I am user Gandydancer using this name while I try to recover my old password. Sectionworker (talk) 17:51, 19 November 2021 (UTC) I copy this from my user page (written 2012-2018):
"If we can't have a bit of fun in Wikipedia without a lot of hand wringing, we're going in the wrong direction." ~ Jimbo Wales, 2018
Money is more important for men and $9 an hour is way too much to pay poor people... I was working on the War on women article where I copied this quote, "You could argue that money is more important for men. I think a guy in their first job, maybe because they expect to be a breadwinner someday, may be a little more money-conscious.", spoken by a Wisconsin state senator who supports Gov. Scott Walker's repeal of a law that protected workers from pay discrimination. His words brought my mind way back to the time that my beloved Aunt Rose, who had never married, retired after spending her entire working life (except for one year) as the city clerk and librarian of a small town in northern Minnesota. When Aunt Rose retired a man was hired to replace her. He started at a higher salary than Aunt Rose retired at because as a "breadwinner", he needed it. He didn't have to take care of the library either--"too distracting" they said.
That one year that Aunt Rose did not spend as the city clerk? She was a teacher that year. Aunt Rose was born with a disability, most likely caused by a stroke as she was being born. As a result she had a slight limp and little use of her left hand. Of course, like most children born with physical impairments, there was little that she was unable to do compared with other children. When she graduated with honors from high school she wanted to go to teachers college but was unsure because of her disability, so she went and talked to the school principal. He told her that it would not prevent the school from hiring her. So she went to school at the new Duluth teachers college and went away to South Dakota for her practice teaching. She came home and did teach for a year, but at the end of the school year the principal took her aside and told her that they would not be hiring her for the second year because of "her hand". She protested saying that it had not seemed to prevent her from teaching but the principal persisted saying, "But Rose, we wouldn't want to hurt the children, would we?"--as though seeing her weak hand would somehow damage the children. I get both angry and saddened to tears every time I recall this...
My Aunt Rose cared for me and my sister after our birth mother, a Duluth college graduate as well, died from a strange disease. Almost nobody has heard of this disease, but Wikipedia knows... Imagine my delight when I typed "sleeping sickness" (over 15 years ago! - how time flies!) and was led to the article Encephalitis lethargica. I love my mother and I love Wikipedia for not forgetting her. I feel that I celebrate and honor my mother Julia, my Aunt Rose, and my family heritage when I work on Minnesota articles. I honor my father and my youth when I write Colorado articles. I celebrate my gender by working on many woman-connected topics. I volunteer my time to work for a political system that provides for all, not only the rich white people. I edit against the growing problem of environmental pollution and unchecked corporate power. And I try to enjoy my time here and have fun. It's all time well-spent. (talk) 16:23, 12 November 2012 (UTC)
A warning from Chris Hedges Corporations write our legislation. They control our systems of information. They manage the political theater of electoral politics and impose our educational curriculum. They have turned the judiciary into one of their wholly owned subsidiaries. They have decimated labor unions and other independent mass organizations, as well as having bought off the Democratic Party, which once defended the rights of workers. With the evisceration of piecemeal and incremental reform—the primary role of liberal, democratic institutions—we are left defenseless against corporate power. ~ Chris Hedges
"They control our systems of information." Surely no one could be so naive as to believe that corporations do not have an interest in turning our encyclopedia into a corporate-approved encyclopedia.