An article in today's Washington Post: "Michigan first to act as states weigh reductions in unemployment benefits"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/states-weigh-reductions-in-benefits-for-unemployed-rising-costs-cited/2011/03/24/ABxBl8RB_story.html What you read or hear in the American media is that unions and the unemployed are to be blamed for the fact that governments cannot pay their bills. You hear echoes of this in Canada: On TVO's Agenda a couple of nights ago, one panelist argued almost vehemently that public sector unions are to blame for government deficits -- so let's get rid of the unions! Prior to the panel, Steve Paiken interviewed Jacob Hacker, a co-author with Paul Pierson of "Winner-Take-All Politics" which, in my opinion, is one of the best books one can read on the jam-up that the US (and increasingly Canada?) finds itself in. Hacker and Pierson describe how, in the years since 1970, the American rich have gotten very rich while the middle class has declined and the proportion of poor has grown considerably. Industrial unions have faded out of the picture. Public sector unions, representing administrative staff, teachers and health care workers, etc., continue but are under a lot of pressure. Hacker and Pierson deal not only with the growing wealth of the rich and super-rich, but with their growing influence on politics. It is via this influence that the US government continues to maintain the Bush tax-cuts for the rich, that government was persuaded to bail out the banks following the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and that governments decry unions and do many favours for the corporate sector. It would seem that US politicians have increasingly become lobbyists for those who can contribute big bucks to their campaigns rather than representatives for all of the people. It would seem that the US is no longer a democracy. It's become a plutocracy. And what about Canada? We haven't gone nearly as far in the plotocratic direction as the Americans have, but there are little signs here and there -- proposed cuts in corporate taxes, a growing vehemence toward unions, especially public sector unions, and a dismissal of programs for the poor. One of our historic behavioural patterns is that we want to keep up with the Americans. Do we really want to keep doing it? Ed
_______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
