Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Unleashing the Fury of Bacon’s Rebellion.

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Once again, Virginia descends into intellectual anarchy as Bacon’s Rebellion roils the conventional wisdom and savages complacent assumptions. You can view the latest edition of the e-zine in its original format here and subscribe to the free e-mail here.

Or, if you’re too timid — too devoted to the comfortable, unexamined truths that guide your complacent life — to engage in the insurrectionary act of subscribing to the Rebellion, you can peruse our offering of opinions below:

Hidden Advantage
Flexible labor markets are Virginia’s unappreciated competitive edge. They speed the redeployment of workers from low value-added businesses to high-performance enterprises.
by James A. Bacon

Blow Against the Wind?
The political pros know that running with the numbers is better than running with the issues.
by Doug Koelemay

One More? Two More?
How many more years of political fraud must we endure? Here are some proposals to make the political system more responsive to the needs of a 21st-century polity.
by EM Risse

It Was Closer Than It Looked
The Democrats are crowing after their triumph over General Assembly Republicans. But their margin of victory was a lot closer than the newspaper headlines let on.
by Michael Thompson

Truth in Packaging
The CW says Republicans lost General Assembly seats last week because their candidates were too conservative. But look closely: “Moderates” were evicted, while those who stuck to their principles survived.
by Norm Leahy

The 70 percent solution
Virginians look to local government for solid data on issues like illegal immigration. But there is no evidence supporting Chesterfield County’s estimate that seven of 10 Hispanics in the county are there illegally.
by Peter Galuszka

If He Wasn’t Whining, Would We Notice Him At All?
Tom Davis is living proof that the “big tent” strategy is a loser for Republicans if it means conservatives are filing out the back door.
by John Taylor

Nice & Curious Questions
Weigh Stations in Virginia: Or How Heavy is That 18-Wheeler?
by Edwin S. Clay III and Patricia Bangs

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Comments

10 responses to “Unleashing the Fury of Bacon’s Rebellion.”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I thought the 4.0 series was going to take us to infinity and beyond when it comes to new economic thinking.

    Instead, Jim Bacon has taken the 100-plus year-old, anti-union arguments of the typical Southern ruling caste and dressed it up in seemingly modern and flashy 4.0 clothes.

    Unions are bad and inconvenient. Management ALWAYS knows what’s right and boy, you are damned lucky to have this job. You are an untrustworthy inbecile who has no say and no brain to think about your job. We, the Southern elite, will do your thinking for you. Now go back to your textile spindle or work station and stop whinning about your measely two-week vacation and your el-cheapo medical benefits.

    Why hell, we’re way down there with North and South Carolina, Whooopeeee!

    Sounds like 4.0 really knows how to address the workplace issues of the New Economy and Information Age. It’s enough to send bright talent to Silicon Valley or Boston. Why bother working for “The Virginia Boss Man”?

    BR 549

  2. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    BR 549, hyperbole is not an argument.

  3. Darrell -- Chesapeake Avatar
    Darrell — Chesapeake

    I was just wondering if Jim lives in the same Virginia most of the rest of us do. The only place that beats the national average for income is NoVa.

    That’s why the rest of the state moves there.

  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Yes, hyperboyle is an argument when used to show the assumptions in this 4.0 labor argument. You are bragging that Virginia is a great place and has a big advantage because it diminishes the power and intelligence of its labor force. Nowhere do you talk about any cooperative efforts between labor and management and how that might give the state an advantage.

    Instead, it’s as if we’re all drinking bourbon and branch water at the Commonwealth Club talking among old-timer elites about how great it is we got them labor organizers under control.

    If I were a bright kid looking for a place to plant my substantial brainpower, I am not going to want to be treated like an illiterate Southern linthead circa-1900.

    That’s my point and it’s one your labor treatise doesn’t even consider. In your tract, the worker has no voice and isn’t really all that important. At least it seems that way.

    BR 549

  5. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Darrell, I live in the Virginia where the per capita income was 93 percent of the national average in 1967 and increased to 109 percent of the national average in 2005 — a gain of 16 percentage points. Although Northern Virginia led the way, increasing its relative income by 18 points (tying with Charlottesville), Richmond increased its relative income by 11 percentage points, Winchester by 11, Hampton Roads by 5, Roanoke by 4, and even Danville by 2. (Only Blacksburg and Staunton lost a tiny bit of ground). For documentation, see my column, “Peak Performance in a Flat World.”

    BR 549, You’re stuck in a 1950s-era time warp. I never, NEVER suggested that Virginia “has a big advantage because it diminishes the power and intelligence of its labor force.” To the contrary, Virginia has a system that augments the power and intelligence of its labor force. In my column, I point to DuPont’s Tyvek operation as a model for the future. Tyvek obliterates the distinction between management and labor, cross-trains its employees, and pushes operational decision-making down to teams of collaborators. That’s the wave of the future, not the old us-versus-them adversarial approach.

    It sounds like you’re the one who’s stuck in the past, fixated on “old time elites” at the Commonwealth Club. Does anyone who really matters even belong to the Commonwealth Club anymore?

  6. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    So, of the three communities listed above as having made the most gains — Northern Virginia, Charlottesville and Richmond — all of those places have voted solidly Democratic the last few elections. Several of those communities have passed a Living Wage ordinance. Did you ever think there may be a correlation there?

    I think Bacon’s would serve itself better if it 1.) Stopped avoiding stories detailing the negative aspects of Virginia being so lopsidedly pro-business and anti-worker (I rarely see the boneheaded decisions made by business leaders challenged on these pages – certainly not to the extent that Tim Kaine and Dems are challenged). B.) Gave us more progressive voices in these columns. How many viewpoints of the last election are we being treated to from the GOP perspective here? Kinda telling. Whether you are members or not, one doesn’t have to strain to hear the sniffing and clinking of Bourbon glasses at the Commonwealth Club while you read this stuff.

  7. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Yes, you did make a cooperation example with Tyvek. Wish you had some more. Agree with anonymous 1:55, though, that the Rebellion seems to talk to the ruling elite only. As such, it is not truly a Rebellion

    BR549 (former union negotiator)

  8. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Anonymous? I’m never critical of business? Surely, you jest. I refer you to my column from two weeks ago: “The Ruling Party.” Subhead: Forget Dems and Republicans. The people who run Virginia are the vested interests that hire the lobbyists and pass out campaign donations. Their never-changing mission: to buttress the status quo.

  9. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    Let’s say this.

    BR is a place to have substantive discussions… and not to say a little bomb throwing now and then either.

    I think it is very safe to say that Jim is a straight up guy willing to dialog..

    In other words.. he’s a real person willing to accept alternate points of view (actually encourages them) and willing to debate on the merits.

    NOT EVERY BLOG does this… some BLOGs are basically there for the owner to blather on about their personal views.

  10. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Thank you, Larry. If I ever fall short of that ideal, I know that you’ll call me to account.

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