Risk vs. Reward

The problem I have with the whole union vs. corporate argument is the level of risk vs. reward. Meaning, informed stakeholders look at investments with a certain expectation of what the dollar returned is vs. the dollar invested. When stakeholders look at various options, they will invariably maximize that investment by voting with their dollars (with all apologies to Adam Smith here).

This is what gets me all uppity when it comes to Unions. From their point of view, theirs is the only interest that matters. Whether their demands for total health care/funded pensions/early retirement etc. and the hell with the actual market realities. So as they price themselves out of the market, they become belligerent. Like two year olds who've been denied a second desert. The unions have plagued this country for too long. Don't get me wrong, they are working in their own best self interest and I respect that. The problem is, they are getting help from the liberal establishment in the form of laws that create an uneven playing field for the rest of us. Specifically, through the years they have discovered that if they fund certain lawmakers they will have a greater access to the treasury at the expense of the taxpayer. This creates higher prices and lower buying power for consumers.

What really gets my goat here is that these people believe that it is their God given right is for ME to pay more because they are unionized. Well fuck them. I run a small business and if I can find cheaper labor in Taiwan, thereby reducing my cost for my customers, then so be it. Un-American? I don't think so; in fact I think it is extremely American. It is what this country was built on. Simply put - freedom of choice. My competitors may choose to contract with union labor, and that is fine with me. If potential customers choose to pay a premium to fund the Union/liberal agenda then more power to them. Their costs will be higher than my customers' and the market will decide which the better proposition is.