Dawn of the Unthinkable (25 page)

He brought the meeting to order, and they
went through finances and old business. The union had a small due
(the equivalent of a dollar per month or less in some poor
countries) and initiation fee. Still, with so many members, it did
add up. The leaders were not the type of people to use the money
lavishly though, so there were few scandals to speak of. As General
Secretary-Treasurer, Palma was head of the union’s General
Executive Board, which had approval authority over any large
expenses. They all policed one another when necessary, but that was
rare. In fact, Palma had to cajole members in the Southern
Hemisphere to rent cars with air conditioning so they didn’t arrive
at meetings a perspiring mess. He was proud of most of them; they
had usually worked their way up the hierarchy through honest
effort, although some were political hacks. The hacks were the ones
who had to be watched for cage gilding with the union funds.

The agriculture head was relating his
success story to the admiration of the rest of the group. Few had
pulled off a successful general strike, and the tale of worker
cooperation held them in thrall. The leader sat down with a
triumphant smile to the applause of the twenty or so colleagues in
the room. He looked to Palma for kind words, and he was not
disappointed. Palma quickly summarized how the different union
heads had worked together effectively and praised the food banks
quick delivery of goods, which heartened the strikers.

“The workers were pleased by the free
delivery of food, and their ability to work well with other
strangers was enhanced.” Palma took a breath preparing himself.
“I’ve come across a parallel idea that I’d like to share with you.
This idea may seem preposterous at first, but please listen to the
very end, at which time you can bring up any thoughts you may
have.”

He settled back in his chair, and when he
was sure he had everyone’s attention, he proceeded to launch into
his understanding of the plan. He had received a copy of the paper
from Ryan and had made notes on it at which points he wanted to
emphasize and which to gloss over. He made good eye contact with
all the members and was amused by the stunned expressions he saw.
For the moment, he was unsure whether the looks of astonishment
were for the very creativeness of the plan or for his audacity at
bringing it up. He kept his composure and read through each segment
of the plan, emphasizing its democratic policies, and its overall
thrust at improving the lifestyle of all people but mainly their
members. He finished strong, de-emphasizing the bit about the
founding fathers, as they were from all over the world, but
strongly emphasizing the part about getting closer to the way
they
wanted the world run. They liked that, and most were
shaking their heads in wonder and smiling by the end. Some of the
elder members were not as happy, and their pursed lips and rolling
eyes telegraphed their displeasure.

Palma looked around the room, which was now
chatting animatedly in about six different languages. He banged his
gavel and they all calmed down. He decided it was time to probe
their reaction and held his breath, not knowing what they would
say.

“Well…what do you think?”

They all started to talk at once and then
sat back and laughed at their sudden child-like behavior. They
finally sorted out who would talk first, and they gave the honor to
the agriculture head, in light of his most recent achievement.

He stood up, a proud ex-farmer from Antigua,
and said cautiously, “I must say I’ve never heard of anything quite
like this, and in fact, it almost sounds a little like communism.
But if someone could truly enact a system where all people have a
part in the decisions as to how the world’s goods were distributed,
it would be phenomenal. Naturally, I have many questions, but on
first hearing, it has many desirable points.” He sat down to more
applause, and Palma realized he could be looking at his successor.
He was tremendously glad for his support, though, as next to
himself, the man was the most influential member of the board.

The rest of the members spoke in turn, each
generally and cautiously coming out in favor of it, but reserving
their right to have many questions answered. Those that were not in
favor raised the valid point that their movement was in jeopardy as
it was, and real meat-and-potatoes issues needed to be dealt with.
As they were usually not content with anything, their opinions were
somewhat discounted, but they did raise some good questions that
they noted would need to be answered. When they had gone around the
entire room, one of the members asked the question that Palma knew
was coming: What did
he
think of it?

Palma was now at a major decision point in
his life. If he committed to this, and these leaders took it back
to their people, the die for his future would be cast. He wondered
if he had the all the courage one needed to start off on a new path
in life, as this is what this decision required. Then he thought
that all leaders took risks, and that the greatest achievements
were made when one person stepped into the void to give the others
the courage to follow. He remembered the Chinese proverb that a
journey of a thousand miles began with a single step. He decided to
take that step and rose to his feet to address them.

“My friends, for years you and I have toiled
to improve our members’ lives, only to be thrown back by one
organization or another to whom our existence matters very little.
While we have the strength of many members, we are blocked by our
members’ lack of education in some cases, or lack of time or desire
to affect their lives in others. This system, if done correctly,
would actually enfranchise all of these people by the very means
that has held them back before. It would, without bloodshed, create
a revolution in the way people live unlike anything before. Our
people would be strong because everything would be based on a
majority vote, and if nothing else, we have numbers! In the past,
people voted for one or two men who they hoped would represent
their best interests. Now we could vote ourselves. This plan
summarizes all that is good about society, and turns that toward
fixing what is bad. It makes a leap of faith that money is what has
caused much of the evil in the world, and the more I thought about
it, I realized that it is true. If eliminating money is what must
be done, then there has to be a plan to replace it. I believe this
is a rough draft of a workable plan to do that, and I believe in
it.” He sat down, having cast his fate to them. He waited for their
reaction.

*

The small council in New Mexico of the IWW
gathered for their usual Tuesday night meeting. They were primarily
small farmers; poor Hispanic and whites that joined the union for
the solidarity that meeting with their own kind offered them. They
didn’t expect the union to do much for them. From what they knew
most of the union’s glories had been in the past. They had heard of
the leader, Joe Hill, who had been executed by the state of
Arizona, the only man to ever be put to death for Union activities.
They admired the courage of such a man, but now the union was
mostly toothless, and they appreciated the social aspects of it
more than anything else.

Tonight, though, there appeared to be
something different. They were in their usual meeting room, in the
basement of the church, which smelled of disinfectant and old
sweat. Their leader, Miguel Sanchez, seemed flustered and excited
about something. There was a stranger sitting in the back of the
room who looked vaguely familiar, but they couldn’t quite place his
face. Sanchez called the meeting to order and they went through the
standard meeting business. They talked about their finances, which
were small, but provided some beer at the end of the meeting, and
heard about some job actions in other cities, which were hard to
imagine as many of them had never travelled beyond the county
lines. Sanchez finished up with the old business and paused to look
at them all. They looked back, curious to hear what their leader
had to say.

“My friends, tonight’s new business is
unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. The Wobblies were a force
to be reckoned with before, but even I must admit we’ve been a
toothless tiger for many years now. But something has come up, and
we are being asked to step back into the light. We are being asked
to be the vanguard of a new order, one that will change our lives
profoundly, and will end our having to struggle to survive. One
that will allow us all to live in dignity and cooperate with our
fellow man instead of trying to crush him with competition. Will
you stand with me?”

There was a buzz of excitement and curiosity
at his strong words. They all called for him to explain, and they
looked back at the stranger to see if he had anything to do with
it. He kept his hat pulled low, and they could hardly see his face,
so they turned their attention back to Sanchez. He explained the
idea, with the free food, housing, medical care, education, and
guaranteed minimal living standards for all. He explained the
evaluations, how they would all learn to work computers to vote on
all laws themselves. They were dumbfounded and entranced at the
same time. This was truly Nirvana for hard-working farmers who
barely made ends meet and whose children left them for better
opportunities. He then explained how the Wobblies were going to be
the first wave of soldiers to support the idea, to pamphleteer like
the old days when they used to sign up thousands of members in a
day. How their philosophy blended with this new one and, though
they were not affiliated with any political party, how they could
endorse an idea for ratification to be an Amendment to the United
States Constitution. The leaders of their union had said to bring
the idea to the entire union and see if the members would endorse
the idea. They now began to think of problems with the idea,
though, and started to shout their questions to Sanchez.

“Miguel, you know how the money people have
stepped on us before, and organized management is our sworn enemy.
How can you endorse turning our lives over to them?” one burly
farmer said.

“Yes, Miguel, we have had nothing but
unfulfilled promises from the
gringos
, why trust them now?”
chimed in another.

They were becoming bold in their resistance
now and angry that he had apparently bought into such foolishness.
They were hard-working men and did not like being teased with
visions of such happiness.

One of the most influential of the group
spoke up. “Who brought this nonsense to you, Señor Sanchez? Your
fairy godmother?” The whole group laughed. They started to rise and
leave, sure that Miguel’s stature had been brought back down to
size. Miguel looked at them hopelessly, unprepared for their
questions. He tried to get their attention again when a loud bang
startled all of them. They turned toward the noise and found it was
the stranger who had slammed shut the one door into the meeting
room, barring their exit. They looked at him, some afraid, some
defiant.

“It was I who asked Miguel to bring this
idea to you, and you should be ashamed for doubting his wisdom, and
his courage for sharing this with you. You are foolish if you do
not consider this idea. While it may not come about in our
lifetime, if we work for it, your children may someday live in such
a world. Isn’t that worth taking some risks for? Might not that be
worth even dying for, like Joe Hill did?” The stranger looked them
all in the eye and not many held his masterful gaze.

But the influential one did not want to lose
face amongst his supplicants, so he had to challenge this man.
“Perhaps we owe Señor Sanchez an apology, but first we ought to
know who put him up to this. Who the hell are you?”

The stranger pulled his hat off so they
could clearly see his face. Some of them gasped in recognition, as
he stared coldly at his inquisitor.

He said in a low clear voice, “I am Luis
Estrada Palma, General Secretary of the International Workers of
the World, your union.” There was shock and surprise murmured
before he silenced them again. Palma looked at all of them,
outsiders and opponents to most governmental systems. “We will need
all of your support if we are going to able to proceed with this
new utopia.”

“Excuse me, sir,” Miguel interrupted.
“Proceed how?”

“From within the system. By one of the
hardest things to do. With an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States.”

Fall 1992

Ryan and Cunningham listened in rapt
attention as Palma recounted his story of the general council
meeting and the smaller local meeting he had attended. They were
thrilled to hear that the council supported him and how the smaller
union meeting had given unanimous support once they realized their
top leader was behind it. Now it meant that it had a chance of
becoming more than just an academic exercise. They were anxious to
know how it would be brought to the rest of the Wobblies’ attention
and whether they would vote on endorsing it. The story of Palma’s
dramatic endorsement was starting to spread to other divisions and
was a strong selling point. Palma told Ryan and Cunningham that in
keeping with his union’s democratic principles something of this
magnitude would definitely have to be voted on for endorsement, but
that the members would know that all the leaders were in favor of
it. He said most of the member’s usually supported their leader’s
decisions, as he was a trusted member who had come from their
ranks. Palma expected to hear from most of them within two
weeks.

Ryan waited at home impatiently for the
news. He decided against taking another course because if this got
started, he wanted to be able to devote his full attention to it.
Kathy was apprehensive as to how much of his time and energy it
would take. She already shared him with his full time job, two
part-time jobs, and three kids. She couldn’t complain too much,
though, because he was a loving and devoted man when he was around.
He did not interfere with her domestic management, and this allowed
her to work when she could, help her mom, and pay close attention
to her kid’s upbringing. He explained to her that if the union
supported the idea they would begin publicizing it as a grass roots
movement throughout the United States and that he might become well
known. She was very dubious of that, and thought the Wobblies were
a poor choice of group to be launching ground-shaking ideas. But as
it was still an abstract at this point, and not impacting their
daily routine, she did not try to stop him.