is yet another result of identity politics. We have all been divided into various categories – racial minority or majority, rich or middle class, gay or straight, management or labor, union or non-union, and the list goes on and on. Our government has ceased representing the country as a whole and now only represents those who can help them get re-elected. Do not think for a minute that the politicians in Washington have your best interests in mind, the only interest for which they are looking out is their own.

This “health-care reform” bill is only the latest and most egregious example of that. The persistent bribes in order to secure votes and continue the campaign contributions flowing attest to that. That is why the people of Louisiana and Nebraska receive enormous benefits that are not accorded to other states. Not because those states are in any particular dire need of those benefits - Nebraska has the eleventh best economy in the country - but because the bill is so bad that it was necessary to offer those bribes to ensure passage. That is why, if you are a blue collar worker, even though you probably get paid less and receive poorer benefits than your union co-horts, you get to pay the bill for their health care plans.

Chances are that you are already a second-class citizen of this country. Chances are that, while everyone is equal, you are less equal than some other groups. If not, doubtless you soon will be. Is this really good for our country? I think not.

At the end of Animal Farm, the pigs go into partnership with the previously despised and discredited humans. As the other animals looked through the windows of the farmhouse where the pigs and the humans were drinking and playing cards together, they realized that the pigs and the humans looked more and more alike until they found that they were no longer able to tell the difference.