As an ex-union employee in college I experienced none of the above. I worked hard and forfeited $29 a month for people and a cause that I never had to make use of. Instead, my $29 a month was helping to pay for the union steward who was going to help “Lazy Mike” get his job back. Is that community???

And as for strength and power – you line the pockets of a select few and give them all the power. In the end, they are not there to help you, they are there to milk as much money as possible from the parent company – only to set the next regime up for an even better life. It's all politics… and a rat race. The unions want a nice bankroll just like any business.

Having said that, you do raise a good point about the net neutrality issue. However, ultimately, consumers can/will/should vote with their dollar. That is the most effective vehicle for change…

As far as employer vs employee—-Someday soon even these highly skilled workers might see a need to organize against their employers who steal their intellectual sweat and profit highly from it. Surely, these folks get paid more than factory workers, but the inequalities between worker and boss are still stark.

And politically—–While unions do not make sense on a small working-out-of-your-bedroom scale, it does make sense that connections between people in similar boats can strengthen the whole. At its core, a union is about strengthening community, taking disparate parts and banding them together into one voice. It's not about preventing creativity…its about protecting its parts and promoting creativity.

For example, to truly defeat threats to net neutrality a well-oiled organization would help. How can a bunch of relatively poor individuals compete with billion dollar lobbyists? But if an organization existed where millions of people could speak with one voice, then you might stand a chance of your voice being heard by lawmakers.

Community. Strength. Power. Isn't that a great part of what the Internet already is? A union is just a step further towards claiming your share of the voice that is consistently squashed by corporate money.

Unions were once beneficial for raising wages and safety standards, however they are now a thing of the past; OSHA, various other regulatory bodies, and a free-market system now perform these necessary functions.

And too, the job market has completely changed – your average worker no longer makes one single career move. Rather, they bounce around from one job to another after gaining skill and experience. Thus, your typical person who is employed by a “corporate overlord” who is looking to “short change, rob, abuse, and steal” will simply jump ship to someone who values what they bring to the table.

And lets not forget how unions have ruined several VITAL American corporations. Should I mention GM or FORD? In this case, the union was only successful at a few things: driving up the cost of automobiles for American consumers, making the parent company so bureaucratic and unresponsive to the changing marketplace that it eventually became a snail, and ultimately costing millions of shareholders billions of dollars. (Toyota is smiling right now)

In my opinion, unions are leeches. They slowly suck the life out of the “host” – while breeding laziness amongst the workforce.

So yeah, we need unions in new media if you want to remove creativity, hard work, and your chances of survival.