So last night I saw this story about California's budget crisis. Freaked me right out. Since I work for the California state government and all. You know... that. They told us not to expect a raise this year. And I heard tell that "there may be some pay cuts". Heard single-digit percentage type of numbers. Lovely. Thanks! Enron is the people's steward, Gray Davis is a lover of male farm animals.

In this morning's monthly meeting, the director of our department said that very shortly (I'm not sure when) the unions would be holding a vote on whether or not to unionize our department. The success or failure of this "everyone has equality, nobody has freedom" initiative is based on percentage of votes cast, so apathy costs the free thinker. The general consensus around the room was something along the lines of, "well, maybe the union will protect our wages from the cuts" (that's a near-direct quote). Uh huh. And maybe if they cut one job, the rest can stay at their current salary. Or get a meager raise. Kill one guy in the lifeboat, the rest eat free -- for a while. Who gets to go first? I say it should be a union member. For the good of the whole group, mind you.

They all seemed to really like the thought of being unionized. It made my skin crawl. Want to make a Libertarian anxious? Tell him they're going to unionize his workplace. It was all I could do not to swear out loud. I can't stand the government worker mentality. It's an infuriating herd-like thing. They all look at the one in front, like birds or something. Or ants or bees maybe. I can't be part of the collective. I won't pay dues or go to meetings. There's just no way. There is no way I will ever join a union. I'd sooner find new work.