Saturday, October 29, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
The Shocking, Graphic Data That Shows Exactly What Motivates the Occupy Movement | | AlterNet
The Shocking, Graphic Data That Shows Exactly What Motivates the Occupy Movement AlterNet
Some words from FDR in 1933 on the dignity of labor at the end of this piece:
"Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto, but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men."
Some words from FDR in 1933 on the dignity of labor at the end of this piece:
"Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto, but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men."
Monday, October 17, 2011
Why Did it Take Americans So Long...? The American Awakening
Many people are asking why it took Americans so long to become aware that the American Dream was shrinking to a mere shadow of what it once was and to react to this sad truth. Those who scoff at the Occupy Wall Street movement say the American Dream is still alive... that the dream is to become a millionaire...
But that is not what the American Dream was and is... It was never to become rich and advantaged on the backs of so many others. The American Dream was always to have meaningful work at an income which provided physical, mental and emotional security and health for everyone, not just a few... and to leave the world a better place for future generations.
Unlike the Arab Spring, America has not had a despot reigning over the populace for 30 or 40 years. Our figurehead changes every 4 to 8 years, although sometimes 8 years even seems too much when it's policies produce damaging momentum in a direction almost too huge to change in the next admninistration. This change in leadership seemed to give the populace a sense that it had some voice in the direction of the country's future, not realizing that there are forces behind the scenes which are actually manipulating policy. As a result, the populace of the U.S. never had a specific figure to focus on to rebel against.
Even after the crash of 2008, it was not clear who the manipulators were and why the deterioration of our democracy seemed to be impossible to prevent. In 2010 it appeared that the Tea Party was the beginning of a grassroots movement to throw off the shackles a manipulated economy. As it became clear that the target was the government and the Tea Party was, in fact, a contrivance of multinational corporations, although many Tea Party members were initially truly concerned citizens, a darker truth emerged. The truth was that our government and all public property was about be be sold wholesale to these financial giants, through legislation which they helped to write with the aid of hand-picked, newly elected legislators.
But it was not until the contrived debt ceiling crisis that many Americans woke up saying, "What is wrong with these people in Congress? What planet do they live on that all of a sudden the debt is an issue as their constituents are slipping into poverty not seen for 75 years and are being ignored and even blamed for their own misfortune?"
This is when people started understanding the difference between how a government is run versus how a business is run. There was a minority who understood what was happening, but it wasn't until Congress threatened to do away with Social Security and Medicare that the majority of people realized something is terribly wrong with the direction of our country.
The Obama administration has been working to shift the balance of power from behemoth corporations with fingers in every piece of American's pie back to the citizens. It has gotten little or no attention for these works and has been portrayed as an ineffective administration because Congress has seemingly nullified every program it proposed. It has been to the administration's advantage to not have the attention of main stream media on these accomplishments because they never became sabotaged as targets of its enemies with a few exceptions. As a result, change is already in the works.
Unfortunately, President Obama is still portrayed as failing to fulfill his promises because of this lack of media coverage, media which is owned by those large companies, but most of the major, and I mean gargantuan problems didn't exist when he campaigned for President. It is becoming clear that the economy was much worse off than originally portrayed when he took office and was truly sliding down a cliff to complete destruction until he turned it around. It has also become apparent that a President can only do so much when the reins of power are not really in his hands and when the other two branches of the government's sole purpose is to defeat every proposal and make certain he doesn't get elected a 2nd time.
The irony of the American Awakening is that it is not our leader that we are trying to get rid of, nor is it our form of government, but it is the regime of unseen, but not for long, vested interests who pretend that the destruction of the Executive Branch and Democracy will be our salvation.
If YOU believe the argument of those with the vested interests, then maybe you'd like to buy the Brooklyn Bridge... no really... I think Bloomberg is seriously considering selling it to cover the cost of the police force needed to kettle and contain the Occupy Wall Street protestors who have long term plans to stay.
But that is not what the American Dream was and is... It was never to become rich and advantaged on the backs of so many others. The American Dream was always to have meaningful work at an income which provided physical, mental and emotional security and health for everyone, not just a few... and to leave the world a better place for future generations.
Unlike the Arab Spring, America has not had a despot reigning over the populace for 30 or 40 years. Our figurehead changes every 4 to 8 years, although sometimes 8 years even seems too much when it's policies produce damaging momentum in a direction almost too huge to change in the next admninistration. This change in leadership seemed to give the populace a sense that it had some voice in the direction of the country's future, not realizing that there are forces behind the scenes which are actually manipulating policy. As a result, the populace of the U.S. never had a specific figure to focus on to rebel against.
Even after the crash of 2008, it was not clear who the manipulators were and why the deterioration of our democracy seemed to be impossible to prevent. In 2010 it appeared that the Tea Party was the beginning of a grassroots movement to throw off the shackles a manipulated economy. As it became clear that the target was the government and the Tea Party was, in fact, a contrivance of multinational corporations, although many Tea Party members were initially truly concerned citizens, a darker truth emerged. The truth was that our government and all public property was about be be sold wholesale to these financial giants, through legislation which they helped to write with the aid of hand-picked, newly elected legislators.
But it was not until the contrived debt ceiling crisis that many Americans woke up saying, "What is wrong with these people in Congress? What planet do they live on that all of a sudden the debt is an issue as their constituents are slipping into poverty not seen for 75 years and are being ignored and even blamed for their own misfortune?"
This is when people started understanding the difference between how a government is run versus how a business is run. There was a minority who understood what was happening, but it wasn't until Congress threatened to do away with Social Security and Medicare that the majority of people realized something is terribly wrong with the direction of our country.
The Obama administration has been working to shift the balance of power from behemoth corporations with fingers in every piece of American's pie back to the citizens. It has gotten little or no attention for these works and has been portrayed as an ineffective administration because Congress has seemingly nullified every program it proposed. It has been to the administration's advantage to not have the attention of main stream media on these accomplishments because they never became sabotaged as targets of its enemies with a few exceptions. As a result, change is already in the works.
Unfortunately, President Obama is still portrayed as failing to fulfill his promises because of this lack of media coverage, media which is owned by those large companies, but most of the major, and I mean gargantuan problems didn't exist when he campaigned for President. It is becoming clear that the economy was much worse off than originally portrayed when he took office and was truly sliding down a cliff to complete destruction until he turned it around. It has also become apparent that a President can only do so much when the reins of power are not really in his hands and when the other two branches of the government's sole purpose is to defeat every proposal and make certain he doesn't get elected a 2nd time.
The irony of the American Awakening is that it is not our leader that we are trying to get rid of, nor is it our form of government, but it is the regime of unseen, but not for long, vested interests who pretend that the destruction of the Executive Branch and Democracy will be our salvation.
If YOU believe the argument of those with the vested interests, then maybe you'd like to buy the Brooklyn Bridge... no really... I think Bloomberg is seriously considering selling it to cover the cost of the police force needed to kettle and contain the Occupy Wall Street protestors who have long term plans to stay.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX: Move to Amend Texas Tour
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX: Move to Amend Texas Tour
October 10, 2011 7pm to 9pm at 6901 Holly Rd. the Unitarian Universalist Church.
David Cobb, former Green Party Presidential candidate will be speaking.
October 10, 2011 7pm to 9pm at 6901 Holly Rd. the Unitarian Universalist Church.
David Cobb, former Green Party Presidential candidate will be speaking.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Stopping Bashing Government Workers | Common Dreams
Stopping Bashing Government Workers Common Dreams
There’s no question that, in any number of ways, government lets us down. Our leaders have too often stacked government against the interests of working people in favor of corporate elites. But was it overpaid and undertaxed CEOs who saved flood victims or rushed into the towers? Our impulse should not be to renounce government; it should be to recapture and restore it.
It is time for the era of despised government to end.
There’s no question that, in any number of ways, government lets us down. Our leaders have too often stacked government against the interests of working people in favor of corporate elites. But was it overpaid and undertaxed CEOs who saved flood victims or rushed into the towers? Our impulse should not be to renounce government; it should be to recapture and restore it.
It is time for the era of despised government to end.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
NH Sponsor Of Minimum Wage Restriction Law: Young People Are ‘Not Worth The Minimum’
NH Sponsor Of Minimum Wage Restriction Law: Young People Are ‘Not Worth The Minimum’: pThis year, newly-elected Republicans in the New Hampshire legislature pushed a bill to restrict the state’s minimum wage law to the lowest federally mandated amount. The bill, backed by GOP leadership, was vetoed by Gov. John Lynch (D-NH), but still passed by an override vote in both chambers. New Hampshire will continue to have the [...]/p
It was only a matter of time before they turned on the minimum wage... to remove it, while they are removing all other workers' protections. What kind of people are these? 5 dollars an hour??? Why not 2 dollars an hour??? Why not work for nothing???
It was only a matter of time before they turned on the minimum wage... to remove it, while they are removing all other workers' protections. What kind of people are these? 5 dollars an hour??? Why not 2 dollars an hour??? Why not work for nothing???
Monday, August 22, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
INSURANCE - Institutionalized Extortion - "The WHAT IF Principle"
SERVICE CONTRACTS...
When you buy an appliance, auto, or other object, you are no longer buying an object. They immediately try to sell you a waranty/insurance poilicy with it, because they are selling you a "service" not an object. In fact, they even call the whole ball of wax their "product", that is, the object plus the service contract. When I am offered a service contract, my reply is, "If you are telling me that this object won't even last a year, maybe I don't need to buy it."
There is no pride in the work we are asked to do. Sales people are required to try to sell the service contract more aggressively than the object.
In fact, there are companies which are selling service contracts on cars they didn't even manufacture. These service contracts are supposed to bring you peace of mind over the questionable performance of an object but in fact are causing more stress because they are siphoning money on a regular basis from an already tight amd shrinking budget.
The contracts are presented as if you can prevent a much bigger cost down the road when you may not have a bundle of cash or credit to cover that expense. We only need to look at how health insurance works to know that they probably WILL NOT cover it when the time comes. Just read the fine print.
AUTO INSURANCE...
Required in all states, is hardly a safety concern... it is not saving lives... it only protects property... "shared responsibility" they call it. In other words, you don't have a right to hurt other people or their cars or other property with your car without paying for it.
Recently more extreme penalties have been enacted for not carrying it and people are having to make the choice between paying the auto insurance and food or utilities.
In Corpus Christi, where half the population is on some sort of public assistance even though they are working, if you are stopped for any reason and they find you don't have auto insurance, you are given a ticket with a penalty of a few hundred dollars and your auto is impounded immediately.
It costs 150 dollars or more to bail it out, AFTER you have reinstated your insurance. What logic punishes people who may not make enough money to keep their auto insurance in force continuously by taking away the means to keep a job?.. In fact most jobs in the area, which has limited public transportation qualify employment with "reliable transportation required".
Being impounded once, bailing it out, reinstating the insurance and paying the ticket could easily cost a month's wages.
HEALTH INSURANCE...
I supported Obama in 2008 and have been encouraged by a lot he has done since then which rarely gets publicized... like the Lily Ledbetter Equal Pay for Equal Work Legislation.
When the Health Care Reform Bill was passed, I started getting the sense that the Presidency may just be a figurehead position and that other forces are really steering the government's ship.
The requirement that all people PURCHASE health insurance stunned me. I didn't really expect for single payer/universal health care to pass, the first time around anyway, but to foist this obligation on everyone [sure, those who can't afford it will be subsidized supposedly] seemed outrageous, but I shouldn't be surprised.
It's the same trap that auto insurance places people in. It re-prioritizes one's budget and life choices for you... more powerlessness... And even with having health insurance, one may still not be able to afford to see a doctor because of copays and deductibles.
MORTGAGE INSURANCE...
I've never had a mortgage, so I'm not too clear about this, but I do know that part of the mortgage cost is for insurance.
Now why hasn't this insurance kicked in when all those people went in to foreclosure? Why weren't their homes saved by this insurance they've been paying, sometimes for decades, when they lost their jobs?
Isn't that what the insurance for... the unforseen change in circumstances in ability to pay?
When you buy an appliance, auto, or other object, you are no longer buying an object. They immediately try to sell you a waranty/insurance poilicy with it, because they are selling you a "service" not an object. In fact, they even call the whole ball of wax their "product", that is, the object plus the service contract. When I am offered a service contract, my reply is, "If you are telling me that this object won't even last a year, maybe I don't need to buy it."
There is no pride in the work we are asked to do. Sales people are required to try to sell the service contract more aggressively than the object.
In fact, there are companies which are selling service contracts on cars they didn't even manufacture. These service contracts are supposed to bring you peace of mind over the questionable performance of an object but in fact are causing more stress because they are siphoning money on a regular basis from an already tight amd shrinking budget.
The contracts are presented as if you can prevent a much bigger cost down the road when you may not have a bundle of cash or credit to cover that expense. We only need to look at how health insurance works to know that they probably WILL NOT cover it when the time comes. Just read the fine print.
AUTO INSURANCE...
Required in all states, is hardly a safety concern... it is not saving lives... it only protects property... "shared responsibility" they call it. In other words, you don't have a right to hurt other people or their cars or other property with your car without paying for it.
Recently more extreme penalties have been enacted for not carrying it and people are having to make the choice between paying the auto insurance and food or utilities.
In Corpus Christi, where half the population is on some sort of public assistance even though they are working, if you are stopped for any reason and they find you don't have auto insurance, you are given a ticket with a penalty of a few hundred dollars and your auto is impounded immediately.
It costs 150 dollars or more to bail it out, AFTER you have reinstated your insurance. What logic punishes people who may not make enough money to keep their auto insurance in force continuously by taking away the means to keep a job?.. In fact most jobs in the area, which has limited public transportation qualify employment with "reliable transportation required".
Being impounded once, bailing it out, reinstating the insurance and paying the ticket could easily cost a month's wages.
HEALTH INSURANCE...
I supported Obama in 2008 and have been encouraged by a lot he has done since then which rarely gets publicized... like the Lily Ledbetter Equal Pay for Equal Work Legislation.
When the Health Care Reform Bill was passed, I started getting the sense that the Presidency may just be a figurehead position and that other forces are really steering the government's ship.
The requirement that all people PURCHASE health insurance stunned me. I didn't really expect for single payer/universal health care to pass, the first time around anyway, but to foist this obligation on everyone [sure, those who can't afford it will be subsidized supposedly] seemed outrageous, but I shouldn't be surprised.
It's the same trap that auto insurance places people in. It re-prioritizes one's budget and life choices for you... more powerlessness... And even with having health insurance, one may still not be able to afford to see a doctor because of copays and deductibles.
MORTGAGE INSURANCE...
I've never had a mortgage, so I'm not too clear about this, but I do know that part of the mortgage cost is for insurance.
Now why hasn't this insurance kicked in when all those people went in to foreclosure? Why weren't their homes saved by this insurance they've been paying, sometimes for decades, when they lost their jobs?
Isn't that what the insurance for... the unforseen change in circumstances in ability to pay?
Malaise of the Carter Era and Today
Perhaps the malaise of the Carter era indicates what is happening in the US today. People, for the most part, felt helpless in a sinking economy, as now, and very aggressive conservative forces moved into the government to take advantage of inaction on the part of the populace.
There were also the international tensions which facilitated the US becoming more hawkish and warlike pretending they are defending the nation. This also makes people feel helpless because the needs of the "conflict" or "war" supercedes the everyday needs. Normal life is put on hold while these protagonists set themselves up as "heroes".
Today, people feel even more helpless, because, not only do they not have any control over their lives, but opportunistic forces are pushing the government to an even further extreme position to attack the populace telling them it is for their own good when it obviously is not.
It doesn't help that most jobs today require elaborate computer skills, which are basically geared toward getting more people to use the computer for everything and less people to produce anything for themselves or others. The geniuses sought for innovative and inventive/creative positions in IT firms are hired to get more people to click on buttons and links and to monetize these clicks. That is about the extent of the participation today's economy requires of us.
Click on any site you have an interest in and there is a "Buy Now" button or a "Donate" button. There are sites for every belief and activity and product you can imagine and they all want to plug into your credit/debit card, preferably on a regular basis.
At the same time they are reducing wages and trying to shift the expense of benefits to the workers. This is not only a double whammy to the workers' budget... there is a more insidious intention. That is to get the money back from the workers that they paid the worker in the first place.... "I owe my soul to the company store" tactics come to mind.
Best example: Walmart... I worked at The Walmart Deli for a year and a half. Previous to that I was self-employed for 15 years. I was not prepared for their program...I had worked for other companies previous to that. It had been much easier than being self-employed and I felt that working conditions were fair and I was being taken care of.
There is the work to do, which was really 3 jobs rolled into one without adequate hours to complete any of them but was required to fill out checklists that said I DID complete them or else I would get a "coaching" about the forms. It made me a liar if I checked off things I didn't have time to finish or made me a poor performer if I didn't check these things off.
My schedule was erratic... come in a different time every day and come in different days every week... no time to plan a life outside this 20 hour a week job, much less get another 20 hour a week job. It made me sick with migraines and I was eventually fired for being out too much because of the migraines, even though I filled in for other people on an hour's notice at least once a week. Not very satisfying work.
Then there was the "benefits". Even though I only made about 750 a month, I was pressured to purchase health insurance [which I did not]. I also had my wages Direct Deposited on a Walmart Debit card, which was convenient because I no longer had a bank account due to a cascade of overdraft fees which wiped out the last balance I had.
It turns out that Walmart is part owner of the insurance company which offers the benefits. Also, Walmart is excused from carrying legitimate Worker's Comp insurance because they are offering workers' coverage through this same insurance comapany. Most workers have to fight for two years to be compensated for an injury, if they get anything at all. Injuries abound but workers are afraid to report them. Doing multiple jobs increases the speed with which you have to complete them, which causes most injuries.
Walmart is also part owner of the bank [GE Bank] which issues their debit card. They also offer employees auto loans, student loans and mortgages through THEIR bank. And last but not least, they offer a 10 per cent discount to employees on most items in their store, so they will shop there, but most people don't know that it is counted as INCOME, as opposed to straight discounts at other stores where one shops.
I've have never seen such a bunch of helpless despairing people, myself included, as working under these conditions. And this is where America is headed if unions are not brought back. It took me 6 months to recover mentally, emotionally and physically from working there. I considered it PTSD from being in an exploitive and abusive environment.
There were also the international tensions which facilitated the US becoming more hawkish and warlike pretending they are defending the nation. This also makes people feel helpless because the needs of the "conflict" or "war" supercedes the everyday needs. Normal life is put on hold while these protagonists set themselves up as "heroes".
Today, people feel even more helpless, because, not only do they not have any control over their lives, but opportunistic forces are pushing the government to an even further extreme position to attack the populace telling them it is for their own good when it obviously is not.
It doesn't help that most jobs today require elaborate computer skills, which are basically geared toward getting more people to use the computer for everything and less people to produce anything for themselves or others. The geniuses sought for innovative and inventive/creative positions in IT firms are hired to get more people to click on buttons and links and to monetize these clicks. That is about the extent of the participation today's economy requires of us.
Click on any site you have an interest in and there is a "Buy Now" button or a "Donate" button. There are sites for every belief and activity and product you can imagine and they all want to plug into your credit/debit card, preferably on a regular basis.
At the same time they are reducing wages and trying to shift the expense of benefits to the workers. This is not only a double whammy to the workers' budget... there is a more insidious intention. That is to get the money back from the workers that they paid the worker in the first place.... "I owe my soul to the company store" tactics come to mind.
Best example: Walmart... I worked at The Walmart Deli for a year and a half. Previous to that I was self-employed for 15 years. I was not prepared for their program...I had worked for other companies previous to that. It had been much easier than being self-employed and I felt that working conditions were fair and I was being taken care of.
There is the work to do, which was really 3 jobs rolled into one without adequate hours to complete any of them but was required to fill out checklists that said I DID complete them or else I would get a "coaching" about the forms. It made me a liar if I checked off things I didn't have time to finish or made me a poor performer if I didn't check these things off.
My schedule was erratic... come in a different time every day and come in different days every week... no time to plan a life outside this 20 hour a week job, much less get another 20 hour a week job. It made me sick with migraines and I was eventually fired for being out too much because of the migraines, even though I filled in for other people on an hour's notice at least once a week. Not very satisfying work.
Then there was the "benefits". Even though I only made about 750 a month, I was pressured to purchase health insurance [which I did not]. I also had my wages Direct Deposited on a Walmart Debit card, which was convenient because I no longer had a bank account due to a cascade of overdraft fees which wiped out the last balance I had.
It turns out that Walmart is part owner of the insurance company which offers the benefits. Also, Walmart is excused from carrying legitimate Worker's Comp insurance because they are offering workers' coverage through this same insurance comapany. Most workers have to fight for two years to be compensated for an injury, if they get anything at all. Injuries abound but workers are afraid to report them. Doing multiple jobs increases the speed with which you have to complete them, which causes most injuries.
Walmart is also part owner of the bank [GE Bank] which issues their debit card. They also offer employees auto loans, student loans and mortgages through THEIR bank. And last but not least, they offer a 10 per cent discount to employees on most items in their store, so they will shop there, but most people don't know that it is counted as INCOME, as opposed to straight discounts at other stores where one shops.
I've have never seen such a bunch of helpless despairing people, myself included, as working under these conditions. And this is where America is headed if unions are not brought back. It took me 6 months to recover mentally, emotionally and physically from working there. I considered it PTSD from being in an exploitive and abusive environment.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The Lost Love for Labor
The title refers to America's, if not the entire Western world's, disdain for labor of any kind...that is, those activities which produce something, starting with raw material and produce an asthetic or utilitarian object or service.
There is the mental labor as well as the physical labor which fulfill a need in most humans to contribute to and to change their world... and yet all activities which produce income seem to exist sitting at a computer keyboard, utilizing the labor of the elctronic master.
Once the software is written, there is no diversion from the program. There is no contribution from the operator. Even in the most artistic of professions, the artist is limited by the imagination of the software programmer.
Those who extract the raw materials, mostly in non-Western countries are on an even lower plane of existence than those who produce. They generally risk their lives and health to be eternally indebted to owners of the raw material source.
There is still hope found in many countries which still have cottage industries producing textiles and utilitarian objects from natural materials on a human scale. Maybe we can get inspiration from these people who still know what their hands and minds can do and where our purpose is something more than to answer telephones or operate computers.
There is the mental labor as well as the physical labor which fulfill a need in most humans to contribute to and to change their world... and yet all activities which produce income seem to exist sitting at a computer keyboard, utilizing the labor of the elctronic master.
Once the software is written, there is no diversion from the program. There is no contribution from the operator. Even in the most artistic of professions, the artist is limited by the imagination of the software programmer.
Those who extract the raw materials, mostly in non-Western countries are on an even lower plane of existence than those who produce. They generally risk their lives and health to be eternally indebted to owners of the raw material source.
There is still hope found in many countries which still have cottage industries producing textiles and utilitarian objects from natural materials on a human scale. Maybe we can get inspiration from these people who still know what their hands and minds can do and where our purpose is something more than to answer telephones or operate computers.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Debt Ceiling Scam - Good for Big Business
What is behind the debt ceiling conflict? Who stands to benefit and who stands to lose? Since it is clear that the moderates and centrists are far and few between and the issue of the debt ceiling has become, miraculously, the most important issue in politics, it is clear that something has changed recently in the landscape of American governance.
The clues may be found in the recent election of Tea Party legislators and Governors, representing racist and large corporations [with the help of ALEC]. As they got to work, upon being elected, to shrink city and state governments, lay off workers, bust unions, strip funding from basic services, hire emergency city managers who nullify elected commissioners' participation, they simultaneously began to eyeball parts of public property and functions which could be "privatized" and outsourced to large profit-making corporations whose motives are decidedly not in the public good.
Over the past several years the language of business has permeated government policies. Leaders speak about efficiency and fiscal responsibility as if balancing a budget is the main function of a government, instead of providing services and protections from unscrupulous business interests, and if they provide a few services if there is any money left over, it is just more "fat" to cut out. Allegiance to "stakeholders" is mentioned frequently, instead of responsibility to its "citizens". The danger of considering constituents being stakeholders is that it implies that one with more stake in a particular issue is one that has more property, money and power, instead of each citizen having one vote, which is actually watered down by the electoral college, another function of business much like "shareholders" votes.
"Free market" is so enshrined in our psyche that it has come to mean that market forces are as inevitable as a natural disaster rather than being viewed as transactions which must have limits in order to prevent excesses, abuses and exploitation. Any attempt to regulate the wheeling and dealing of markets, Wall Street and big business is considered treasonous even as these forces are destroying the fabric of the US which used to represent the best and highest quality of life in the world to date.
To what end would a group or entity promote this deterioration of our culture? Who would stand to benefit if the US government failed? Who picks up the pieces of the US economy after it has hit bottom? The representatives of the corporations who sit in our legislature today are undaunted because they have very powerful forces behind them, with a promise of reward at the end of this downward trail.
If the government fails to resolve its budget crisis, the forces which are intent on privatizing everything public will be in a position to take over. This has already been happening in several states where Tea Party Governors and legislators have slashed funding for everything public and hired emergency managers to run the civic budget into the ground. Then they offer up pieces of public services and property for sale to the highest bidder. It is somehow believed that these profiteering companies can manage public resources better, on less money, more efficiently than the government can. The fatal flaw in this thinking is that public wages and benefits are reduced and/or cut, public services are reduced and the company siphons off the difference as a profit...i.e. "proof" that it can do a better job.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Perry’s Texas Has Highest Percentage Of Minimum Wage Jobs In The Nation
Perry’s Texas Has Highest Percentage Of Minimum Wage Jobs In The Nation: "pGov. Rick Perry (R-TX) has been making some noise about potentially entering the 2012 Republican presidential race, and if he chooses to throw his hat into the ring, it’s quite clear that he will point to Texas’ economy as one of his credentials. “In Texas, you don’t have to use your imagination, saying, ‘What’ll happen [...]/p"
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Free Trade Doesn't Work
By
Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.)
This review is from: Free Trade Doesn't Work: What Should Replace it and Why (Paperback)
“Ian Fletcher, economist, is an Adjunct Fellow at the San Francisco office of U.S. Business and Industry Council, with a specialty in protectionism and industrial policy. Fletcher believes that America's financial mess and our festering trade crisis were both caused by bad policies that mainstream economists told us were OK. His writing is data driven, uses common sense, is interesting, and eschews arcane mathematics. The 'bad news' is that overcoming free trade will be an uphill fight - 97% of economists support it.
Iif only 'free trade' doctrine was the provenance of university mathematics departments, it wouldn't last five minutes. Elementary math is enough to discredit the underlying thinking. Unfortunately, in the past two decades the U.S. has accumulated a $6 trillion trade deficit following its prescriptives. University of Maryland economist Peter Morici estimates the U.S. economy is about 12% lower than it would be absent these trade deficits.
Fletcher contends that many free trade supporters are simply Ayn Rand cultists (eg. Alan Greenspan) or libertarian ideologues (eg. Milton Friedman - anti Social Security, Medicare, postal service, public education, welfare) passing those views off as economics. Fletcher's "Free Trade Doesn't Work" reports that the logic supporting comparative advantage/free trade makes ten erroneous assumptions, invalidating its conclusions. My slightly modified version:
1)Immobile Capital: David Ricardo, originator of the theory of comparative advantage that underlies free trade, wrote that free trade would be limited because investors would not want to entrust their capital with a strange government and new laws. Thus, it would remain 'in-country.' Probably true in 1817 when Ricardo wrote this. No longer - U.S. entities have invested about $3.2 trillion in China alone, and added another $340 billion in 2009.
2)No Externalities (effects not reflected in prices): China is well-known for its serious air and water pollution problems, some of which cross international borders.
Another externality problem is that funding trade deficits via asset sales and foreign debt, as well as turning over the sourcing and/or manufacturing of key products (eg. generators) cedes control to other nations. (Remember the Arab Oil Embargo?) Adam Smith, another respected free trade proponent, specifically cautioned against this problem.
3)Mobile Labor: Ricardo and his acolytes assume displaced labor can easily move between industries. Unfortunately, I have frequently met people who lost jobs in industry A, then trained for industry B - only to see that industry then decimated by offshoring as well, then ending up in low-paying service jobs. Some free trade defenders claim that offshored jobs must be weighed against the number of Americans working for foreign-owned companies. Fletcher retorts that this logic is invalid because few of these jobs are NEW, that they are primarily existing jobs at existing enterprises. As for 'winning' U.S. industries hiring more people - Fletcher contends that they're winning because they have high productivity, and thus aren't likely to hire more workers. Finally, U.S. workers whose homes are 'underwater' are in poor financial ability to move - a 'short' sale creates substantial tax liabilities and wrecks credit; abandonment isn't any better.
Other free trade defenders assert that our low unemployment rate (until now) vindicates free trade. Not so, says Fletcher. Displaced workers eventually find something to do - usually in low-value-added, low-wage areas (security guards, construction, waitressing, retail) not subject to international competition, though often under wage-pressure from illegals. Finance, education and health care have been other major growth areas - the first creating considerable destructive impact, and the latter two representing mostly waste because they are grossly overstaffed compared with other nations. Fletcher adds that the U.S. economy has ceased generating net new jobs in internationally-traded sectors. All our job growth is now in non-tradable sectors.
4)Currency Manipulation Doesn't Occur: Try selling that idea to Secretary Geithner and the G-20.
5)Savings From Off-Shoring Outweigh Losses From Lost Jobs: Fletcher says we actually have no data on this.
6)Free Trade Frees Up Resources to Do Something Better: Supposedly high-technology would benefit from resources released from sending manufacturing overseas. However, we already have a trade deficit in high technology manufactured products, and China will soon have more biotechnology research equipment in a single building than the entire U.S. More specifics: In 1989 only 30% of Chinese imports competed with high-wage industries in the U.S.; in 1999 that rose to 50%. First Solar is the only U.S. company among the world's top ten solar panel producers, and most of its production is in Asia. U.S. printed circuit-board production has fallen to 8% of the world total, down from 26% in 2000; similarly, only 7% of new semiconductor fab plants are now in the U.S. (up to $10 billion each). G.E. is the only U.S. firm among the top ten in wind-energy (18.6% market share). In 2008, no cell phones were produced in the U.S. Our machine-tool industry market share has fallen from 28% in 1998 to 5% in 2008. As for the future, Georgia Tech's 2008 triennial "High Tech Indicators" study that takes into account human skills, national policies, number of scientists involved, high-tech export success, etc. placed China ahead of the U.S.; off-shoring also weakens research at our universities, and strengthens Asia's.
Our service sector trade surplus is much smaller than the manufacturing deficit, and likely will soon also become a deficit, per former Federal Reserve Vice-Governor Alan Blinder. As many as 30-40 million jobs are vulnerable. India is probably the biggest threat here, and high-paying jobs in IT, legal, accounting and finance, medical, engineering, and R&D will be among those at risk.
7)GDP is a Good Overall Measure of the Economy: Unfortunately, it ignores growing income inequality and stagnating/declining middle-class incomes and benefits, and the numbers are artificially boosted by unsustainable borrowing, asset sales, and illegal immigration. (In the short run, both trade-deficit and trade-surplus nations benefit from trade between themselves - however, eventually debt in the trade-deficit nation accumulates to a level where it cannot borrow any more because the lost jobs have created declining median incomes and asset values.) GDP simply asks the wrong question "What's good for the economy?" rather than "What's good for America?"
8)Trade Deficits Don't Matter: V.P. Cheney is famous for stating that "Reagan proved (budget) deficits didn't matter." Similarly, others assert that America has survived years of record trade deficits, so trade deficits don't matter either. Fletcher compares that to saying that a patient with a strong constitution that survives cancer 'proves' cancer doesn't matter either. Denying that our trade deficit is a sign of trouble on the grounds that it "reflects inflows of foreign capital" sounds better, but hides the fact that "inflows of foreign capital" means either Americans accumulating debt to foreigners, or existing American assets being sold off to foreigners. Both make us a poorer nation.
9)Free Trade Has Reduced Global Poverty: Claiming free trade has reduced global poverty is bizarre given that, according to the World Bank, the entire net reduction in global poverty since 1981 has been in protectionist China; elsewhere it has increased.
10)Smoot-Hawley Tariffs Caused/Worsened the Great Depression: Fletcher points out that foreign trade was at such a low level at that time that it couldn't possibly have mattered; in addition, most of the tariffs were merely returns to prior levels.
Nobel-winning Milton Friedman took the position, per Fletcher, that it doesn't matter if economic theories make unrealistic assumptions, as long as they make the right predictions. Free traders' predictions of substantial overall benefits have not proven out in the U.S.
Author Fletcher contends that Asian nations take advantage of our blind spots on this topic with tariffs, and limitations on internal buying; China's forced technology transfer and thefts also reduces the rewards for American firms to develop new technologies. Free trade policy in the U.S. is sustained not because of its logical rigor, but to support strong political (bribing nations not to go Communist, or to help fight terrorism) and 'beggar-thy-neighbor' economic interests (eg. the 91% non-manufacturing workers, vs. the remaining 9% that are). Unfortunately, capital is disproportionately powerful (political donations) in America's political system, largely isolating free trade from political support for the economic interests of ordinary Americans.
Improving education is often touted as 'the solution' - not likely, however, when competitors' college graduates are also paid far less than comparable Americans. Fletcher predicts that eventually a crisis (eg. the U.S. going back into recession because of the collapse of the dollar) will allow Obama or his replacement to maneuver out of support for free trade. Surveys already indicate that voters' primary concern is about jobs, but they haven't yet connected the dots leading to free trade as the source of the problem. The Founding Fathers understood the value of protectionism, says Fletcher, so they explicitly granted Congress the power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations" in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. ('Free trade' implies no regulation.)
Fletcher would like to see free trade replaced with across-the-board 30% tariffs for all goods and services. He sees this as working selectively to help retain 'infant industries' employing considerable capital and likely to benefit from considerable scale economies, but not enough to bring back the apparel industry (large labor component) or mature industries (much more limited, if any, remaining scale economies). This approach would avoid politically tricky decision-making on which industries to favor.
Summarizing, "Free trade is bleeding America's economy to death." We've lost millions of high-paying jobs in both the old and new economy, the skills and tax revenues (estimated to exceed $1 trillion/year) associated with those jobs, and the American Dream's promise of prosperity and success for those millions directly and indirectly affected. Despite the fact that no country has achieved strong growth under free trade policies, we continue - iust bailed-out G.M. and Chrysler are now building new factories in Mexico, and the White House is pushing for expanded trade with South Korea. The 'good news' is that Fletcher believes the coalition behind free trade will eventually collapse, we will trade less, and do better.
Bottom Line: "Free Trade Doesn't Work" is excellent reading. In addition, Fletcher, though in the minority, is in good company. The late Paul Samuelson, Nobel-winner, author of America's most popular economics textbooks, and the undisputed past leader of the profession, expressed strong doubts about our free trade policies in 2004. Ralph Gomory (researcher, mathematician, IBM V.P.) and William Baumol (named one of the world's most influential economists) have concluded that taxes that penalize offshoring are required to control destructive free trade. Author William Greider says we are at an epic turning point, besieged by trade deficits, with a hard journey ahead. He suggests using Article 12 of the WTO that allows countries with persistent, unsustainable trade deficits to use emergency tariffs. Greider also points out Germany's labor laws require significant worker representation on corporate boards, bringing a broader perspective to offshoring decisions. Finally, Warren Buffett has proposed giving exporters certificates that importers would then have to buy, thereby eliminating the trade deficit. Following Fletcher and others, citizens can reclaim their power, revise economic thinking, and revive the American Dream.”
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