As regular readers know,I have a big problem with the furor over our newly important caucus here in Nevada this year. These problems stem from a lifetime here in Vegas and are more eloquently described here. But the Intelligentsia is creaming over the new found power of Vegas. In particular, the Culinary Union has been portrayed as a powerful voting block and bastion of old school union solidarity and political awareness. This is a lie that really illustrates how lazy, slanderous, ignorant, and disgusting the media elite has become - coverage on everything from Iraq to international trade to presidential politics is completely motivated by ideology, one way or another.
I wish Culinary was some Cesar Chavez-esque paragon of progressive politics. It isn't. First and foremost, the union has 60,000 members in a city with 2 million plus people. It's members are overwhelmingly Hispanic, and, while obviously this is a difficult statement to prove, just my anecdotal experience in the union leads me to suspect that a decent percentage of those Hispanics are illegal. The union does boast ESL classes, but it hasn't really trickled down throughout the membership. Now I don't have any real problems with any of this - Vegas could not function without migrant workers, legal and illegal both. But when you look at the union, and the service industry in general here, when you look at their levels of education and their levels of ignorance in political matters and current events in general, you will get an overwhelming sense of fear that they have been bestowed any political power. However, I think they're power has been overstated, especially if local history is any indication.
Case in point - Vegas is dotted with video poker bars on pretty much every corner, especially in suburbia. These bars run the gamut as far as ownership, from mom and pop to corporate monolith. Their function is to pretty much separate locals from their money using video poker, a game whose popularity astounds me, but whose importance to the economy cannot be overstated. Awhile back, Vegas ran a prop question regarding smoking, that was seemingly aimed at these establishments - the big casinos, of course, were exempt. Can still smoke there, even next to the theatres, bowling alleys and arcades that serve as child care while you gamble away your child's tuition - The bar owners went nuts. Addictive behaviors tend to go hand in hand - drinking, smoking, playing video poker. And Vegas is a smoker's town, especially among the service industry that frequents these establishments in droves. But the prop passed. Exit polls showed that 70 some odd percent of the voters for the prop never frequented these establishments - they were soccer mom-types playing nanny. Now, of course the prop would have been defeated had those most closely affected shown up - but they couldn't be bothered to vote.
This could change, however. Bill Clinton, Edwards and Obama have all been showing up at the union hq fairly regularly. The aforementioned ignorance of the rank and file makes them susceptible to the kind of protectionist garbage they will no doubt be spewing. Ignorance mobilized - that is dangerous.
I wish Culinary was some Cesar Chavez-esque paragon of progressive politics. It isn't. First and foremost, the union has 60,000 members in a city with 2 million plus people. It's members are overwhelmingly Hispanic, and, while obviously this is a difficult statement to prove, just my anecdotal experience in the union leads me to suspect that a decent percentage of those Hispanics are illegal. The union does boast ESL classes, but it hasn't really trickled down throughout the membership. Now I don't have any real problems with any of this - Vegas could not function without migrant workers, legal and illegal both. But when you look at the union, and the service industry in general here, when you look at their levels of education and their levels of ignorance in political matters and current events in general, you will get an overwhelming sense of fear that they have been bestowed any political power. However, I think they're power has been overstated, especially if local history is any indication.
Case in point - Vegas is dotted with video poker bars on pretty much every corner, especially in suburbia. These bars run the gamut as far as ownership, from mom and pop to corporate monolith. Their function is to pretty much separate locals from their money using video poker, a game whose popularity astounds me, but whose importance to the economy cannot be overstated. Awhile back, Vegas ran a prop question regarding smoking, that was seemingly aimed at these establishments - the big casinos, of course, were exempt. Can still smoke there, even next to the theatres, bowling alleys and arcades that serve as child care while you gamble away your child's tuition - The bar owners went nuts. Addictive behaviors tend to go hand in hand - drinking, smoking, playing video poker. And Vegas is a smoker's town, especially among the service industry that frequents these establishments in droves. But the prop passed. Exit polls showed that 70 some odd percent of the voters for the prop never frequented these establishments - they were soccer mom-types playing nanny. Now, of course the prop would have been defeated had those most closely affected shown up - but they couldn't be bothered to vote.
This could change, however. Bill Clinton, Edwards and Obama have all been showing up at the union hq fairly regularly. The aforementioned ignorance of the rank and file makes them susceptible to the kind of protectionist garbage they will no doubt be spewing. Ignorance mobilized - that is dangerous.
"I smoke. If this bothers anyone, I suggest you look around at the world in which we live and shut your fuckin' mouth." - Bill Hicks
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