Culture and Religion

Socialism stole my paycheck

Published

2 years ago

September 4, 2017

Socialism: ideas so good, they have to be mandatory.

I can’t help but think of this mantra as we approach the first Monday in September. Labor Day is the worst day of all the days. I hate Labor Day. The only positive aspect of this garbage holiday is that it proves the philosophical failings of Marx.

Some people enjoy taking the day off — I do in general, but not this one. Maybe I would if I actually got paid for it. This was a popular concern in the late 1800s when unions started pushing for the annual march that would eventually evolve into this beloved communist celebration. Many workers were unable to sacrifice their day’s wages, so unions lobbied to obligate certain industries to provide them anyway.

In response, Oregon became the first state to declare Labor Day a public holiday in 1887, and Grover Cleveland declared it a federal holiday in 1894.

Thus, federal employees are entitled to paid time off for Labor Day. Not private employees, though; that depends on the company and the benefits it offers. But I’ve never been a federal employee, and I’ve never been paid for taking Labor Day off nor allowed to spend the day at work regardless.

I haven’t been at my job long enough to qualify for holiday pay, and our building will be locked on Monday, costing me eight hours of precious income. I have a wife and small family; I need every hour I can get. Instead, I’m forced to celebrate workers’ rights by being forbidden from working.

Two seemingly contradictory rates of employment are on the rise in America: the amount of time employees spend in each job and the employees’ desire to start another one. Why do people stay somewhere longer than they would like when they want to leave even more than they used to? According to a 2012 report in Time, 60% of workers stay at their jobs for the benefits, the third most common reason behind enjoying the work and feeling that it fits well with other areas of their life (both 67%). But the top two reasons indicate workers who feel satisfied in their current position, so we might infer that the biggest motivator for those who dislike their jobs yet continue is the benefits. If we leave, we’ll have to start the clock over as we wait for PTO.

Now there are two questions I’m sure some of you will have: 1) Isn’t this an argument for more benefits (to keep workers satisfied) and not less? 2) Why hate Labor Day more than any other federal holiday that forces you to take time off and lose money?

I don’t blame private businesses for not offering holiday pay for every single employee — it would be financial suicide. As such, they have no reasonable choice but to limit benefits to workers putting in a certain amount of hours per week for a certain amount of months. No, I take issue with the Marxist mindset of America that our bosses owe us this time off, forcing even most private companies to close for the day, marginalizing those of us who don’t yet qualify for benefits. I’m fine with 98% of my co-workers taking the day off, but don’t lock me out; some of us actually want to work holidays, but we can’t.

That brings me to point number two: why I only hate Labor Day. I hate this holiday because of its oblivious irony. I gladly take time off from work to celebrate America’s independence, the sacrifice of the military, or the birth of the Savior by doing things related to that day — visiting cemeteries, spending time with family, singing carols, finding ways to serve others, and more. Taking time off in general is extremely beneficial for health, morale, and social interaction.

But I hate Labor Day because I’m forced to take the day off in celebration of the thing I’m forbidden to do: work. Get paid. Feel the satisfaction of a job well done, particularly one I didn’t like doing in the first place but I persevered and succeeded. I don’t actually have any transcendent principle or event to memorialize; it’s essentially just an extra Saturday. In celebrating workers’ rights, this worker has his right to work taken away by the Marxist’s veto.

So thanks a lot, socialist geniuses, for finding yet another way to squander my paycheck. Like the good little capitalist I am, I enjoy working and reaping the reward. And as a constitutional conservative, I value even more my right to associate with whom I please and form the contracts I desire with a consenting partner, no third party. If you have to force yourself in the middle of my interaction with my employer, then maybe your philosophy isn’t very attractive. Unions profess to be about workers’ rights but actually stifle them, which is why we call areas without mandatory union laws “right to work” states.

Marxists who claim to be helping, please don’t. Respect my right to work, my right to get paid for my labor as defined by my employment contract, and my right to ignore your stupid communist holiday and earn an honest living.

Richie Angel is a Co-Editor in Chief of The New Guards. Follow him and The New Guards on Twitter, and check out The New Guards on Facebook.

1 Comment

L.

September 6, 2017 at 6:35 pm

lol. you do realize that Labor Day is the reactionary, right-wing version of May Day, yes? labor day has literally nothing to do with Marxism. socialists and communists celebrate “labor day” on May 1st, with the rest of the world.

Reply

Culture and Religion

Acts 17:11 – ‘searched the scriptures daily’

Published

2 hours ago

April 24, 2019

JD Rucker

Acts 17:11 searched the scriptures daily

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. – Acts 17:11 (KJV)

We’ve talked before about doing daily Bible study, then we made sure to expand on what we were promoting by reminding people that Christianity itself should not be a task. Now, we’ll go to the source (as we should have done from the beginning) and point to scriptural backing that we are not only supposed to read the Bible, but to search it and use at as the ultimate reference.

This verse is often quoted out of contest. It points to the Bereans as true students of the Word. There are even ministries today who herald to the Bereans and continue in the works that were alluded to in this chapter. The reality is this: the Bereans were Jews who studied fervently and as a result they were easily converted to belief in Yeshua as the Messiah.

If there’s any one takeaway from this (other than the call to continuously study and find truth in the Bible by applying the teachings of the Bible itself), it’s that those who are the most steadfast in their studies, whether it’s of the Bible or of this world, are the ones who are easiest to bring to the truth. Christianity and all religions have gained an unfortunate label of being only for the “weak of mind” or gullible people. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s not necessarily about intelligence. It’s about discernment. Those who see the world through the lens of common sense and an unbiased intellect are the most likely to come to the faith. They simply need a little Biblical worldview prompting.

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Culture and Religion

Matthew 22:37 – ‘love the Lord thy God’

Published

18 hours ago

April 24, 2019

JD Rucker

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. – Matthew 22:37 (KJV)

We’ve all heard this verse, but have we really contemplated it? This is a verse that sits in the middle of many different things happening. The Pharisees and Sadducees were questioning Him. His answers were profound and defining.

This important portion of this message is echoed three times: all. Love thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they mind. This is the most important Commandment according to Yeshua.

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Culture and Religion

Scouts BSA: Proof that moral leadership matters in life

Published

19 hours ago

April 24, 2019

David Leach

Scouts BSA Proof that moral leadership matters in life

In the Age of Trump, where the Fellowship of the Pharisees and their so-called evangelical followers have given “God’s chosen president” a “mulligan” for his sexually immoral past in exchange for a seat at his table, the damage being done to the Gospel of Christ is obvious.

Another consequence of this kind of hypocrisy has been the destruction of moral leadership in nearly every area of American life. For example, let’s take a look at Scouts BSA, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America.

In a report by NBC New York yesterday, we learned that nearly 8,000 adults are suspected of sexually abusing more than 12,000 children in the Boy Scouts over the years, and that these incidents have been kept secret according to victim’s rights attorney Jeff Anderson.

“For many, many years there’s been an excavation of what are called the ‘perversion files’—those are files held and hoarded at the Boy Scouts of America headquarters.

“Those ‘perversion files’ that they’ve had reflect that they have removed thousands of offenders of childhood sexual abuse over the years and they’ve kept that in files secretly.”

While the abuse appears to have been going on since the 1940s, recent decisions by the Boy Scouts created an environment that essentially guaranteed it would happen with greater frequency, thanks to the institution of LGBT-friendly changes to their leadership requirements.

In the summer of 2015, then-president of the Boy Scouts and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates abandoned the organization’s commitment to develop moral character by lifting the ban on homosexuals serving as leaders due to fears of possible lawsuits.

The lawsuit excuse was a lie as the Supreme Court had already upheld the BSA’s right to exclude homosexuals. In reality, Gates, the guy responsible for ending the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, simply wanted to open scouting to the LGBT community, regardless of any consequences. Moral considerations be damned.

Here’s an irony for you. Scouts BSA announced a few months ago it may go bankrupt due to the lawsuits over sexual abuse and declining membership. I guess Gates missed that one.

By the way, Scouts BSA also made a policy change in February 2017 to recognize children by their “gender identity,” and the reason Boy Scouts of America changed the name to Scouts BSA is because it’s now open to girls. How long will it be before we hear about a “straight” leader sexually molesting these new additions to the Boy Scouts?

In the end, however, it’s not an LGBT or straight issue; it’s a moral leadership issue. Unfortunately, morality no longer exists in the Boy Scouts because their first duty to God no longer exists, due in no small part to the rise of the lukewarm church and cheap grace theology.

Moral leadership matters in life; and in politics as well. But we’ll never see it again in America unless something changes in the heart of the church.

Originally posted on StridentConservative.com.

David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His daily radio commentary is distributed by the Salem Radio Network and is heard on stations across America.