Permanent Unemployment for Everyone, Brought to You by Vulture Capitalism

[marmar]

from truthdig:



......(snip)......

Columnists should avoid predictions, if possible. But here I go. One of the next big things will be "work" as an important American political issue: who gets to work and who doesn’t. What will that work be like? What obligations and rights will employees have?

We talk and debate "unemployment" now, but the issue will go far beyond, far deeper than just a fraction of people without the skills or ambition to find a job capable of supporting a family. We have already effectively more than doubled the earnings needed to support a family by bringing women into the workplace. I would argue that is a good thing for most of us, but an unintended consequence of that one step forward was the fact that it now usually takes two wage-earners to support one middle-class family or break it, partly because of work tensions and time constraints.

I find that what I see as a looming crisis is rarely mentioned in the press or even in government circles. So, I was surprised to see a front-page story in the Los Angeles Times last Sunday under this headline:

EVERY MOVE TRACKED

"Companies count employees’ keystrokes, time bathroom breaks and monitor social media. It boosts efficiency but shreds job satisfaction."

In the piece, Times reporter Alana Semuels begins by interviewing a 52-year-old forklift operator named Phil Richards, who works in a meat warehouse. "We’re just like human machines," he says. "But with machines, they don’t care whether you feel good or if you’re having a bad day." ...........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/permanent_unemployment_for_everyone_brought_to_you_by_vulture_capitalism_20/

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[OneGrassRoot]

2. K&R n/t

[PETRUS]

3. K&R, but those adjectives...

It's not "vulture" capitalism that's the problem. Or "crony" capitalism, or "unregulated" capitalism, or whatever. Just capitalism.

[el_bryanto]

6. What economic system do you prefer? nt

[PETRUS]

8. Attempting to be brief...

One with significantly different ideas and laws about property, in which possession/use/occupancy confer authority as well as or instead of legal title. As it stands, I can "own" a factory or farm or deposit of shale (or whatever) 1,000 miles away and do with it as I please, but workers and residents have little or no say. Capitalism is sort of a network of fiefdoms, I'd rather a network of democracies.

[Fuddnik]

10. Richard Wolff has some good ideas.

And I agree with Zappa. The scenery is coming down.

[onethatcares]

29. Richard Wolfff rocks.

employee owned enterprises seems to be a great idea in my book.

[woo me with science]

4. Frank Zappa

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”

[el_bryanto]

5. Tom Tomorrow has been doing cartoons about this for years

A certain amount of unemployment is good for Corporations - as their employees are willing to work harder and put up with more for less money. If the labor market tightens than people will want to be treated more fairly and be able to negotiate for better treatment.

Bryant

[LibDemAlways]

7. I'm sure every one of us on here could relate a story

about a workplace horror, some going back many years. Back in the early 80's I worked in what was then known as the "personnel" department of a mid-sized insurance company. One of my co-worker's toddler was suffering from a rare form of cancer. Toward the end, especially, the man needed time off. He was warned, reprimanded, and finally fired for "excessive absence." Employees were warned that if they took time off to attend the funeral, they, too, would be subject to disciplinary measures since the child was not a family member. A place run by soulless, robotic assholes. I quit after a few months.

[AnneD]

9. I worked ...

in a Cancer Hospital in pediatrics. We heard of that happening to one of our patients father. He worked at a car dealership. We wrote a letter to the CEO and stated that folks working in our hospital would never purchase a car from his dealership and would be happy to explain why to others. They back pedaled.

Shortly after that, the hospital opened a legal department to help our patients with their legal rights.

[Yavin4]

19. Good for you. What's the name of your hospital?

I'd like to make a donation.

[smirkymonkey]

35. God that is horrible.

I can't believe people can be so heartless and soulless. Makes me sick. Poor guy.

[Auggie]

11. This is why workers' Unions are so needed

[FreeEmily]

12. Its not capitalism

The choice to work for someone is never a good choice. You are basically giving your freedom away. Its not the capitalism, its the choice to work for someone elses profits. Luckily here in America the opportunity is available to anyone to work for themselves.

[hrmjustin]

13. Welcome to DU FreeEmily!

[FreeEmily]

14. :)

Thank you for the warm welcome.

[hrmjustin]

15. Your welcome!

[byeya]

30. Now wise up. Exploiting workers is the basis of capitalism and a loose labor market is a capitalists

dream.
It's Confederate Capitalist Economics - the South has never changed its M.O. and now it's spread to the rest of the USA.

A healthly regime of socialism will help the majority of Americans.

[hrmjustin]

31. I just welcome people. I am not making comments on their comments.

[byeya]

34. My mistake. I posted on the wrong post. For what it's worth, I think it's very good

that you and others welcome people here.
Sorry again about linking to your post when that was not my intention.

[hrmjustin]

36. No problem my friend!

Thank you for the nice words.

[Cal Carpenter]

16. It's not war

It's all those people who make the choice to get in the way of the bombs and bullets.

[Purplehazed]

17. Sure everbody has the opportunity....

it's as easy to say as "all men are created equal". Given, differences in education, abilities, access to capital, raw material or markets etc. it is impractical to state that one could as easily work for them selves as work for someone else. We have an entire society that has developed around capitalism that won't be undone overnight.

In the near term the focus on jobs is important. Relatively free market labor policies have and will continue to push wages to the the lowest level that the market will bear. With the surplus of labor in the market including women over the last 50 years, the economic downturn in the last few years and erosion of unions, employers face no economic pressure increase wages and benefits. They are free to reduce wages and institute maddening policies to increase productivity. The result is evident in the stock market. So, it is vulture capitalism, greed based capitalism. These results are inevitable.

Regarding the OP; employers can now monitor employees easlily using electronic means. This idea is not modern at all. The predecessor was time-study analyses of employees to gain the maximum produtivity over a period of time. Begun in the late 1800's and used by Henry Ford to increase the efficiency of his production lines.

[FreeEmily]

20. Its a choice

Im 54 years old and a grandmother now. I have not worked for anyone other than myself since i was in highschool. I did not come from any kind of wealth. I cleaned houses while my kids went to school. Just doing that I was able to sock enough away to put my daughter through college. When I needed more more money i would offer to do modest interior design. Such as painting rooms for friends. I have never paid into SS but my house ( a little 5 room ranch) is almost paid for. Everyone has different goals but the opportunity IS there for anyone willing to work. I had a cousin that was found to be mentally insufficeint in the 70's and they said there was nothing she could do except maybe assemble widgets. She started baking and developed a strong client base. There was no money. just a desire to have what working for someone else would not provide. She was killed a few years back but she never went without and she did it all on her own. It wasnt education or money. it was desire.

[Earth_First]

22. So you suggest 'Bootstrap Capitalism'

Is that what you are suggesting?

I've heard this somewhere before...

[Purplehazed]

24. You are truelly blessed

You live in an area where people are willing and able to pay for your services. You were able to pay for a college education before tuition skyrocketed. You were able to get some type of mortgage without verifiable income. You have never been caught not paying your taxes. If you lived in a very rural area, there may not be enough houses to clean. In a poverty stricken area people might not have enough to pay you. Try asking for a house loan these days by telling them that I paint a room here and there when I need money.

Unless you have socked away enough for retirement you work until you are dead because you won't collect SS. That's freedom?

Anybody could make a choice to be a hermit in the woods too. It's just not always a realistic option.

[uppityperson]

25. You never paid taxes or into SS yet saved enough to buy a house? Wow. That is something.

[PA Democrat]

26. You didn't pay any self-employment tax?

I thought that was illegal.

[PETRUS]

23. If all enterprise was worker owned and directed, it wouldn't be capitalism.

Last edited Thu Apr 11, 2013, 05:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Just so ya know.

[In_The_Wind]

27. I agree. I have my own business.

[img][/img]

[raccoon]

28. It would make it a hell of a lot easier for Americans to work for themselves if the US

had a NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN, like civilized countries do.

[starroute]

18. How long before the "entitlement" propaganda shifts to jobs?

Americans grew up with the expectation that everyone was entitled to a job. You might have to hustle a bit, get more education, or work your way up from the bottom, but the assumption was that from the time you left school until you retired, there would always be a job out there for you to find.

The very idea of unemployment compensation is founded on the notion that there are jobs for everyone so that the government both can and should do a little to tide people over the transition from one job to the next.

But now, many people are finding that there are no jobs. Or no jobs that match their qualifications -- so that instead of being told to improve themselves and reach higher, they have to lower their expectations and settle for something lower.

So far, the official line is that we're just experiencing economic hard times, that eventually the jobs will come back, the unemployment rate will come down, and things will be the way they were before. Only it's becoming increasingly apparent that this is a shuck. Most of those jobs are never coming back -- and the ones that are coming back are overwhelmingly low-paid service jobs.

This is the point at which a new propaganda line has to be rolled out to make people feel it's their own fault -- if not their fault for not trying hard enough, then their fault for expecting too much. And that is where we'll begin to hear, "What makes you think you're entitled to a job? Jobs don't grow on trees, you know. Somebody has to pay to create them. If you're asking for a job that doesn't exist, you're just trying to take money out of an owner's pocket. Instead of feeling entitled, you should be grateful for every crumb that's thrown your way -- and be willing to grub around in the gutter to retrieve it. So suck it up and try to be more deserving."

I predict that we'll be hearing this -- or some prettied up version of it -- within the year. Watch for it.

[LongTomH]

33. Actually, I've already seen the "What makes you think you're entitled to a job?" line from......

conservatives. I'm sure it will happen more often now.

[avaistheone1]

21. Great article marmar. No wonder the USA ranks so far down on the world's happiness scale,

and virtually ever other quality of life index.

[woo me with science]

32. Shh.

We're not supposed to know that.

[reformist2]

37. It's time to institute Basic Income... an idea whose time has come.