Albert Shanker, union leader, intellectual, social democrat and raconteur was one of the greatest American labour leaders of his time. As President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) from 1974 until his death, he was at times both militant unionist and adviser to US Presidents ranging from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
This rambling, indiscrete, self-centred, intermittently hilarious and frequently tedious, 600 plus page book lives up to its sub-title: ‘Night Thoughts of a Labor Outsider’. This is so in two respects.
From an economic development view, the ACT has marked strengths in a highly educated labour force, government purchasing volume and the region’s quality of life. Its perceived drawbacks, however, relate to its relatively small non-government economy, distance from major markets and relatively uncompetitive business costs.
It might be interesting if I mention how I came to be here. It occurred because one of the members of Catalyst for Renewal read an article that I wrote last year, an obituary to the Japanese novelist Shusaku Endo, a very interesting man, who wrote concerning the encounter between Christianity and Japanese society.