Moscow on Lake Mendota

I’m with you, I’d like to have a union too. Unfortunately I live in right-to-work AZ. Not much chance. I witnessed the Teamsters screw up their last attempt to unionize the machinists at AlliedSignal/Honeywell in the late ’90s. It should have been easy, as the executives under the exalted rule of Larry Bossidy were already trying to outsource every job possible (except executive staffing and support) to India or some other offshore hell-hole.
Now manufacturing and engineering are done in India, Puerto Rico (I know it’s a protectorate/colony, but it’s still third-world), Czech Republic and Mexico. Quality suffers, customers suffer, the blue collar and tech workers suffer, but the corporation and its executives don’t suffer (even though its stockholders do).
Instead of coming together as a class and a nation, we’ve decided on every man for himself as a strategy.

I’ve grown up in this era, when Unionization seems almost like a foreign concept. I only know a few union members in the private sector and a few in the public workforce. Luckily, and though my family is military and somewhat conservative, never was inclined to watch Fox News or educated to only vote for Republicans.
I have a lot to learn about the history associated with Unions. I don’t know much at all admittedly. But what I have read indicated that back in the day, some unions were associated with seedy types. How extensive this was, I’m not sure…can anyone recommend something to read to learn more about unions?
I do agree that military spending needs to be trimmed considerably. When I met up with my parents the other night for dinner, we discussed his time in the service. He pointed out that the military budget before Bush, and even during Reagan’s time, was less than half of total spending on defense today.
He said that the services (Air Force, Army and Marines, Navy) would compete and “bid” for operations in certain theaters and the most efficient service usually would get the money for those operations and future training.
Gates recently alluded to returning to this type of M.O. Saying that the Air Force and Navy, in the near future, will be looking at taking over operations for Army units as they trim that force’s numbers. The Army/National Guard is nearly two and half times the size of the other services…
And on that note, did you hear about the “threat” to send in forces was made by Sec. Clinton during a meeting with the Libyan ambassador in forces if Gadhafi fails to step down?

It seems that mobilization to some extent has already occurred. Air Force and Navy assets have been strategically routed to points nearer Libya.

I was in a group discussion the other day with some fellow runners. One, an airline pilot, was complaining about unions, specifically his own but by implication all of them. He talked about his union’s corruption and bad-faith arguments with management.
I didn’t doubt him or his experience. But I did suggest the issue was less the corruptibility of power and more the balancing of interests. Did Wall Street’s depredations bother him to this extent? Well, not really because those people actually worked. Unions, on the other hand, are controlled by grubby and mean types. I thought back to my own anti-union prejudices. Like Jimmy Hoffa in coat and tie but wearing white socks. Union thugs were crude and ate Philly cheese steaks. Translation: unions are downscale but corporate titans are classy.
When the right hypnotized the white working class, the power of their suggestion mixed vanity and resentment. You never asked for anything but those other guys (read: minorities) want everything handed to them on a silver platter! Message: we’re on your side against those who are your social inferiors.
Of course, this is simply something all successful oligarchies practice: divide and conquer. Pit one faction againt another and loot their meager savings while they’re tearing at each other’s hair. I don’t know enough Russian history to speculate but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some czarist agents telling peasants how Jews were lusting after their goats. Pogroms were the distraction that served as a safety valve for a sclerotic society.
I think there’s one other area in American life where we see this phenomenon occurring: the military. I used to be surprised at the degree of Reagan worship among enlisted personnel. Didn’t they see how Republicans routinely lied to them about “national security” and then stiffed them when it came to VA coverage for Agent Orange and Persian Gulf Syndromes? But for the proles in uniform, the identity clincher with the ruling class was the flag. When the rich wrapped themselves in it, they always left some room for the GIs. Ultimately, one’s positive sense of identity is much more powerful than some benefits the scammers withhold.
I was surprised how a state like Wisconsin with a great state university and a strong progressive tradition could fall into the same trap Arizona proudly calls home. Surely, if it could happen there it could happen anywhere. Of course, this is what America’s social Darwinists already know about us – we’re suckers. We’ll believe their flattery that we’re good but government workers are lazy. It’s an irresistible treat from the same people who make us think Social Security is in trouble but tax cuts for the rich pay for themselves. Didn’t we visit this midway once before? We realized, maybe a little sadly, that the midway is our permanent home now. The hypnosis is complete.

I think much of the past trouble with enlisted personnel’s blind following of Republican leadership has waned. The military, enlisted members in particular, have become over the decades more educated and open-minded. I don’t say liberal because that would be too hard to gauge. Note the recent DADT questionnaire folly.
Most didn’t return it, and from what I’ve heard from friends serving is that it was a ridiculous and “Republican” agenda. McCain was steamed over the overwhelming support from military members and their families to allow openly gay members to serve. Secondly, when did military policy become a democratic process? Such a joke; one that Republicans, no doubt, hoped would give them something distracting to use in 2012. Except the results weren’t in their favor.
As for the V.A. mess, most military members didn’t realize what a chaotic and shitty service it had become or maybe always was (especially for disabled Vets). Mainly because the percentage who would seek help was, and still is, relatively small. Recently things have changed and oversight is much better.

I think this all fits into the theory of catabolic collapse – in this instance overlaid with top-down class warfare and political power play. As resources dwindle, as the economy goes down, people start eliminating all kinds of civilizational achievements to sustain the unsustainable. People start eating the built capital of their society such as education, which means they’re eating their own muscles and bones in the hope they may someday grow back (haha). Maybe we can hope for enough renumerative jobs on the rebound, tending to golf courses and marinas.

Republicans understand the political importance of seizing the moment of political opportunity — for it may be fleeting — to press their partisan agenda. This makes perfect sense: political ideals count for nothing if your party isn’t in power to insure their concrete realization.
Republicans understand that in order to increase their power base they need to weaken that of the Democrats. The three pillars of the Democrats’ power base are unions, and educated youth, and Black/Hispanic minority voters.
For the first time in history, public sector unions recently eclipsed private sector unions in size: only about 7 percent of the private sector is unionized.
So, you see laws such as those proposed in Wisconsin and elsewhere, to eliminate collective bargaining: if the unions can’t bring home the bacon, they are much less attractive to actual and potential members.
The laws also eliminate automatic deduction of union dues from paychecks, a practice which elsewhere has reduced dues collections by a third.
Corporations already had more assets available for campaign finance and political underwriting: kneecapping public unions is the coup de grace.
Note that Governor Walker made exceptions for the police, firefighters, and other public safety officers — and in return these unions supported Walker in his campaign. If Walker peels them off later, as he likely will under a strategy of divide and conquer, they shouldn’t be surprised.
Additionally, the laws propose to make ordinary student IDs insufficient to vote. Between 80 and 90 percent of college students in Wisconsin do not have driver’s licenses that match their campus residence. The rates for minorities students are even higher. Women and low-income voters (also Democratic supporters, traditionally) are also at risk of losing their vote from these laws.
https://gab.wi.gov/sites/default/files/story/uw_voter_id_memo_pdf_15200.pdf
The Democrats wasted a brief opportunity to push through an agenda that would not only have been good for America economically but also would have broadened and revivified their power base considerably. Even if they subsequently lost control of one or both houses of Congress (as indeed they did) the presence of a Democratic president would have made most changes veto proof for at least four years, buying them time to regain control — using their newly broadened power base.
These missed opportunities include:
* Passing card-check to allow a simple majority (51 percent) of workers to unionize without the necessity of a months-long election process (used by employers to threaten workers with layoffs, closure or relocation in the event that they unionize and demand fair wages and benefits).
* Repeal Taft-Hartley, the 1947 congressional act that took the teeth out of the labor-friendly Wagner Act by allowing states to opt-out by creating so-called “open-shop” or “right to work” laws. (The Wagner Act of 1935 is what gave American workers the right to unionize and bargain collectively.)
* Pass comprehensive immigration reform giving 12 to 18 million undocumented Hispanic immigrants the right to vote.
* Generously fund and otherwise empower the National Labor Relations Board and other federal entities, including prosecutors, to see that labor laws are observed and enforced, including the right to unionize and collectively bargain.
The Democrats should have pursued these with the greatest partisan vigor and an aggressive Whip in each chamber: blue-dogs and other marginal Democrats should have been given a clear and simple choice: support the party on these issues or else be prepared to see your career aspirations flicker and die as you are marginalized and your bills go unread and unassigned to committee. Cross us and you might as well be a scarecrow for all the influence you’ll have for your constituents; vote the party line and you’ll be suitably rewarded.
Instead, Obama wasted a short window of control of both houses of Congress AND the Executive, babbling inanely about “bipartisanship” with a pack of rabid conservatives snapping at his ankles who had no interest in it at all.

Emil! You’ve been missed!

Welcome back Emil !!
Hey, you know that bottle of Jack Daniels you won in a bet??
I sort of drank it while waiting to hear from you.
Sorry.

phxSUNSfan,
A good portion of my family has been in the mining industry here and in New Mexico for the past 100 years. The stories of working in the mines before the unions would not be believed by modern Arizonans. Loss of limbs, loss of hearing, lung issues, loss of life was commonplace. If a worker fell in the crusher he became part of that day’s copper production. No compensation for family. In fact, throw them out of the company house to make room for the new worker’s family. The owners lived in New York. They didn’t give a rats ass about some worker in AZ. (kind of like now)

Azreb, I see your point. I’m a stickler for details and history and that is why I ask about any reading that would be worth my time concerning union history. I guess having worked in today’s modern working environments, we expect that if an employer wrongs us that we seek remediation through the court system; even here in Arizona.
Since unions have such little influence today, us younger folk tend to think of modern situations in dealing with employee mistreatment and abuse. Some important employee protections (sexual harassment) originated out of the Arizona Court system after all; Revlon anyone?
This maybe naive thinking and lawsuits an inefficient manner in which to seek collective benefits and protections, and that is one reason I’d like to find out more.

Heard David Brooks with Mark Shields and Jim Lehrer. Brooks noted that the Wisconsin Gov. was ham-fisted in his efforts to torpedo collective bargaining. I got the impression that the backlash might actually hurt his cause. Is this “wishful listening”?

Sounds like the Roman empire is back. Think Gates understands what President Eisenhower meant when he said “Beware the Military/Industrial Complex.”
Anybody care to comment on how a lack of a draft, mandatory service, is a part of the of this subject?

Emil U know mark pulisfer?

Cal, actually Gates sees large cutbacks in military spending. A roll back in expeditionary “extravagances” and less spending on extremely expensive and heavy tactical equipment; heavy armored infantry. The type of equipment that a new “Roman Empire” would require for conquest. A draft? Ay dios mio…how many kids will flee to Canada?

Cal and phxSUNSfan, the idea of a military draft is almost always included as part of a national service obligation, something that would allow the individual to choose a form of service other than the military. As it is, top military brass insist that they prefer the all-volunteer military since there are apparently fewer problems with kids who actually want to be there. The debate, such as it is, appears unlikely to lead to anything dramatically new. A nation that hates deficit spending, spending cuts, and tax increases is not one to demand much sacrifice from its children.
I think it is becoming obvious that our imperial overstretch can not be sustained much longer. OTOH, the constituency for extravagant weapons’ systems remains insatiable. When we finally make the necessary cuts, they will, most likely, parallel the same cuts being debated today: manpower will either be reduced or outsourced. One more path for upward mobility will fail for working-class offspring.

Soleri, the most prominent reason for the modern military to oppose drafting (especially into the Air Force and Navy) is expense and time-in-training requirements. This is not your dad’s, much less grandfather’s force, in which you ship off to boot camp, grab a weapon, and roll around in the mud for a few months.
Even infantry troops are required to spend much more time in AIT (Advanced Individual Training) and other such educational programs. Drafts would reduce force effectiveness and not be cost effect. Imagine the technical requirements for many of the Air Force and Navy positions; tech schools can last for over a year and many two.
By the time involuntary service members finish their basic training requirement just to start working, their time would be up. Then the next batch would need to be trained. This would costing many times the amount it would to retain those already in service and who want to be there in the first place.
The appetite for some equipment may be somewhat “insatiable” but there have already been dramatic reductions in future “projects”, let’s call them.
The services have already pinpointed programs that can be reduced and studies indicate that the Air Force alone can cut $90 billion from outdated equipment orders. This includes equipment that is rarely used but must be maintained according to A.F.I.’s and Tech. Specs.

To clarify the roughly $90 billion wouldn’t just be outdated equipment, but unnecessary weapons programs, cuts in fighter wings, reduction in space defense and missile systems, etc etc.

Here’s a rundown in inflation-adjusted defense spending since 1946.
https://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0904490.html
I have no doubt that there are weapon systems that have been curtailed/slashed. But the bottom line is that we’re spending more on defense now than during the Cold War. Our spending is so huge that it exceeds that of the next 20 nations combined.https://www.rickety.us/2011/01/2009-defense-spending-by-country/
There is a constituency for this spending (think Boeing, Raytheon, GE, Honeywell, Halliburton, General Dynamics, etc) that lobbies Congress, the Pentagon, and the media in order to keep spending high and unquestioned. Even the cuts that Secretary Gates proposes have less to do with long-term reductions than redeployments of resources to more favored programs.
When we talk about democracy, what we really mean is something vaguely patriotic about electing people who will leave arrangements like this alone. Why? Because the resources of the powerful are so overwhelming that it can no longer be questioned in polite society. It’s why we have conversations about inanities instead of real issues. You have to go to the far ethers of cable TV to find anything that even remotely touches on this (I’m thinking Democracy Now with Amy Goodman). Other than that, you will find nothing, even on MSNBC (owned by GE).
We need to be clear why we’re even having this downer of a conversation. We see the nation failing, all the while allocating resources not to somehow conserve resources and society but to reward those who are most powerful. They routinely shout down anyone who dares question their authority (think of John McCain as the Wizard of Oz).
Pause for a moment and think: when was the last time you heard a pundit or journalist questioning these priorities? Now you understand why the political debate we think we’re having is actually a screen to hide the one we should be having.

Well all that about billions in cuts and how it’s now different and a draft wont work is not what I had in mind about making every parent worry about their kid becoming the next Pat Tillman.

Soleri, some of what you wrote paraphrases my previous statement; the one in which my father pointed out that even during Reagan’s Administration (cold war), defense spending was much less. Almost half the amount spend these last few years. And you are wrong about Gates’ proposals not having long term effects on spending.
Much of the equipment, resources, forward operating expedition gear, etc is long term investments that if cut now, will save billions year after year. And not just one billion here, a few there but tens of billions and later as more equipment is cut, hundreds. Having a smarter, thinner, and better trained force will also ensure cost-effectiveness.

Cal, the Army’s attempt to cover-up the friendly-fire incident was an attempt to save face. They did not want to admit that a prominent person, someone who the country idolized for forgoing millions to serve, could have perished in such a manner.
How do you explain such a loss to a nation, who today, knows little about the dangers associated with his specific M.O.S.? And a country paranoid with stories of conspiracies. So instead of painstakingly traversing that mine field, the Army tried to make the Tillman story into something it was not.

The average person hears $78 billion in defense cuts and thinks that’s a significant step. If only that were true.
https://www.slate.com/id/2280254/

“The average person hears $78 billion in defense cuts and thinks that’s a significant step.” – soleri
That’s more than a million teachers’ salaries. Though, perhaps, juuuuust maybe, we should first fund veterans’ care.

I understand the Tillman story. My point was; with a draft with few exemptions for anyone, would that change the course of history? And are people that sign up for the military and not drafted, just job seekers and really veterans?

Cal, the two cannot be compared. Tillman was part of an exceptional unit, the Rangers, a part of the Army that is more intelligent than most people realized. It is filled with dedicated, career soldiers. As for the “typical rank and file soldier”, even here new recruiting requirements have eliminated those just looking for a job; for the most part.
Soleri, that report illuminated an interesting fact; the services like the Air Force only submitted cuts they “could live with” but not cuts they could do without and still remain highly effective.
It would be like asking your mistress (in my case boyfriend) to cut out extravagances. You think they are going to give up much at first request? Basically, they aren’t showing all their cards.

So the military is now only accepting highly intelligent patriots? Glad I never fit into that category.

“Highly intelligent patriots”. Let’s not get in over our heads here; but more intelligent and competent, yes. Also criminal background and credit checks are more scrutinized. “Moral waivers”, rarer.

PhxSUNSfan, the day we actually apply pain to the powerful and wealthy is the day I can only hope I live long enough to see.

I am with you Sol! I think it can be, and should be done. I am confident in the military’s ability to adapt to those challenges. Much of the money used for unnecessary defense projects should be used for our country’s infrastructure; which in itself is paramount for our national “defense”.

Wish Gates would hang in as Sec. of Defense. His assessment seems to be reality-based and his lack of political partisanship gives him great credibility. We’ll be a long time paying for Rumsfeld’s legacy.

CL & PSF,
A draft would definitely change the dynamic of our foreign policy. Sending conscripts/draftees to long unpopular wars does not work in the long run. Not in Korea, not in Vietnam, not in Napoleon’s time or the Directorate.
It worked during the American Civil War, WWI and WWII, because they were “popular” wars which everyone knew would decide national if not world destinys. And they weren’t that long either.
As to the US Army Rangers, elite yes, but drawn from the rank and file. Krakauer’s book shows the ranger that gunned down Tillman to be not too bright or even sorry. The unit was green with no real combat experience. Rangers a higher caliber than regular army, probably — just more physical and motivated. Top notch Ranger candidates with matching IQs move on to the special forces.

I can see an appetite for a post on the military and its future.

“The day we actually apply pain to the powerful and wealthy is the day I can only hope I live long enough to see.” – soleri
I hope to see the day when we begin to define wealth and power in terms other than accumulation, consumption, and unearned privilege.

Rate Crimes, it’s not hard to imagine a state of affairs much more equitable than the one we have today. Despite my screen name, I’m not much of a visionary hoping to radically change the way we do things. In fact, I would be very content if we simply understood environmental and energy issues, particularly sustainability, better than we do. As it stands, we’re driving a car with the accelerator jammed to the floor just as the road is starting to narrow dangerously. The hypothesized crash now appears to be inevitable.
There’s a book, Our Inner Ape by Frans de Waal, that deals with primate behavior. It’s not hard at all to see ourselves when looking at chimpanzees or bonobos. One of the startling insights in this book was that primates themselves carry a sense of justice. They might be hierarchical but they understand unfairness, as when one member is excessively favored at the expense of others.
You look at societies where there’s much greater equality than ours, say Scandanavia, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, et al, and what you see is that there’s also much less violence. Indeed, the health of the average person is better because extreme income differences aren’t feeding a sense of hopelessness. Needless to say, they also enjoy much greater social mobility.
America’s lack of homogeneity, unfortunately, means we don’t see ourselves as one tribe. It means we will exacerbate class differences because we are prone to see those differences as intrinsic rather than the result of poverty or powerlessness. And the net result of all that is a society that no longer coheres or lays the foundation for a future worth having. I use the word “nihilism” a lot here because I can’t think of anything more destructive than a political and economic system based on hurting those perceived to be inferior.
I saw a poll today that underscored just how damaged we are spiritually, as a nation, with meanness. https://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/03/preaching-fiscal-austerity-ctd.html We are about to enter a new period, one sharply straitened by diminished prosperity and jobs. And it’s unlikely we will marshal the necessary resources to avoid civil unrest, let alone work toward social justice. This isn’t just Arizona, now. It’s America.

Eclecticdog, many Rangers ARE Special Forces. In fact, the assessment and selection course, SURT, etc are part of the Special Operations Forces. The assessment and selection course takes soldiers from the “rank and file” who are highly motivated and gives them a chance to prove themselves in a much more demanding career field. And Krakauer in his book, “Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman,” mentioned the standout intelligence of most Rangers.
I read Krakauer’s book, and he makes no mention of what you say. They also haven’t tied one Ranger or Afghan soldier (they were accompanying Tillmans series when the incident occurred) to his death.
Here is an article about Krakauer, his book, and the death of Tillman (Sept. 11, 2009): https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/PatTillman/krakauer-army-colleagues-pat-tillman/story?id=8541279&page=1
Soleri, very good observations and it seems the racial divide in our country is created/held intact by interest groups and both parties. We saw race, for a moment, mean little to the American people during Obama’s election. Then the Republicans/Tea Party went to work…

Cal, you were a Phoenix cop, correct? What is this nonsense that the Phoenix PD overinflated kidnapping numbers? Often counting cases more than once and listing car thefts or impounds as kidnappings?
Jon, I think a military thread would be extremely intriguing. I would especially like to hear from some of your readers in Washington State. I remember when I was in school, many Washington school districts banned recruiters from high school campuses.
Despite many of those school taking in extra DOD funds because of our (military brats) presence in the classroom.

I was a robot man even before Issac Asimov and his I robot series. And I really liked retired Army major Kieth Laumers Bolo series. Unmanned tanks with great intellect and the the rules of Robots. I think these are the intelligent soldiers of today and the future. With regard to primate behavior, being old I occasionally re read the naked Ape by Desmond Morris and followup by watching the movie, Quest for Fire. I very skeptical about the military’s ability to adapt except along the lines of a privatized military force led by the industrial barons of the world. To quote a old Michael Caine movie saying by the financial adviser to the rich “there are only 5000 people in the world.” Every one else is a commodity. I’ll sign out with John Calvin, you can tell whose going to heaven by the accumulation of wealth.

Well pSf and cal, I would venture to say that you pretty well guaranteed a future military post from Mr. RC. May I suggest a title: “MILITARY INTELLIGENCE”

AZrebel: Military intelligence is an oxymoron. That’s kinda where I was going with Highly intelligent Patriots.
Cops and numbers? It’s the same old numbers and stats game. It’s a game manipulated by whomever has the gold and wants more gold. The 5000 numbers guys run the world. In my limited opinion being retired for 20 years but a Phoenix cop and the past president of the FOP the Phoenix cop game currently is a contest between an really old guy like me that should get on his Harley and ride into the sunset (but will not until mayor Gordon leaves) and a religious spouting union leader with visions of being the next High Sheriff.

Well with all the trouble with the PD these days, I say we not only need robot soldiers but Robocops. I have a feeling that cops are similar fruit compared to many enlisted men. Just sayin…

While we are at it, Robo-sheriffs, robotic politicians (especially of the Republican in Arizona), etc. That way at least we have an excuse for the inhumanity showcased by these people.

Just a couple of afterthoughts:
(1) Wrote eclecticdog, “As to the US Army Rangers, elite yes, but drawn from the rank and file. Krakauer’s book shows the ranger that gunned down Tillman to be not too bright or even sorry. The unit was green with no real combat experience.”
Recently I saw a young man wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a military assault rifle below which was written “haji repelant” (sic). I asked him about it, mentioning the fact that a hadji is a religious pilgrim to Mecca/Medina and suggesting that possibly the T-shirt confused a “haji” with a jihadist, also mentioning that “repelant” was misspelled.
He was both defensive and unapologetic, replying that there was no confusion — comparing (favorably!) the term “haji” to the Vietnam-era word “gook” as an all-purpose slur against nearly anyone from the Middle-East or Near East — and asserting erroneously that there was no misspelling. The T-shirt had been made in South Korea (where the serviceman had been stationed) but he was American.
It never fails to amaze me how the United States stubbornly fails to understand critical lessons and modify its fundamental training AND day-to-day ground management practices to reflect this: only when supervisors at the field-level absorb these life lessons and transmit them to new recruits who look to their immediate superiors as role-models, as a reflection of priorities of the tactical command-staff above them, will anything change in day to day operations.
From Vietnam to Afghanistan, we continue to invade countries with little or no real understanding of, or sympathy with — below the diplomatic level — local cultures and problems.
Then, from a war “pragmatism” that is anything but pragmatic, we proceed to shoot ’em up first and ask questions later (most recently a group of nine schoolchildren collecting firewood whom we supposedly mistook for insurgents — so much for the reliability of our military intelligence): finally, we wonder why they hate us so much, shrug our collective shoulders, and ascribe the problem to rabid “anti-Americanism” intrinsic to foreign cultures.
https://rt.com/usa/news/nato-strike-kills-afghanistan-children/
“Chill out, little brown dudes, shit happens…”
(2) Wrote cal Lash, “I was a robot man even before Issac Asimov and his I robot series. And I really liked retired Army major Kieth Laumers Bolo series. Unmanned tanks with great intellect and the the rules of Robots. I think these are the intelligent soldiers of today and the future.”
As much as I admire Issac Asimov, the real sci-fi “prophet” of modern warfare is the Polish novelist Stanislaw Lem, whose predictions of surveillance devices disguised as cockroaches, and of wars using methods designed to mimic natural disasters and diseases, were truly forward looking. See for example the pseudo-book review “The Upside-Down Revolution” in “One Human Minute” (1986). I thought of this recently when I saw recently articles about a camera-equipped artificial hummingbird made for DARPA:
https://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-robot-hummingbird-flight-video.html
Lem’s essay (posing as a review of a non-existent book) is really much more sophisticated than mere surveillance equipment: the idea he has — and I think it is correct but well ahead of its time — is that conventional weapons will fail in the face of micro-miniaturized nano-weapons (attacking for example steel, petroleum products, chemical propellants, etc.) and of weapons that create apparently natural disasters such as massive crop failures (whether due to disease, drought, or other factors) that afford plausible denial to belligerents.
The kind of crypto-warfare he predicts can also be seen in some of his novels, most notably “The Invincible” (1964), “Fiasco” (1986), and “Eden” (1959).
P.S. I’m not really back: just dropping in occasionally, on those rare occasions (these days) when I manage a bus-pass for the day.

Here are five books on labor unions:
https://thebrowser.com/interviews/richard-b-freeman-on-labour-unions

Thanks Jon, I especially want to read about this: “and explains why Wisconsin governor Scott Walker should heed the example of Australia’s ex-PM, John Howard.”