Labor Day Rest
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you
who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light.” (Matt 11:28-30 NIV)
1 comment:
Gail;
-----I’ve taken my family camping on Labor Day, and I’ve gone to work on Labor Day. If you’ve ever been camping, you know neither option involves rest. Now, Labor Day was roused up towards the end of the nineteenth century by labor unions, even being given a formulation for the festivities: a street parade to show the strength and spirit of the trade and labor organizations, and then a festival for the workers and their families. On one hand I am glad for the innocent joyousness we take in the day off. On the other I am flummoxed by the left wing treacheries embedded in labor unions which reap from the holiday’s mere existence many attitudinal advantages towards what counters the most basic principle of American freedom. Understanding the stealth of the Deceiver and of the proletariat’s inspiration, I have little respect for their day.
-----Never have the labor unions mentioned a holiday honoring capital investment, entrepreneurs, that is. Who would dare think of that? What honor do those thieves need from us? And other such envious attitudes. If we had not fallen for the terminology of the left wing, the code word of the Marxist - worker - we would have a much more admirable outlook upon the entrepreneur. For a worker just works. So a slave is a worker. And also the soul who has surrendered his individuality to communal solutions is a worker. Of course, they get some reward for their work; both are fed and sheltered. But an employee is in the service of his employer by mutual agreement between two individuals, the fundamental principle of American freedom. The employee has the right to ask for more or move on to a different employer. If he asks for more than what the market values his skills, he has the right to learn and practice more valuable skills. For you see, unlike the worker, an employee is also an entrepreneur investing the intangible capital of his time and skills into the market. He risks learning a skill against the possibility that he could engage a more profitable skill. And the commercial enterprise he sets up and finances is that skill he has risked to learn. The employee owns himself and feeds and shelters himself; the worker is owned. The employee engages the economy; the worker is engaged by it.
-----I am glad America was built by the hands of people investing their time and capital into the market, whether that capital be the money and equipment of a business or the skill and effort of hands and minds. Both have taken opportunity to freely wield their hearts’ desire in a system meant for individuals contracting with individuals for goods and services. I am sad that what was built is now being seized and transformed and drained of the employees’ freedom by the envious spirit of the worker, enlisting fearful hearts to give up contractual choices for the rewards of being owned and directed by central controllers. Enjoy labor day, but don’t forget the sway its founders hoped it to have.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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