Serowbot wrote on 11/12/15 at 08:22:15:WebsterMark wrote on 11/12/15 at 07:31:30:There are a couple of statistics that are the most telling to me.
1) Wal-Mart is the largest US private employer.
2) The ratio of part time works to full time workers peaked in 2010 and is basically still at historical levels.
I'm 54 years old and my I remember it wasn't all that long ago that General Motors was the largest employer and part time work was mostly driven by employee demand, not employer.
Here's some questions I have based on those two key statistics I'd be interested in hearing other's answers.
What impact do those two change have on the US both economically and socially?
Economically,.. we can't afford to pay decent wages to the blue collar working class, and they, in turn, can't afford to buy the goods they used to.
Sure,.. we all have big flat screens and fancy electronics, but they are made in 3rd world countries and cost nothing.
... but, we can't afford to "buy American" anymore...
The only job growth we see is in the service and sales area, where the jobs can't be outsourced overseas....
Why did that change happen?It happened because of Republican policies...
a. Union busting
b. privatized healthcare... namely, making the majority of it, employer based, and HMO managed.
The working class has no leverage against the employers anymore...
They have no job security, and many can't leave because they need their healthcare, for their families if not themselves...
Who will be largest employer 10 years from now?
Restaurants, fast food, stores, healthcare, and home/ auto repair... (can't be outsourced)...
Will that be a good thing or a bad thing?
It is a bad thing... The only good jobs, with security, are government jobs. The only people I know that will retire with a pension, are in city, state, or federal, government jobs... or,.. military related industry...
If it's a bad thing, what can be done to keep that from happening?
Tax the rich...
Penalize them for outsourcing...
Regulate businesses...
Require fair wages... securities, pensions, etc...
Nationalize healthcare...
To lower costs, and to give working people the security to seek better circumstances....
Unions used to do this... big business lobbying has destroyed them.
Now,.. the rich have what they want...
No regulation,.. low taxes... and a cheap workforce,.. here or overseas...
They are the new aristocracy...
We are the proles...
Economic feudalism...Actually,... the simple solution is to get rid paid lobbyists...
You can lobby for a cause,... but money is out of the picture.
No more industry shills buying breaks and subsidies, or influencing the people's government...
Corporations are not people... JMHO I see a bunch of good ideas there, Row. I don't care about Who supposedly pushed for or who signed whatever,, I don't care, I Only care about what has been done and what impact it's had.
NAFTA was just a piece of it. Needs to be thrown out.
We spend as much as the next TEN countries on defense, and all I see is more spending. And for what?
Pre WWII, when the war ended, we stopped building equipment for war. Now, everyone, LOOK. War machinery and equipment is always being built, SO, in order to Not just watch it rot, we keep trouble stirred up, so it gets sold to a soon to be enemy or used against one.
Why is it not enough to get people to Stop and THINK, General Wesley Clark had a list of countries that We would be involved with militarily, and LO and Behold, look at where we have been and where we are headed. BUT, the Reasons FOR this
Need to be there
Is Newer than the list.
How very prescient of whomever created the list.
It's not the bubs. It's not the dems. It's the unelected, corporatist, criminal elite.
What was IKE warning about?
IF he wasn't insane, and IF, in fact such a threat existed, then what would things look like Had we Failed to heed that warning?
Look out the window. He was not crazy and we didn't stop the shadowy groups fighting for power. The People have no voice and haven't for decades.
I haven't forgotten My history. I remember what I've seen. I Watched what happened when the FDA head was replaced by a pharmaceutical company associated person. I read the paper when I was a CHILD. I Saw reports about companies that had spent millions on research and development, hoping to sell a product and the FDA said
No.
And I Watched the reports of those events diminish. Now, it's not news, ever. BUT, you Can get a number for the law firm suing the company that Sold the Formerly FDA approved drug.
Our schools and economy have been sabotaged, not poorly handled, sabotaged.
Problem reaction, solution.
Divide and conquer.
Please note
The Real uniters were killed. MLK would throw up looking at what we are told are the representatives of downtrodden. They only get trotted out when they're needed, to keep things stirred up.