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Consumer Confidence Rises; Democracy Declines

March 21, 2007: Benjamin Barber explains why consumer culture is bad for humanity copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org Great News!  The good life will soon return to America.  Auspiciously, months before the holiday shopping season began, Americans were told that after more than a year of fiscal recession, or what some have characterized as akin to an economic depression, consumers were optimistic.  The confidence  index and other indicators were much improved.  Manufacturing executives assured the public, the engine that drives the free enterprise system was in a "sustainable recovery mode." In the very near future, products, and people's sense of need, would be fabricated again. Everything will be right with the world, economically.  Few feared the threat that, long ago, Americans had come to accept.   The foundation of a democratic system had eroded in favor of consumption.

Egalitarianism had been so swiftly and subtly replaced by free enterprise, only a small number observed what had occurred.  Mostly, Americans were out in the marketplace, the malls, or in the halls of their homes contemplating what else they might buy.  The Declaration of Independence, the document that calls for equality could not be seen amongst the clutter.  People in this Capitalist country do not necessarily ponder the contradiction.  Satisfied and secure in the belief "that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed".  The purpose of government is to protect these rights.  No, in the United States there have been and are more important concerns to consider.  

Citizens are certain the central concern is, "How might I retain my right to buy goods and services?"

The oft-heard answer: manufacturing.  American industry and individuals must invent and invest in expansion.  The United States must produce products to sell.  People to serve the needs of purchasers are also indispensable. The need to fabricate an adequate supply, and the staff vital to support it, will increase employment.  Jobs will provide workers with greater purchasing power.  Expenditure will generate profits.  Proceeds provide a gain that can then be invested in manufacturing.  The only missing component in this cycle is perchance the most crucial, promotion.  In America, we, the people, have allowed our selves to be manufactured.  Citizens are no longer the government; they are customers.

Toddlers, teens, twenty, thirty and forty something's are taught just as earlier generations were,  for an industrialized country to thrive consumers must "feel" confident.  An apprehensive public needs to be convinced it is safe and sane to buy.  Thus, patrons are told they can pay later.  No money need be placed down.  Credit can be arranged.  Long-term loans are available, and why not take advantage.  Americans have been given ample confirmation debt will not destroy them or our "democracy."

Besides, banks built empires on binge spending and received billions in bailouts.   The country and Capitalism did not collapse.  The economic crisis was but an ephemeral blip.

Fiscal institutions and  financial advisers assuage Americans; there is bad debt and good debt.  Borrowing has its benefits, a new sofa, a sweet set of wheels, and a sensational home.  Damn democracy, social equality, the homeless persons alongside the road, and those without health care coverage.  Full speed, or better said, a shopping spree is ahead.

As a barrage of information built on the argument, the economy is stable, buyers began to believe.  Indeed, faith in the American free enterprise system was born long ago.

Birth of a Notion 
Adam Smith introduced an idea. "Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer." Later Economists expanded on and extrapolated from the original theory.  Then, early in the twentieth century,Edward Bernays, the father of Public Relations maximized the maxim, much to the delight of American manufacturers., such as the architect of the assembly line, Henry Ford, and the originator of the premise, "planned obsolescence," Alfred P. Sloan.

Together, this team of 20th century tycoons converted what had been the crawl from a reluctant consumer to a abundantly content and avid trot.  In America, babies were not born, shoppers were.  These gents understood that if companies were to create a commitment to covet, it would take time, talk, and constant titillation.  Consumers are as children.  Advertisers must hold the hand of potential customer and teach them the lessons and language; what you think is only a want is truly a necessity.  

Radio and television broadcasters must also encourage expenditures.  Periodicals must print the message. Peers will surely support Capitalist principles, as will those Representatives who are well financed by free marketers.  "As consumption goes, so goes the American economy."

Economic Expansion Energized 
By Thanksgiving eve, with Black Friday just round the bend, bargain hunters had become sufficiently encouraged.  There were signs that consumers and the Commerce Department were sanguine.  Buoyed by the numbers the Labor Department released, retailers trusted there was reason for holiday cheer. "Unemployment benefits slidto 466,000 last week"  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slid to 466,000 last week, the lowest in more than a year, from 501,000 the prior week. It was the fourth straight weekly decline and the first time since January that claims dipped below 500,000."

The evidence was in.  U.S. durable goods orders were up in August.  Granted, the government's "cash-for-clunkers" program spurred consumers to spend more on major purchases. Similarly, the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers helped revitalize housing sales.  Nevertheless, what truly drove the American people was manufactured and purchased long ago.  Citizens are nothing but customers. The American people have come to resign themselves to a manufactured reality.  Government is not of, by, or for the people; it is the rival.  Today, the population professes, Administrations do not protect our rights.  The public protests, imposed rules and regulations deny the common folk the birthright to acquire.

History; Democracy on the Decline 
It all began back in the day, in 1776, to be specific.   Not only did the acclaimed Adam Smith present his political economic essays in The Wealth of Nations the American Declaration of Independence was signed, sealed, and delivered.  Author Adam Smith, the oft-acclaimed engineer of a free market system, or more fully his followers, gave birth to a notion that self-interest is a superior mission.   Hence, whilst our forefathers worked to give birth to a democratic nation, one in which egalitarian principles are prominent, those who espouse entrepreneurial ethics endeavored to ensure that free enterprise ruled.

Indeed, tis true; Adam Smith advocated for independent thought and deed.  He, however, was also a believer in the greater good.  He understood and advanced a need for government.  Yet, free-trade Economists such as David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill, as well as tempter Edward Bernays, and tycoons Henry Ford, and Alfred P. Sloan promoted for a further cultural shift. Businesses must manufacturer consumers, and so they did.

Purveyors pursued the public.  People were persuaded to purchase.  The American populace became nothing but pawns.  The common folk are not forced to buy; they are only constantly coaxed to believe wants are needs.  Equal representation and freedom to choose has been converted to Capitalism.  Adult have been infantilized.  Mature Moms, Dads, men, and women say, "Give me.  Give me.  Give me."

Shoppers Succumb. Economic Strength Expands Again 
Buyers trust; they can have all they want.  Prosperity was the dream, the undertaking, and indeed, in American, affluence is the way of life.  We ponder it, produce it, and protect policies that will promote it.

Educated elders, Economists, and elected officials expound; if businesses are bestowed with the freedom to bring in new revenue, bliss will be ours today, tomorrow, and for time in eternity.

Wealth will be shared equally amongst all our citizens, or at least the opportunity to acquire; to aspire, to ascend, towards the American Dream will be possible.  We only need to begin to buy again.  Economic experts, just as everyday commoners trust in the Capitalist system of consumption, and why not.  In this country the constant refrain is "Capitalism is the worst economic system  . . . except for all the others that have been tried."

With this thought in mind, it is easy to ignore history.  We need not reflect upon the seventeen recessions and world crisis' since The Great Depression.  In this North American continent, forever, we have faith; we are constantly "turning a corner?"  Perhaps we are.  Americans have moved back to the future.

Back to a Boom and Bust future ' 
'Without regard for the existing recession, nor the threat of a deeper Depression, citizens brush aside the words of woe and warning.  Mindful of the messages massaged by the powerful few, who control the media, the former Vice President Albert Gore observed television covers trivial excess.  In his latest book, The Assault on Reason, Mister Gore acknowledged American democracy "is in danger of being hollowed out," as are the brains of buyers who know what they want.  Good news?

The summer doldrums gave way to greater news.   Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke affirmed there is raison d'être for bliss; "Even though from a technical perspective the recession is very likely over at this point."  

Finally, Americans can muse once, twice, or thrice more; assembly lines with accolades to Henry Ford, will hum again.  The nation's most powerful tool, mass manufacturing, will ensure near full employment. "Planned obsolescence," a tribute to Alfred P. Sloan, will still serve as the old reliable economic engine.  The "need" for newer, better, or the best will bring mighty manufacturers new business. The time to consume is once again upon us.   Indeed, Edward Bernays ensured that the free enterprise Adam Smith advanced, and David Ricardo with assistance from John Start Mills enhanced would create an American culture of coveters..  

Hence, as US Novelist William Faulkner observed  "The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past."  What was is ever-present in our lives.  

The economic downturn has required Americans to adopt what is difficult for those accustomed to endless shopping sprees to accept, self-control, and a sense of being part of a broader society.  While from appearances, in the near term, it would seem the people have been easily able to reduce spending in truth, consumers lie in wait,hopeful that this recession too shall pass.

Economic Past is Ever Present 
For a short while Americans were given an opportunity to ponder the predicament, people began to save., The electorate believed that economic debt and emotional deficits could no longer be endured.  Fiscal frugality had become the favored fashion in America.  "Reluctance to spend had become the legacy of the recession."  Citizens had said, countless decades of spending in excess of earnings must cease. Protests could be heard; government cannot continue to print more paper to cover corporate creditors arrears.  Our countrymen must no longer rely on credit.

During the height of the fiscal crisis, Americans looked to the country's core value. Social equality, as delineated in the Declaration of Independence, was finally thought to be the more attractive commodity.  However, its appeal was short-lived.  Democracy could not compete with more tangible temptations. Ultimately, citizens, consumers, surrendered to their concrete desires.  

News reports serve to reassure restless shoppers.  Advertisers did as well.  Earlier in the year, whilst mechanized factories stood silent and still, merchants remained hard at work, Businesses continued to manufacturer customers.  Commercials sustained America's shared awareness. "Buy. Buy. Buy!"  The people confidently did.

Capitalism; The Credible Crucible 
Indeed, for the first time since the recession began more businesses planned to hire workers rather than fire employees.  There seemed to be ample reason to hope.  

Some Economists stated there will be strong growth in 2010.  Existing Home Sales in the United States Jumped.  Prices fell. Home Depot announced profits were better than analyst estimates. Luxury retailer, Saks Fifth Avenue, whose clientele was once thought immune to severe recessionary slumps, beat the street.  All around, earnings were surprisingly strong.  Principles planted firmly in Americans collective consciousness assure us we will be fine.  

It is as Adam Smith proclaimed. The notion of the free enterprise system, works. Every individual is led by an invisible hand to achieve do the best of his or her abilities. However, poverty is not necessarily reduced.  Prosperity does not consistently or evenly grow,  Innovation is and is not encouraged' and social and moral progress is evident only for the elite and entrepreneurs.  

What is true, Statistics say one thing, citizens say another.

The numbers may make obvious a need to save.  Nonetheless, consumers covet and cling to the idea that what they want is truly what they need .  Accolades to Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mills, and most assuredly to Henry Ford, Alfred P. Sloan, and the maestro Edward Bernays, the mastermind behind a Century of Self

With thanks to these theorists and tycoons, consumers are happy to ignore Unemployment rates of 10.2 percent of Americans in October.  Certain that the economy will rebound, consumers will  just shop until they drop.

Black Friday, the holiday shopping season will be blissful.  Customers will remain confident and content  All will be right with the world. Capitalism will be stable, secure, and the economic system of free enterprise will endure. Only the underlying principles of Democracy will be lost. What a small price to pay.

References for Recession and Reason . . .' 

• The Great Recession versus the Great Depression, By Paul Krugman.  The New York Times. March 20,2009
• Rapid Declines in Manufacturing Spread Global Anxiety, By Nelson D. Schwartz.  The New York Times. March 19, 2009
• Consumer Confidence Improves in August, Reports The Conference Board.  The Conference Board Incorporated. August 26, 2009
• Declaration of Independence. July 4, 1776.  Presented by The Avalon Project.  Yale University.
• As consumption goes, so goes the American economy. ?By L. Josh Bivens.  Economic Policy Institute. March 19, 2008
• Edward Bernays, 'Father of Public Relations' And Leader in Opinion Making, Dies at 103, The New York Times. March 10, 1995
• Consumer, labor data buoy optimism on recovery, By Mark Felsenthal and Richard Leong. Reuters. November 25, 2009
• U.S. Economy: Existing Home Sales Jump as Prices Fall.  Bloomberg. November 23, 2009
• Timeline of 17 Recessions and World Crises Since Great Depression. y Blain Reinkensmeyer.  Stock Trading.
• Saks CEO: Luxury Consumer 'Still a Little Bit Shell-Shocked', By Matt Phillips.  Wall Street Journal. November 17, 2009
• society and the "invisible hand." Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Democracy, Free Enterprise, and Confidence, By William A. Reinsch.  US Department of State.June 11, 2008
• Declaration of Independence.  Archiving Early America.
• Unemployment rate rises to 10.2%,  By Don Lee and Jim Puzzanghera.  The Los Angeles Times. November 7, 2009
• Capitalism's Fault Lines, By Jonathon Rauch.  The New York Times. May 17, 20098
• Home Depot cautious despite profit beat, stock off. Reuters. November 17, 2009
• Saks beats Street with surprise profit.  Reuters. November 17, 2009
• More companies plan to hire rather than cut worker,By Paul Dabvidson.  USA Today.  October 27, 2009
• Adam Smith, the founder of modern economic theory. By Will Springer.  Heritage and Culture.  January 27, 2005
• David Ricardo and On Liberty. By John Stuart Mill.  P.F. Collier & Son Copyright 1909
• U.S. Economy Began to Grow Again in 3rd Quarter. By Catherine Rampell.  The New York Times.  October 30, 2009
• Turning a Corner?   The New York Times. July 2, 2009
• Whose Recession is Over? Not Obama's.  National Public Radio. October 30, 2009
• The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index ® Bounces Back.  The Conference Board Incorporate. August 25, 2009
• Fed Chief Says Recession Is 'Very Likely Over', By Stephen Labaton.  The New York Times. September 16, 2009
• U.S. durable goods orders seen up in August.  Reuters.  Washington Post. September 25, 2009
• U.S. Economy: Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Drop (Update1), By Timothy R. Homan and Bob Willis.  Bloomberg. September 25, 2009
• Americans Cut Back Sharply on Spending, By Michael Barbaro and Louis Uchitelle.  The New York Times. January 14, 2008
• Henry Ford. Builders and Titans.  Time.
• Dynamic Obsolescence.  West of Laramie.
• Edward Bernays; 1915.  The Museum of Public Relations.
• Century of Self.  British Broadcasting Company.  April - May 2002
• The Basics; Good debt versus bad debt. Submitted by BankRate.  MSNBC Money
• Robert Kiyosaki Good Debt Vs Bad Debt

Polls; Panoply of America's Age of Unreason

American Failure in Education, Reason- Moyers, Susan Jacoby

copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org He is up.  He is down!  Thankfully, the opposition says, "Soon he will be out of favor and ultimately out of office!" If voters do not remove the renegade from his prestigious position, term limits certainly will do him in.  Liberal loyalists assert; President Obama is not the problem.  Congress is the cruel joke. It seems no matter the political persuasion, citizens of this country find someone to fault.  Surely, societal ills are thrust upon the public by an outside force.  Regardless, of whether the electorate places the onus on an individual, an industry, the nation's Chief Executive, or other government officials, the oft-heard battle cry in the Age of America's Unreason. is someone else is to blame.  The American people do not imagine themselves responsible for inertia.

This stark reality is perhaps most apparent in daily Presidential polls.  The Commander-In-Chief has a single four-year term to prove himself competent.  In truth, in the United States, the "first hundred days" determines how many minefields a President has managed to avoid.  The second turn of the calendar indicator follows closely behind.  If the Chief Executive has not proven himself golden in six months, his fate might be sealed.  Witness the woeful popularity numbers the Press reports most fervently.

In the Information Era, within a matter of weeks, an amplified and somewhat shallow assessment of American speciousness was available for all to see.  Periodicals and pundits alike announced, statistically speaking Mister Obama's personal magnetism is no longer viable.  His favorable numbers have fallendrastically. The American people are not swayed by speeches.   Nor do the plans the President submits speak to the general public.

The count was first publicized in early July.  Ohio citizens were given an opportunity to express their disdain aloud in an early public opinion Quinnipiac University poll.  

In Michigan, a locality which, for years, has been mired in a "one State recession" skepticism has never waned.  While a bit more hopeful after the 2008 election, constituents from this Great Lakes region remained cautious.  By mid-July it became apparent, Mister Obama's every promise would be scrutinized.  How could a population so severely depressed do much else.

By early August the raw data showed citizens countrywide were doubtful that Barack Obama was the correct choice. The public rated his job performance poor.  National Public Radio reported the results of a nationwide survey. By then, it was obvious; that the honeymoon lasted less than six months.  Indeed, it seemed, the registered voters, interviewed by a bipartisan panel, did not support the Administration's plans.  His policies were deemed a failure.  A whopping forty-two percent of American's stated they did not approve of Obama performance in office.  Perchance, many anxious Americans in the Age of Unreason were ready for a divorce.

For some, the "Recovery" plan did not revive the economy as promised. Others fear the Health Care coverage options the President has put forth will be catastrophic to them and their families.

The stimulus package did not serve to satisfy the people in the areas of the country hardest hit by the economic downturn. >Information that conflicts with raw rants does nothing to confirm slow yet substantive successes.  For the more vocal masses, the Recovery plan offered no relief for the Middle Class.  As the summer wanes, so too does support for the President. In the American Era of emotional Evaluations it appears, there is consensus.  The Obama White House has not helped improve the economy.  Countrywide, citizens clamor.  Change has not come.  

Chants, cheers and jeers are palpable  "Candidate Obama's commitments were only political ploys."  The latest polls illustrate, Independents and Republicans who once felt they could trust the Illinois Statesman, now believe he is no better than all the other politicians.  Driven by emotional elucidations, Americans rationalize Presidents have an omnipotent power.  The conventional wisdom is the people need only vote for a person with the Audacity to Hope. That person will inspire a nation to move mountains.  He [or perhaps she] will make my life better.  "Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead" is the rally cry during a political campaign.

However, sadly, during the post election season reality set in .  Faith faded swiftly.

This angst is expressed as distress.  Anyone in a position of power is thought to be a disappointment to persons whose pocketbooks are empty and by the affluent who now may earn a bit less than they would like to.  The President of the United States, this time Barack Obama is thought to be responsible for all that is wrong with America.

Reactions, what we the people do as a result of what occurs, may reveal an irrationality all American's possess. In this civilized country, personal attacks are the preferred means for engagement.  Through film, theatre, and television, residents in urban and rural environs have been trained to seek quick answers.  In these mediums, a story can be introduced, involve an audience, and offer a resolution, all within twenty-two [22] minutes.

Advertisers, more prevelant post World War II, understand that the medium is the message.  A product can be sold within four [4] seconds.  Anger can be generated just as quickly

The cost for immediate gratification and irritation is dear.  Since the 1950s, credit has help to satiated urgent desires.  Americans have been inured to habitually react.  The population proclaims, "Do it now or do not do it at all."  "If you cannot turn down the heat, get out of our kitchen."

As is characteristic in the Age of Unreason, if there is a perceived problem, the President, Congress, City Hall, or whoever might be deemed liable for the public's pain, will receive the brunt of an American's wrath.

One might hear the calls wherever he or she may live.  Many amongst the electorate anxiously await the day voters will be able to once again "Kick the bums out."  Republicans may rage.  Independents become more impatient.

Progressive persons propose that the lack of follow through is not the fault of Barack Obama.  Individuals who still wish to believe that they are Organizing For America place the onus on Congress.  Their rant, "Representatives in each political Party are the problem."  Independents, Republicans, and those who lean Left have reached in accord; "Invoke term limits," they shout.

Accepted American adages in these less than reflective times are a constant.  Turn on the television and hear, "If you cannot get with the program, then, get the Hades out."  Stand on a street corner and listen; "You are either with us or against us." Stroll down the avenue and someone will screech, "Move on" or be mowed over.  In the States, there is no patience for a slow progression.  Ignorance, lack of full knowledge, and unawareness can lead to actions born  in haste.  People in the United States have no time to waste.  Attention spans are very short in the Age of Unreason.  In this nation, the blame game is popular, more so than the President, elected Representatives, proposed plans and public policy.

Thus we see the repeated tallies. As the two-hundred day term ends, the number of dissatisfied Americans rise.  The President's standing falls.  Fault is easily found; that is everyone is to blame for what ails this country, except the unreasonable citizens who wait for someone else to fix what the people choose to let stand.

Again and again, the American people do not think they are responsible for the nation's inertia.  Only others are onerous. Thus, he is up.  He is down, and the people are one more time out of luck.

Please ponder the video presentation; American Failure in Education, Reason - Moyers, Susan Jacoby, or peruse the transcripts, The Age of American Unreason. Please reflect on responsibility.  If you would, contemplate the reality; the President, prominent persons in Congress, paid Lobbyists, and persuasive corporations do not have the power that the people possess. If only the public truly chose to be the change they wish to see.

References for Unreason . . . 

• Obama's 'Renegade' Campaign For The Presidency. Talk of the Nation. June 10, 2009
• Daily Presidential Tracking Polls.  Rasmussen Reports. August 5, 2009
• America closes the book on intelligence,  By Laura Miller.  Salon.  February 15, 2008
• Is Race for Governor More About Obama? Some Voters Who Backed President Disillusioned Over Economic Pledges.  By Sandhya Somashekhar.  Washington Post. Wednesday, August 5, 2009
• Obama's New Tack: Blaming Bush, President Points to 'Inherited' Economy.  By Scott Wilson. Washington Post.  Saturday, March 14, 2009; Page A01
• Recovery.gov
• Obama, the healthcare Riddler, Why is the president suddenly so afraid of a single-payer solution to America's healthcare crisis? By David Sirota.  Salon.May 16, 2009
• Obama's Approval Drops To 50 Percent.  Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Half Say President Acted 'Stupidly' In Race Dispute.  Quinnipiac University National Poll.  August 6, 2009
• Obama's poll numbers dive bomb toward Earth, By Jimmy Orr.  Christian Science Monitor. August 6, 2009
• Audacity to Hope.  By Barack Obama.  The New York Times.  October 17, 2006
• What Do Poll Numbers Really Mean for Obama?, Dan Balz.  The Washington Post. July 30, 2009
• The 44th President's First Hundred Days.  Cable News Network.
• Second 100 days. Cable News Network.
• Obama's Approval Drops In Ohio, Critical Swing State, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; 2010 Senate Race Tips Slightly To Democrats.  Quinnipiac University July 7, 2009
• Poll: Obama inspires, but some question toughness.  Cable News network. July 9, 2009
• Recovery.gov
• AP Derails GOP Spin On Stimulus Jobs, By Matt Apuzo.  Huffington Post.  July 10, 2009
• Have the Stimulus Programs Failed? By Gary Burtless.  Brookings Institute. August 4, 2009
• Credit Cards at 50: The Problems of Ubiquity.  The New York Times. March 12, 2000
• Advertising History Timeline.  A 295-year synopsis of the most important events in American Advertising, 1704 to 1999.  advertising Age.
• In a Cluttered Mediaverse, Some Ads Stand Out, By Elizabeth Blair.  All Things Considered. May 22, 2007
• The Age of American Unreason, By Susan Jacoby
• The Age of American Unreason.  Bill Moyers Interview.  Public Broadcasting Services. March 2008
• ;American Failure in Education, Reason - Moyers, Susan Jacoby

Capitalism; Dead, Alive, and Broken

copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org For but a moment, whilst the Group of 20 [G20] met in London's ancient financial capital, ,"The City," the roars of remorse, could be heard.  Words of woe had been whispered in hushed tones for quite some time.  Scholars spoke of various possibilities on occasion.  Whether Senior Economic Fellows from various think-tanks thought a system to be dead, alive, or near doomed, there was perhaps a bit of agreement.  "I see what you mean.  It is broken," Economist Mark Thoma mused more than a year ago.

The public screamed out in pain for decades; however, few cared about the cries of countless common folks.  Those who argued against principles that place profits before people were easily ignored for they had no power and less influence.  Much to the chagrin of corporate titans, even Economistswarned; this could be the end of Capitalism.  Yet, until early in the day, only weeks ago, no one paid much attention to what has become a customary declaration for everyday workers.  Morning has broken, and Capitalism is shattered as well.  

America adopted and advanced a system that was unsustainable..  More than once, "systemic failures" revealed the folly of free enterprise principles.  Nonetheless, worldwide people were convinced to purchase damaged goods and premises.  Yet, as Journalist Professor, Robert Jensen contends, "most notably those in the business world and their functionaries and apologists in the schools, universities, mass media, and mainstream politics" do not want to admit that this is so.

Wanted; Dead or Alive 
The evidence is everywhere.  What was a question rarely uttered, "Is Capitalism Dead?" has become a statement, or perhaps the dream of those who have been severely affected by this most devastating downturn.

Wealthy watch breathlessly as stock markets crash.  Banks fail.  Blue Chip companies crumble.  Foreclosures flourish, and people, those once thoughtprosperous, pour out onto the avenue in search of a job, or some sense of stability.

Perhaps, that is why, average citizens felt a need to break the silence, to speak of the broken Capitalist system.  In the shadow of powerful and prosperous Presidents and Prime Ministers, who gathered together for the G20 Conference, 4,000 demonstrators pleaded, not for pity, but for relief from a fiscal system that requires poverty.  

Frustrated and forlorn by an attitude that fosters further advancement of free market principles, at least in the United Kingdom, dissenters shouted in disgust.  It would not be wise to work within an economic structure that changed the global culture in ways that ultimately brought international institutions down.  

On a fateful day, early in April a young girl in the crowd, Aeyla Windridge pleaded.  I want "the death of Capitalism."  The twelve-year-old spoke to what Heads of State had not for centuries.  "Capitalism isn't in crisis, capitalism is the crisis," so said another activist.  

Recovery, Reinvestment, and Rescue 
Few of the principal players, those who represented the twenty participant countries were willing, or able to acknowledge the free market theory is flawed.  Most of the prominent Heads of State were, and continue to be, content with sanguine assessments.  Up to 85 percent of global gross national product comes from the shores of but a score of countries.  Eighty [80] percent  of world trade comes from these territories.  Americans, who might be thought of as the authors of Capitalism, saw and see no reason to change the status quo, at least not substantially.

Borrow and spend had worked well in the past for the superpower, or so the US government attempted to advocate.  While the President poses this philosophy cannot stand, America must move away "from an era of borrow-and-spend to one where we save and invest," in the same breath, the Chief Executive who represents the country that gave birth to free enterprise, endorses the framework, just as those who preceded him did. (Please peruse the text What Ever Happened to Free Enterprise, By Ronald Reagan)

Capitalism, the Obama Administration states, was not the cause of the planet-wide monetary collapse.  Only greed, excesses, and a lack of regulations brought about the demise of the dollar, and the rate of exchange.  As he addressed other world leaders in attendance at the G20 Conference President Obama conceded, "the crisis began in the United States.  I take responsibility even if I wasn't even president at the time." However, Mister Obama contends all countries must be accountable for this massive macro-breakdown.  America's Chief Executive proposes plans intended to strengthen a Capitalist structure.

In his April 4, 2009 Action to Address to the Global Economic Downturn, President Obama encouraged more regulations in an attempt to expand a consumer-based Capitalist theory.  With little regard for how the American way of life, which the President does not apologize for, cripples common, people throughout the world, Mister Obama declared. 

"(W)e know that the success of America's economy is inextricably linked to that of the global economy. If people in other countries cannot spend, that means they cannot buy the goods we produce here in America,  . . . if we continue to let banks and other financial institutions around the world act recklessly and irresponsibly, that affects institutions here at home as credit dries up, and people can't get loans to buy a home or car, to run a small business or pay for college.

Ultimately, the only way out of a recession that is global in scope is with a response that is global in coordination."

One is reminded of why, in earlier years, no one spoke vociferously of the crisis that is Capitalism.  Ordinary people were busy.  For centuries, regular folks worked day and night only to bring home a nominal paycheck.  Even in prosperous nations, people could barely afford to put food on the table.  People took trivial jobs just to secure shelter.  Millions felt forced to pursue professional paths that offer few rewards.  The only goal for the average Joe and Jane was to stay afloat.  Few have had the time or energy to protest their circumstances, or what the powers-that-be had and have imposed internationally.  Today, and in the past, worldwide economic slavery has sufficed.  That is until now.  

Lest the President and Prime Ministers elsewhere forget, in the States, and abroad, people are out of work.  The promise of an ownership society,where "people, from all walks of life," would open the door of their private residence and say, "Welcome to my home" proved to be but a myth.  The pledge of plump stock portfolios for everyone through Capitalism was a claim never substantiated.  Contrary to the oft-voiced assurances, the American Dream could be achieved anywhere on Earth If people only invested in a free market economy, this current fiscal crisis has shown the world, words were but wishes promoted by the prosperous.

Regardless of how average people are punished by a fiscal formula that requires there be poor people, the current President intends to preserve the Capitalist principles that govern a global economy.  While Mister Obama may not profess a commitment to an "ownership society," he too wishes to encourage people to possess what they cannot afford.  

Broken Beyond Benevolence 
In contrast, more than a few Economists have begun to contemplate the wisdom of a system based on constant consumption.  Experts in monetary movements examine, What went wrong and, rather more importantly for the future, what did not. Other statistician who study the social science of fiscal affairs suggest there is ""Good Capitalism, (and) Bad Capitalism."  Certainly, no matter the belief, with cause, "Capitalism is under fire."  

William Pfaff, the author of eight books on American foreign policy, international relations, and contemporary history has pondered the depths of a paradigm profoundly broken. Mister Pfaff offers a perspective less limited than the simpler theories often presented by Administrations and Academics.  The  observer of intercontinental issues writes . . . 

The essential question is, what capitalism are we talking about? Since the 1970s, two fundamental changes have been made in the leading (American) model of capitalism.

The first is that the "stakeholder," post-New Deal reformed version of capitalism (in America) that prevailed in the West after World War II was replaced by a new model of corporate purpose and responsibility.

The earlier model said that corporations had a duty to ensure the well-being of employees, and an obligation to the community (chiefly but not exclusively fulfilled through corporate tax payments).

That model has been replaced by one in which corporation managers are responsible for creating short-term "value" for owners, as measured by stock valuation and quarterly dividends.

The practical result has been constant pressure to reduce wages and worker benefits (leading in some cases to theft of pensions and other crimes), and political lobbying and public persuasion to lower the corporate tax contribution to government finance and the public interest.

In short, the system in the advanced countries has been rejigged since the 1960s to take wealth from workers, and from the funding of government, and transfer it to stockholders and corporate executives.

There is ample evidence to support the author's contention.  In 1970, the recipient of a Nobel Memorial Prize on Economic Sciences, Milton Friedman, encouraged an emphasis on corporate earnings. A culture that creates a vibrant community, Friedman insisted is counter to "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits"

Decades later, his disciples of sorts, Presidents Ronald Reagan,  George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, each implemented plans that increased earned income for the influential and decreased available dollars for the already disadvantaged.  Policies designed to protect and promote an American entrepreneurial taxonomy, or Capitalistic interests, were proposed as a means to spread democracy.  Planet-wide, people and economic practices were transformed. 

The second change that has taken place is globalization.  The crucial effect of this for society in the advanced countries is that it puts labor into competition with the poorest countries on earth.

We need go no further with what I realize is a very complex matter, other than to note the classical economist David Ricardo's "iron law of wages," which says that in conditions of wage competition and unlimited labor supply, wages will fall to just above subsistence.

There never before has been unlimited labor.  There is now, thanks to globalization - and the process has only begun.

The variance is vast.  Those who have possess so much.  The portion of population that owns little, have far less than even an average individual might imagine.  The wealthy cannot conceive of a life where food might be the most valuable commodity.  A world in which water is worth more than gold seems unthinkable to those who thrive in "civilized" communities,  Yet, this reality may come to towns in a Capitalist country.   Indeed, in some American communities, this truth appears today.

Nonetheless, agreements secured at the G20 summit ensure the adoption of a debt-driven American-style "democracy."  An arrangement, in which all are not created equal, will continue to be the practiced and preferred economic system planet-wide.  People will once again forget assessments presented less than a decade ago. 

Many of the radicals leading the protests may be on the political fringe.  But they have helped to kick-start a profound re-thinking  about globalization among governments, mainstream economists, and corporations that, until recently, was carried on mostly in obscure think tanks and academic seminars.

The reassessment is badly overdue.  In the late 20th century, global capitalism was pushed by leaps in technology, the failure of socialism, and East Asian's seemingly miraculous success.  Now, it's time to get realistic.  the plain truth is that market liberalization by itself does not lift all boats, and in some cases, it has caused damage to poor nations.  What's more, there's no point denying that multi-nationals have contributed to labor, environmental, and human rights abuses as they pursue profits around the globe . . .

(After a ten-year expansion of market capitalism around the world, as of the year 2000) The World Bank figures the number of people living on a $1 a day increased to 1.3 billion, over the past decade.

The extremes of global capitalism are astonishing . . .  If global capitalism's flaws aren't addressed, the backlash could grow more severe.

Indeed, the repercussions have been relentless.  Near a century of consumption, solely for the sake of profits, has weakened the world.  The current fiscal crisis reveals Capitalism was never the cure for what ails the people on this planet.  Persistent poverty, and the threat of increased insolvency, born out of a free enterprise system is an expense few, if any, can afford.  One need only look at the Capitalism and what it has wrought.  Avaricious individuals may acknowledge one reaps what one sows.  Independently, or collectively, as a global community anyone might come to understand, "If my brother is poor, I/we too will suffer.  Ultimately, I/we will pay for the poverty I/we accept."  

Without such a realization, and inspired by the spirit of an individualism that has flourished amongst free-marketers, people may, as President Obama proclaimed.  Worldwide, or here at home, we "want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that [has] been missing."  However, it is not another glorious "morning in America."  Nor is it a beautiful day in most neighborhoods.  Were the clouds to clear, globally people might avow, authentically, there need be an actual new dawn.  It is time to dream of economic structures that have never been.

The majorities in the States, and throughout the globe, are no longer silent.  Common folks have spoken.  Capitalism is broken.  It is not wanted, dead or alive.

Sources for economic and empathetic structures . . . 

• Is Capitalism Dead?  No. By William Galston.  National Public Radio. March 11, 2009
• Is Capitalism Dead?  Maybe. By J.D. Foster.  National Public Radio. March 11, 2009
• Is Capitalism Dead?  Yes. By Alan Reynolds.  National Public Radio. March 11, 2009
• I See What You Mean, It Is Broken, By Mark Thoma.  Economist View.  January 24, 2008
• 'The World As We Know It Is Going Down', By Marc Pitzke.  Spiegel International. September 18, 2008
• Systemic Failure: Capitalism "Lays An Egg," By Stephen Lendman.  SteveLendmanBlog. March 2, 2009
• Capitalism Under Fire, By William Pfaff.  The International Herald Tribune. 30 March 2006
• Is Capitalism Dead?  The Washington Post. October 20, 2008
• Recession Pain, Even in Palm Beach, By David Segal.  The New York Times. April 12, 2009
• Blair: Global economic fallout is nation's major threat.  Cable News Network. February 12, 2009
• The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits, By Milton Friedman.  The New York Times Magazine. September 13, 1970.  Copyright @ 1970 by The New York Times Company.
• Colorado bank biggest US bank failure of 2009.  AFP. April 10, 2009
• Slump Humbling Blue-Chip Stocks, By Mark Healy.  The New York Times March 6, 2009
• U.S. foreclosure filings rise in February, By Lynn Adler.  Reuters. March 12, 2009
• In Defense of Income Inequality, By Peter Schwatrz.  Capitalism Magazine. March 28, 2009
• Congressional Finance Chair Discusses U.S. Economy. NewsHour.  September 3, 2007
• Disowned by the Ownership Society, By Naomi Klein.  The Nation. January 31, 2008
• The End Of American Capitalism? By Anthony Faiola.  The Washington Post.  October 9, 2008
• The G-20 and the Future of Capitalism - Part I,  By Jeffrey E. Garten.  Yale Global. March 30, 2009
• President Obama's News Conference; Transcript.  The New York Times. March 24, 2009
• Century of Self.
• Story of Stuff.  By Annie Leonard.  The Sustainability Funders and Tides Foundation.
• Address by Governor Ronald Reagan, Installation of President Robert Hill, Chico State College. May 20, 1967
• What Ever Happened to Free Enterprise, By Ronald Reagan.  Ludwig Von Mises Memorial Lecture at Hillsdale College.  November 10, 1977
• 12-Year-Old Protester: 'Death of Capitalism.' By F. Brinley Bruton.  MSNBC News. April 1, 2009
• Capitalism Under Fire, By William Pfaff.  The International Herald Tribune. 30 March 2006
• Global Capitalism,  Can it be made to work better?  By Pete Engardio with Catherine Belton.  Business Week. November 6, 2000
• Obama's G-20 confession: "I take responsibility." By Marc Hujer, Wolfgang Reuter, and Christoph Schwennicke.  Salon. April 7, 2009
• Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Weekly Address, The White House. Saturday, April 4, 2009
• Globalization: A Reference Handbook, By Justin Ervin, Zachary A. Smith.  2008
• Capiatlism at bay, What went wrong and, rather more importantly for the future, what did not.  The Economist. October 16, 2008
• "Good Capitalism, (and) Bad Capitalism," By David Wessel.  Wall Street Journal.  Economist's View. May 10, 2007
• Drinking water costs lots of dollars.  MarketPlace. March 17, 2009
• Analysis: Obama takes 'morning in America' mantle.  Cable News Network.  February 25, 2009
• A Different Sort of Red America, By Tobin Harshaw.  The New York Times. April 10, 2009

Somewhere in America

copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org Somewhere in America, a man loses the job he has held for more than thirty years.  Somewhere in America, a woman cleans out the office she had occupied for close to a decade.  Elsewhere in the United States, a teen unsuccessfully tries to find work.  He knows he needs to help his Mom and Dad; each toiled in the factory that closed just down the street.  A young woman searches for a professional position, just as she has for the two years since she graduated form the University.  Each of these individuals is not startled by the headline, Economy Shed 598,000 Jobs in January.    All ask, where have the "experts," Economists, and elected officials been?

There is a stark reality barely revealed in this report. For the many who live somewhere in America, the statistic is not news.  It is the culmination of life or strife as it has been in the United States for a long time.  Countless experience the misery of an economic crisis that consumes them.  There is no joy in jobs lost or the threat of more layoffs to come.

What occurs most every moment, somewhere in America is the reason President Obama stated in his recent address, this country needs a stimulus package now, not tomorrow, not in a week, or in a month.  At least, "3.6 million Americans  . . . wake up every day wondering how they are going to pay their bills, stay in their homes, and provide for their children.  That's 3.6 million Americans who need our help."

What the President does not say is that these numbers represent only the persons we know of.

Somewhere in America, in a rural residence, children cry.  There is no food in the cupboard.  Mom, who is the sole supporter in this family, has been out of work for months.  Dad, too depressed, left his loved ones long ago.  He labored part-time for years.  When the economic downturn began, in 2007, he realized he could not even count on temporary employment.  Nor can the young one who hopes to enter college; she understands "career path" may be a euphemism from the past.  Today in America, the streets are not golden.

As Senators and Congresspersons, all of whom are gainfully employed, bicker, and build an Economic Stimulus Bill filled with pork, and, or tax cuts that benefit only the rich, somewhere in America, a mother cannot buy food for her son.  A single father, without a High School diploma, wonders how he might hold on to his factory job and still adequately prepare his daughter for school.  Somewhere in this great country, educational institutions go without textbooks.  Perhaps, it matters not, the students cannot read.

Somewhere in America, a cancer patient is refused treatment, for, although he has insurance, the policy will not cover the costs.  

A firefighter is given a furlough.  In California, State workers are forced to take  an unpaid leave.  Somewhere in America, a  plan to bring recovery to America cannot wait.

Elsewhere in this country, citizens, the few secure in their circumstances, argue over the proposed stimulus package. Certain that all is well, at least for them, these affluent Americans say the situation is not dire.  They encourage their Representatives not to sign on to a incentive measure that might spend money on other than they, personally, think right.  Meanwhile, somewhere in the United States, a family in the frozen Midwest is thrown out on the cold streets.  The mortgaged house, the five had lived in for near a score, went into foreclosure.  

In a country, where the words "economic crisis" is not hyperbole, few wish to help move the nation forward.  People rather quarrel.  Free speech is fun for those who still feel safe.  Today, the public does not ponder the bridge that collapsed in Minnesota two summers ago.  August 2007, was eons ago.  The public does not hear the stressful sounds of a viaduct ready to crumble.  The roar of engines is too loud, or perhaps, when the conversation turns to fiscal responsibility the screams from silly squabbles drown out the noise steel makes when it bends and breaks.

People plump with power, profits, or an ideology can safely ignore federal government studies that show "Nearly a quarter of the nation's roughly 600,000 major bridges carry more traffic than they were designed to bear,"  When an American lives elsewhere in America, it may matter not that  the "Federal Highway Administration data from 2006 shows that 24.5 percent of the nation's bridges longer than 20 feet were categorized as "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete" (data from Utah and New Mexico was from 2005)."

Rarely do individuals reflect on what does not affect them directly.  Many are happy to refuse to see what is invisible to their eyes let alone the reality numbers might represent.  Empathy, elsewhere in America can be elusive.

People who have a roof over their heads rather rant.  Those who toddle off to the office much prefer to rage.  It is "pork" they say.  The Obama stimulus plan is nothing but needless government-funded expenditures.  "Taxes must be cut;" screech the tycoons and venture Capitalists.  These influential persons of means make telephone calls.  The rich reach out and touch Republican and Democratic Legislators alike.  Why?  Because they can.  Powerful persons have access, the privilege of the affluent.  The plight that occurs somewhere in America is alien to them.

Insulated and isolated, the wealthy worry not.  Elsewhere, many in the Middle Class cannot imagine what it must be like to live somewhere in America.  Most do not believe an economic catastrophe will become a personal truth.

Those whose children are enrolled in private schools, or in public school out in the suburbs subsidize their progeny's education.  They wonder why others cannot.  Perchance these individuals have not traveled to somewhere in America.  Persons whose families are well-funded, who hear, and see no evil on the streets of this nation, do not imagine that somewhere in America might ever be where they live.  

These citizens, comfy, cozy, and content with what is, have no need for the Head Start programs now cut from the stimulus package.  Education for the Disadvantaged, another program now eliminated from the Bill, will not have an effect on friends or family of the economically-established.  Persons who have the ability to care for their own do not understand the plight of those they have never encountered.

Thus, they exclaim, the "fat" must be removed from the stimulus package, and so it is.  

School improvement stipends were removed from the proposed fiscal plan.  These critical contributions, in a  country, which ranks low, or last, in many categories of learning seems unnecessary.  Child Nutrition grants are lavish in the minds of the physically and financially satiated.  Surely, the well-off say, there is no need for such remunerations.  

Individuals who are safe and sane do not wish to sponsor programs such as Funds for Violence Against Women.  These planned provisions were erased from the proposition.  Persons not in harm's way questioned why would society wish to assist those ladies who did not chose their companion wisely.  

Food Stamps surely are wasteful spending, say the scornful and satiated.

These same persons are happy to see an end to what they think exploitive expenditures.  Dollars expected to be doled out to The National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA, National Science Foundation NSF, and the Western Area Power Administration were also expunged from the package.

Firefighters are now forsaken. Cash for the Coast Guard was deemed redundant.  Payments for better prisons, are said to be decidedly pointless.  Community Oriented Policing Services COPS Hiring programs, are among the allowances that have been cut.  Apparently, community safety is not critical, at least not for those who think private industry better cares for any communal needs.  

That may be why these same individuals decided dollars devoted to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC were also wanton.  Certainly, these would not stimulate the economy.

Perchance, the persons who live elsewhere in the United States, do not realize that cash spent on services contributes to jobs somewhere in America.

Possibly, the prosperous do not recall that poverty produces greater poverty.  Persons who love to engage in arguments, think it fun to find fault with each and every point,   These individuals, whose intention is to wrangle, do not wish to acknowledge, as Nobel Prize winner and Princeton Professor of Economics and National Affairs does in his most recent NewYork Times column.  "As the great American economist Irving Fisher pointed out almost 80 years ago, deflation, once started, tends to feed on itself."

As dollar incomes fall in the face of a depressed economy, the burden of debt becomes harder to bear, while the expectation of further price declines discourages investment spending.  These effects of deflation depress the economy further, which leads to more deflation, and so on."

Hence, as a country we stand still.  Democrats and Republicans are divided.  Congress cannot or will not decide to support an authentic stimulus package.  Policymakers will do as they have always done, dicker, and deliver little.  What may ultimately pass will likely be more irresponsible than it might have been.  

When somewhere in America is not where you are; nor is it a place you chose to imagine as real, then you do not reflect upon the parent who has not had a paycheck for years, or the child who cries out for a but a mere morsel of food.  Sadly, somewhere in America, for members of Congress, and for citizens comfortable in their circumstances, is a place far, far, far, away.  

In truth, were the quarrelsome to look out their window, they might see, somewhere in America is right next door.

• Obama Announces New Economic Recovery Board, President: Job Losses "Devastating News."  CQ Transcripts Wire.  Washington Post. ?Friday, February 6, 2009; 12:38 PM
• Economy Shed 598,000 Jobs in January, By Edmund L. Andrews.  The New York Times February 6, 2009
• Obama Raises Stakes for Senate's Economic Stimulus Bill, By William Branigin, Paul Kane and Shailagh Murray.  Washington Post. Friday, February 6, 2009; 1:11 PM
• Grim Illiteracy Statistics Indicate Americans Have a Reading Problem.  Education Portal.  September  20,, 2007
• Schwarzenegger orders mass layoffs, unpaid furloughs,  By Patrick McGreevy and Jordan Rau .  The Los Angeles Times.  December 20, 2008
• Firefighters in Colorado Springs Have More Than Just Fires To Worry About.  Employment Spectator. January 26, 2009
• U.S. Teens Trail Peers Around World on Math-Science Test,  By Maria Glod.  Washington Post. Wednesday, December 5, 2007; A07
• Lawmakers Seek to Revise Stimulus; Bill Now in Senate (Update2) By Brian Faler.  Bloomberg News. February 3, 2009
• Latest Cuts To The Stim Package: Head Start, Child Nutrition, Food Stamps Public Transit, By Greg Sargent..  Who Runs the Government.  A Washington Post Publication. February 6, 2009
• Baldwin Township couple, among millions facing foreclosure in U.S., turn to nonprofit aid program.  By Tim Grant.  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.August 28, 2008
• Experts: Leadership, money keys to building bridges. Cable News Network.  August 3, 2007
• Community Oriented Policing Services COPS.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA.
• National Science Foundation NSF.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC.

United Auto Workers Are Everyman; The American Experience

copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

The morning broke. There was a momentary blip in the air as broadcasters spoke of the pending United Auto Workers potential strike. Was the short and sweet General Motors walkout the topic of discussion, or perhaps, the work stoppage at Chrysler was the focus. No matter; neither was of interest to Jack, a corporate executive. He received word from his accountant hours earlier; health care costs are too high. We must cut benefits. Perhaps it would be better if we eliminate a large portion of the workforce. Certainly, that would save us much money. The company must consider the stockholders. Individual buyers and brokers look at earnings and expenses.

Richard, a man that rose through the ranks, currently holds the title of Vice President in a well-known organization. His company is up for sale. Potential buyers will scrutinize the books. Every penny, nickel, and dime must be accounted for. He too was summoned. In his case, the President called. Employee medical expenses must be slashed. We can no longer offer life insurance. This business already purged the employees they could afford to lose. Workers wages are exceedingly low. That helps to make this company competitive. Richard recalls, years ago, he chose to work for this institute because of the benefits. Even then, he knew how valuable remuneration was. How might he endorse such a reduction or loss?

Bethany slept soundly, more so than she had before. Yesterday, she went to the doctor for a routine examination. Her tests were clear. A clean bill of health was delivered. That was wonderful. The results calmed her mind; indeed, she was elated. In the immediate, she was comforted by the knowledge she had health insurance. An indemnity would cover the bill. She said this aloud; for most of her adult life, she had no health care coverage.

Marion, a woman Bethany met in the waiting room, spoke of her concerns. She diligently punched a time clock for forty years. Marion is a retired member of the city staff. Possibly, she was a state employee, communications worker, a retail associate, or a salesperson. Maybe her hours were not logged in a conventional manner; nonetheless, she worked hard for decades. Perchance, Marion is a Mom. While she and Bethany sat, each expectant of their test results, they chatted.

Marion mentioned the change in her circumstance. With the new Medicaid "donut hole' as she called it, she could barely keep up. Routine examinations were now a luxury. She feared a thirty-five dollar co-pay. The funds seemed excessive. Bethany shared her saga. Only twelve months earlier, she had no insurance. Three tests were required. The total cost was close to a thousand dollars. For her, thirty-five greenbacks would have been a welcome fare.

Shelia chimed in. This lovely lady, also adorned in a medical gown offered she and her husband own a same business. Medical costs and coverage for their few employees is a concern that escalates daily. Often, the couple thinks to move from one insurer to another. However, in the past when they had, they realized no rewards. Shelia shutters, sighs, and then inquires, "How long have each of you been here today." She notes, my appointment was scheduled for two, Post Meridian. Now, near three hours later I sit.

The three women look at each other and exclaim. This is health care in America? The conversation continued. All were exasperated and excited to have an opportunity to speak. Marion mused as talk of health care turned to politics, and minutes were but a blur, "Now that we have solved all societal ills." Of course, they had not. Union strikes were not discussed.

Jack, Richard, Bethany, Marion, Sheila, and her husband are not employees of General Motors, Chrysler, or Ford Motor Company, another corporation we will hear about in the near future. Yet, each is affected by the circumstances that concern the United Auto Workers. They are all Middle America.

We all have our tales, our sagas, and situations. However, sadly, we see our own lives as separate from the anxieties of others. They are not. We are united, whether we are member of a labor Union or not. We are citizens of the United States.

For many decades, in this country, the cry was heard, "As goes General Motors, so goes the nation." While the prominent automaker is but half the company it was only years ago, it remains archetypal. What occurs within General Motors is emblematic and endemic.

Two weeks after GM laborers partook in a two-day walkout, and then agreed to terms of their new contract, a six-hour strike against automaker Chrysler began. It too was less than significant for most Americans. At least that is what journalists told us. The mantra on the morning of October 10, 2007 was Chrysler is now a privately owned company. Therefore, its woes will not affect the stock market, which, as we know, is the true economic driver.

As reports of a possible job-stoppage streamed across the screen, and announcers screamed of the possibility in the early morn, "average" Americans were reminded, they need not fear. Portfolios were safe. The implication was, and is, stockholders are important. Investors matter. Laborers do not; they are but a insignificant commodity.

In recent years, we have heard the hoopla; more Americans own stocks than had in the past. Everyone is invested in the market. The economy is strong and has been for decades. Currently, laws favor financial planning. Life for Americans is far better than it has ever been. Less than a decade ago, we read . . .

In 1998, 52 percent of Americans owned shares in public companies or equity mutual funds, either directly in their own accounts, or indirectly in retirement and trust accounts. This percentage was four times higher than in 1980, when only 13 percent of Americans owned stock. By the end of the century, more than half the population were capitalists in some sense.

Many factors contributed to the broadening of stock ownership. New pension laws shifted many employees’ pensions to the new 401(k) plans, most of which are invested in stocks. Mutual funds made it easier and cheaper to start investing. Federal law deregulated brokerage commissions. On-line investing facilitated stock purchases by reducing both paperwork and commissions. Finally, after almost twenty years of unprecedented prosperity, many Americans had significant wealth with which to invest in equities.

However, even then, working stiffs did not prosper as polished "professionals" might have. Richard may have increased his income. He might have invested in a healthy portfolio. The authentically affluent such as Jack, certainly reaped some capital gains. There is little doubt; this entrepreneur likely increased his worth greatly. Nonetheless, as in years past, prosperity was not equally shared.

Approximately half the population still pinched pennies and tied their purse strings tightly. Bethany, Marion, and Sheila were perhaps among those that struggled. Dispensable, discretionary income was but a dream, the American Dream not realized. Life may have looked good for those that control the message and wish to promote further speculation. , the silent near majority knew then as they do now . . .

Dow's all-time high inconsequential for most Americans
By Sylvia Allegretto.
Economic Policy Institute
December 11, 2006

Much attention was paid last week to the Dow Jones recovery to its prior peak level first reached in 2000. It is important to put this milestone into perspective for average working families. Fostered by the constant focus and widespread attention given to the performance of the stock market, conventional wisdom has it that everyone in the United States is heavily invested in the stock market. However, the data tell a different story.

The most recent triennial data from the Survey of Consumer Finances show that the historically increasing trend in the shares of all households owning any stock reversed course from just over half in 2001 (51.9%) to just under half in 2004 (48.6%)1—the first such decline on record (Figure A ). In 2004, only about a third of Americans had stock holdings, valued at more than $5,000.

The distribution of stocks, by value, is highly tilted to the wealthiest Americans as shown in Figure B. In 2004, the wealthiest 1% owned 36.9% of all stocks, while the next 9% owned 41.9%. Hence, the wealthiest 10% controlled about 80% of all stocks while the bottom 90% owned just over 20%. Given the starkness and persistence of inequality in stock holdings, there is no reason to think those in the bottom 90% are doing any better today.

Those that were at the bottom in the 1990s remain there. Some sunk further into oblivion. Indeed, in the twenty-first century, the poor fell further than they imagined possible. Their hopes and dreams dashed. Few manual laborers see a home in their future. They worry; they do not believe they can provide an adequate education for their offspring. Putting food on the table has become a priority. The impoverished were not in the physician's office with the three women. They could not afford to be.

The Middle Class, or those that once were among the median population, also sink lower and lower. Caught in the vacuum of a downward spiral, formerly comfortable Americans fear falling down the dark hole. The darkness of the drain is in sight. In recent years, as the market races to all time highs, the decline downward accelerates for all but the corporate tycoon. Magnates prosper and plan to build their profits; Jack absolutely is.

Please consider the Chrysler Corporation and the company that purchased this organization months ago, Cerberus Capital. While circumstances differ essentially, the basic motivation is the same, big bucks. General Motors may be slightly more patient in their pursuit of ample profits and earnings; nonetheless, each company considers financial interest more than those of the workers.

"GM is a classic automotive firm," McAlinden said. "They're in it for the long haul, and they produced a long-haul UAW agreement, that says 'We're going to save money on this agreement, but it's going to take four years to roll out and we're going to do it with a lot of new product.'"

Chrysler, on the other hand, was recently bought by Cerberus Capital, a private investment company that buys other firms, restructures them and then tries to sell them or take them public for a healthy profit.

"Cerberus is a private equity firm, who in the past hasn't really taken over a company to increase its product line," McAlinden [Sean McAlinden, a Michigan auto analyst] said.

If perchance Cerberus Capital were interested in the car industry, the likelihood that they would cater to the needs and concerns of the workers is not high. Consider a morning with Jack or his accountant. Chief Executives, in America, do not wish to negotiate. Capitalist cohort Ronald Reagan ensured entrepreneurs would not have to do more than the minimum. During the Reagan reign, in the 1980s, labor laws were re-interpreted. Legislation favored business owners. Richard Hurd, professor of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University spoke of a lack of incentive for employers to talk to disgruntled workers in recent decades. Moguls are legally able to stonewall employees; only a semblance of good-faith is required. Employers merely need to come to the table and talk, nothing more.

Magnates are in truth, in the driver's seat. Professor Hurd muses; today, we have one-tenth the strikes we had in the past. This Cornell experts expounds, globalization has lessened the power of employees. Americans can no longer afford to strike. Thus, today's workers, at least in the manufacturing industry have become cautious. They do not wish to challenge the company. They fear a loss of personal savings. More importantly, laborers are anxious, they will not have a job, if they leave, even for a moment.

In the past ten years, strikes have become creative vehicles. Protests are announced far in advance. The strategy is tactical. There is no incentive for the employer to make a quick change, such as hiring a new staff. Intentionally picketers hit the pavement for a day or two. Grievances are expressed. The intent of a walkout is meant only to send a message, Few hear the more subtle communication, or appreciate the endeavor.

Jessica Kelly, a twenty-one year old thinks people on strike are "over zealous." She believes walkouts are "not the proper way to handle a situation." Miss Kelly considers a picket line, a stampede, not an appropriate means of expression. Jonathan Yates, states, "It is just posturing." He concludes, "No one really cares about stopping work. They almost like they are just following up on their Union commitment." Yates states, "I think the Union largely exists for its own sake."

Apparently, in 2007, the Union, or the need to fight for fair wages and benefits is a dated concept. The populace is convinced; strikes serve no purpose. Unions are corrupt. They are but another Big Business and indeed, they are or will be if the recent trends are realized.

UAW dissidents argue against ratifying GM deal
By Nick Carey

Reuters.
Friday, September 28, 2007; 10:48 AM

Grand Rapids, Michigan (Reuters) - Gregg Shotwell says that by agreeing to a new contract with General Motors Corp (GM.N) the United Auto Workers has ceased to be a union.

"The UAW is now a corporation," he said, sitting on the back porch of his home in a leafy neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan. "It has become UAW Incorporated."

Shotwell says he is one of a large number of UAW members, angry at the union for the groundbreaking contract it concluded with the top U.S. automaker this week. The pact would shift health-care costs away from the struggling company and create a lower tier of wages for new hires.

Those health-care costs -- if the contract is ratified by GM's 73,000 hourly workers -- would be managed in a UAW-administered trust fund that would have more than $30 billion in cash and other assets.

"There are a lot of people who are disgusted with what they've done," Shotwell said.

This is only one aspect that concerns workers. Those that care about more than their stock portfolios see it differently. Months ago, stock analyst speculated the adoption of a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association Trust [is] Unlikely To Cover All Future Health Care Obligations For Big Three Automakers.

Morgan Stanley analyst Jonathan Steinmetz on Tuesday told investors that negotiations next month between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three automakers could result in a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association trust that covers some, rather than all, of their future retiree health care obligations, the Detroit Free Press reports (Higgins, Detroit Free Press, 6/20).

At the time of this assessment, another labor expert voiced his opinion. Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California-Berkeley, said, "I think it is going to be a hard sell. It is not out of the question, but there will be a lot of resistance to it." Perchance there was, then, or at least in the minds of many. However, desperation over time changes much. Perspectives are easily altered when job security is on the line, the assembly line. Shaiken explained, "The goal of the UAW leadership is clear. They want to provide as secure as possible a route for health care for the members. If they feel a VEBA will do that, they may be more open" (Detroit Free Press, 6/20).

Possibly, Union leaders presented a persuasive argument. Workers, financially strapped in an economic era that rewards only the top one percent, could not take the risk. The threat of temporary or permanent unemployment was one individuals, and families, felt they could not endure.

Many General Motors employees were aware of the Caterpillar situation. Caterpillar Corporation employees chose a similar option years ago. They too thought the funds would be managed well and last for decades. However, they soon found themselves in dire straights.

GM-UAW contract causes deja vu moment for Caterpillar retirees
Associated Press.
September 27, 2007

Peoria, Ill. (AP) — Retired Caterpillar Inc. workers say they can't help but view a tentative contract deal hammered out between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers with skepticism given their own bitter experience.

A key element of Wednesday's tentative agreement, which led the union to call off a two-day strike by the 74,000 workers it represents, is the Volunteer Employee Beneficiary Association.

VEBA, as the program is called, is a trust established by a company and union to pay for or defray health insurance costs for retirees.

A hard-fought contract deal hammered out between Caterpillar and the UAW in 1998 also included a VEBA trust funded by $32.3 million the UAW had set aside into special training and overtime accounts.

That VEBA trust, however, was depleted in just six years.

"God, did we get stuck," Caterpillar retiree Stan Valentine told the (Peoria) Journal. "Initially the VEBA worked OK, but it just got eaten up by the astronomical rise in medical insurance (costs)."

As a consequence, around 20,000 Caterpillar retirees now have no choice but foot the bill for much of their medical costs.

What is a worker or a retired employee to do? Bethany spoke of her situation. She had nowhere to turn for financial assistance when in need of medical care. In retirement, Marion realizes a similar distress. In an Industrialist country, investors are more far important than workers. People are but a byproduct of production. They can be replaced. Employees are dispensable. Money moves the nation. Humans that toil to survive cannot be bought and sold; thus, they are presumed to be worthless. The creatures that build the cars are costly. It seems those in other professions are considered an unwanted expense as well. Ask the communication workers.

Embarq Locals Protest Termination of Retiree Health Care
August 23, 2007

Embarq members and retirees in six states will hold demonstrations this Saturday to protest the company's announcement that it will terminate retiree health benefits for Medicare-eligible pensioners.

The cuts average more than $2,000 per year for every retiree and dependent affected, and, "They will have an even greater impact on families with acute medical problems who rely on expensive prescriptions," said Telecommunications Vice President Jimmy Gurganus. "This will be devastating to many people, especially for longer term retirees who haven't seen a pension increase in years and are struggling on meager fixed incomes."

Embarq, Sprint's former local phone operation, which was spun off last year, announced it would drop its $500 annual subsidy for Medicare premiums as well as supplemental coverage that pays partial medical costs when Medicare payments are below 80 percent of treatment expenses. Embarq also is capping life insurance for retirees at $10,000, a substantial cut for many.

At demonstrations in North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey and Oregon on Aug. 25, Embarq retirees – joined by local politicians and labor leaders in many locations – are set to tell the news media how the cutbacks would cripple their incomes and keep them from being able to afford needed treatments and drugs.

Many echoed Sandra Muntis of Elida, Ohio, who wrote to her local describing the situation of her husband, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, and her own struggle with diabetes and ulcers. Without supplemental health care from Embarq, "we could not afford procedures requested by physicians to keep us in good health," such as colonoscopies, tests for prostate cancer and others, she said.

About 14,500 retirees and dependents, both management and union, would be affected. Embarq says it will save $30 million a year from the cuts.

Save the almighty buck. Sanction the free-enterprise system that, in all its compassion, leaves people behind. Human beings become ill. They are easily injured. Health Care is expensive and corporations say they do not wish to absorb the costs. Thirty million dollars a year saved. That is the priority.

Consumers, in this free market forget how they contribute to the cycle. They, the average buyer, craves low costs too, regardless of what this might mean. When the Big Three fret of medical expenses, we, the common folk forget, Big Businesses pass the cost onto the customer. "Woe is me" is quite a claim when we, those that purchase poorly made domestic or foreign products, those that pollute the environment, and encourage the notion of built-in obsolescence, propagate a profit driven margin.

Wal-Mart CEO defends low-cost imports
At conference, Lee Scott cites retailer's business model, says some customers don't have 'the economic luxury of making a broader social statement.'
October 12 2007: 8:07 AM EDT

Rogers, Ark. (AP) -- Chief Executive Lee Scott defended Wal-Mart's reliance on low-cost imports Thursday against what he called emerging economic nationalism.

Scott told a retailing conference he would like to stock more American-made goods but that Wal-Mart's business model is based on offering the lowest price for consumers who cannot afford to spend more.

Scott was answering a question from an audience member who wanted to know if Wal-Mart would buy more U.S.-made products to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of global transport and to bring manufacturing jobs back from places like China.

"Right now, the way it works, our model is 'We sell for less.' If we put products out there and we have to sell them for more because our competitors are sourcing more efficiently and more effectively for the same quality of product, our model doesn't work. We cannot be at a price disadvantage," Scott said.

"Lest anybody forget, 20 percent of Wal-Mart's customers don't have a checking account and they do not have the economic luxury of making a broader social statement," he told a conference of the Center for Retailing Excellence, part of the University of Arkansas' Sam M. Walton Business College.

And so it goes. Medical bills are calculated into the price of a vehicle, clothing, communication services, college tuition, as are wages, and pensions. Carmakers remind us, these overheads must be reduced if sales are to increase.

Chrysler, just as General Motors, and Ford, needs to be competitive. So too does Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, your corner market, your neighborhood retailer, the drycleaner, the bicycle shop, the bakery, and even the local bank. All must appear attractive. They react to the market. The law that governs each in this Industrialist Mecca is "supply and demand."

Customers and investors alike concur; they will only buy when a company shows itself to be strong. While the definitions may be nuanced, essentially, they are the same. Give me the best bang for my buck, even if it means that Mom and Pop will be out on the street without a penny to their name.

Why might we ask are workers willing to settle so quickly. How can we explain a reduction in labor strikes, or a reluctance to ask for fair and decent wages? Why are we willing to let retirees wallow in despair and ignore the reality that soon, we will be among them.

American workers are desperate; more than money, they crave stability. The little things, food, shelter, clothing to protect the body from the elements, and good health, are all most people long for. Equal opportunities are welcome, or at least an equitable education might be nice. However, at this juncture, residents of this great nation are happy to settle for the smallest slice of the pie. We heard the tearful cry during the General Motors industrial action.

UAW officials said the 73,000 UAW members who work at about 80 U.S. facilities for the nation's largest automaker didn't strike Monday over what many thought would trip up the talks: A plan to shift the retiree health care burden from the company to the union. They said they also didn't strike over wages.

They said union members walked out because they want GM to promise that future cars and trucks such as the replacement for the Chevrolet Cobalt small car or the still-on-the-drawing board Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric car will be built at U.S. plants, preserving union jobs.

United Auto Workers, please understand the American Dream is not found in an assembly line mentality. Such a dream is wrought with strife. General Motors alone illustrates this truth. The once powerful workforce is half of what it once was. A new snazzy steel or aluminum design will not create other than it has. As long as we continue down this path and do not dare to take a detour, nothing will change. Economist and former blue-collar stiff Barry Bluestone understands this.

"By and large, they are looking for answers to the wrong question," said Barry Bluestone, an economist and labor expert at Northeastern University in Boston. "They are fighting over the same things they were fighting over 50 years ago."

Bluestone is no stranger to the auto industry. His father, Irving Bluestone, 91, was the lead negotiator for the UAW with General Motors during the 1960s and '70s. As a college student, Barry Bluestone worked summers on an auto assembly line. And as an economist, he has documented the importance of unions in creating the American middle class.

Back in the early 1990s, father and son wrote a book, "Negotiating the Future," in which they argued that both unions and companies had to move their focus from dividing the pie to expanding it. That meant putting aside the rigid notion that the role of unions was to fight for better wages and benefits, and the role of management was to run the company, they wrote. To remain competitive, companies had to engage the energies, creativity, and commitment of their workers. And that process required a different approach to collective bargaining.

Perchance such a notion might be embraced in the work environment as well. Bluestone addresses such a need. He understands what some Japanese corporations do. The principles of Kaizen, consideration for the people, the process, and consistent improvement, can be fruitful and bring personal and professional fulfillment.

When people passionately pursue their endeavors health and welfare is improved. Possibly, the American Dream is achieved for one and for all. When a proud populace lives as the Constitution elucidates, we establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. When we honor society as a whole, when individuals are revered and valued happiness is more than a pursuit.

Imagine the reduction in stress related illness and injury if we all loved our work. If our careers enabled us to have a creative outlet that served the community, ah, how lovely life might be.

I suspect a street-paver, proud of his work stops to show his son or daughter what he has done to contribute to society. An electrician pleased with what she did speaks volume. She shares her successes. She installed the best sound system the Performing Arts Center has ever heard. People tell their friends and family of their triumphs, what they created that felt good and meaningful to them.

A teacher talks of the lives he changed. A retailer recalls the customer that came to the store everyday, only for the quality of the companionship. A restaurateur reiterates, his clientele came for the ambiance. The way the chef could put together a meal . . . hum waaah! The stories of success and satisfaction are innumerable when workers are allowed to be creative and feel committed.

As Bluestone acknowledges, this wasn't a wholly original idea, but one that had been a favorite of the left wing of the labor movement in the 1940s and championed by the UAW's own Walter Reuther until 1950, when he surrendered the dream of industrial democracy for the more fetching and immediate dream of a middle-class life for blue-collar workers.

That grand bargain, known as the Treaty of Detroit, served both sides well until the early 1980s, when foreign competition began to render it unsustainable. And yet, in the 25 years since, very little has changed in the collective bargaining process.

During the late 1980s, there were some successful experiments with Total Quality programs borrowed from Japan. And General Motors had some early success with its new-age Saturn division. But according to Ruth Milkman, a labor expert at UCLA, worker involvement was never really embraced by either the unions or management and never allowed to rise beyond production issues on the factory floor. As long as oil prices remained low and SUV profits high, neither union nor management seemed to care.

The environment has changed, but the labor relations remain much as they were in 1950 . . .

Faced with the folly of many decisions, people are hesitant to move down the road less traveled. Americans would rather drive their gas-guzzlers and gather no moss than contemplate change. They fear that if they stop and examine their lives they may have to accept that what we do and have done for decades is not viable.

The battle over job security is also emblematic.

With more than a quarter of GM's 73,000 unionized workers set to retire in the next few years, any job reductions that result from falling sales or increased productivity should be able to be handled through attrition. But the union is also worried that this might not be the case if the company decides to outsource entire functions.

By now, it should be apparent that the wrong way to handle this legitimate concern is to prohibit all layoffs, plant closures, or outsourcing. The right way would be to leave those out of the labor contract but give workers a real voice in those decisions and a financial stake in making the right ones.

Getting there would be hard. It would require not only new mechanisms and procedures, but a much higher degree of trust and respect.

But it would be a more hopeful sign if this strike were about hammering out a new model for labor-management relations rather than merely preserving job guarantees that no company can -- or should -- provide.

Might we dare imagine, that if we were truly happy in our endeavors, we might be healthier. Over time, many of us would want to pursue a dream that now, we do not have the courage to consciously desire. Change sends chills up and down the spines of most. The idea of an unexpected, unwanted, an unwarranted job loss makes us shiver. The prospect of happiness, doing what we love, creatively, with commitment, we cannot phantom what that possibility might bring.

Jack may seem to have success; yet, he as many Chief Executives understand he cannot continue as he has. Perhaps he will walk hand-in-hand with Steve Burd, Chairman and C.E.O. of Safeway supermarkets, who now advocates for Universal Health Care, or he might join a broader coalition.

Richard remembers what once was his truth. He sought employment with an organization that provided generous benefits. Now, will he have the courage to truly propose what even Presidential candidates only indicate is a necessary possibility, a Single Payer Universal Health Care plan. Will his upper management position yield the power to persuade.

Bethany understands what is like to be without. Will her time with an indemnity be short-lived as corporations crumble under the weight of health care cost, wages, and the misery a business experiences when they must be accountable to the market.

Marion put in her time. Currently, she resides in a nation that does not have time for her. How might she fare. In the future. Sheila, her husband, you, and I might be better served if we dreamt of what we never did before. Perhaps a paradigm shift, while a popular idiom was never tried. Until it is, we cannot know what is true. Might we embrace the worker more than the market. Perchance we could care for people, cover families, and create a culture where people are valued and valuable.

I leave the decision to you dear reader. Do we take the road less traveled or continue to see the USA in a Chevrolet, one whose cost continues to be too dear.

Health Care, Pensions, Stocks, What Bonds Us . . .

73,000 workers walk in nationwide GM strike, By Chris Isidore. Cable News Network. September 24, 2007

Stockholders. The First Measured Century. Public Broadcasting Services. 1998

New Chrysler Contract Hinges on Jobs, Health Care, By Frank Langfitt. Morning Edition. October 11, 2007

Chrysler sold in unprecedented auto deal. By James R. Healey, Sharon Silke Carty, Chris Woodyard and Matt Krantz. USA Today. May 14, 2007

UAW Wins Job Security Guarantees in Deal, By Tom Krisher and Dee-Ann Durbin. The Associated Press. Sun Herald. 
Friday, September 28, 2007; 3:25 PM

pdf UAW Wins Job Security Guarantees in Deal, By Tom Krisher and Dee-Ann Durbin. The Associated Press. Sun Herald. 
Friday, September 28, 2007; 3:25 PM

UAW dissidents argue against ratifying GM deal, By Nick Carey. Reuters. Washington Post. 
Friday, September 28, 2007; 10:48 AM

pdf UAW dissidents argue against ratifying GM deal, By Nick Carey. Reuters. Washington Post. 
Friday, September 28, 2007; 10:48 AM

The Wrong Reason To Strike. By Steven Pearlstein. Washington Post. 
Wednesday, September 26, 2007; 11:00 AM

The Wrong Reason To Strike, By Steven Pearlstein. Washington Post. Wednesday, September 26, 2007; Page D01

pdf The Wrong Reason To Strike, By Steven Pearlstein. Washington Post. Wednesday, September 26, 2007; Page D01

Contract Details. Washington Post. Saturday, September 29, 2007; Page D01

Some GM Workers Uneasy About Health-Care Shift, By Sholnn Freeman. Washington Post. 
Saturday, September 29, 2007; Page D01

pdf Some GM Workers Uneasy About Health-Care Shift, By Sholnn Freeman. Washington Post. 
Saturday, September 29, 2007; Page D01

Chrysler Reaches Tentative Deal With UAW Union. Reuters. The New York Times. October 11, 2007

Chrysler Workers Wary of New Contract. Associated Press. The New York Times. October 11, 2007

pdf Chrysler Workers Wary of New Contract. Associated Press. The New York Times. October 11, 2007

Today's Impression of the Picket Lines. All Things considered. October 11, 2007

U.S. Workers Strike Less Often Than in Past. All Things considered. October 11, 2007

Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association Trust [is] Unlikely To Cover All Future Health Care Obligations For Big Three Automakers, Analysts Say. Medical News Today. June 22, 2007

pdf GM-UAW contract causes deja vu moment for Caterpillar retirees. Associated Press. Michigan Live. September 27, 2007

Embarq Locals Protest Termination of Retiree Health Care, Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, CLC. August 23, 2007

Wal-Mart CEO defends low-cost imports. Cable News Network. October 12, 2007

Wal-Mart a Good Place to Shop But Some Critics Too . The Pew Research Center. December 15, 2005

What’s the One Thing Big Business and the Left Have in Common? By Jonathan Cohn. The New York Times. April 1, 2007

pdf What’s the One Thing Big Business and the Left Have in Common? By Jonathan Cohn. The New York Times. April 1, 2007

Business Coalition Sets Sights on Universal Health Insurance. California Healthline. May 7, 2007

Posted by Betsy L. Angert on October 12, 2007 at 11:00 PM in American Dream, American Jobs, Americana, Business, Current Affairs, Dreams Live and Die , Economics, General Motors, Health, Health Care, Health Insurance , Kaizen, Looking at Life, Medicare, Quality of Life, Wal-Mart, Wall Street Week | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

America; World Superpower?

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copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

Americans are proud of their place in history. Those residing in this nation [for the most part] are prosperous. Even citizens of lesser means have more than those in other countries. We, the people often speak of the quality that is America. Our educational institutions are excellent. Health care here is said to be the best in the world. Goods and services could not be better. That is why we often hear “Buy American.” In the United Sates, we take care of our people, physically, intellectually, and emotionally. Americans are financially fat and happy. This country is great! We are known throughout the globe as a, no, the one and only superpower.

However, this label may be indicative of a nation that sits on its laurels and has for far too long. In educating our children America lags further and further behind.

U.S. falls in education rank compared to other countries
By Elaine Wu
U-Wire
Story posted: 10-04-2005 07:07

The United States is falling when it comes to international education rankings, as recent studies show that other nations in the developed world have more effective education systems. In a 2003 study conducted by UNICEF that took the averages from five different international education studies, the researchers ranked the United States No. 18 out of 24 nations in terms of the relative effectiveness of its educational system.

In health care, while we excel at much, we are nowhere near the best. Indeed, the health care we provide is barely average. If we consider the cost, the total dollars spent to heal a hurting the public, or prevent serious illness, this nation ranks poorly. The United States does not offer the best of medical care. Indeed, our system leaves much to be desired.

The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation working toward high a performance Health System, created a National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance. This was first-ever in-depth study of health care. Researchers monitored health care outcomes, quality, access, efficiency, and equity and placed the findings in one report.

The results indicate that America's health system falls far short of what is attainable, especially given the resources the nation invests. Across 37 indicators of performance, the U.S. achieves an overall score of 66 out of a possible 100 when comparing actual national performance to achievable benchmarks. Scores on efficiency are particularly low.

Executive Summary
Once upon a time, it was taken as an article of faith among most Americans that the U.S. health care system was simply the best in the world. Yet growing evidence indicates the system falls short given the high level of resources committed to health care. Although national health spending is significantly higher than the average rate of other industrialized countries, the U.S. is the only industrialized country that fails to guarantee universal health insurance and coverage is deteriorating, leaving millions without affordable access to preventive and essential health care. Quality of care is highly variable and delivered by a system that is too often poorly coordinated, driving up costs, and putting patients at risk. With rising costs straining family, business, and public budgets, access deteriorating and variable quality, improving health care performance is a matter of national urgency.

The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System has developed a National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance (see the table below for scores on 37 key indicators). The Scorecard assesses how well the U.S. health system is performing as a whole relative to what is achievable. It provides benchmarks for the nation and a mechanism for monitoring change over time across core health care system goals of health outcomes, quality, access, efficiency, and equity.

The table summarizes U.S. average rates on 37 indicators, their benchmark comparison rates typically those achieved by the top 10 percent of countries, states, health plans, hospitals, or other providers and the U.S. average score, calculated as the ratio between U.S. performance and benchmark rate. In just a few instances, the benchmarks represent targets, rather than achieved top performance. The sources of the benchmarks are shown in the table.

Some major findings include:
Long, Healthy, and Productive Lives: Total Average Score 69
The U.S. is one-third worse than the best country on mortality from conditions "amenable to health care" that is, deaths that could have been prevented with timely and effective care. Its infant mortality rate is 7.0 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with 2.7 in the top three countries. The U.S. average adult disability rate is one-fourth worse than the best five U.S. states, as is the rate of children missing 11 or more days of school because of illness or injury.

Quality: Total Average Score 71
Despite documented benefits of timely preventive care, barely half of adults (49%) received preventive and screening tests according to guidelines for their age and sex.

The current gap between national average rates of diabetes and blood pressure control and rates achieved by the top 10 percent of health plans translates into an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 preventable deaths and $1 billion to $2 billion in avoidable medical costs.

Only half of patients with congestive heart failure receive written discharge instructions regarding care following their hospitalization.

Nursing home hospital admission and readmission rates in the bottom 10 percent of states are two times higher than in the top 10 percent of states.

Access: Total Average Score 67
In 2003, one-third (35%) of adults under 65 (61 million) were either underinsured or were uninsured at some time during the year.

One-third (34%) of all adults under 65 have problems paying their medical bills or have medical debt they are paying off over time. And premiums are increasingly stretching median household incomes.

Efficiency: Total Average Score 51
National preventable hospital admissions for patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure, and asthma (ambulatory care sensitive conditions) were twice the level achieved by the top states.

Hospital 30-day readmission rates for Medicare patients ranged from 14 percent to 22 percent across regions. Bringing readmission rates down to the levels achieved by the top performing regions would save Medicare $1.9 billion annually.

Annual Medicare costs of care average $32,000 for patients with congestive heart failure, diabetes, and chronic lung disease, with a twofold spread in costs across geographic regions.

As a share of total health expenditures, U.S. insurance administrative costs were more than three times the rates of countries with the most integrated insurance systems.

The U.S. lags well behind other nations in use of electronic medical records: 17 percent of U.S doctors compared with 80 percent in the top three countries.

Equity: Total Average Score: 71
On multiple indicators across quality of care and access to care, there is a wide gap between low-income or uninsured populations and those with higher incomes and insurance. On average, low-income and uninsured rates would need to improve by one-third to close the gap.

On average, it would require a 20 percent decrease in Hispanic risk rates to reach benchmark white rates on key indicators of quality, access, and efficiency. Hispanics are at particularly high risk of being uninsured, lacking a regular source of primary care, and not receiving essential preventive care.

Overall, it would require a 24 percent or greater improvement in African American mortality, quality, access, and efficiency indicators to approach benchmark white rates. Blacks are much more likely to die at birth or from chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Blacks also have significantly lower rates of cancer survival.

American also no longer has the goods. Manufacturing in the United States is down. What we do produce is not always appreciated. People may say buy American; yet, often they speak of built-in obsolescence when discussing America machinery. Thus . . .

U.S. manufacturing jobs fading away fast
By Barbara Hagenbaugh,
USA Today

Rochester, N.Y. - Charles Seitz remembers when Rochester was a bustling manufacturing town. Now, all the 58-year-old unemployed engineer sees is a landscape of empty buildings.

"There's nothing made here anymore," the former Eastman Kodak employee says, his eyes welling with tears as he talks about his struggle to find a new job. "Wealth is really created by making things. I still adhere to that."

It's a situation that's been playing out across the country for decades but has received increased attention in recent years.

Fifty years ago, a third of U.S. employees worked in factories, making everything from clothing to lipstick to cars. Today, a little more than one-tenth of the nation's 131 million workers are employed by manufacturing firms. Four-fifths are in services.

The decline in manufacturing jobs has swiftly accelerated since the beginning of 2000. Since then, more than 1.9 million factory jobs have been cut about 10% of the sector's workforce. During the same period, the number of jobs outside manufacturing has risen close to 2%.

Many of the factory jobs are being cut as companies respond to a sharp rise in global competition. Unable to rise prices and often forced to cut them companies must find any way they can to reduce costs and hang onto profits.

Jobs are increasingly being moved abroad as companies take advantage of lower labor costs and position themselves to sell products to a growing and promising market abroad. Economy.com, an economic consulting firm in West Chester, Pa., estimates 1.3 million manufacturing jobs have been moved abroad since the beginning of 1992 the bulk coming in the last three years. Most of those jobs have gone to Mexico and East Asia.

If there are fewer industrial jobs in America, in what sectors do we excel. Surely, you may say, this country is technologically savvy.

I invite you to take this survey. Test Your High Speed Internet IQ. Consider where the United Sates ranks in the world of cyberspace. Then, if you are able, stand tall and proud, as you say, 'I am an American.'

Please Peruse the Sources, Resources, and References. Familiarize Yourself with the Homeland . . .

A League Table of Educational Disadvantage in Rich Nations. United Nations Children's Fund. November 2002

pdf A League Table of Educational Disadvantage in Rich Nations. United Nations Children's Fund. November 2002

U.S. falls in education rank compared to other countries. By Elaine Wu. Kapi'o Newspress. October 4, 2005

The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems. www.geographic.org.

Commonwealth Fund

Why Not the Best? Results from a National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance. The Commonwealth Fund The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System. September 20, 2006 | Volume 34

The U.S. Health Care System; Best in the World or Just the Most Expensive. Bureau of Labor Education. University of Maine. 2001

Ranking nations' healthcare: US isn't No. 1. A first-ever comparison of healthcare quality could give more impetus to change the US private-public system. By Alexandra Marks. The Christian Science Monitor. May 5, 2004

Poverty spreads, Census Bureau says 1.3 million more slipped into poverty last year; health care coverage also drops. Cable News Network. August 26, 2004: 1:54 PM EDT

Americans less happy today than 30 years ago: study. Reuters. Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:34AM EDT

Americans Views of U.S. Automobiles: Japanese Cars Better. CBS News Poll January 9, 2006

Test Your High Speed Internet IQ.

Posted by Betsy L. Angert on July 1, 2007 at 01:53 PM in American Dream, American Jobs, American Patriotism, Americana, Business, Economics, Education, Health Care, Labor, Employment | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Live Your Life; Rest In Peace

Live Your Life © copyright 2007 Betsy L. Angert
I offer my thanks to the creator, Danny Smith, and to the Sandwichman at MaxSpeak for stimulating this sharing.

We wake to work, dress for the job, drive to the office, factory, educational institution, the fields, or perchance, a restaurant. Perhaps, we travel to the site, go underground, or seek scaffolding. Some soar above the clouds to complete their designated task, or is the word "required" a more accurate term for what we do daily.

We spend hours "slaving away" while at work. We then take a bus, a car, a taxi, a train, or a plane and return home. We eat quickly, do a few chores, and chatter with our loved ones, just for a bit. There is so little time for what we enjoy. We are exhausted! We climb into bed, knowing the cycle will begin again tomorrow.

Even the weekends bring no respite. We must run. There is so much to do; it cannot all be done while we are at work. There is little time for relaxation. While on vacation, there are distractions. Our heads are filled with fear of what we have not done for our employer, the company, our customers, clients, or patients. We make a call or two; just to be sure, all is well. Those still on the clock call us. We must stay connected to what counts. The cash we earn is crucial. Without it, how could we afford a holiday?

Even exercise is rote and regulated. How quickly can you jog the mile? Is your walk brisk enough to be beneficial? Swim, but watch your speed. We need a strategy for success.

I will pencil you in. My schedule is tight. Nevertheless, we will meet. We have our priorities. Family is first, then friends, our neighborhood; finally, financial obligations are attended to. Our lives are, as they say, in balance. We spend quality time with those we love. We make sure of this, for we know the quantity of time devoted to work will not decrease. We have our day-planners up-to date.

Excellence in every aspect of life is essential. Thus, we gather and glean. We calculate our every move.

Ultimately, we earn an abundance of wealth, or at least we hope to. We yearn to make enough money to survive. Sadly, and often, our funds may just barely meet our minimal needs. A budget, yes, we have that. Now, where is it? I had the accounting log right here. It must be somewhere in all this mess.

We buy this, then that. Our houses are full with so much stuff. We need to use the garage, basement, attic, crawl space, or a storage space to stock it all. For many, homes hold all they have. In these abodes, we haphazardly arrange what we no longer need, or what we purchased on a whim. Some of what we "possess" has not been seen by a living human soul for decades. The animals and insects may be enjoying our wares. Clutter consumes us as we consume it.

We clean house to settle our soul. Still, we do not feel fully serene. It must be money is on our mind. We do not earn enough, have enough, or handle what we have well. Thus, we work, and work, and work again.

Labor is love. We are providing for our families and taking good care of ourselves.

When legally, we have the right to retire, we do not have the means, or perchance we love our job. Possibly, we feel a fondness for our careers. We are less connected with our families. After all, we are more familiar with our work and co-workers than we are with our spouses, children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nephews, and community. We see and speak with the individuals that we toil with regularly. Colleagues know us well, perhaps, better than those that we "live" with. Eight hours here, more minutes there, it matters. It adds up. The sum may truly be greater than the parts. Quality can evolve when the quantity of time together is ample.

Sooner, more often than later, we do slow down. The pace is more than we can endure. Years of ignoring our health, and perhaps happiness, take a toll. We tire. We must rest. Perhaps in a box or in an urn, we will find peace. May you find in peace before it is too late to enjoy your life here on Earth!

Posted by Betsy L. Angert on April 2, 2007 at 11:00 AM in American Family, American Jobs, Americana, Approval or Love, Communities, Communities and Communication , Emotional Decisions, Emotional Intelligence, Family, Functioning, Fables, Health, Looking at Life, Over-Scheduling, Philosophy, Quality of Life, Question Everything, Think Travels, Time, “Art of Loving” | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Representative George Miller Speaks on Employee Free Choice Act

Rep. Miller Closes Debate - The Employee Free Choice Act

Will workers be given the choice the law provides? Might they act on a right that has was enforced seventy years ago? Will we as a nation continue to allow employers to deny citizens their Constitutional right to speak? Can we stand by while laborers are arbitrarily punished for asserting their rights?

Can we in good conscious continue to allow employers to eliminate pensions and other benefits? Must workers accept reduced wages, longer hours, and less consideration without discussion? Will grown men and women be dismissed from their place of employ if they try to increase security in the workplace? Will we as a nation permit employers to seek retribution, religiously, if an employee tries to organize? We have. Hundreds of thousands of workers were punished for attempting to unionize. Today, we must ask, ''Why does an adult man cry when he speaks of his job.' Representative George Miller tells us.

Chairman Miller Floor Statement On The 
Employee Free Choice Act Thursday, March 1, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- Below are the prepared remarks of Rep. George Miller (D-CA) for today's debate on the Employee Free Choice Act, H.R. 800. Miller, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, is the sponsor of the legislation. The House will be voting on the bill later today.
***
Mr. Speaker,
We all know that workers in the U.S. are among the most productive workers in the world. Yet, for far too long, they have not been reaping the benefits of their hard work.

For years and years now, many workers have found themselves working harder and harder just to stay in place. And many more have been losing ground financially despite their work.

This is troubling enough on its own. But what makes it even more troubling is that, over the last several years, our economy has been growing. The stock market is doing well. Corporate profits are high.

Consider the facts.

Since 2001, median household income has fallen by $1,300. Wages and salaries now make up their lowest share of the economy in nearly six decades.

The number of Americans who lack health insurance has grown by 6.8 million since 2001, to 46.6 million, a shocking record high.

The number of Fortune 1000 companies that have frozen or terminated their pension plans has more than tripled since 2001.

Indeed, the middle class itself has shrunk. Over 4 million more Americans have joined the ranks of the poor since 2001.

And meanwhile, corporate profits make up their largest share of the economy since the 1960s.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of explanations for the growing inequality in our economy. Congress' failure to raise the minimum wage for 10 long years is an obvious example. But perhaps the most significant explanation is that workers' rights to join together and bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions have been severely undermined.

Today, when workers want to form a union, their employers can force them to undergo a National Labor Relations Board election process. That process is broken, because it allows irresponsible employers to harass, coerce, intimidate, reassign, and even fire workers who support a union.

Take the example of Ivo Camilo. Mr. Camilo is from Sacramento, not far from my district. For 35 years, he worked for at a Blue Diamond Growers plant in Sacramento. In 2004, and he several dozen coworkers sought to form a union. For that, Mr. Camilo was fired. After 35 years of service, Blue Diamond tossed Mr. Camilo out on the street, just because he wanted a union.

The same thing happened to Keith Ludlum when he supported union representation for him and his coworkers at a Smithfield foods plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina. Mr. Ludlum, a veteran of the first Gulf War, was fired in 1994 because he wanted a union. It took him 12 years of litigation to get his job back.

What happened to Mr. Camilo and Mr. Ludlum happens with distressing frequency in this country. In 2005 alone, over 30,000 workers were receiving back pay from employers that had committed unfair labor violations.

Earlier this year, the Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated that employers fire one in five workers who actively advocate for a union. A December 2005 study by American Rights at Work found that 49 percent of employers studied had threatened to close or relocate all or part of the business if workers elected to form a union.

And Human Rights Watch has said, "[F]reedom of association is a right under severe, often buckling pressure when workers in the United States try to exercise it."

Corporate executives routinely negotiate lavish compensation packages on their own behalfs, but then they deny their own employees the ability to bargain for a better life.


This debate is about restoring workers' ability to choose for themselves whether or not they want a union. To make that happen, the Employee Free Choice Act does three things.

First, it says that when a majority of workers sign cards authorizing a union, they get a union. The legislation requires the National Labor Relations Board to develop model authorization language and procedures for establishing the validity of signed authorizations.

The legislation does not take away workers' ability to have a National Labor Relations Board election instead of majority sign-up if that's what they want. It gives them the choice. If 30 percent sign cards saying they want a union and petition the Board for an election, they get an election. But, if a majority of workers sign cards saying they want a union and they want recognition now, they get a union.

This majority sign-up is not a new idea. Under current law, when a majority of workers sign cards authorizing a union, then they can have a union if their employer consents to it. But instead of consenting, employers often reject the employees' choice and force them through an NLRB election process that is dramatically tilted in the employer's favor. The Employee Free Choice Act would simply take this veto power away from employers. Under current law, it's the employer's choice that matters. Under the Employee Free Choice Act, it's the employees' choice that matters.

Majority sign-up has a proven track record for reducing coercion and intimidation. In cases where responsible employers, like Cingular Wireless, have permitted their employees to form a union through majority sign-up, both sides have praised the process for increasing cooperation and decreasing tension.

Second, the legislation increases penalties against employers who fire or discriminate against workers for their efforts to form a union or obtain a first contract.

Under current law the National Labor Relations Board is required to seek a federal court injunction against a union whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that the union has violated the secondary boycott prohibitions in the National Labor Relations Act.

Under this legislation, the Board must seek a federal court injunction against an employer whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that the employer has discharged or discriminated against employees, threatened to discharge or discriminate against employees, or engaged in conduct that significantly interferes with employee rights during an organizing or first contract drive. The legislation authorizes the courts to grant temporary restraining orders or other appropriate injunctive relief.

Employers found to have discharged or discriminated against employees during an organizing campaign or first contract drive must pay those workers three times back pay, instead of the simple back pay required under current law. Employers found to have willfully or repeatedly violated employees' rights during an organizing campaign or first contract drive would receive civil fines of up to $20,000 per violation.

Under current law, remedies are limited solely to make whole remedies: back pay (minus any additional interim wages the employee did or should have earned), reinstatement, and notice to that the employer will not engage in violations of the National Labor Relations Act. Many employers conclude that, even if caught, it is financially advantageous to violate the law and pay the penalties rather than to comply.

And third, the legislation provides for mediation if an employer and a union are engaged in bargaining for their first contract and are unable to reach agreement within 90 days. After 30 days of mediation, the dispute would be referred to binding arbitration. Under current law, employers have a duty to bargain in good faith, but are under no obligation to reach agreement. As a result, a recent study found that 34 percent of union election victories had not resulted in a first contract.

Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot of shamefully misleading claims from the critics of this bill. Those critics claim that they have workers' best interests at heart, and that they are trying to protect democracy.

Yet their claims are belied by the fact that some of the nation's leading workers' rights and pro-democracy organizations support this bill, including Human Rights Watch, Interfaith Worker Justice, and the Drum Major Institute among many, many others.

These are organizations that are dedicated to the mission of improving the lives of American workers. I can tell you that if this bill would do the kind of harm that its critics claim it would, then these respected organizations would not be supporting it today.

I want to close by just reminding people how much is at stake here.

We can continue on our nation's current path, where our society grows more and more unequal and polarized. If we stay on the same path, then our middle class will keep getting squeezed, and will struggle to pay for just the basic necessities of life, like housing, healthcare, education, and transportation.

We can stay on that path, or we can go in a new direction. We can ensure that every American worker gets his or her fair share of the benefits of a growing economy.

To strengthen America's middle class, we have got to restore workers' rights to bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.

After all, union workers earn 30 percent more, on average, than non-union workers. They are much more likely to have retirement and health benefits and paid time off.

I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 800 so that we can finally start to reverse the middle class squeeze and create an economy that benefits all Americans.

Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Ultimately, after a glorious speech such as this, the House did approve the Employee Free Choice Act. This 
Legislation Would Strengthen America's Middle Class by Helping Workers Bargain for Better Pay, Benefits. However, as I share that statement I acknowledge that many disagree. Some see Unions as another big business. I appreciate that there have been abuses. Yet, I trust as Aesop shared in his fable Bundle of Sticks, "Union gives Strength."

A corporation will not profit for long if producers are discontent. Physical and emotional stress takes a toll. Health care needs and costs are, in part, a reflection of a society that is ill. Laborers breathe life into the marketplace; if we ignore this fact, no one will be fat and happy, not even the employer. A business cannot survive with out staff. A nation will not thrive when employees are treated as enemies.

The floor is open for debate. You may wish to share your experience of Unions. Here, you have the freedom to speak without reprisal.

References for your review . . .

Rep. Miller Closes Debate - The Employee Free Choice Act YouTube.

Representative George Miller

Chairman Miller Floor Statement On The 
Employee Free Choice Act Committee of Education and Labor.

House Approves Employee Free Choice Act. Committee of Education and Labor.

Posted by Betsy L. Angert on March 3, 2007 at 01:24 AM in American Jobs, Business, Communities, Communities and Communication , Corporate Profits, Economics, Labor, Employment, Lawbreakers, Unions | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thanksgiving. Will Our Past, Our Present Be Prologue? ©

As the celebration continues and the cynicism mounts, a delivery was made to me. I thank William S. Burroughs for his Thanksgiving Prayer. I am grateful to bzbb of My Left Wing fame. S/he shared the text and resource with me.

After reading my Thanksgiving story of genocide, some decided that they knew I loathe the holiday; I do not. I do have disdain for humans that knowingly hurt other humans. I am disquieted when I realize that man, woman, or child intentionally commits crimes against nature.

When people speak against "evil" and then act in ways that I think they might deem "sinful" I am confused. While, I personally do not believe in either concept, I wonder why those that do think these constructs are valid behave in ways that could be defined as wicked.

As I listen to William Burroughs and read the text of his musings, I am miffed. What are we giving thanks for on this the fourth Thursday in November? What do we welcome in the days that follow? I offer the Burroughs prayer so that we all might ponder.

Thanksgiving Prayer
By William S Burroughs [1914 to 1997]
American Novelist, Essayist, and Social Critic

Thanks for the wild turkey and the passenger pigeons,
Destined to be shit out through wholesome American guts.
Thanks for a continent to despoil and poison.
Thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger.
Thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin leaving the carcasses to rot.
Thanks for bounties on wolves and coyotes.
Thanks for the American dream,

To vulgarize and to falsify until the bare lies shine through.
Thanks for the KKK.
For n****r-killin' lawmen feelin' their notches.
For decent church-goin' women, with their mean, pinched, bitter, evil faces.
Thanks for "Kill a Queer for
 Christ" stickers.
Thanks for laboratory AIDS.
Thanks for Prohibition and the 
war against drugs.
Thanks for a country where nobody's allowed to mind the own business.
Thanks for a nation of finks.
Yes, thanks for all the memories-- all right let's see your arms!
You always were a headache and you always were a bore.
Thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams.

I cannot thank William Seward Burroughs II enough. My mind would never travel in the places his did. However, perchance, you dear reader might relate.

If nothing else, I think this performance might provoke a deeper pondering. I invite each of us to reflect, to meditate, and contemplate, what does Thanksgiving Day mean to us. What does the holiday season connote?

How might our past relate to our present and what will our future be.

"Those who forget the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them."
~ George Santanya

"What’s past is prologue."
~ William Shakespeare

Consider Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and Korea. Is there talk of occupation or might we overthrow regime after regime?

Contemplate racial profiling. Does the Patriot Act make this legal.

Look within your local cities. Are there slums, ghettos, gangs, and girls walking the streets to make a decent wage? Perhaps, workingwomen are not the only ones looking for work. There are those that lost their employ so long ago they are no longer counted by government tallies. They dropped off the rolls, and have since dropped out of sight. In actuality, these persons are still visible; look out your window. There they are, on the avenue.

Are Blacks treated as whites; are the rich revered, are the poor?

What of women; what of immigrants?

Might we recall the Native Americans and the wilderness that welcomed our forefathers? What became of these?

What occurs in your home or that of your neighbors? Is communication prevalent in your abode, or in that of those living adjacent to you? Is care evident and flourishing or is this concept one you and others crave, but only dream of. I wonder.

What did you give thanks for yesterday and what will you be grateful for tomorrow?

Thanksgiving. The Past, Present, and Pondering

Burroughs By bzbb. My Left Wing. Friday, November 24, 2006

William S. Burroughs - Thanksgiving Prayer. YouTube.com

Practice to Deceive Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario--it's their plan. By Joshua Micah Marshall. Washington Monthly April 2003

US Patriot Act. American Civil Liberties Union. November 14, 2003

Streetgangs. Streetgangs.com

Ghettos: The Changing Consequences of Ethnic Isolation, By Ed Glaeser. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Spring 1997

Living Wage, Facts at a Glance. The Economic Policy Institute. 2006

Jobs Picture, November 2006. The Economic Policy Institute. 2006

The Two Nations of Black America. Frontline. Public Broadcasting Services

The Rich Get Richer. The Washington Post. Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Income Inequity. The Real Reason the Rich Get Richer. © By Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

Women's History in America.
Presented By Women's International Center

Poverty in America, One Nation Pulling Apart. Poverty in America Project

The World Confronts Its E-waste Nightmare By Tam Harbert. Natural Resources Defense Council Fall 2006

Talking Turkey, Eating Shit and Taking the Heat, By starkravinglunaticradical. Booman Tribune November 24, 2005

Immigrants' Rights. American Civil Liberties Union

The Natural History of Neighborhood Violence, By Jeffrey Fagan, Columbia University and Garth Davies, Simon Fraser University. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, SAGE Publications Vol. 20, No. 2, 127-147. 2004

Communication. By Stefanie Cox, Larry Graber, Gregory Olson, Peacemakers. Better Endings, New Beginnings

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. By Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler. McGraw-Hill Trade June 2002

Give Thanks for Genocide. Thanksgiving, National Day of Mourning © By Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

Posted by Betsy L. Angert on November 25, 2006 at 12:09 AM in Abundance and Scarcity, American Dream, American Family, American Jobs, American Patriotism, Black History, Past/Present, Communities, Communities and Communication , Compassion, Conflict, Complex, Current Affairs, Dreams Live and Die , Economics, Looking at Life, Politics, Profound , Society, Success. Failure., “When is Enough, Enough?” | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Schools, New York Offers Housing Subsidies, Bribing Educators ©

Sadly, our schools and districts mirror the shortsightedness that permeates our society. Solutions are simple and never novel. We, as a people, rarely learn from our mistakes. We repeat what was done, even if it did not work well in the past. New York City Schools are an example of this.

Today, the New York City School District offered “experienced” educators a gift; they are giving those that are willing to teach math or science in the inner city schools, a home, or at least the down payment on an abode. New York City schools are in crisis, and are taking action. Actually, they are reacting. For I believe that actions are expressions of love, we react when we fear. New York Schools, the Teachers Union, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg are running scared. Thus, they seek solutions, shortsighted as these may be.

Currently, New York City schools are experiencing a shortage of trained teachers. Science, Math, and Special Education instructors are badly needed. The lack is greatest in the city’s most challenging schools, those in the inner city. Trained personnel considers urban institutions far less appealing, therefore they go elsewhere. Mayor Bloomberg is trying to change this. He, the District, and the Union agree, offer trained personnel money and they will teach in our schools.

As parents, we learn bribing a child does not work. Children do not grow greater when rewards are superficial, financial, or external. Enticements might excite a child, an adult, or an educator initially; however, ultimately reality sets-in. What was once a bonus becomes a burden. Expectations are tied to these and they do not feel good. Early on, we may be willing to do what we disdain for a dollar; later we will not.

As educators, we witness the short-lived stimulation of an external incentive. Some of us realize that intrinsic rewards are authentically valuable. Nevertheless, society teaches us tokens are attractive. Even teacher education seminars spew this “truth.” Vouchers may be appealing for a moment or two, and then the novelty wears off. We conclude if we must suffer to receive a reward, it is not worth it. If our minds, bodies, and hearts are overwhelmed while doing as we loathe, then any prize is not enough.

However, in a district that spends $15 Billion a year, money may seem the only answer. This district may be as an absent parent. They offer material possessions to their offspring to compensate for the fact that emotionally, they are not there for them. This District, as many if not most, is not there for the teacher; nor is it available to the students. Education no longer considers genuine learning; it focuses on administering, teaching to, and the taking of tests.

Requirements for President Bush’s infamous, No Child Left Behind program amplify this. These have taken a toll on scholarship. Mr. Bush speaks of accountability. In determining this, he and his comrades have created a structure that is void of learning and ignores the parameters that exist within our poorer and better schools. Memorization, rote, and rules are the agendas in a kinder and gentler, benevolent Bush school. In most educational establishments, students and teachers no longer experience a joy in teaching or learning. City schools suffer more severely. Nevertheless, this strategy persists. However, I digress, somewhat.

No Child Left Behind is magnifies what we as a society have done to our schools. We have made them into prisons. We corral our students into a “classroom” and then discourage them from learning. Curriculums are “standardized.” School buildings are often locked down, computers locked up, pupils and instructors are locked in. Creative, productive minds are left with little stimulus.

Books are often outdated, dry, and not readily available. Learners rarely relate to the material or the mentor. Teachers tend to be remote; some feel they have to be. In truth, a genuine relationship between student and teacher is frowned upon.

In “good” schools and in those that are not, classrooms are crowded. Discipline might be merely a concept. Chaos is all too frequently the norm; some call this cooperative learning. Individual learning styles are usually ignored. There is too little time; teachers must teach to that basic skills test. Success on these is vital. Teachers’ jobs are on the line.

Parent involvement varies greatly. To educator, administrator, and pupil, it can feel as too much or too little. Instructors do a delicate dance and students’ needs are often lost in the shuffle. For an empathetic tutor, this only adds to his or her frustration.

Resentment, dread, antipathy, apathy, and antagonism fill the schoolhouses. Everyone inside is on edge. Staff, students, and teachers long to be free; they desire the luxury of thinking, feeling, and doing what brings them pleasure. Ultimately, they are liberated. They pass their classes, dropout or burnout. All are outcomes of a system gone awry.

An estimated 50 percent of all new teachers nationwide leave the profession within five years. According to the Teacher Support Network,

“In a survey of head teachers by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) in May 2000, 40% of respondents reported having visited their doctor with a stress-related problem in the previous year. 20% considered that they drank too much and 15% believed they were alcoholics. 25% suffered from serious stress related health problems including hypertension, insomnia, depression and gastrointestinal disorders."




"Stress impacts greatly on teacher retention. A study conducted for the Times Educational Supplement in 1997 found that 37% of secondary vacancies and 19% of primary vacancies were due to ill-health, as compared to 9% of nursing vacancies and 5% in banking and the pharmaceutical industry.”

A career as an educator is a dichotomy. The respect is little, the responsibility great. American society shows its teachers little understanding. This profession is interesting to say the least.

While it is nice to think as the New York Times article espouses, teachers are finally being honored and valued for their worth, this is not the case. The incentives and stipends have strings, three years of service. In other districts that have tried the same, monies must be paid back. Service might be considered the same. If the New York teachers leave before their contract is up, there are repercussions.

This plan will cost the New York City Schools have a $15 million, a drop in their $15 billion budget. I can only wonder why they never think to spend their dollars on improving conditions. Physical structures remain in a state of disrepair, more importantly; effective educational practices are not adopted.

Every endeavor in this District as in most seems a Band-Aid. School districts, Administrators, Instructors, and parents focus on symptoms, short-term solutions and do not consider what truly caring for their progeny might look like.

I believe that a thoughtful education considers the love of learning. This is not encouraged or promoted in most classrooms. Advancement is to the next grade is the goal. We do not train our young to progress from factual repetitions of rote; nor do we allow our teachers to evolve. We, as a society, and within our schools do not applaud the creative, productive, and imaginative mind. We do not reward independence or innovation in our educators or pupils. We want these bodies to just exist and do as they are told, even if we have to bribe them.

Do I think that these “experienced” teachers that New York is now recruiting for their inner-city population will work effectively, will be happy in their new positions, or will serve the students well? No, I do not.

Just as the student population, the teachers will want to fly, to feel fulfilled, and to grow. They cannot do this in a system that is stuck in what does not work. People are as plants; they do not grow healthy, wealthy or wise when they are locked in, locked down, locked up, and rarely see the light of day. Money cannot motivate an instructor or a student more than a moment or two. Three years in a school or a system that imposes improbable standards, isolates, and insulates intelligence is a very long time!

• Predicting the Need for Newly Hired Teachers in the United States to 2008-09 Institute of Education Sciences
• A Multiracial Society with Segregated Schools Are We Losing the Dream? By Erica Frankenberg, Chungmei Lee and Professor Gary Orfield. The President and Fellows of Harvard College.
• Teacher Burnout By Tanuja Surpuriya and Mark Jordan. Memphis Flyer. October 27, 1997
• Teacher stress: a critical review of recent findings and suggestions for future research directions. By By Matt Jarvis. Teacher Support Network
• No Child (except those who are part of statistically insignificant racial groups) Left Behind by Maria Luisa Tucker. Alternet. April 19, 2006
• New York City Will Add Schools to Ease Overcrowding, Klein Says Bloomberg.com April 18, 2006
• Q and A, In the spirit of cooperation David and Roger Johnson
• City Will Offer Housing Subsidy to Lure Teachers, By David M. Herszenhorn New York Times. April 19, 2006.

We destroy the love of learning in children, which is so strong when they are small, by encouraging and compelling them to work for petty rewards--gold stars, or papers marked 100 and tacked to the wall, or A's on report cards, or honor rolls, or dean's lists or Phi Beta Kappa keys--in short, for the ignoble satisfaction of feeling that they are better than someone else. --John Holt

Posted by Betsy L. Angert on April 19, 2006 at 08:54 PM in American Jobs, Desire to Learn, Education, Education or Economics, Love of Learning, Money Does Not Buy Knowledge, New York City Schools, No Child Left Behind, School Days, Short-term Solutions, Teacher Subsidies | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBack