New Essay from Professor Hemp (03/10/2005):

Social Insecurity: The only leg left in the 3-Leg Stool of Worker Security

Last week I attended one of those "Town Hall" meetings that our Democratic representatives have been putting on to fight Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.  The one I attended was "put on" by Sandra Levin at a new library in Southfield, Michigan.  It was an interesting evening to say the least and the hall was jammed with around 300 citizens.

Levin started off by saying how the US economy has really suffered as we took the first baby steps into the new millennium.  I could not help interjecting a comment at this point.  So I shouted out - "It wouldn't have been quite so bad if both parties didn't insist on offshoring millions of American jobs!"  The entire auditorium began clapping in agreement.  When the noise subsided Levin humorously replied, "You don't seem to need the assistance of a microphone."

  Levin then proceeded to give his spiel on the losses that American workers would endure should Bush succeed in dismantling Social Security through "Private Accounts" (Bush would prefer Personal Accounts) and other measures.  Of course 99% of the audience was in agreement with Levin's assessment.  But from there it started getting a whole lot uglier than Levin had anticipated as the "Question and Answer" session began.

Citizens were complaining about all sorts of things:  loosing their jobs, rising health care, rising taxes, decreasing wages.  There was one person complaining about how Mid-Eastern immigrants were getting social security even though they never put a dime into the program.  Levin challenged this last assertion but then admitted that this was the policy up until around 1995.   Levin kept insisting that questions stick to the issue at hand, Social Security.  But in a sense, all of this is about Social Security.  Furthermore, it was clear that most of the audience held both Democrats and Republicans with responsibility for these trends.

Another interesting aspect of this meeting was how Levin's handlers were attempting to keep the microphone away from the LaRouche representatives.  In one instance they actually tried to grab the microphone from a LaRouche supporter after she announced her affiliation with the group.  Later I got a chance to read their literature and encourage you to do the same.   I don't know that I agree with all of the article but it does give some very interesting historical perspective:

Bush's Social Security Privatization: A Foot in the Door for Fascism
http://www.larouchepac.com/pages/writings_files/2004/041228_priv_soc_sec.htm

Of course I had also come to ask a question.  But after my earlier comment the guy with the microphone avoided me like the plague.  So I will share with you the question I didn't get to ask:

"Representative Levin. After the New Deal most Americans saw their future economic security as a 3-legged stool consisting of a Pension, Social Security and Personal Savings. Since the Reagan administration 2 of those legs have been removed through bipartisan support of both parties:

* Pensions have transitioned to "defined contribution" plans such as 401-K's and many workers are either not getting a match on their contributions or are making so little that they cannot contribute.  When businesses moved from defined benefit pensions, in the 1980s, employers saved themselves nearly 65% of their respective costs by transitioning to 401-K's.  It's funny how no one ever mentions that fact any more.  But bottom line, both parties were responsible.

* Personal Savings are at a historic low for American workers. And why should this be such a surprise given the fact that the 1968 minimum wage would have to be raised to $8.68/hour in order to buy the same basket of goods that they bought in 1968. Unfortunately the current federal minimum wage is at a paltry $5.15/hour -- nearly 50% below the poverty level for a family of four AND nearly $3.50/hour less than the adjusted 1968 minimum wage. In light of these statistics it seems downright Orwellian that Bush has the audacity to talk about an "Ownership Society." How can you own anything when you can't save anything?  But once again, both parties were responsible.

Now Bush comes along and wants to "privatize" (translation -- destroy) Social Security in order to further screw working Americans and reward the investment banking community to the tune of trillions of dollars over the next 50 years. Goodness knows what millions of Americans are going to do when they have no money to live on. My read of history is that it will inevitably lead to either Revolution or Totalitarianism.  At least you Democrats are attempting to stop the privatization, however, I still don't trust the intentions of the Democratic party.

So it seems that we can summarize the two parties destruction of worker security as follows.  The Democrats have allowed 2 of the 3 legs to be removed from the "3-legged stool of worker security" and expect the American worker to somehow balance on this one remaining leg.  Essentially what Bush and his Republican compatriots want to do is go one step further.   The Republicans want turn that stool, of economic security, upside down and ask the American worker to take a seat -- right on the remaining leg. I guess you might say that Bush would like to have us all "pegged."

My question to you, Representative Levin is simply this:  How are we going to put all 3 of these legs back on that stool?"

 

Of course there is a much larger point here. Both the US and Global Economic Systems are no longer sustainable economically or environmentally. In Computer parlance you might say the Turbo Capitalistic Model (e.g., Edward Luttwak's) is becoming FUBAR: Fucked Up Beyond All Repair. And it is downright scary to ponder where this perfect storm of economic catastrophe will lead us. But unless intelligent people get together soon, to untie this Gordian Knot, we are all in for a scary ride that I predict will be leaving the gates sometime before 2012. For some of us it has already begun. To think that Turbo Capitalism can be the last form of economic organization appears to be the catechism of the day, though I'm quite sure the barterers and mercantilists felt the same way. But this blind faith is misplaced and really needs to be seriously pondered before we completely destroy our collective futures. PH

PS:

You also might want to check out these books for further perspective, or at least check out the reviews:

The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local
by Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0871568659/ref=pd_rhf_f_1/103-0044256-2449479?v=glance&s=books&no=*&st=*

In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations
by Jerry Mander
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0871565099/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/103-0044256-2449479?v=glance&s=books&st=*

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