Retired and Current Unionized Auto Employees Lament Decline of the Middle Class and Fear the Future

A very short Detroit Free Press piece showcases retired and current unionized employees of the Big Three (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) who lament the decline of the middle class and the fears of their future, even while the automakers and the UAW remain in contract talks.

Don't these people understand that Big Business, the government, and Big Union, in a collectivistic manner, are the reason why the middle class is dying because government policies have encouraged businesses to relocate to other countries due to the onerous regulations slapped on them? Don't they also understand that these things keep the middle class poor, thanks to the Federal Reserve, the income tax, the welfare-warfare state? Don't they know that these government edicts and decrees are interfering with the free market's natural ability to move them to the top? What will it take for them to understand that, in a laissez faire capitalistic and free society, there are no special rights, no protections, no safety nets, and, more importantly, no job security?

It's always been a known fact that the Big Three and their employees have enjoyed a considerable amount of protectionism and mercantilism, thanks going to the state that afforded such protections from the get-go. It's no secret that the employees of these companies who remained in their jobs for over thirty years have become so accustomed to their cushy jobs that they have professionally stagnated, thus never growing as an individual and never showing any desire and inclination to succeed. As a result, he ends up being dependent on his employer, which is something that auto employees for decades have perceived to be as an entitlement (which never truly exists, by the way).

As much as I sympathize with them, I can't say that I feel sorry for them, considering they've done nothing to take care of themselves. Instead, they have expected their employers and the government to take care of them.

What a sad yet unsurprising unintended consequence of the welfare state indeed!