Economic Globalization Destroying U.S. Social Contract

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/3761



Economic Report: Economic Globalization Destroying U.S. Social Contract

By Doug Cunningham

In a book called The Global Class War economist Jeff Faux says America’s rich and powerful are abandoning the social contract that essentially helped create the American Dream. With global economic policies designed to benefit capital that let the rich shift capital easily and use cheap labor anywhere on the globe, American living standards are losing out. Faux argues that the global economy must be democratized, starting with a social contract for North America.


Like we didn't know this. But at least it is in print.

[Totally Committed]

1. Outstanding post!

:yourock:

TC

[DianaForRussFeingold]

2. Thank You! Recommended! At least it is in print!

:hi: SCARY! :scared: Betting On Economic Collapse? Betting on bad news?
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/CheneysBettingonBadNews.aspx?page=all :cry: :grouphug:

[bemildred]

3. That was the idea. nt

[Omaha Steve]

4. News release from EPI about the book in pdf form

http://www.epi.org/newsroom/releases/2006/060124Faux-pr-final.pdf

[rman]

5. ...and most of the rest of the world is either already there (3rd world),

or is following not very far behind (Europe etc are following suit with privitization, "flex-working", and breaking down the welfare-state)

Just to remind people that Globalization is indeed "global".

[KoKo]

6. The scheme is to "even out worker pay" in some idealistic vision that's

gone very wrong. It started with NAFTA and once the door was open we, out here in America (the workers) see what demons are standing behind it. But the vision by these ideologically crazy economists is that we have to solve world inequities in wages to stop "conflicts and terrorism" by having a "low tide sink all boats" rather than a "rising tide, lifting all boats."

Until every worker all over the world is working for 2 cents, or whatever, an hour to compete with the third world wages the Conservative Think Tank Economists in league with the Neo/Cons and PNAC'ers feel that this is the way to peace. Meanwhile the global corporatists create ever more millionaires and billionaires draining the money from the rest of us. This isn't equitable and won't bring peace ...only more wars and instability.

[Omaha Steve]

7. Clinton opened the door to China

It was supposed to give work to American companies. Something went very wrong Bill. Could you mention this to the Mrs.?

[KoKo]

8. I think it was Nixon before him...but I'm no fan of NAFTA and that was

a huge mistake made by Clinton and even Al Gore who supported it. I hope they've seen the error of their ways. The safeguards for workers and the environment never got put into place the way they would say they intended for them to be. They didn't envision a run amock Congress and corrupt Dictatorship taking over America...while they allowed the DLC Corporatists to usher NAFTA through.

[alvarezadams]

11. Bubba was

a DLC neo-lib on the economic side. Whaddya expect?

[many a good man]

12. The fabled "China market" started in the 1870s.

American industrialists began dreaming of the profits to come by selling one billion widgets to one billion Chinamen. They never got their wish until recently -- but now its China selling to us instead of us to them!

[alvarezadams]

10. Actually,

it started with Nixon - since his presidency the middle class' financial wealth has decreased every single year.

[alvarezadams]

9. WHAT social contract?

If we're not working 6 days a week and 12-14 hours a day it wasn't because of the goodness of the wealthy. It was coerced through trade unionism - much of it radical - and through the "red fear".

For the past 60-odd years the wealthy, through their RW political taskmongers, has done its best to erode any and all gains made by workers. Even under FDR they tried their best to eliminate overtime, something impossible until Dubya came along.

Now that such legislation as the Sherman Anti-Trust Act has been twisted on its head in order to attack labour as opposed to plutocrats, trade unionism is an empty shell, the DLC is blatantly neolib and the GOP is the cheapest of corporate whores - and now that there is no big red monster to scare the people with, what do we get?

And when I say "we" I mean it in a greater sense, 'cos the same trends and even MO is taking place around the world. EVERYWHERE workers are told that "they have to compete" with, basically, 3rd World workers in order to have a job at all. This, of course, means that we're running with our eyes closed to the pre-Depression days for the sake of a "GDP growth" which is unfelt by anyone except for the rentier class.