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Comment by braindongle | Hacker News Reader

As a liberal/progressive/democrat in today's society, you're pro-labor, therefore pro-union, right? When do you make an exception?

I see a parallel with our healthcare system. Undoubtedly, though things are bad and getting worse, capitalism kinda' works. But in the U.S., healthcare is a failed market and that's not going to change. Time to start over. Same with police unions.

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In my view unions make most sense as a collective organization representing labor in negotiations against the collective organization of a corporation representing capital.

I'm not convinced yes that unions make sense when the other party represents the interests of the people - ie the government. As a similar example, I don't want our military to have a union - it seems like that would be overall detrimental as well.

The government might claim that it represents the interests of the people but they do not seem to put their words into actions. Would you support teachers employed by the state not having unions?

I am pro the existence of unions, and certain protections for unions and the people in them, but like any organization I am capable of supporting or not supporting any specific union based on their actions.

This is similar to how I am generally pro the existince of non-profits and charities, but do not inherently support a non-profits mission because it's non-profit.

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