Class War in America: the Brief |
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BRIEF Financial conservatives have
been waging class warfare against working Americans for more than 20 years.
Actually, they’ve been doing it for the entire century but they’ve been
especially successful in the past 20 years, so that’s a convenient and relevant
period for discussion. This is how they’ve been doing it, and why they’ve been
so successful: Chapter 1. Traditionally, conservative
economists and politicians kept wages down by manipulating the prime interest
rate. Whenever the economy grew to the point where unemployment went down and
workers had the power to negotiate for more money, the Federal Reserve simply
raised the interest rate. This
made it more expensive for businesses to borrow, the economy would cool down,
unemployment would go up, and wages would stagnate or go down—just as the
economists and politicians intended. Chapter 2. Conservative economists and
politicians explained that the reason for their actions is that rising wages
cause inflation, which hurts everyone. Therefore, they should keep workers’
wages from going up. In fact, whenever they refer to inflation, they make it a
point to call it “wage inflation.” They
totally ignored, however, the inflationary effects of the rising incomes of
business owners, corporate executives, investors, etc. They also chose to
ignore the fact that businesses could share more of their outlandish profits
with workers without increasing prices. Indeed, for the past 20 years, it
hasn’t been wage inflation; it’s been profit inflation. Chapter 3. Now there is a great debate
going on. Some still feel that the economic growth of the past 20 years should
be slowed by raising the prime interest rate. After all, unemployment is at
record low levels. Others feel it’s no longer necessary to raise the prime,
because wages can be kept down in other ways that are less detrimental to
profits—such as exporting jobs overseas, destroying unions, using temporary or
contract workers, and so on. What’s striking about this public debate is that all parties are
arguing about the best way to ensure that investors, business owners, and
executives get wealthier. Virtually no one is concerned about the welfare of
the working-class Americans who are most directly and personally harmed by
either of these strategies. Under either approach, workers make all the
sacrifices, and investors and the rich reap most of the benefits. Chapter 4. Among
many of the empty promises made to workers is that their wages will go up if
the economy grows. This is probably the most pernicious lie foisted onto the
American voter when it comes time to cut taxes on the wealthy. Their propaganda
spin goes like this: Cutting taxes will cause the economy to grow; added growth
will lower unemployment; lower unemployment makes workers scarcer; and when
workers are scarce, wages will go up.
Problem is, as the past 20 years have demonstrated, economic growth
has little to do with higher wages. It’s all about power and who has it. Right
now, investors and the wealthy have all the power and workers have none. Chapter 5. The
biggest single reason economic growth hasn’t increased wages is that
conservatives have deliberately pitted American workers against brutalized
workers in Third World countries, to drive down all wages in the U.S. Whenever unemployment goes down and workers
start demanding more money, all a corporation has to do is threaten to close
down operations and move overseas. That usually stops any embarrassing discussion about higher wages—at
a time of record corporate profits. And obviously, if employees refuse to be
intimidated, companies actually carry out their threats to leave the country.
Then, the workers who lose their jobs enter the marketplace and exert downward
pressures on the wages of other workers, even in the jobs that can’t be
exported to other countries. Chapter 6. The
“worker” classification is getting bigger. Jobs of engineers, Ph.D. scientists,
computer specialists, etc. are now being sent overseas to people who make
one-third as much. Today, it’s more accurate to refer to investors and workers, instead of management and workers,
professionals and workers, or even “skilled workers” and workers. Those who
control the money can, and do, control everyone else—as low-level managers,
doctors, engineers, architects, and other professionals are belatedly finding
out. As political power shifts to investors, so does economic power. And as their power increases, the economic system becomes increasingly
biased in favor of those with money and against those who develop and produce
the actual wealth of our country: land, buildings, products, and services. Chapter 7. Conservatives
proclaim in their talk shows and editorials that unions are bad for workers. On
the other hand, in their news articles they cite the declining power of unions
as a major reason for wage stagnation and poor working conditions. In fact, the
declining power of unions is one of their most frequently used arguments for
not having to raise the prime interest rate. It’s especially interesting to note that skilled professionals, such
as doctors, dentists, and college professors, are beginning to discover the
benefits, and the necessity, of collective bargaining. In the economy of today,
power is everything. Justice and fairness, and even the long-term economic
health of our society, count for absolutely nothing. Chapter 8. After
decades of economic growth, increasing worker productivity, technological
development, and higher incomes for the wealthy, wages and working conditions
have degenerated for the bottom half of Americans. Instead of getting better
with all these advancements, as promised, the opposite has happened. In fact, the United States has joined the Third World in victimizing
workers. Many workplaces have become more dangerous, more likely to cause
chronic disabilities and more dulling to the senses. For many workers, our
country has regressed to the pre-1930 era. Chapter 9. There
is no mystery about why corporations and businesses have all the power today.
The coalition from workers’ hell, Republicans and conservative Democrats, made
it happen. They destroyed much of the power of workers to organize by passing
the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. More recently—with the passage of NAFTA and establishing the WTO,
and a host of anti-worker actions—they gave workers the coup de grace by making them compete with brutalized Third World
workers. As Newt Gingrich once claimed in The
Wall Street Journal, the price of labor is now set in South China. It
matters not to conservatives that American workers live in this country, with our
standard of living, and our cost of
living. Chapter 10. If
there is any confusion left about our present economy, it’s why American
working-class citizens have been so thoroughly conned into voting for the
conservative politicians who made it all happen. The most plausible explanation
is that there has been a proliferation of “think tanks” that are funded by
wealthy right-wing zealots. With almost unlimited money, they are able to staff
their organizations with people who are willing to intentionally distort the
implications of financial data and economic events. Their most effective lies
are those that use accurate data to lead to inappropriate and false
conclusions. Chapter 11. The
1993 Deficit Reduction legislation is a classic example of the kinds of factual
distortions that enable conservatives to con voters into making false
conclusions that are injurious to their own interests. Even The Wall Street Journal described how
Republicans misled the public about whom the 1993 legislation would affect and
how. Contrary to common belief, only the top 1.2% of Americans got any
significant tax increases. And, as most people now know—and the Journal pointed out—raising taxes on the
wealthy in 1993 is a major reason for the lower deficits of the late 1990s. Chapter 12. There
isn’t the remotest similarity between those who the Republicans claim will
benefit from their tax cuts and those who actually benefit. In fact, they
deliberately deceive the public about the regressive nature of their specific
tax changes on working-class Americans. They also ignore the loss of necessary
government services—which benefit mostly middle- and low-income workers—when
tax cuts for the wealthy reduce government revenues. Chapter 13. The
privatization of Social Security is another conservative strategy that will
benefit the wealthy at the expense of
working Americans. Social Security was intended to ensure a safe retirement,
financed by current workers making decent incomes. Despite articles describing stock fraud, “boiler rooms,” insider
trading—and how hard it is for anyone with less than $1,000,000 to get good
investment advice—Republicans want workers to compete with the Wall Street
sharks when they invest their retirement funds. The sure winners in privatizing Social Security will be stock brokers,
experienced investors, and the entire banking and investment industry. For
workers who are unsophisticated in the economics of Wall Street, the future
does not look good. The best we can hope for is that when they answer a cold
call—during dinner, from a broker—the broker will be a conscientious
representative with a reputable firm who is not under pressure from his boss to
generate high commissions. Chapter 14. Another
major propaganda effort of conservatives is aimed at destroying Americans’
belief in their own government. Central to this strategy is their incessant
criticism of governmental officials, while claiming that private
businesspersons would serve the public’s interests much better. A review of the
behaviors of American executives and businesspersons suggests that the opposite
is true. When you read about the antics of these people—in their own
conservative publications—you have to ask the question: Can these corporate
bureaucrats actually manage our economy and society better than “government
bureaucrats”? The number of articles describing corporate greed, mismanagement,
incompetence, and outright fraud—of huge proportions—is massive. Chapter 15. Freedom
is central to the success of our country.
Problem is, which are the freedoms that really count? And who best
protects the freedoms that really count? Corporations? Or democratically
elected representatives? The number of examples of bad corporate behaviors in
the absence of sensible regulations is overwhelming. Well-financed
conservatives use their money to buy the necessary politicians, judges and
legislators to ensure that corporations and businesses have the freedom to take
ruthless advantage of workers and the general public. Chapter 16. Glorifying
greed and materialism—and minimizing fairness and justice—has become a staple
in the conservative arsenal for taking control of America’s political base.
Think about it. Many voters seem more concerned about the private sex life of
politicians than about whether or not they lie to the public about economic and
social issues. For example, Bill Bennett’s Book
of Virtues is a great book, but he left out fairness and justice. He chose
virtues that emphasize hard work and charity, but not fair treatment of
workers. It’s typical of the subtle conservative propaganda effort to equate
wealth with virtue, and to relegate the concepts of fairness and justice into
the dustbin of values. Chapter 17. There
is a growing new American royal class. Can working Americans afford to support
all these people who are getting locked into an extravagant life-style? A style
that can be maintained only if workers’ wages remain low and taxes remain
regressive. By cashing in the wealth that workers created from the 1940s to the
1980s, conservatives produced 20 years of prosperity for those who knew how to
take unprincipled advantage of our new economic system. But we can’t afford to
continue this fire sale of wealth much longer before the bills come due. Chapter 18. Time
is getting short. The income and wealth disparity between the top 20% of
Americans and everyone else is growing into a vast chasm. Having been conned by
conservatives that “wealth is not a zero-sum game,” voters assume that this growing
problem will eventually be to their own benefit, since “wealth trickles down.” Big mistake. Wealth is a
zero-sum game, at both the front end—in the allocation of income, and the back
end—the spending of income. In effect, the more wealth other people have, the
less you have. This becomes important in an economic downturn, especially for
those who have not built up substantial savings. And there are danger signs on the horizon: wages are starting to
creep up, which, in this “new economy” that conservatives have created,
threatens corporate profits, the stock market, and the economic and social
health of our country. Chapter 19. Workers
of America, Unite!—Because Financial Conservatives Already Have, and They Own
Congress and the Presidency. Never vote for a Republican. In the primaries,
pick a liberal Democrat over a conservative Democrat. Always vote for a
progressive populist—preferably one who is not having an affair with his
secretary (but if that’s your only choice, he’s better than a Republican or
conservative Democrat). Progressive populists actually believe that we need government to
protect the freedoms that count. An effective government—with honest,
not-paid-for politicians—is our only defense against corporate executives who
have no moral standards for the treatment of workers or the general public. A Qualification and an Aside Qualification: Copyright laws and limited space require
the use of brief excerpts of often very lengthy articles. I did my best to
fairly represent the sense of each excerpt quoted. However, if you question the
accuracy or intent of the clearly footnoted excerpts in the following chapters,
or my interpretation of them, you can easily look up the originals in the
library. Or, better yet, you can do your own research. It’s easy. Just: 1.
Go to your local library and sit down at its computer. 2.
On the opening screen, check “subject.” 3.
Look up the categories of: “prime rate,” “Federal
Reserve,” “inflation,” “unions,” “tax legislation,” and “wages,” plus any other
economic categories you are interested in. 4.
Pick any time period since 1980. 5.
Select articles that are from the same conservative
financial publications cited in this book. 6.
Read the actual articles. Then note how, with monotonous repetition, financial
conservatives describe how they are keeping wages from going up, getting
anti-labor legislation passed in Congress, destroying unions, pitting workers
against each other and, in general, waging class warfare against American
workers. Their policies always benefit corporations and the wealthy, and always
at the expense of workers. Aside: Anyone can say anything about anybody. Liberals
call conservatives liars and demagogues, and conservatives call liberals liars
and demagogues. But that doesn’t mean that the truth is midway between the two. It only means that—with modern,
sophisticated techniques of propaganda available to everyone—the voting public
must develop the ability to see through the smoke and mirrors that are
massively produced every day. Consider this book a study guide for your own
investigation. Decide for yourself what to believe about our economy, our
elected officials and our political parties. Follow the steps above and do your
own self-directed reading. You’ll find that America’s financial conservatives
are saying exactly what I have reported in the following pages. It’s a matter of public record. There is no way they can
cover it up. Now go to:
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