Greetings,
On Wed, 17 Sep 1997, Doug Henwood wrote:
> Shawgi A. Tell wrote:
>
> >Unemployment figures for August reveal a continuation of the chronic high
> >levels of unemployment which is one of the features of the deepening crisis
> >of the capitalist system, referred to as the "jobless recovery."
>
> Since U.S. unemployment is the lowest it's been in over 20 years, and since
> employment has been growing pretty strongly for nearly 5 years, does that
> mean the U.S. has recovered from the crisis, is exempt from it, or simply
> hasn't come down with the disease yet?
>
> Doug
It's relevant to keep in mind that "official" data is inaccurate.
"Official" data often portrays a rosier picture than what is actually the
case, as if roughly 5% unemployment were acceptable. The fact of
the matter is that millions of Americans remain unemployed and
underemployed. Further, purchasing power has generally decreased for the
last 20 years.
Additionally, while there is talk of jobs created, there is little
or no talk of jobs destroyed. Nor is there talk of the sort of jobs
created and destroyed. As in the Canadian case, most jobs created in the
U.S. are part-time; low-paying; with few, if any, benefits; and with
little, if any, room for mobility. More and more people in the U.S. are
working part-time. It is also the case that those who have "lost" their
full-time jobs, if and when they do find another full-time job, earn
considerably less than what they were earning at the original full-time
job. What must also be remembered is that job insecurity is quite high
among American workers.
By the Bureau's own account, job growth over the next few years
will be greatest in areas such as truck driving, waiting tables,
janitorial, clerical, health care and so on.
In a related vein, the tendency for the rich to get richer and the
poor poorer is very much in motion in the U.S. So too is the ruination of
the so-called "middle class." In the last 20 years, income has
increased significantly for the richest fifth of the population and
decreased for the poorest. Also, the rising rate of bankruptcies and
debts for more and more people should not be overlooked. For two years in
a row, both Canada and the U.S. have experienced record bankruptcy rates.
Basically, all societies based on the capitalist economic system
will experience all the problems and crises inherent to such an economic
system. All the problems of capitalism will remain unsolvable as long as
the aim of the economy is making maximum capitalist profit. The minimum
wage, for example, reflects this reality. A basic law of capitalism is to
push wages to the lowest level necessary to produce and reproduce the
needed work force. Keeping the wage level at poverty level also acts as
downward pressure on the wages of all workers - as does the existence of
large numbers of unemployed workers. The capitalist rulers and their
politicians are not attempting to solve the problem of poverty, nor can
they. The life those at the bottom are forced to lead, as unemployed,
underemployed or minimum wage workers, is however a serious concern for
the rest of the population.
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
