We have been so obsessed with external threats. Threats from people who "hate us for our freedom" that many of us have all but ignored the internal threats to "our way of life". The war in Iraq and terrorism still dominate public focus and debate, and rightly so, but while we have been consumed with these issues the other effects of a so called conservative agenda are now significantly impacting our society. Over the past several years there has been a systematic transfer of wealth and influence from the lower and middle classes to the upper classes. It has been achieved, somewhat insidiously via legisltaion, judicial rulings and eroding governmental oversight. Now we have energy legisltation drafted by oil companies, HMO executives authoring health care bills, judges allowing pension funds to be raided, credit card companies given protection in new bankruptcy guidelines and freedom to raise rates indescriminately. These tactics have resulted in soaring gas prices, exploding health care costs and millions of Americans forced into what amounts to indentured servitude, to their credit card companies.
The public was slow to react to the situation in Iraq, in fact we are still somewhat aimless in our response. I am not certain as to the reasons why, other than we have been somewhat insulated to its day to day effects. But now we are faced with a far more greater threat to our way of life. We are faced with the possible demise of the middle class. I would like to examine two of the more significant contributing causes to our potential downfall.
We have all heard the parable of the boiling frog. It goes something like: if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water the frog will jump out. However if you place a frog into a pot of cool water but gradually raise the tempterature to a boil, then the frog will remain in the pot until he eventually is cooked. Such I fear is the fate of the middle class.
There are several sentinel indicators that have set off alarm bells drawing me to this conclusion. Near the top of the list is the negative effect of "Global Free Trade" on labor. Free trade is the notion that we should freely participate in a world market with minimal or no protections for our own "products or services". Free trade was sold to us as "essential" for our economy to grow. It was backed of course by big business, opposed by labor and most substantially delivered upon us via The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by none other than Bill Clinton. He was and still is a proponant of global free trade. (Perhaps this provides some insight into his surprising affinity for George Herbert Walker Bush). In any case the net effect of NAFTA and the WTO in general has not been the promised opening up of vast new markets but instead it has been increased access to a vast impovershed workforce. Manufacturing jobs are farmed out to 3rd world countries to take advantage of essentially slave labor, allowing huge profits for investors who in turn pocket the inflated profits. The alternative strategy of creating jobs in the US, providing a living wage with a future for American workers who pay taxes, educate their chidren and build an infrastructure for the future is sidestepped. Of course this approach would mean far less profit for investors and senior management.
A second key development has been the rapid demise of the pension plan. Labor has taken a beating over the last decade in many areas and as labor goes so goes the middle class. They have sustained huge losses, most notably in "give back contracts" and evaporated pension funds. Pensions in my opinion, are the one benefit that keeps people motivated and loyal. I believe that the notion of working for and protecting your financial future, even for those who are many years from retirement, has a quality of purpose and focus unlike any other. The promise of living out your life with some measure of guarenteed financial secuirty is greatly comforting, but to live it out "independently" not being a burdon to anyone else is really the ultimate satisfaction. I am not certain where the first pension was put into place but what a marvelous idea it is for a company to say to a worker; "we will enter into a bond. If you dedicate your time and energy in a partnership with us, we will honor that partnership even after your working days have finished. We value you not only when you are on the clock doing a day's work for a day's pay but we will also value you as an individual, who has dreams. We will treat those dreams with dignity and respect". Without this key piece of the employee benefit plan, workers are less likely to invest themeselves in a company and instead become more transient in their work life. I think this hinders companies as they try to create solid enduring organizations.
Alas the days of the company sponsored / under-written pension are just a memory for most. There are exceptions of course, but from what I can see even those groups who have retained the traditional pension, teachers, nurses, railroad workers, are losing ground quickly. As the boomers age and move towards retirement, many school boards are stonewalling teachers trying to force cuts in pensions and other benefits. I think it is the symbol, like the assault on social security, of a society once again focusing away from traditional values of productivity, and instead revealing a change in sensibility that is obsessed with corporate profit.
In summary I believe that World Trade has opened up an oversea's work force, for "the bosses" to exploit, a new group of "scabs" willing to work for pennies a day, without any other sort of benefit. Obviously they are not to blame for this situation, these unwitting souls have no choice because their reality is perhaps the reality of the US worker in the 19th century. They are not reaping the benefit of their sweat and blood. Even the corporations though primarily culpable do not bear the full burden of responsiibility here. Their job is to turn the most profit they can, always has been. I am pro business and pro capitalism. This also means that I am pro labor. There is a natural tension between ownership and labor that needs a mitigating force to keep their efforts, if not their goals and aspirations in harmony. That mitigating force is government and our government has failed us. Failed to keep in check the greed of the corporation, failed to protect the life blood of the the economy, failed to protect what is at the heart of the very idea that is America - the middle class. They have slowly turned their backs as the the heat has been turned up on this melting pot of frogs and I hope we are starting to feel the heat. Maybe this could motivate the American people to take action, or at least take notice. Are we now ready to jump out of the pot or are we still looking for the thermostat?
What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment