We hear so much these days about how bad Government Regulations and Unions are. All you need to do is watch a doc like this with an open mind to realize just where we'd be without them.
Self regulation is a joke and the coal mining industry is a perfect example why.
These men and women were FULL of courage and the true American spirit. These people are just awesome.
You also have to take into account that these people descend from the very same people who had fought against the same kind of tyranny & oppression by the forces of government domination since the founding of our nation. The Revolutionary War, The Whiskey Rebellion, & The Civil War are the principle conflicts of which we have none like since, not even today because we allow the government to protect us while allowing them to control us. The spirited Americans like those in Harlan County stood up against an enemy who ruled them much the same way as their ancestors did in those principle conflicts. If we ever have a second Civil War, I hope the right side wins.
shareCops wonder why people are not on their side. This movie should be mandatory viewing by police cadets and regular police officers in the USA and then the cops can finally figure out why people don't support them. It is because of too much political interference in the police agencies at all levels by Corporate America that real police work is never done.
shareI know this is from a long time ago but I can't bear the thought of someone stumbling across this and taking what this poster posits at face value. Although Kentucky was a slave state it opted to stay in the Union and was neutral in the war so I have no idea how his right side of a 2nd civil war comment is supposed to mean. What's even more interesting is that since Kentucky did stay in the union the slaves there weren't freed by the Emancipation Proclamation they had to enlist in the Armed Services to be freed which resulted in a huge number doing so.
shareAnother interesting fact about Kentucky both Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis were born in the state.
shareThose disgusting gun thugs with their machine guns were simply ignored by law enforcement. It took a show of force (a car blocking the road!) to get the attention of the sheriff! Too bad Jimmy Hoffa gave unions a bad name:(
Regards from Brooklyn NY
heres the reality of mining from a coal miner
there are few union mines right now and it is damn near immpossible to get a job with one,
while conditions in coal mines have gotten better there is no such thing as a safe mine, i lost alot of good friends in the UBB explosion in april, funny thing is before that happened Massy would hype UBB as a safe mine with a unbeaten safety record in their training films
It was more than a little ironic to watch this movie and see some good-hearted, non-racist southern boys going to New York City to raise awareness for their union rights and the need for better, stronger regulations for coal miners. Today, these same people infest the tea party and vote for hardcore anti-union, anti-regulation demogogues. What a difference a few decades (and a generation of effective misinformation) can make.
shareAmen, brother, amen.
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