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Empathy and Egalitarianism: What’s the State of Worker Solidarity Now that Americans Elected the Worst Boss Ever?
While a well-documented failure as businessman, Donald Trump found a savior in Mark Burnett who transformed his image from king of cons and bankruptcies into the illusion of a successful businessman with his NBC show The Apprentice, which first aired in 2004. Trump’s trademark line in the show, of course, was, “You’re fired.” The line became something of a meme. I even remember my local drugstore chain selling pens displayed at the counter with a Donald Trump head at the top of the pen. When you pressed it, it voiced this famous line.
If we stop and think about it, it’s not the best sign for working-class solidarity or for a democratic anti-oligarch culture and politics to have the American people identifying with and infatuated by a mean-spirited and hard-line boss who gets off on firing employees. Having millions of viewers take vicarious pleasure in the firing of workers doesn’t bode well for the prospects of establishing a baseline set of values for fostering a pro-worker culture and economy to challenge corporate power and the reign of billionaires.
In any case, it’s a far cry from Johnny Paycheck’s 1977 hit “Take This Job and Shove It,” which gave voice to every worker’s desire to liberate oneself from their abusive or…
