It's official. I just read in my local paper that Big Business made it through the worst economic down-turn, since The Great Depression and are back on their feet again! I'm sure we are all breathing easier. All those folks with money to burn, like corporations, millionaire/billionaire investors, hedge fund managers, and venture capitalists got bailed out by the rest of us and then made out like bandits. Even CEOs of poorly performing companies, got millions in end-of-year bonuses. And, with the return of all that capital to invest, they did just that...in factories and cheap labor overseas, tax dodges in the
Sincerely,
J. Brandeis Sperandeo
Brandeis
ReplyDeleteI see you are well informed about the Koch brothers -you may have read the excellent article in the New Yorker
The calumny is that they secretly fund liberitarian groups with the undisclosed goals of thwarting regulations that protect our environment, workers' rights and other measures that would actually help the middle class get back on their feet.
Why are we as a nation so trusting of corporations and billionaires who dictate how we should run our lives and so ditrustful of government that wants to do something for it's citizens. Why do we not realize that the corporations are actually a "shadow government" running our lives. We have not really "elected" any of them.
George Breth
Hi Bran:
ReplyDeleteI liked reading your blog. You made many good points. I am pretty clueless on blogging and on Facebook. Thanks for the invite.
My world view is similar but a little different. I believe that both big corporations and labor unions are to blame for the economic and moral mess we are in. As you know, we benefit from the state labor contract deals with unions, so I suppose I may be writing against self-interest.
As a rule, big business takes advantage of workers in order to make bigger profits. Greed has always been the creed. When the robber barons of yesteryear died, most of their personal businesses eventually "went public" and shareholders became the owners. Corporate directors now answer to shareholders and must ensure steady profits or get fired. No one is accountable for their unethical acts.
Labor unions also are self-interested. Last century, labor unions valiantly fought to improve working conditions, especially with regard to long work days, child labor and unsafe working conditions. (The stuff we learned in Con. Law). Labor unions served an absolutely essential role in worker safety. However, beginning in the 1960s, labor unions later started seeking across-the-board wage, pension and benefit guarantees from unwilling American businesses.
As for American corporations, the labor demands cut into their profits. As a result, a trend developed in which American corporations converted to "multinational" corporations, giving them two immediate benefits: exploiting cheaper labor outside the US (thereby eliminating unionized American jobs)and avoiding American corporate income taxes (by moving their headquarters off-shore.) Shareholder can now reap the profits from the self-serving behavior of these multinationals.
The exception to the rule? Government labor unions. Unlike business, government, as a monopoly, can raise taxes to fund worker wages and benefits. When the economy is growing, folks say "why would you want to take a low-paying State (or federal) job?". Now they say "Government workers have it too good. Let's fire them." The government labor unions are in the cross-hairs now.
Just my thoughts-
All my best to you and yours,
Bill
Thanks so much for reading my post and thanks for the tip about the New Yorker. I am looking for reliable sources of information, as I would like to back up what I say with more than the material that is simply hardwired into my brain, from watching the news. I don't want to pull a Glenn Beck and make up on a chalk board, the degrees of separation between Kevin Bacon and the Apocalypse. Look for a marked improvement in the future...I hope.
ReplyDeleteJBS
Dear Brandeis:
ReplyDeleteI can't figure out how Facebook works. I can't easily find messages that people send or how to respond. Your private blog is definitely better.
My earlier comments were meant to be broad-based; I wasn't talking about you dear Brandeis or the assholes who didn't appreciate you. I greatly admire you and think you did important work. I wasn't sure what caused you to leave two years early but I believe you when you said circumstances forced your hand.
About the discussion--I am not in favor of big corporations or their shareholders. I mention the shareholders because they want their profits. Corporate managers do unethical, immoral and anti-environmental things to satisfy the never-ending greed of shareholders. If corporate managers acted in a socially responsible way, most would lose their jobs. Neither corporations nor their shareholders care about the greater good. The only thing that restricts their actions is law - cold, uncompromising law. By becoming multinationals, they evade even rudimentary laws.
As for labor unions, they have simply priced themselves out of the labor market. In seeking across the board wage hikes, the union bosses eventually cost the members their jobs, since the multinational corporations laid them off for cheaper labor overseas. The union bosses were greedy and short-sighted. As for the government unions, I was simply saying that in times of plenty, government workers are looked down upon as taking lower paying job; in times of scarcity however, government workers are vilified because they even have jobs. That view is strong in NY, as elsewhere.
It the old "tragedy of the commons" that we learned about in Poli Sci. When everyone acts independently to maximize their own self-interest, they will eventually harm the greater good, even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen.
Where am I going with this?
Well, its late here - about 11:43 pm- and my brain is not functioning.
My love to you and yours
Bill