The More Things Change

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The older I get, the more often I feel that I'm in some sort of time warp, in which events of today seem to be reflections of events that occurred in my younger days.   In today's topic, the current events mirror some even older events, namely the anti-labor rhetoric and demonizing that led up to the "Haymarket Riot" in Chicago, back in 1886.  Just as it is today, the labor union movement in the 1880s was under attack and made the scapegoat for the nation's economic problems.   The effect of Haymarket and the resultant trials and hangings, was a setback to labor organization and development in this country for decades.   Then, workers were struggling to form unions; now workers are struggling to keep them.  Haymarket became the focus of May Day memorials around the world, but hardly at all in this country.  

All of this is described in detail in a timely article in the Chicago Tribune which can be found here.  We need to ensure that today's workers know what happened in Chicago in 1886 and how it relates to their lives today.   Because it surely does relate to today.