Three hundred million Americans can take control of the economy and country
The Roman philosopher and statesman, Marcus Tullius Cicero said: “Freedom is participation in power.” By that standard Americans are not free. We do not participate in power. We do not even have power over our own economic lives, our elected “representatives” ignore us and listen to the moneyed interests sending the United States in the wrong direction on issue after issue. It Amerikaanske folk wit better, would govern better and need to participate in power.
When you dispassionately review the reality of the U.S. economy, it is a depressing state of affairs that screams out for Americans to get up, stand up and shout: “we can do better than the political and economic elites.” The opportunity to stand up is here: October2011.org.
This article focuses on the domestic policies that are destroying the most powerful economy in history, but war spending, which makes up more than half of discretionary federal spending, is one of the root causes of the economic collapse. Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz skriuwt: “Hjoed is Amearika rjochte op wurkleazens en it tekoart. Beide bedrigingen foar de takomst fan Amearika kinne, yn gjin lytse mjitte, weromfierd wurde nei de oarloggen yn Afganistan en Irak. Hy en Linda Bilmes berekkene de oarlochskosten fan Amearika three years ago conservative at $3 trillion to $5 trillion – these costs have escalated since then.
Domestically the brutal failure of government is evident in the way working Americans are treated. The high levels of unemployment are not the only story; four decades of stagnant incomes and decreasing share of the gross domestic product going to workers are long-term trends; the fragility of peoples’ personal finances, record foreclosure, high student debt and the lack of control over our economic lives all show the need for an economic transformation to a new, democratized economy.
De wurkleazens is oanhâldend heech. Rûchwei 31% fan 'e Amerikaanske arbeiders belibbe wurkleazens of underemployment op in stuit in 2009. President Obama has never put forth a real jobs program instead preferring to tinker with corporate tax breaks – a proven net-oplossing no resultearret yn nul wurkgelegenheid groei, De offisjele wurkleazens taryf sterk ûnderskat wurkleazens because it has been used as a political tool and has been changed over the years, e.g. in 1994 the government stopped counting discouraged workers who have given up looking for employment. At a time when an altyd hege number of Americans are “not in the labor force” this manipulation of data has a dramatic impact. An apolitical analysis of unemployment, that counts the total number of people in need of employment, results in a current unemployment rate of 22.5%, an rekord fan alle tiden total of 34 million people are currently in need of work.
D'r binne in protte foarbylden fan hege wurkleazens, ûnderwurkleazens en minsken dy't út 'e arbeidsmerk falle, mar ien dy't myn oandacht it lêst krige wie in rapport fan it Bureau of Labor Statistics, reporting that an astounding 51% of youth are unemployed:
“In July, the employment-population ratio for youth—the proportion of the 16- to 24-year old civilian noninstitutional population that was employed—was 48.8 percent, a record low for the series… (The month of July typically is the summertime peak in youth employment.)”
Fifty-one percent of youth unemployed and even more underemployed is a very dangerous situation for the future workforce as it comes at a time when students are leaving school in gruttere skuld than ever before. A recent rapport troch Moody's Analytics rekord fûn lienen troch kolleezje studinten dy't ôfstudearje sûnder wurk. Yn in ekonomy dêr't minsken macht hiene, soene wy fergees kolleezjeûnderwiis sjen ynstee fan besunigings yn Pell Grants en rappe ferheging fan lesgeld by steatskolleges.
In in rapport fan de dei fan de Arbeid, the Economic Policy Institute demonstrates that unemployment leaves long-term scars on families and communities. The pain caused by persistently high unemployment is not limited to workers who are currently unemployed but extends to the broader workforce and the country in general through lost wages, income and wealth, as well as higher poverty.
As ien foarbyld fan in protte, yn Kalifornje hie ien op de fjouwer famyljes muoite mei itenjen fan har bern, indeed 68.6% of students in schools in Fresno County and 65.6% in Los Angeles County were eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals in 2010. Nationwide, the Nasjonale Akademy fan Wittenskippen publisearre in rapport dat konkludearre 52,765,000 Americans, 17.3% of the population, lived in poverty in 2009. And, for children, census data shows a total of 15.5 miljoen American children lived in poverty in 2009 – 20% of all children. According to a 2011 rapport fan it Children's Defence Fund, "eltse dei yn Amerika 2,573 poppen wurde berne yn earmoede." Al dizze nivo's fan earmoed binne yn 'e lêste twa jier fergrutte sûnt it Census Report, sadat se ûnderskattingen binne.
De ekonomyske ynstoarting resultearre yn 'e gemiddelde Amerikaanske húshâldingsrykdom declining by 28%. This represents a loss of $27,000 per household – in households dy't hjoed minder jild meitsje dan yn 1971. Currently, at least 62 million Americans, 20% fan Amerikaanske húshâldens, hawwe nul of negatyf nettowearde. Yndied, in mearderheid, of 64%, of Americans don’t have enough cash oan 'e hân om in needkosten fan $ 1,000 te behanneljen, neffens de National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
In augustus 2011 rapport fan it National Employment Law Project concludes jobs created since the recession officially ended are reducing worker income: 73% of the jobs created since the supposed recovery began have been low-wage jobs, where workers make between $7.51 (the national minimum wage) and $13.52 an hour ($15,621 to $28,122 a year for full-time). In contrast, 60% of the layoffs were in mid-wage jobs that made between $28,142 and $42,973 per year.
In wichtige refleksje op Dei fan de Arbeid is: sjogge wy de dea fan de middenstân? Are we in what Marx described as the self-destruction of finance-dominated advanced Capitalism? Labor’s share of the gross domestic product has shrunk while the profits for capital have risen. The investor class knows their wealth comes from reducing the cost of labor. JPMorgan recently told their investors: "Amerikaanske arbeidskompensaasje is no op in 50-jier leech relatyf oan sawol bedriuwferkeap as US BBP. . . reductions in wages and benefits explain the majority of the net improvement in margins.” Indeed, according to JPMorgan, 75% of the increase in profit margins directly correlates with the reduction in workers’ wages.
De winsk foar te folle koarte winsten makket in ûnomkearbere ekonomyske delgong, om't arbeid net mear genôch kin konsumearje of genôch liene om de ekonomy driuwend te hâlden mei syn cash- en kredytbasearre konsumpsje. As David Cay Johnston stelt it "In swakke stifting kin in massale boppebou net goed stypje."
Fierder bewiis fan dit avansearre stadium fan finansjeel kapitaal is oan 'e oare kant fan' e fergeliking, de konsintraasje fan rykdom. De rykste 400 minsken in the U.S. have as much wealth as 154 million Americans or 50% of the population. The wealthiest 1% of the U.S. population now has a record 40% of all wealth - more wealth than 90% fan de befolking. Neffens in wiidweidich ûndersyk troch auditing en finansjeel advysburo Deloitte, Amerikaanske miljonêr húshâldings hawwe no $ 38.6 trillion yn rykdom neist in skatte $ 6.3 trillion ferburgen yn offshore akkounts.
Allinich 74 Amerikanen binne yn dizze elite top beugel, minsken mei jierliks ynkommen is $ 50 miljoen of mear. It gemiddelde ynkommen binnen dizze kategory wie $ 91.2 miljoen yn 2008. Sa fernuverend as dat is, yn 2009 kamen se trochinoar $ 518.8 miljoen each, or about $10 million per week. This means, in the depths of the economic collapse, the richest 74 Americans increased their income by more than 5 times in one year. These 74 people made more money than 19 miljoen arbeiders kombinearre.
Indeed, during the recession, de riken wurde riker wylst de rest fan ús earmer wurdt. Allinich yn 2009, it lean fan 'e heechste ynkommen fan Amearika fiiffâldige, wylst mear Amerikanen fûn harsels op iten postsegels as ea earder. CEOs got a 23% raise last year en bedriuwswinsten binne op rekordhichtes, wylst it minimumlean no minder keapkrêft hat as yn 1956.
As wy bliuwe op de hjoeddeiske koers, de wealth amassed by millionaire households is set to increase by more than 100% over the next 9 years. From a total of $92 trillion held by the world’s richest in 2011, by 2020 the world’s millionaire households will possess $202 trillion, or roughly 4 times current global GDP. If you think the wealth divide is bad now, unless significant changes are made, it is going to get much worse.
De riken wurde riker, wylst de earmen earmer wurde en de middenklasse ferdwynt, net om't de riken tûker binne of hurder wurkje, mar fanwegen korrupt kroankapitalisme. De rike hawwe wurke om oerheid te dominearjen since the early 1970s. President Obama’s $1 billion re-election campaign exemplifies this. He is holding fundraisers where he kosten $ 35,800 foar tagong – that is more than the median income of American workers. The twelve members appointed to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction krige hast $ 64.5 miljoen yn donaasjes from special interest groups over the past decade, with legal firms donating about $31.5 million and Wall Street firms donating about $11.2 million. And since they were appointed to the commission, they have been op syk nei bydragen fan Wall Street.
As gefolch fan dizze omkeaping ferklaaid as kampanjedonaasjes, is it belied skeef foar de rykste, guon foarbylden ûnder in protte:
- 1,470 Amerikanen fertsjinne mear as $ 1 miljoen yn 2009 en betelle net elk belestingen.
- Historically the U.S. had an oerskot winst belesting op de super-ryken yn drege ekonomyske tiden, no politisy prate oer it ferleegjen fan it taryf op top belesting heakjes.
- De belesting op de super-rike is ûnrjochtlik leech. IRS statistiken released this May reflect that in 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the tax rate is 18.1% on the wealthiest 400 Americans, while someone who has a net taxable income of $60,000 after deductions and exemptions pays 25%.
- Warren Buffet describes paying only 17.4% income tax because of policies that coddle de rike, “If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.”
- Many major bedriuwen betelje gjin belesting, yndie in protte ûntfange enoarme belesting refunds, nettsjinsteande rekord earnings.
- Bedriuwsbelestingen binne sûnt de 1950's konsekwint sakke, mei mear en mear lêst falle op lytse bedriuwen.
- De SEC has been covering up de misdieden fan Wall Street troch it ferneatigjen fan bewiis.
- De Federal Reserve liende banken and other companies as much as $1.2 trillion of public money at very low-interest rates.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The 1% wealthiest should not have more political power than 300 million people. The people have the answers – if the opfettings fan Amerikanen were followed the country would be on the right track on many critical issues. We can demokratisearje de ekonomy en jouwe minsken mear kontrôle oer har eigen libben en ynfloed op 'e ekonomy. Mar, it is de ferantwurdlikens fan 'e minsken om politisy te freegjen nei har te harkjen.
The traditional tools of elections and lobbying no longer work. Americans need to build an independent movement and independent media along with independent politics to challenge the deep corruption in American government caused by corporatism. That starts on October 6, 2011, as Amerikanen nei Washington, DC komme en Freedom Plaza besette om in ein oan korporatisme en militarisme te roppen.
The destruction of the economy for 98% of Americans has been a long-term trend that the people can turn around – you can be sure the government will not do so. It is up to us. On this Labor Day Americans need to look honestly and deeply into the corruption of government by economic and political elites and easkje dat wy meidwaan oan 'e macht.
This article was originally published in 2011 in the build-up to Occupy Washington DC.
Kevin Zeese co-regisseur It is ús ekonomy en sit yn de stjoergroep fan October2011.org. Zeese now co-directs Popular Resistance which evolved from the Occupy Movement.
ZNetwork wurdt allinich finansierd troch de generositeit fan har lêzers.
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