Coarse and Ignorant

I just deleted a crude comment from one of my posts that ironically proved the point of the post. Folks like my commenter proudly wear their profane ignorance like a badge of honor. My curiosity is what exactly in that post did he (I assume it was a male based on the profanity) found so personally objectionable.

When reading through articles on the web, I often scan some of the comment postings. It's sort of shocking but fascinating to read through the coarse language used by those who disagree with the premise of the posted article. I find both ends of the political spectrum capable of some disgusting ad-hominems, but it seems to me the most profane spew from the keyboards of leftists.

A strongly-held belief of mine is that profanity is the refuge of those who lack the vocabulary to make a compelling argument. That's certainly true of the web. How many of these folks would use the same language if they were discussing an issue face-to-face? I'm guessing not many.

Indiana's bringing back the Right to Work legislation. The union left is convinced those evil Republicans are bent on forcing a return of sweatshops, rock-bottom wages and 80 hour workweeks. The business-friendly right is convinced that unions exist only to enrich the union bosses and fund Democratic Party candidates in elections.

Those who work in a vanishing union shop certainly appreciate the employee benefit packages negotiated by the unions. Who wouldn't like the extra paid time off and the Cadillac health plans?

I take the issue at face value. If you get a job with a unionized company, the new law says you can decide whether or not you want to join the union. Individual choice in such matters seems to me to be a very American value. Opponents way that people will choose not to join for the sole reason that they'll get a few bucks more in their paychecks, even though they will still be represented by the union.

I've been there as a beginning teacher. I had the choice to join the union or not, and chose not. Teacher salaries had bottomed out back in those days, and I couldn't live on the paltry salary (which is why I only taught for one year). I wasn't eligible to get union representation or assistance on any issues I might have had with the school district, but I did get to take advantage of whatever employee pay benefits the union had negotiated. I didn't believe anybody in the teacher's union had the right to brag about that pay schedule or the barely-there benefits. Mostly I just didn't think I could afford the union dues.

Posting a rude comment calling me nasty names because I don't have a problem with Right to Work isn't going to change my mind. A well crafted rebuttal explaining exactly why Right to Work is a bad idea might at least have a chance of affecting my attitude on the subject.