GregBr,

When other musicians and I were in the woods having a Rendezvous and trying to form the first "union" of folksingers so long ago---the group eventually known as HEY RUBE---I was there because I needed affordable health insurance in the worst way for my wife and young son and myself. At one point we were discussing/arguing about whether we wanted to become an actual UNION or a benevolent self-help organization. A leader of the group was pontificating in a direction that would've turned us into a clone of the I.W.W. He was a mentor of mine and it was quite hard to have to tell him, rather forcefully, and a bit facetiously too, that I couldn't stay and be a member if it meant I would be defined by the words in the Wobbly Preamble. I was ready to walk away too.

The irony was that when Hey Rube was formed, and eventually we got a health policy to offer us members, I couldn't afford it!

The best made plans of mice and men...

I do think I understand your quandary. I guess it's a result of being an intellectual !! ;-)

Art Thieme