by JIM WEBB Wednesday, November 15, 2006

[underpants]

Class Struggle

This ever-widening divide is too often ignored or downplayed by its beneficiaries. A sense of entitlement has set in among elites, bordering on hubris. When I raised this issue with corporate leaders during the recent political campaign, I was met repeatedly with denials, and, from some, an overt lack of concern for those who are falling behind. A troubling arrogance is in the air among the nation's most fortunate. Some shrug off large-scale economic and social dislocations as the inevitable byproducts of the "rough road of capitalism." Others claim that it's the fault of the worker or the public education system, that the average American is simply not up to the international challenge, that our education system fails us, or that our workers have become spoiled by old notions of corporate paternalism.

Still others have gone so far as to argue that these divisions are the natural results of a competitive society. Furthermore, an unspoken insinuation seems to be inundating our national debate: Certain immigrant groups have the "right genetics" and thus are natural entrants to the "overclass," while others, as well as those who come from stock that has been here for 200 years and have not made it to the top, simply don't possess the necessary attributes.

America's elites need to understand this reality in terms of their own self-interest. A recent survey in the Economist warned that globalization was affecting the U.S. differently than other "First World" nations, and that white-collar jobs were in as much danger as the blue-collar positions which have thus far been ravaged by outsourcing and illegal immigration. That survey then warned that "unless a solution is found to sluggish real wages and rising inequality, there is a serious risk of a protectionist backlash" in America that would take us away from what they view to be the "biggest economic stimulus in world history."

More troubling is this: If it remains unchecked, this bifurcation of opportunities and advantages along class lines has the potential to bring a period of political unrest. Up to now, most American workers have simply been worried about their job prospects. Once they understand that there are (and were) clear alternatives to the policies that have dislocated careers and altered futures, they will demand more accountability from the leaders who have failed to protect their interests. The "Wal-Marting" of cheap consumer products brought in from places like China, and the easy money from low-interest home mortgage refinancing, have softened the blows in recent years. But the balance point is tipping in both cases, away from the consumer and away from our national interest.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009246

[glowing]

1. K & R

Very good to see this.. now, we need action to reflect the words. Yes, the elite are in their own bubble and just don't get it.

[liberalmike27]

3. Risk of Protectionist "backlash"

Um...instead of a risk, I'd say that sounds pretty good to me.

At what point did we as a nation, think it was a bad thing to "protect" our citizens from third world conditions, pay, and then eventually, squalor?

Is that what the fat-cats want in Washington, for us to be sitting around eating plumpy-nut, and dipping our cups into puddles to get drinking water, filled with all sorts of horrible pathogens and sewage?

This is Jessie Jackson's "rush to the bottom," and we're well on the way. The economy is like a bucket, and you want your bucket to carry water. Globalization, as it has been practiced, punches holes in our economy-bucket. It is leaking profusely now, and can't carry water. The leaking has caused the inequity.

Jobs were supposed to be created by the tax-cuts for the cloud-minders. They were, but in foreign lands. Most of them took the money, invested it in corporations, who then moved as many jobs away from America as it could.

Globalization is a good thing, if a company moves an operation to another country, hires workers there, and produces product for the people there. That requires them to pay enough so their people in "bum-f*ck," Africa can buy whatever they produce. As it is, and has been in places like the Maqilladora's in Mexico, people clock out, and go home to their cardboard boxes, unable to buy anything, or make their own lives better. The products are packed up, and shipped to faraway Walmarts, and sold to a population ever more dependent on credit, as the job that used to allow them to buy it and pay enough, was one of the ones that moved there.

It's easy to see, which makes it hard for me to understand why Congress didn't, which makes me think they did, and just didn't give a sh*t!

[NM Independent]

2. The entire article is a great read. K & R & Bookmarked too.

He raises a particular issue that may turn many things around quickly. He said that CEO's currently make roughly 400 times what their workers earn. However, back in the 60's it was about 20 times. So, pass a law limiting the level of pay to the CEO's with the size of the company taken into account as well.