The myth of 'American exceptionalism' implodes

[CHIMO]

One aspect of "American exceptionalism" was always economic. US workers, so the story went, enjoyed a rising level of real wages that afforded their families a rising standard of living. Ever harder work paid off in rising consumption. The rich got richer faster than the middle and poor, but almost no one got poorer. Nearly all citizens felt "middle class". A profitable US capitalism kept running ahead of labour supply. So, it kept raising wages to attract waves of immigration and to retain employees, across the 19th century until the 1970s.

Then everything changed. Real wages stopped rising, as US capitalists redirected their investments to produce and employ abroad, while replacing millions of workers in the US with computers. The US women's liberation moved millions of US adult women to seek paid employment. US capitalism no longer faced a shortage of labour.

US employers took advantage of the changed situation: they stopped raising wages. When basic labour scarcity became labour excess, not only real wages, but eventually benefits, too, would stop rising. Over the last 30 years, the vast majority of US workers have, in fact, gotten poorer, when you sum up flat real wages, reduced benefits (pensions, medical insurance, etc), reduced public services and raised tax burdens. In economic terms, American "exceptionalism" began to die in the 1970s.

The rich, however, have got much richer since the 1970s, as every measure of US income and wealth inequality attests. The explanation is simple: while workers' average real wages stayed flat, their productivity rose (the goods and services that an average hour's labour provided to employers). More and better machines (including computers), better education, and harder and faster labour effort raised productivity since the 1970s. While workers delivered more and more value to employers, those employers paid workers no more. The employers reaped all the benefits of rising productivity: rising profits, rising salaries and bonuses to managers, rising dividends to shareholders, and rising payments to the professionals who serve employers (lawyers, architects, consultants, etc).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/17/economics-globalrecession

[villager]

1. But the lore of "American Bovine acceptance" continues to spread -- inasmuch as it fits the facts...

n/t

[whathehell]

2. Say WHAT?..

[villager]

5. ....which is to say, we're no longer exceptional, or particularly "individual"

we have a herd-like acceptance of the fate our corporate overlords have in mind for us....

[whathehell]

6. I agree with the "no longer exceptional"...but when it comes to "herd-like acceptance"

I'm afraid I won't do a "we"...You'll have to speak for yourself on that one.:eyes:

[villager]

7. Um, a "herd" is different than one or two "individuals"

...but you go right ahead and single-handedly restore Democracy, compadre!

:thumbsup:

[whathehell]

8. Um...I think the number of activists on this board alone consists of more than "one or two"

..but you go right ahead and nay say, bro...I'm sure it will prove inspiring.:eyes:

[villager]

9. well, you keep posting those rolling eyes, and telling yourself how individual and active you are!

I know the corporate elites are quaking as we speak!

[whathehell]

12. Is that the best you've got?.....Try actually reading the post.

Or have you done so, but just feel more comfortable taking shots at me rather than the rest of DU?

[villager]

13. Indeed. Try actually reading the post. BTW, the first "shot" in this thread was yours.

n/t

[whathehell]

15. Nyah, nyah....Put down the broad brush and maybe next time

you'll have less to whine about.

[villager]

17. Boy, your "dialectic" deteriorates perceptibly with each post!

n/t

[whathehell]

18. "Perceptibly"?...Oh gee...I'm crushed.

:rofl:

[villager]

19. You know, this entire sub-thread has become ridiculous.

Enjoy!

[whathehell]

20. I agree!

Buh bye!:hi:

[whathehell]

3. Excellent article...n/t

[snot]

4. K&R'd

[Populist_Prole]

10. Actually, I've never heard of the term till about a year ago

I guess I never bought into the "we're special, just because" anyway. It is ironic however that that most who trumpet the term with bravado are the very ones that align themselves with those that are eating away the USA's foundation.

[fasttense]

11. I for one, welcome our new corporate overlords.

I know how to bow and scrape. I'm real good at cleaning toilets. And I can keep a smile on my face when insulted.

See, the future will revolve around how we service the excessively rich, just like Ron Paul said. :sarcasm:

[saras]

14. Great article

The article is about economics, not about military power

What I'd really LOVE to see is the MILITARY myth of American exceptionalism (i.e it's not wrong if WE do it, even if it involves what are pretty much universally agreed to be the most heinous crimes possible, such as the systematic torture of innocents, or the related belief that we are somehow superior moral judges of the behavior of other countries than anyone else.)

[Blue_Tires]

16. kick