Well, it's been a little while, and I'm sad to say that this post has been inspired by the pisspoor movie/lengthy TV pilot Netforce. The US system of industrial relations exists in a balance of terror between a strong (attempt) at an anti-trust position and a fundamental fear of industrial unions.
I find this interesting. In cultural terms, the 'acceptable' industrial/political situation is a narrow one revolving around complete manifestation of the free market. Savagery between corporations, between workers: no cooperation on either end of the scale. This is the way the US has evolved, and perhaps the way its founding fathers envisaged, with opportunity for all being the key. But the individual, a key figure in the Enlightenment, is but another component (albeit organic) in the post-industrial world. Perhaps the worthy frontier spirit of early-modern times is in need of reevaluation.