A couple of days ago I wrote an essay about the universality of the use of scapegoats throughout history. It is our human need not to accept blame for things we can control and our wish we were more perfect so we could actually direct the enormous forces that guide nature and THE FORCE we ascribe to the One God who most peoples agree authors human behavior. I left out of this essay which lurks somewhere in this computer. Al Capp's creation he called " kigme", a convenient scapegoat for those of us who found his other creation, the Shmoo, a universal supplier of food and comfort -as well as tooth picks, was not enough for us always demanding humans.
Why should professors go on strike? When I went on strike it was not the same issue the Michigan profs found justification to force closing of classes. They reluctantly chose to strike when their President was gifted with a $100,0000 raise while their contract was scrapped. The greatest damage is being done to the students
I found that it was economic issues that unified our teachers. There were whole clots of fairness problems, especially the disparity between pay for women and men. Then there were the independent - let me make my own deal group who thought only manual worker types needed unions to speak for them.
Striking Professors can be looked at in various ways. Conservatives usually think in terms of rugged individualism. On the other hand enough members of a unit eventually come to understand that their strength lies in unity. It comes down to a face-off between the power of management and the will of the majority of workers, professors.
In the instance in Michigan, unionism and striking arrived late. Ultimately, closing classes hurt everyone, especially the students
If anyone wants detailed explanation about Mr. Capp's creations, please ask me.