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A fight worth fighting

Dear Editor:Lee Mulcahy’s courageous and principled stand in opposition to so many with such poison oozing from their pens and personalities should be lauded by all he speaks for. Worker bees should stand solidly with Lee for he is the voice of the little guy. Those spewing such nasty personal venom at him should take a look in the mirror and check for blemishes. Look very deep.I don’t care whether the instructor making $69 a day is in the tiniest minority of the tiniest segment of the instructor ranks. Those using that excuse should be embarrassed that those words can pass their lips. It’s more like a punch line to some dark joke, not an excuse for the valley’s largest employer to hide behind. The Aspen Skiing Co. is guilty of the exploitation of its workers and because of this all employees are worse off.The Skico’s use of H2B visas these last few years is the same technique used by all multinationals to save on labor costs. The Skico can’t ship its mountain to China so it brings the cheap labor to the mountain. Isn’t it funny that it’s cheaper to recruit in South America than it is to pay a few dollars more an hour for actual valley residents to work for it? Not funny? Sad?The Skico pays $9.25 to work at D&E. It pays $10.50 to wipe noses in the Treehouse. It pays the very same crappy wages to run the lifts and clean its $1,000-per-night Little Nell rooms. Because of its low wages, the rest of the valley’s employers follow suit and exploit illegals and locals alike by paying substandard wages. Everyone, no matter at what level, contributes to the product that is Aspen and should be rewarded with a living wage for their contributions, not just the top 1 percent.Lee’s fight is not about ski instructors. It’s a huge issue affecting all Americans. The concentration of wealth in America means the ruling class holds the aces and those that contribute to making them wealthy hold the Jokers. The middle class is being destroyed and replaced with nothing. Americans have been duped into believing the institutions they can control like unions and government are the problem, and the entities that answer to no one like private companies are the answer. This has enriched the Chinese as America decays into foreclosure and recession. Lee Mulcahy is bringing it all into the light where it can be talked about. If we can subvert the dominant paradigm in Aspen, we might be able to save America. Stand with him and help your own interests or stand with the Skico and continue America’s Banana Republic death spiral. Think globally, act locally.Johnny BoydSnowmass Village

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