As we reach the end of another year, it gives us time to reflect back on the achievements that we have made in the past year, as well as look ahead to the future at what might be.
Time magazine selected “The Protester” as their “Person of the Year”. This selection has met much outcry, as the “Protester” is not viewed as necessarily a person as much as a group. I applaud Time’s choice, because I feel that the combined efforts of the many groups around the world have had a profound impact on the course of current events now taking place on our planet.
Around the world this year, individuals have risked imprisonment, personal injury, and even death to put a face on many of the harsh realities we as a civilization face on a daily basis. We have watched with pride as the “Arab Spring” brought down many of the brutal dictatorships of the Middle East region of our globe.
Citizens took to the streets in the belief that a mass group of citizens with a common goal of the end of an oppressive dictatorship, can bring about that change. It was not met without hardship, as many were brutally beaten in an attempt to have their voices heard. Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia, a simple street vendor who had endured years of harassment against him by authorities, set fire to himself, and died. This act was the flashpoint that started the revolution in that nation.
Others around the globe have endured hardships brought on by authorities, but we in America cheered their efforts to bring democracy to their nation.
In the fall of 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement started in New York City and quickly spread to other cities and towns around the country. Many have decried this movement as lacking a clear message and leadership, and therefore have discredited it and cheered as the authorities have arrested and closed the camps of the movement. Even members of our own local have recently traveled to Washington DC to demand real economic change for the majority of our nation’s citizens.
I have stated that I am a participant in the occupy movement, and will continue to support it with pride, as it is our duty as citizens to stand up and protect our constitutional rights. No more so than in the past week, when the senate approved and sent to President Obama’s desk for his signature, a new rule that will essentially place all citizens in jeopardy of being detained and held without charge, and imprisoned indefinitely, if they are a member of a “terrorist organization”. Is their a specific group being targeted? It brings back to memory a certain nation in the 1930’s in Europe, who targeted a specific group, and ended with the deaths of many millions.
I would like to share a poem that has meant more to me in the past few weeks than ever before in my life. It was written in the early 1920’s by Edward Vance Cooke. Its title is, “SEDITION”.
You cannot salt the eagles tail,
Nor limits thought dominion.
You cannot put ideas in jail,
You can’t deport opinion.
If any cause be drawn san lies,
Then drag it to the light.
Out in the sunlight, evil dies,
But fattens on the night.
You cannot make a truth untrue,
By dint of legal fiction.
You cannot imprison human view,
You can’t convict conviction.
For though by thumbscrews and by rack,
By exile and by prison.
Truth has been crushed and palled and black,
But truth has always risen.
You cannot quell a vicious thought,
Except that thought be free.
Gag it, and you’ll find it taught,
On every land and sea.
Truth asks no favor for her blade,
Upon the field with error.
Nor are her converts ever made,
By threat of force or terror.
You cannot salt the eagles tail,
Nor limit thoughts dominion.
You cannot put ideas in jail,
You can’t deport opinion.
In the next few weeks, the Twin Cities Hospitals will begin negotiating our next collective bargaining agreement. I thank the members of Methodist Hospital granting me the honor of serving on the negotiations team. It is a task that I will do my best to bring about the best possible result for all of you. In the coming weeks, we will spend many hours attempting to make progress in strengthening our contracts language and attempting to achieve increases in our wage and benefit packages.
As we enter this most blessed time of year, I thank all of you who have read my words and tolerated my rants. But most of all, I wish all a very Happy Holiday season and a most joyous and prosperous New Year to you and your families.
Until next time,
Solidarity Today! Solidarity Tomorrow! And Solidarity Always!
IN ALL WAYS!!!
In solidarity,
Mark Freeman
Methodist Hospital
