By Bernard Rapoport, President
American Income Life Labor Advisory Board

When I was very young, I saw my father lose his temper in a discussion with someone who defended the owners of the pecan-shelling companies in San Antonio, Texas. The companies paid a family $1 a day for shelling pecans. So when I asked my father why it made him so mad, he asked me to walk with him behind the pushcart and said, "I am going to show you the families to whom I sell blankets."

In the very first house we came to, there was a husband, wife and five children who all shelled pecans. Papa looked at me and said, "They are getting $1 a day. Look at their house. All of them sleep in the same room."

Then, he continued, "What determines character and what kind of person you are is knowing when to get mad. The maddest you ought to get is at injustice."

This was brought poignantly to mind when, day after day on the news, there is discussion about what to do with the $750 billion federal budget surplus. The question is what to do with it. The fact that there is a question ought to make every one of us mad, very mad. How can there be a question when there is only one incontrovertible response to these questions:

* Is our educational system in deep trouble?

* Are we going to keep accepting excuses that every person in our democratic society should not have the availability of good health care?

* Shouldn't we get mad about the fact that we can't delineate between investing and spending such as a new-born child not having good nutrition, good training, the opportunity for head-start programs and at a world that demands both spouses must work for economic reasons?

I think we all agree that these are things we need to be mad about. Even if you are a little mad, I suggest that you and I aren't mad enough. It just doesn't have to be this way. There is $750 billion out there. As someone in the highest income tax bracket, I can tell you that paying taxes never made anyone poor. It is not tax deductions we need; it is intelligent investing of our money. Every healthy well-educated child is an investment that will pay dividends that even a roaring stock market can't match.

I am going to share a story with you that I will never forget. I went to a picture show during the Depression and one of the scenes showed someone in the automat having their lunch. Standing a few paces away was someone who apparently had not eaten and was hungry. Remember this is a picture show I am talking about and I mention this because the scene was so dramatic. This person having lunch is about to get up from their chair and this hungry individual is starting to walk toward that particular place. Just a few moments before he gets there, the individual who is leaving sticks his cigarette right in the middle of that piece of pie he was leaving. Well, the guy who wanted that piece of pie got mad I am sure. I think we both can understand why. Yes, when you are hungry, you can understand how mad this person got.

Union members should be thankful for the leaders who helped start their union and the leaders who now do their collective bargaining. Much of the fact that we have a labor movement in this country is because people got mad about observable injustices and did something about it. You benefit from all of the advantages of union membership such as higher wages, better benefits, more secure retirement and a voice on the job.

I have often said that spirit moves and intelligence manicures. Somehow, someway, our spirit is not as forthcoming as in days gone by. I think there is a reason for it. In just a few years, it is very likely that our source of news will be controlled by just four or five different companies, each a giant conglomerate. We have just seen the proposed merger between Viacom and CBS.

I was reading an editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and one of the individuals asserted the reason for the plight of the family farmer is because "someone is getting wealthy here and I think that the real issue in farming is the concentration of power and the big corporations seem to have all of it."

I suspect the author of that conclusion is someone who is really mad and rightfully so. Since 1990, corporate profits have increased 108 percent. CEO pay has increased 481 percent and workers pay has risen 28 percent. I ask you a question once again: What does it take to make you mad?

I have come to the same conclusion as the great Will Rogers. "All I know is what I read in the papers," he once said. But in most cities there is only one newspaper and one opinion. And frequently the most powerful television, radio or cable TV system is owned by the same company.

John Dewey told us a long time ago, "Every government needs a minister of irritance." Get mad. Otherwise, I think the lack of outrage explains our plight.

I will tell you one thing that makes me mad. Anti-union propaganda. It seems to be far too acceptable to many Americans. But there is hope.

On reading the papers, I see there is one group who is getting mad, the most unlikely group of all. Doctors. And they want to form a union. I think we can tell how mad we are in direct proportion to the numbers of union members that there are. The madder Americans get, the more they will appreciate their union.

I recall the story of a man who perceived he had a right to get mad. Two men were walking down the street from opposite directions and they happened to be friends. One was named John and the other Fred. John looks at Fred and says, "What is the matter with you? You have that scowl on your face like you're mad?"

Fred says, "I am mad. A few weeks ago, my cousin died and left me $10,000." John says, "Fred, what are you mad about?" Fred said, "This week, nothing."

Maybe, that is part of the problem. There is too much nothing for the two-thirds that are not doing as well as they were in previous times. And so I ask again, "Union members, what does it take to make you mad?"