FDR knew: The best customer of American industry is the well-paid worker

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_10_16_2010

October 16, 1936 - “It is to the real advantage of every producer, every manufacturer and every merchant to cooperate in the improvement of working conditions, because the best customer of American industry is the well-paid worker.” Speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[gratuitous]

2. Even that fascist Henry Ford understood the concept

If the workers on his line couldn't afford the cars they were building, he'd go out of business.

But America doesn't make stuff anymore. We assign arbitrary values to pieces of paper and swap those among various personages, agencies and investment consortiums, and whoever winds up holding the pieces of paper when it's suddenly "discovered" that they're worthless gets screwed. It's a jolly game!

[hobbit709]

21. That shows that the reactionary old bastard was smarter than the average CEO today.

[WinkyDink]

25. Only because the concept of "Global Market" was unknown to him.

[krkaufman]

36. chuckle. good one. nt

[Horse with no Name]

30. I wish I could recommend this post

because it is the pure essence of what is wrong here.
I would add a caveat.
The one that ends up holding the piece of paper is the one who gets the government bailout.
What a jolly game indeed.

[Klukie]

40. jolly indeed!!!

+1

[TheKentuckian]

3. They don't care. They prefer emerging markets and a more diluted and therefore more compliant and

politically weak middle class to buy their crap.

This is an intentional strip and scuttle not a miscalculation fueled by ideological nonsense. They want wage equilibrium and that don't mean everybody gets a fair slice of the pie.

By their logic, an even larger and greatly less concentrated middle class will soon spring up that will often be closer to production sites and more appreciative of their status and the products available to them at a lower overhead.

These people are monsters and must be considered and fought as such.

[RKP5637]

5. My question is when will most of America wake up. Just how much does it

take to wake up Americans.

[Crunchy Frog]

6. I'm not holding my breath on that one.

[TBF]

7. No substance -

just wanted to say your froglets are very cute!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. The scientifically correct term is tadpoles. -nt

;)

[Crunchy Frog]

12. No, this is what the tadpole stage looked like.

[RKP5637]

4. Frankly, I don't think the wealth holders of this country really give a damn about

the country. They are mainly interested in increasing their wealth. They can easily isolate themselves from the rest of the country and/or pickup and leave. If, they cared in the least about the US, we would not be in this mess to begin with... We still have some honorable people in politics, business and real wealth holders, but I think their numbers are declining.

We had a system that worked and in the 80's they started dismantling it piece by piece. They will not be satisfied until most of American is living on the streets and then they can look around and say how much better they are than the majority of the citizens. If this keeps up, the Great Depression will look like child's play.

[TBF]

9. Exactly - take a look at the CEO's in this country and how many

are actually American. Many are from overseas and do have homes here, but also homes elsewhere. It really is a global economy/lifestyle for the very rich. Meanwhile the "little people" everywhere live on crumbs. It's always been that way in some areas, but the impoverishment in this country has probably become more noticeable with current technology.

[RKP5637]

22. "impoverishment in this country has probably become more noticeable with current technology." Yes,

and definitely of great help in showing the exploitation. Fortunately, we're not reading about it on the back of some newspaper, anymore, or waiting to possibly hear something in just 15 minutes of MSM news each the day.

It's all about exploitation, anymore, with little esprit de corps for the well being and future of the country. Most of the citizens of this country are in the way of the profit machine. Hence, one can readily see each day many of the real wealth and power brokers in this country could care less about the citizenry.

Many citizens now are just garbage in the street to be dealt with in some manner that is in their way. IMO it is a manifestation of the evil side of a broken capitalistic system. The rotting of the foundation for this country well might cause the structure piled on it to collapse one day. It's very sad to see what is occurring and to conjure the potential future.

[clarence swinney]

41. RAPE OF MIDDLE CLASS

1980 TO 2010
1% gain FROM 20% TO 43% IN 2009 OF TOTAL FINANCIAL WEALTH
80% OR 120,000,000 workers owned 7%

1% owned 24% of Income

From 1980 to 2010 Middle Class zoomed back wards.

Policies of Reagan + Bush.

WSA from USA.

Bush exported 2,300,000 jobs just to China in his 8 years.

He created 31,000 Net New Jobs Per Month--lowest since Hoover.
Clinton 237,000. 2000 Law made difference.

WSA wealth went into CASINO DERIVATIVE after 2000 Bill.
Prior it went into stocks to build businesses and jobs.

FACT--2000 Law freed Rich to go into open Gambling

olduglymeanhonest mad mad mad

[krispos42]

15. The only political rive to the wealthy is a strong middle class.

The working class and poor class are not a political rival to the wealthy until/unless they break out the torches and pitchforks. A strong middle class is, but a weak middle class is only marginally more effective than the working and poor classes.

[WinkyDink]

26. OF COURSE, THEY DON'T. The U.S. wealthy have homes over the globe, for Pete's sake!

"America" is geography, nothing more. Just as Monaco, or Sardinia. "Democracy" and "citizenry" are COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT AND EVEN HINDRANCES.

[RKP5637]

31. We see this, but I bet a good majority of America does not, as they belly up

and vote Republican in support of the "real" Americans.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. So did Ford

The last thirty years people forgot that

[Crunchy Frog]

14. No, they just don't care anymore.

There's more than enough people in India and China with sufficient disposable income to keep them in business. They really don't need American consumers anymore. American consumers are simply to costly for the corporations to maintain.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. They forgot

Teaching curricula really changed in or around 1985. Some old hands at the bidness school at SDSU warned that it wasn't going to end well. Of course as a 19 year old I didn't get why. SDSU followed Warthons and Harvard by two years. A young back then professor, now more mature, wants to go back to 1980. You knows ethics and shit.

As I told him, too late.

[xchrom]

20. +1

[RKP5637]

23. That's been my concern for sometime now, the momentum is now too great

on the downside of the curve for most citizens... there is no going back, instead, there has to be a new beginning, but I have no idea of the goodness or evilness of a new beginning. We'll know the trend line better after 2012 IMO. As I've often said one can generally trust the citizenry to vote in those most disingenuous to their needs, because they fall for the rhetoric and hot button diversionary issues; i.e., teabaggers and the like.

Some candidates are literally of the lunatic fringe IMO and what I find most disturbing is they have a following and lots of potential votes. They would have been laughed off the podium not too many years ago, but their staying power is a tribute to the new ignorance of this country. And is very dangerous to the well being of what remains of this democracy.

[hobbit709]

27. I keep saying "Idiocracy" is a documentary.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. And i agree with you

[clarence swinney]

44. I HOPE

for a strong leader
anti wall street pro middle class

Increase Income Tax to 50-90% on Top Incomes
Lift Cap on Payroll tax
Remove loop o Holes on Corporations
S&P 500 + pay at least 40% of profit in taxes.
Tax Imports. 40% china inports from USA owned firms.shame shame

Stop Defense Industry war-o-mongers
Cut Pentagon Budget big time

Imprison Wall Street crooks.

Goldman fined 555M for Fraud in Housing.
Wow! 4% of 2009 Profits.
Like a bank worker making $100,000 steals $100,000 and gets fined $4,000. Wow.
Wachovia fined 130M. Laundered 380B of Drug Lord Money for big profit
Punishment. One month profit.
Kid has 3oz coke goes to prison
olduglymeanhonest mad mad mad

[jwirr]

45. That is why I often think that oil depletion is going to be a good thing

because it will serve as a catalyst to bring about change. The big problem is will it be change for good? If the teabaggers and corporations are the ones in control then I think it will be bad. Field-hands, anyone?

[TexasObserver]

11. recommend

[krispos42]

13. People can't spend money if they don't have it.

And as we learned the past few years, credit isn't a substitute.



The number-one demographic that all businesses are looking for are people with MONEY TO SPEND!!!

[Mimosa]

17. Hell, yes! n/t

[Omaha Steve]

18. Kick

[Hannah Bell]

19. knr

[WinkyDink]

24. 1. Industry is multi-national now, no loyalty to America; 2. "well-paid workers" are drains to

investors.

End of story. The Global Market HATES AMERICAN WORKERS.
But first, it will take on Europe's Social Contract.

[The Uncola]

28. K&R from another..

... Cornhusker. I'm now in Minnesota.

[L0oniX]

29. That's just common sense ...or it should be.

[Faygo Kid]

33. I had hoped Obama would come into office like FDR, kicking a** and taking names.

Instead he worshipped at the altar of "bipartisanship" at a time when the GOP is the tool of Fox News, Limbaugh, Palin and Beck.

Don't get me wrong - he's done some good things. But we needed a fighter, and now the midterms will demonstrate the price we have paid.

[abq e streeter]

37. A very disheartened +1

the only thing I would add is "and beyond" to " the midterms". This may (and I could be wrong; hope I am) have been the last chance to stop this madness and the huge price we will pay for it , maybe far into the future, maybe forever.

[RKP5637]

46. I really really thought too FDR days were back ... n/t

[Starry Messenger]

34. k & r

[proud patriot]

35. Right on

[bleever]

38. A thread without any deleted messages; haven't seen that in a long time.

:thumbsup:

[felix_numinous]

39. FDR was referring to American industry,

and now what we are dealing with are global companies that long ago lost sight of worker or human rights. I wonder if it will take more than one country to control them now. Perhaps if unions were international.

[handmade34]

42. Buy "Made in the USA"

I try, I really do

I was so diasappointed to find out Irwin Tools sold out and Vise Grips are now made in China (since 2008)

http://www.madeinusa.org/

[lovemydog]

43. great fdr quote

thank you!

[lib2DaBone]

47. Tightwad Republicans have to squeeeze the crap out of every hard working person in America...

....all the while they push worthless paper on Wall Street.

No one believes their scam anymore...