Baby/Bathwater

We all know the old adage about not throwing out the baby with the bathwater: keep the good stuff, discard what's no longer useful or desirable. I've been thinking of this idea in terms of Chrysler's bankruptcy today. I saw on CNN Money that the United Auto Workers (UAW) will have a large stake in the reformed company. This means that the workers are going to own a major share in Chrysler, come whatever may. Isn't power in the hands of the workers one of the major tenets of socialism?

While some Obama opponents cry socialism in some of his policies or ideas, it occurs to me that in this time of change, when American becomes a citizen in the new globalized hybridized world community, we might consider that we are taking the 20th century's babies and disposing of the bathwater. Perhaps the change we need is a post-corporate world in which working people sit on the boards of directors for the companies at which they work. Perhaps the workers will be better stewards of the company than were the CEOs.

And if this smacks of socialism, so what? We're not weak or naive enough to fall victim to the same versions of blind nationalism, mindless fear that previous generations associate with the word. Giving more power to the workers, or better nationalized healthcare to all Americans, is NOT going to usher in another era like the mid-20th century. Instead, we will take the best ideas around and discard the rest. Keep the babies, toss the bathwater. It seems to me that that's what the Obama administration is trying to do, and it seems like a pretty good approach.