According to Wikipedia, the word “Politics” is derived from Greek, politicos, meaning ‘of, for, or relating to citizens’). “It is the practice and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual level. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state. A variety of methods is employed in politics, which include promoting its own political views among people, negotiations with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising force, including warfare against adversaries.”
Government Shutdown, 2013:* Seriously guys? Out of the 232 Republicans and 200 Democrats who were elected to make up the House of Representatives, this is the best we can do? Hopefully, by the time this piece is published the stalemate will be a thing of the past, but there are clearly some serious political shortcomings on the part of our elected officials as this shutdown remains unresolved for more than a few days. Of course, none of the elected officials stand to lose anything — but their reputations and possibly their seat in the house — so they can afford to drag this on as long as they ideologically see fit to do so.
Business as Usual — For Some
The President will continue to draw his salary, because his pay is considered mandatory spending, and Congress will still receive their salaries in accordance with the 27th Amendment to the Constitution. “Non-Essential” government workers will be the immediate recipients of the negative impact dealt by the shutdown. People from the Department of Education as well as the EPA, the Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development, the FCC, Securities and Exchange Commission as well as those who work for our National Parks — to name a few — will be on furlough from their jobs as well as their salaries.
I’m not sure if this shutdown tactic falls under the category of “negotiations with other political subjects,” but it seems a moot point, since the so-called negotiations are in regard to a law that has already been passed, and it would be analogous to a government shutdown regarding a law pertaining to semi-automatic weapons. Speaking of which, gun permits will also be hard to come by during the shutdown. Ironically, this in itself may be a catalyst for ending the shutdown.
By the way, it seems that quite a few “non-essential government workers,” aren’t so non-essential after all, and because it looks bad politically to deny World War II veterans access to their memorial, the government had to look the other way when the vets stormed the gates and demanded entrance. Because of the veteran’s service and sacrifice to and for their country, they politically had the advantage over the “essential” politicians who closed the “non-essential” memorial; and they made use of their political clout to get what they wanted. Some politicians — fearing that their “essential” status might be downgraded to a “non-essential” status come election day — even came to the memorial to vow support for the vets and to express their indignation for the injustice suffered by these World War II heroes. Speaking of “non-essential,” one of my wife’s cousins is a brilliant diagnostician who works for the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and has been furloughed due to her “non-essential” status. Think about that for a moment and be aware that a $47,000 mechanical bull for the National Guard has been approved as “essential” to recruitment. Politics at its best?
Many of our politicians adhere to the philosophy of “perception management,” which has more to do with manipulating someone into embracing an idea or doctrine rather than a diplomatic approach of negotiation and debate. The taking of hostages is a politically extreme form of forcing someone with an opposing view into negotiations. It is a desperate measure most often taken by an adversary of lesser power who, by their extreme actions, can now make demands of their stronger opponent. It happened with the American hostages in Iran as well as any number of the hostage situations in the Middle East and elsewhere, including the Somali pirates who take ships and members of the crew hostage. Not all of these extreme political maneuvers end well for the antagonists, but more often than not, it forces the other side to at least come to the table.
Of course, to be a successful hostage taker, one has to take something of great value from their rival. Usually these hostage takings tend to deal with the kidnapping of a human life and holding said person for ransom, but what if the rival doesn’t want the hostage back? Hostage taking then becomes a moot point. In the case of our American shutdown, it appears the Republicans have taken hostage the Federal government, along with the national debt and deficit, so that they can negotiate the de-funding of the Affordable Care Act.
The Politics of Audio
Speaking of shutdowns, at the same time that the government shut down, the Carnegie Hall stagehands of IATSE Local 1 staged a shutdown strike of their own and cancelled Carnegie’s opening night gala. At issue was the stagehands’ desire to have a presence in Carnegie Hall’s new educational wing. Carnegie Hall wanted to keep the union out because they did not consider the additional wing to be union territory and for fear that it would astronomically increase operating costs. Well, it appears their respective leaders are better at negotiating than our national politicians, since Carnegie Hall opened its doors the next day. Maybe it’s due to the fact that a shutdown would financially affect everyone involved and not just a few “non-essential” workers.
Be that as it may, even in our admittedly small-by-comparison business of audio, politics and negotiation are fundamental skills that we are all required to employ, and this requires one to know what they have to offer and what they can demand from any given situation. You may be the best engineer, but if you lack road experience and are unknown to the community, your negotiating leverage is weak when applying for a job. After a successful tour or two — if you make yourself invaluable to the band leader or tour manager — you might find yourself in a better position to negotiate. How you get to that position is not only a testament to your engineering prowess, but also to your political skills, and sometimes it also takes a bit of political maneuvering to keep the acquired position.
During the time that we are negotiating for our own interests, we are also required to negotiate for the best interests of our employer as well. For example, if you’re with an opening band, you are best advised to be politically adept at negotiating with the headliners camp in regard to such hot items as space required on stage, sound checking, playing time and possibly console channels.
Negotiating labor is a constant and ongoing battle, no matter what type of gig one might be doing. Pushing your truck to the head of the line for load-in or load-out really takes some negotiating skills, yet the best political move is when you can hold a gig hostage. “My act is not going on stage until they get….” The “I’m sorry, but I can’t deliver the gear until we get paid” is a tough hostage situation to negotiate, but one can’t give in, because once the gear is delivered, home field advantage is lost. The other side will then have the advantage, and navigating around this political standoff would be like trying to negotiate your way out of a government shutdown. Maybe Washington could use the skills of some experienced touring industry road vets.
*The U.S. Government, which shut down Oct. 1, 2013, re-opened Oct. 16, after this article was submitted by the author. —ed.
