SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
November 3, 2025
Sullivan’s Salvos 11/6/25
In this edition:
*VOTE!
*Happy Birthday Rachel!
*Veterans Day
*Shutdown Impacts
*Can You Be Progressive Without Being Pro-Labor?
*Did You Know?
*VOTE!
Early voting has already begun! Please swing by the Auditor’s Office (walk in or drive through) or check out the Auditor’s website for more details.
This election is incredibly important! Vote, and be sure all your friends and family do the same!
*Happy Birthday Rachel!
Happy Birthday to my oldest daughter Rachel, who turns 34 on the 6th! Rachel is fun and sweet and a great mother! I love you, Ray!
*Veterans Day
Happy Veterans Day on November 11. Thanks to all the men and women who have served our country. I appreciate your service, and wish you peace.
Veterans For Peace Chapter #161 is sponsoring an Armistice Day Observance to be held on Tuesday, November 11th at the Ped Mall stage in Iowa City. The event begins at 10:45 AM. Bells will be rung at 11:00 AM, as they rang around the world at the end of WWI in 1918 and on each November 11th for decades thereafter. Armistice Day is a day to promote PEACE and to remember the victims of war, both veterans and civilians.
Dr. James Zogby will make brief remarks. In 1985, Zogby co-founded the Arab American Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. He continues to serve as its president. Zogby is also Director of Zogby Research Services, a firm that has conducted groundbreaking surveys across the Middle East.
Immediately following the outdoor observance, Veterans For Peace will host a free luncheon at the Iowa City Public Library. Dr. Zogby will address the group in a longer format. His topic is “The war that didn't end all wars and instead launched a century of conflict.”
At 6:30 p.m., Veterans For Peace will sponsor a screening of the film “Earth’s Greatest Enemy”, a film by Abby Martin at FilmScene, 404 East College Street, Iowa City. This is a documentary exposé of the world's biggest—and most unaccountable—polluter: the US military. Learn the environmental cost of having a military Empire. Co-director/co-author of the film, Mike Prysner, will attend and offer brief remarks before the screening. He will host a question-and-answer period immediately afterward. FilmScene requests a free will donation to attend.
This is the sole Armistice Day observance in the State of Iowa.
*Shutdown Impacts
As the federal government shutdown drags on, impacts grow for the American people. Please do what you can to support our local food banks and other social services organizations!
*Can You Be Progressive Without Being Pro-Labor?
You can be pro-labor and not be progressive. We know this. There are lots of Republican union members. Some of them are anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ+, and more. They would NEVER consent to being described as “progressive.” Yet they appreciate the economic benefits that come from their status as a union member.
We hear about union members who are not progressive all the time. But we almost never ask the opposite question. What about the inverse? Can a person be progressive without being pro-labor?
We talk a lot about social justice, and we should. America has a history of intolerance based upon gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and more. We need to recognize this, remember it, and strive to do better. Social justice deserves the attention it receives.
At the same time, we do not talk enough about economic justice. America has, for about 202 out of our 247 years, catered almost exclusively to the rich and powerful. Virtually all economic benefits flow to the top 1%, with most of those benefits flowing to the top 1/100th of a percent, or just a few thousand people.
Americans have fought back before. Just after the Civil War it was women who got the labor movement going. They were joined by recent immigrants. Many workers died throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, and some gains were realized. But mainly, it is the Golden Age of 1935-1980 that saw workers finally achieve some semblance of economic justice. And not only did it help lower-wage workers; it helped everyone!
Consider a few of the economic justice initiatives that were instituted: child labor laws, 40-hour weeks, weekends, overtime, vacations, the minimum wage, sick leave, parental leave, OSHA, employment nondiscrimination, pensions, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP benefits (food stamps), health insurance, and so much more.
Progressives definitionally want progress; an improvement in the human condition. There was no period in American history where the human condition improved more than between 1935 and 1980. What made this progress happen? Organized labor fighting for economic justice.
But fast forward to today, and some folks seem to think they can be progressive without fighting for economic justice. Our greatest activists knew better. No one fought harder for economic justice than MLK. He was murdered the evening before a rally for striking sanitation workers in Memphis, TN.
Too many people who want to wear the “progressive” label support Uber over cabs, buy stuff from Wal-Mart and Amazon, buy shoes made in sweatshops, and fail to join unions when they are available. They feel unions have a place; just not at the place they work/own/manage.
In the Democratic Party of the 90s, Bill Clinton catered to a certain wealthier, white group. We called them “limousine liberals.” They wanted things to be better for minorities; they just didn’t want to live near them. They wanted to help the poor, but not at their own expense. They blamed the poor for making choices that were economically necessary but environmental harmful. They simply couldn’t understand “those people” who smoked, dropped f-bombs, listened to rap (or country), and had to shower after work rather than before work. Needless to say, it led to a much smaller coalition.
I am also reminded of the ill-fated attempt by my friends at SEIU to unionize the Professional and Scientific (P&S) workers at the UI in the early ‘00s. The UI workers voted the union down. Many laughed at the organizers, saying, “You don’t understand – I have a Ph.D.!” Unions were for “uneducated” people. Fast forward 20 years and that Ph.D. hasn’t gotten them jack shit. P&S missed the boat when they failed to unionize. It has been a difficult 20 years for them as a result.
Following an Iowa City Federation of Labor Candidate Academy a few years ago, an Iowa City Councilor (who always made a point of noting their registration as a Democrat) actually told Pauline Taylor and I, “People here were smarter than I expected.” How much more condescending can a politician get?
This attitude affects local politics, too. Do “progressives” care if municipal workers are underpaid? Do “progressives” overpay bosses at the expense of front-line workers? Do “progressives” care if municipalities rely upon temporary workers where permanent workers should be used? Do “progressives” care if municipal projects get built by union labor? Do “progressives” oppose sales taxes when property taxes are available? Do “progressives” oppose outsourcing? Do “progressives” support efforts to end wage theft? Do “progressives” care what the Iowa City Federation of Labor thinks about ANYTHING?
Why is it that people who would draw a line at a candidate being anti-gay are so willing to look the other way when the candidate is anti-labor? Is it just an issue of social class?
We have a handful of immigrant rights activists in Johnson County who undoubtedly consider themselves progressive, but have tried to undermine local unions at every turn. I don’t find these folks very progressive. I find them to be egotistical, hypocritical assholes.
To answer my own question, no, I do not believe one can be truly progressive without a commitment to economic justice. Economic justice is at the root of being a true progressive.
I leave you with the following quote from William Jennings Bryan:
“The poor man is called a socialist if he believes that the wealth of the rich should be divided among the poor, but the rich man is called a financier if he devises a plan by which the pittance of the poor can be converted to his use.”
―
*DID YOU KNOW? Johnson County’s first white settler (John Ralston) “established” his trading post and city Napoleon in the center of a Mesquakie settlement of over 1500 people.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.
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As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 8:45 AM
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