American Tragedy - The Death of the Triumphant Individual

[Wind Dancer]

by Bob Burnett


In a March article in The New Republic, Robert Reich wrote of four essential American stories. One of these is the triumphant individual, the underdog who pulls him- or herself up by the bootstraps.

While the myth lives on, the opportunity is dead for most Americans - thanks to the Bush Administration

Reich explained that the triumphant individual "works hard, takes risks, believes in himself, and eventually gains wealth, fame, and honor." "The moral: With enough effort and courage, anyone can make it in the United States." American culture has always been characterized by the optimistic belief that no matter how humble the circumstances of our birth, we could rise above them.

At its core, the story of the triumphant individual depends on three elements: perseverance, access to education, and fair treatment. Americans believe that if they stick in there and work hard, they will eventually succeed. However, working hard is no longer enough to get ahead in America. One in four American workers - 30 million - are mired in low-wage jobs that do not provide for a life with dignity. Why has this happened?

The answer is that worker's wages are no longer tied to productivity. In July, Jonathan Tasini wrote "For decades, workers' wages were tied to productivity... Historically, increased efficiency flowed to workers in the form of higher wages." Now that link has been broken. "Productivity has grown almost three times faster than wages since 2001. During that time, 70 percent of the nation's income growth has gone straight into corporate coffers as profits--presumably to continue to finance staggering pay and benefits for executives--a complete reversal from the previous seven business cycles when 77 percent of the overall income growth went to wages." Simply stated, the heart of the American notion of productivity has been broken. When workers improve their output, this gain no longer benefits them or society in general; it goes straight to corporate profits. American productivity is no longer something we can all be proud of - it is a cruel hoax, a broken promise to Americas workers.

-more-

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0127-33.htm

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer and activist. He can be reached at [e-mail].

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[kenny blankenship]

1. A very simple mechanism: rewards converted to absence of punishment

instead of a raise, the reward for increased productivity in the post-Reagan era is that you get to keep your job, MAYBE.
The carrot is not actually a carrot, but now only a temporary respite from the stick.

[thefool_wa]

3. It gets worse than that

The HR department at my company has actually told me, on more than one occasion when I complain about anything, "You should just be happy you have a job."

It doesn't matter to them that, the way everything is getting more and more expensive, in two years I won't be able to afford gas to get to work on what they pay me, let alone be able to feed my family. I will never see another penny out of them unless I find it on the floor.

Plus, I work for an "outsourcing solutions provider" so their comment about being happy I have a job is a threat in and of itself. They could, after all, just move my job to India.

Rat fink corporate bastards all need to burn in h*ll.

[architect359]

4. self delete

[thefool_wa]

2. Recommended

To those of us that live the lifestyle talked about here this information is infuriating. In the 4 years I have been at my current position my job has been outsourced to a labor contractor who then tripled our medical benefit costs, gave us all a 3.2% raise for being bought, and then not another penny.

After 2 years I was "promoted" with a smile from HR and a "sorry, but as far as compensation is concerned, this is a lateral move". Two months later my department was told that we would no longer be required to do annual reviews because corporate had decided to put a cap on the pay for our positions and the cap is $3/hr lower than my current wage.

What's worse? When they opened another position in the department, the best qualified person from our production floor was offered the "promotion" and a $1.30 pay cut. Meanwhile the new people being brought onto the floor are starting at just above minimum wage with family medical care that can cost as much as $375/month! And they still call it a benefit.

Corporate America must be stopped, outsourcing must be stopped. We need to either re-localize our economy or find a new way of doing things because the way were are going its all just going to fall apart. Fortunately, there are those of us out here with ideas and the will to try and get them out there. maybe we can change something for the better in this country.

on edit: I disagree about the dream of working hard and succeeding being dead. There are still industries that that is true about, but most of them are talent based industry. Plus, as an aspiring author, I have to believe that my devotion and passion for my writing will pay off someday.

[undergroundpanther]

5. Frankly I am glad Horatio is dead

Time to learn to make RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS America..

....And disturbingly, the prevalence of sociopathy in the United States seems to be increasing. The 1991 Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, reported that in the fifteen years preceding the study, the prevalence of antisocial personality disorder had nearly doubled among the young in America, It would be difficult, closing in on impossible, to explain such a dramatically rapid shift in terms of genetics or neurobiology.

Apparently, cultural influences play a very important role in the development (or not) of sociopathy in any given population. Few people would disagree that, from the Wild West of the past to the corporate outlaws of the present, American society seems to allow and even encourage me-first attitudes devoted to the pursuit of domination. Robert Hare writes that he believes "our society is moving in the direction of permitting, reinforcing, and in some instances actually valuing some of the traits listed in the Psychopathy Checklist—traits such as impulsivity, irresponsibility, lack of remorse."

In this opinion he is joined by theorists who propose that North American culture, which holds individualism as a central value, tends to foster the development of antisocial behavior, and also to disguise it. In other words, in America, the guiltless manipulation of other people "blends" with social expectations to a much greater degree than it would in China or other more group-centered societies.

http://ranprieur.com/readings/americanpsycho.html



____________________________________________________________________

We are a divided animal, with two social instinct complexes:

* The assertive instincts drive us towards individuality.
* The nurturant instincts drive us towards community.

Both derive from older instincts: The assertive is based on our basic needs plus competition for mates and a place in the dominance hierarchy. The nurturant is based on infant care, mate pairing, herd instincts, and reciprocity.

http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/psychosocialhistory.html

[thefool_wa]

6. I totally agree

From both the point of an observer of the world around me and an observer of my own personality. I find myself becoming more and more anti-social all the time.

I blame my job. I spent two years doing telephone tech support for a cel phone provider and talked to well over 10,000 people in my tenure. In the two years since I have worked in our front office and had to deal withe nearly all of our 600+ employees (with turn over, double that number for actual people i have interacted with). All that contact with the populace at large combined with my exposure to the way this corporation treats its employees has completely destroyed my faith in the inherent goodness of humanity at large and made me hate people more than I think I can really express.

I don't want to, and I don't mean any offense to the countless good natured and good hearted people out there. However it is hard to believe people are good when the vast majority of those you deal with (especially in the numbers I'm talking about) are lazy, mean, conniving, perverse, criminal and some just plain old evil. It makes you not want to deal with or think about anyone else but yourself.

Thank God I have my family, they are truly the only thing that keeps me sane.