But you're not a socialist right?
I am a pragmatic American without a self adopted ideology acting as a straight jacket limiting my options and choices.
The main problem of the next few decades of the 21 century is not the various things we all argue about here.
Consider this: For most of the 20th century, and even parts of the 19th century, a person could be of average of even below average intelligence and still be a productive, functioning and even valuable member of American society. Somebody could have an IQ of 80 or so, get a job in a factory, make a very decent wage, buy a house, get married and have a family and be a regular citizen. Because of union wages, they could get a new car every five years or so, go on an annual vacation even if only driving locally, even put their kids in the local catholic or private school if that was their wish.
In the neighborhood I grew up in - Dearborn, Michigan in the Fifties and Sixties, there were lots of families like this and they all were productive people and responsible citizens who raised their families, paid their taxes and did what they were suppose to do to get the American Dream. This was a time of Ozzie & Harriet and Leave It to Beaver, of Eisenhower and JFK and America was prosperous and lots and lots of people - even the lower educated - shared in that prosperity and America was strong, healthy and the envy of the world.
Lets face it folks, if you know anything about the standard IQ tests, half the population is at 100 or lower. Its great to say we all need to get more education and computer skills and be part of the 21st century technological revolution, but for many, its just not in the cards.
Yeah - I can hear it right now - Haymarket is just another liberal who has no faith in people to succeed. Keep your cliches please. This must be a discussion about reality and not about silly ideologies.
When we had an agrarian economy in the 18th and 19th century, there was a place and a job for almost everyone. Heck, when the Industrial Revolution took over in the mid to late 1800's we had to go elsewhere to import tens of millions of people to fuel the machines. The transition from a agricultural economy to an industrial economy increased the need for labor and increased the middle class.
But we are now in an era where technology no longer needs as many people, particularly the below 100 IQ folks. How many peoople do we really need to be able to say
"welcome to Walmart" or
"you want fries with that?" And what do those jobs pay compared to the hi-low driver of the neighborhood I grew up in?
Some economists are predicting a "jobless recovery". We see major corporations doing very well. We see the stock market making a big comeback and investors doing very well. We see those at the top doing very well. But we see lots of problems for lots of other people at the middle or lower who are not getting hired back and companies are very happy to buy machines instead of employing workers.
As part of my job with the Michigan Legislature, I recently toured a engine plant where today they have one-fifth of the workers they had some twenty years ago and produce more than they did at that time. The workers at that plant - UAW members - took no wage increases for over a decade so the plant could retool and modernize to save jobs. The union accepted a two tier wage system and it now takes a full 13 years for a worker to get from starting wage to full wage. The name of the plant is Detroit Diesel.
And in the time after that tour of Diesel I have toured more plants with acres and acres of parking lots that are virtually empty of the workers that used to park there and work there because they are no longer needed.
I do not think these are rare or the exception to the national trend. In fact, I suspect they are part of the national trend.
We live in a democratic republic where people can vote and pick their representatives in government. They in turn determine public policy including tax policy and entitlement programs and the like.
So here is my question: what are we doing about this problem that seems to run contrary to building a prosperous and sustainable America for nearly all of us?
And why is this something that nobody really seems to want to talk about or do anything about?
What does it bode for America when more and more have to get by and less and less but those same people can become angry and bitter at not getting their piece of the American Dream?
And what is a societal wide solution that we can apply to nearly everyone to get back the sort of prosperity that existed in decades past for nearly everyone?