If you need to join a union you've admitted you can't survive in the real world alone anyway. Don't lecture me on survival when you need a group of socialists to state your case for you! If you want a union to represent you that's fine - but don't lecture others that they "won't survive in the 'real world'". You get by in the real world by paying other people to deal with it. You don't deal with the real world, you outsource it. Just because you can't deal with what you refer to as the real world doesn't mean others can't.
Maybe some of us realise that we don't have the time, resources or inclination to individually negotiate our T&Cs.
Maybe some of us realise that the chaos caused by individual contracts would hasten the race to the bottom, compromise standards etc etc.
I would have thought that joining a union would have been the
smart way to deal with
the real world. (BTW have you ever been there?)
Have you ever worked for wages? Unless you left school and walked straight into a management gig or owned your own business, I can just about guarantee that your remuneration level and T&Cs have been, directly or indirectly, been bettered at some stage by a union. Even the RAAF, which has to compete with the airlines to retain their employees. That is, YOUR salary is affected by how well AIPA, AFAP etc can negotiate.
Are you happy to accept that money?