No simple solutions to complex problems

Michael Barone’s column on April 24 about the decline of unions, while correctly citing decline, I believe, had a tone that was dismissive and misleading.

Barone chooses the words “pocket” to refer to the disposition of dues paid by teachers unions, as if the union leaders are using those funds for their own selfish purposes. Secondly, Barone’s phrasing about American heavy industry succumbing to foreign competition make it appear as if unions were the cause; unions don’t run the companies, the executives do and they were and are accountable for the organizations’ results, not the unions.

Thirdly, Barone mentions two states, Mississippi being one, where test scores improved relative to national results and that these states are anti-union. As any parent knows, getting their students to do homework and understand that school is important is not a simple matter and is certainly not explained by a simplistic notion of union vs. nonunion teachers. Incidentally, Mississippi scores are still lower than the national average.

Lastly, on the notion that national laws protect workers, then how is it that a large percentage of American workers are in poverty or living paycheck to paycheck?

I can spend at least 3,000 words pointing out the misleading nature of Barone’s column, but I am limited to 300. I ask readers to think more about causes of problems and base your votes and actions on your reasoned judgment about solutions and their tradeoffs. Simple solutions to big problems deny the nature of reality (i.e. Murphy’s Law).

Barone is nudging you to believe otherwise. Don’t let him.

Steven E. Shamrock

Naperville