In Connecticut I once tried to start an engineer's union. The people on the floor on the assembly line were organised, but we were not. We were called professionals which meant we did not get paid for overtime, had no representative for grievances and many other things that the people on the floor had. Each of us was alone against management. I invited a number of engineers to my house and talked to them about union. Some recoiled and said that they were professionals. I don't know why they came to the meeting in the first place. Others assured me that if I got a union going they would join. Since I could not get a union going by myself that was that.

Dear spindoc,

A great post from you and
Thank you for your openess and honesty.
You've summed things up so beautifully.

Poirot,

It’s interesting to discover that when we expose ourselves through heartfelt expressions of who we really are, we feel vulnerable. I very much appreciate your reciprocal comments as confirmation that each of us has a “flip side” to our publicly presented coin.

It is always good to find common ground in each other and even better when we step outside our “confrontational” selves to present our real selves.

We might never agree on some issues but it just goes to show that when we do let down our guards that protect us from what we present to others, we are just sincere people trying to establish some common ground.

It is all the more powerful from advocates such as you and I, of intense defense of ideological positions rather than negotiation. As we always face in negotiations, the essence is about finding common ground and connecting, rather than rejecting contrary perspectives for limited reasons, mea culpa.

Why can’t we hang up the rhetoric more often and establish that common ground? Can you suggest, at least in this case for Belly’s interests, how we might find some common ground to make him feel a little better?

Thank you, your comments have made me feel even more vulnerable and I think that has been enormously valuable and positive

Thanks,

spindoc.

Belly, thing may be a whole lot different today, had Gillard accepted defeat at the 2010 election.

Which eve way you look at it, her popularity was shot, when she took the party from some 85 seats, to just over 70, a flogging in anyone's eyes.

Now had she gone then, chances are Abbott and co would be fighting to save their political skin, just like Gillard is now.

Now, having had another three years as an incompetent pair, they have sealed labor's fait for years to come and it would take a monumental stuff up, or many of, for the libs to loose power.

I told you back in 2010, post election, that given enough rope, she would hang herself, and I was right.

It's just a pity this pair had another three years of waste and miss-management, as it's made Abbotts jobs just that much harder.

But in a strange, but hurtful way, it was worth it.

Belly,
I'm not trying to rub anything in but you are supporting something that hasn't existed since Whitlam because it was he who dismantled what was the workers' party & turned it into a useless academic yuppie club.

David f, thankyou. I had earmarked that event. Hope to see you there.

As you say, sustainability is a great idea. It is the key to a viable future. But there are not enough people who are aware of its importance.

Which is absolutely staggering in this day age, especially given how simple the concept really is.

But if Labor were to put Carr up as their leader, that would change. The message would get out there and be heard by the masses. And I dare say that the vast majority would like what they hear a whole lot more than what they hear from Abbott’s rabble!