Rich And Poor
The United States is the most developed
capitalist economy in the world. The
markets within the economy provide
profit-motivated companies endless potential
in the pursuance of pecuniary
accumulation. Throughout the twentieth-century
competitive companies have
implemented modernized managerial procedures designed
to raise profits by
reducing unnecessary costs. These cost-saving procedures
have had a
substantial effect on society and particularly members of the working
class.
Managers and owners of these competitive and self-motivated companies
have
consistently worked throughout this century to exploit the most
controllable
component of the production process: the worker. The worker has
been forced
by the influence of powerful and affluent business owners to work
in
conditions hazardous to their well being in addition to preposterously
menial
compensation. It was the masterful manipulation of society and
legislation
through strategic objectives that the low-wage workers were
coerced into this
position of destitute. The strategies of the affluent
fragment of society were
conceived for the selfish purpose of monetary gain.
The campaigns to augment the
business position within the capitalist economy
were designed to weaken
organized labor, reduce corporate costs, gain
legislative control and reduce
international competition at the expense of
the working class. The owners have
gained and continue to gain considerable
wealth from these strategies. To
understand why the owners of the powerful
companies operate in such a selfish
manner, we must look at particular
fundamentals of both capitalism and
corporation strategy. Once these
rudiments are understood, we will more clearly
relate the perspective of the
profit-seeking corporations of America. Legal
discussion will also be
included to show how the capital possessing elite
operate through political
parties to achieve their financial objectives. It is
the synergist effect of
these numerous strategies that have lead to the widening
income gap in
America, persistent attempts of contraction in worker’s rights
and increased
corporate political influence. These campaigns have come at an
expense to
Americans and will only continue to benefit the affluent
society.
Creating Corporate Value The United States is a capitalist
economy. In a
capitalist economy individuals who wish to gain wealth can
invest their capital
into markets in hopes of future returns. If this
investment gains in value then
the investor has earned a return, which can be
reinvested. This creates a cycle
of investing and reinvesting for potential
future return. This wealth creating
cycle is a fairly simple concept to
understand, but wealthy individuals have
learned to fabricate this cycle into
different situations. A common form of
investment is purchasing and selling
of corporate stocks. The stock market works
like all markets on the
fundamental theory of supply and demand. The more demand
for a stock the
higher it is valued and conversely the less demand the less it
is valued.
Corporations are legal entities which issue stock to investors who
purchase
them and become shareholders of the company. The risk taken by
investors is
that when they buy stocks it is possible that the individual
company will not
do well, or that stock prices will generally weaken. At worst,
it is possible
to lose entire investments, but no more then that. Therefor,
shareholders of
a corporation are not responsible for corporate debts. So, a
corporation
would be a very attractive type of investment for potential
investors to
consider. Corporations compete against each other in markets in
the
United States and around the world. These corporations have employees
who
perform various functions that contribute to successful strategic
goal
completion. Corporations often will offer stock incentive plans
strategically to
employees in positions of importance. The enticement to
employees is to work in
a manner that will increase the value of the company
and their shares of stock.
These incentive plans were strategically
developed by major shareholders because
the corporate executives felt that
people would be motivated to increase their
own wealth. Most employees are
motivated by money and will work harder when the
chance is given for more
money. The very nature of this strategy consolidates
all the employees to act
as one self-motivated entity in the pursuit of monetary
accumulation. In
Piven and Cloward’s Regulating the Poor, this point is
illustrated:
"Capitalism, however, relies primarily upon the mechanisms of a
market-the
promise of financial rewards or penalties-to motivate men and women
to work
and to hold them to their occupational tasks" (4). The increased
motivation
of important members of the workforce by the enticing tactics of
greed for
wealth is a result of strategic planning by the major shareholders of
the
firm. The cost to these primary shareholders is the stock incentive
plans
needed additional stock to fulfill, which reduced the valuation of all
stocks.
The major shareholders know this devaluation is only temporary
because
self-motivated employees will act in a manner that will increase the
value. The
primary concept for discussion purposes is that self-motivated
major
shareholders have utilized the capitalist theory and thus, created a
business
compact with employees that will make self-motivated decisions on
all levels.
The strategy worked and throughout the country employees are
busy increasing the
value of their stock, but most importantly, they are
increasing the value of the
major shareholders. We will see this investing
concept throughout most this
paper because the wealthy resist adverse
conditions with money. The Grand Old
Party The Republican Party remained
dominant throughout the 1920’s, remaining
unaffected by factionalism that
plagued the Democratic Party. The party
continued to align its platforms with
the southern whites, and owners and
managers businesses. Even in
extraordinary economic times of prosperity for the
wealthy, the Republican
Party continued to advocate industrial economic values.
The primary
dilemma to republican business interests was the labor problem.
"The
Republicans finally concentrated their discussion on four broad
approaches to
labor problems: the progressive approach, the open shop approach,
the
efficiency-engineering approach, and the political approach" (Zeiger
11).
Most businessmen resolved harshly to end labor activism and to
quietly continue
their profitable business interests. This behavior of this
standpoint took the
pattern of employer resistance to labor unions, but
originally the open shop
crusades proved to be the most fruitful in the
short-run. The open shop crusade,
now illegal because it gave employers the
ability to hire prospective employees
on the basis if they belonged or
support trade union activities. This restricted
the employee’s ability to
strike on a particular issue because they lack the
power of numbers that a
union possesses and could be replaced. Open shop
enthusiasts were a major and
vocal part of the Republican Party because of the
financial resources they
possess. Many republicans determined them intemperate
and adherent, and their
perspectives were damaging and extreme. "These open
shop enthusiasts
constituted a vocal and influential segment of the party. They
often proved
quite effective in their efforts to chastise organized labor, for
many
Americans shared their concern. Still, many Republicans considered
them
extreme and doctrinaire, and their views harmful and inexpedient"
(Zieger 74).
It was these Republicans that lamented these controversial
assaults on labor
problems, such as Herbert C. Hoover who wished to devise a
whole new style of
labor relations based on the philosophies of efficiency
and cooperation. By 1921
industrial engineers and other experts had developed
the Taylor Society, the
Federated American Engineering Societies. The
Taylor Society was designed to
improve the efficiency of a job-place in hopes
of reducing severe factory
working conditions. This in theory would increase
aggregate production, which
would lead to more available jobs and
lower-unemployment. The main points to be
established is that the Republican
Party was support by wealthy business owners.
The worst opponent of the
worker is the wealthy business owner within the
Republican Party. These
are the characters that advocate extreme hostile tactics
such as the open
shop crusades. Regardless, they support the Republican Party
financially and
therefor the Republican Party acts as their voice politically.
The
Industrial Revolution One component of the production process that can
be
controlled by management is automation. Regardless, the employee still
performs
a necessary function in the production process. The taylorization
theory states
employers have an incentive to make a job function more
efficient. The increased
efficiency results in lower production costs, lower
aggregate unemployment rates
and higher company profit returns. The
industrial revolution was characterized
by the widespread replacement of
manual labor by machines that could perform the
job functions quicker and or
at lower costs. The industrial revolution was the
result of interrelated
fundamental changes that transform smaller market
economies into an
industrialized economy. Many products that were made at home
or in small work
units were transferred to large factories. Since the factories
could produce
at lower costs the product could be sold at a lower cost. This
competitive
advantage drove the smaller competition out of business. The people
who
profited from this effect were the owners of the mechanisms of
production.
This marks the beginning of an era where these wealthy owners
would prosper over
the working class. The aggregate effect of the increase
production efficiency
lead to the development of massive industrial parks.
These parks expanded the
scale of production dramatically and became
concentrated in cities and large
towns. Since traditional production relied
heavily in the needs of local
subsistence it gave way to the more market
orientated production devices. This
economically forced large numbers of the
rural poor who moved to towns and
cities to become the wage seeking labor
force necessary to run rapidly expanding
industries. This extensive movement
of communities had a considerable result on
labor prices and ultimately
constrained these people to become the urban poor.
The effect of the
Industrial Revolution on American society was substantial.
Income
following workers increased the population of large towns and
cities
severely. From 1860 to 1900 the number of urban areas in the United
States
expanded fivefold. Even more striking was the explosion in the growth
of big
cities. In 1860 there were only 9 American cities with more than
100,000
inhabitants; by 1900 there were 38. Labor markets were flooded with
eligible
workers seeking employment and through pure labor competition they
were willing
to work in any environment for any wage. The environments
factory laborers were
forced to work in were considered by many Americans to
be despicable. Regardless
of the factory working conditions, many people were
obligated to take the
employment. Employment was necessary to generate income
to support oneself and
family. As a result, the Exploited workers received no
power to contract with
the owners of production. Instinctively managers and
owners of capital have
contrasting labor interests then those perspectives of
employees. Wages and
profits incomes divide the value that production adds,
so by definition, labor
and capital interests often are on opposing sides of
social policy that affects
the price level of the real wage. "The real wage
can be regarded as the price
that equates the supply of and demand for
labor", (Foley and Michl 70). Owners
and mangers of capital seek a flexible
labor force, which is counter for the
worker’s desire for stability and
security in their employment and conditions
of life. At this point in
history, the affluent society of the United States was
generating immense
wealth by capitalizing on the poorer worker’s needs for
minimal financial
requirements. The wealthy invested their capital into factory
production
devises, which drove out smaller competing business from the market
place.
This profit seeking strategy worked because it economically forced
resource
deficient workers into the cities. The supply for labor increased,
which
coerced many employees to work for the affluent owners at a
corresponding
cut-rate real wage rate. These events began to illustrate a
scenario that would
set the scene for modifications in worker’s rights. The
laborers had to
develop a strategy to counteract the poverty-stricken working
conditions imposed
upon them by the owners of the factories. The Labor Market
The labor market
surplus further developed the worker’s dependency upon the
self-motivated
employer. Trade unions were formed to advocate alleviation of
some dependency
and support the worker’s efforts by gaining a quantifiable
measure of power
over their economic standing. Initially, the trade unions
had limited success
until they exercised the real true power worker’s have
over employers: The
strike. The strike in labor relations is a completely
organized halt of work and
production carried out by a large group of
employees. The purpose of the strike
is either enforcing worker’s demands
that relate to unfair labor practices and
or to employment conditions created
by the self-motivated owner. The response to
labor unions by business owners
was the use of open shop tactics.
"Employers’ organizations and business
groups commenced a vigorous campaign
for the open shop. Armed with the
then-legal yellow-dog contract, by which an
employer could require a
prospective employee to agree not to join or support a
union" (Zeiger 20).
The wealthy opposed the trade union’s use of the concept
of collective
bargaining because it advocated the subject of worker’s
rights.
Collective bargaining is where individuals with interest in the
matter negotiate
their stipulations until a compromise is found. The wealthy
industrialists
despise that their interests would are in constant danger by
collective
bargaining. In response, "America’s industrialist launched a
well-financed
general attack on the very concept of collective bargaining"
(Zeiger 20). The
use of collective bargaining proved to be an effective tool
in bargaining with
owners and managers. This meant that worker’s have finally
developed a
technique through labor unions that competently combats the
proprietor’s
regimen. The Strike During the 1920’s and 1930’s, strikes
occurred as a
natural feature of nationwide unions of the American Federation
of Labor and
other groups soon to be recognized as the Congress of Industrial
Organizations.
Striking had become a major weapon in the labor movement
and was threatening the
profitability of the production owners. "The strikes
and threatened strikes,
the radical agitation, the sharp industrial
depression, and the whole atmosphere
of discord and unrest that pervaded the
country endangered the Republic and
demanded action" (Zeiger 74). The wealthy
republicans had to promote an
offensive campaign to end this threat. So as
previously stated, they adopted
well-financed strategies aimed at the courts
to obtain injunctions, which would
legally prevented strikes in specific
circumstances. The success of these
strategies is confirmed in Zeiger’s
Republicans and Labor 1919-1929, "The
1920’s marked the climax of
antilabor judicial activities". (260) The basis
the owner persuaded the
courts with was that their property was either damaged
or threatened and that
they were powerless without legal solutions. It was the
possession of
financial resources that allowed the wealthy to recruit and employ
powerful
and persuasive lawyers. Legally persuading the courts of law with
expensive
lawyers was the sole purpose of the use of financial power to
authoritatively
force workers back into the production factories and produce
profit for the
owners. From the perspective of the wealthy, the application of
financial
resources to generate future income is honorable capitalism regardless
of the
situations’ context. The power of wealth even can influence courts of
law
through lawyers and thereby, give the wealthy extreme power in
legislation
during this period in history. The Rise of the Labor Party The
Democratic Party
during this era was experiencing outbursts of factionalism.
The convention in
1924 was racial divided by southern whites and the
northern urban blacks. The
future success of the party was depended on the
need for a change. The strategy
developed by the leaders was to begin the
alteration of the Democratic Party
appeal. The leaders of the Democratic
Party realized that poor people could be a
powerful voting coalition. The
great depression of 1929 forced millions of
people into unemployment and
poverty. These unemployed workers practiced
approaches of protest through
disruption demonstrations. These massive
demonstrations help encouraged the
working class voter’s hostility and
defection of the Republican Party. The
Democratic Party thus capitalizing on
this realigned their platform to
advocate the needs of poor people with the
intent to gain votes. This
re-alignment of party policy angered the southern
democrats whose views were
becoming more Republican. Having lost the southern
support, the Democratic
Party became the primary political instrument of
vocalization and evolution
of labor class politics. "During the electoral
realignment of the 1930’s, the
Democrats gained the overwhelming allegiance of
most manual workers and their
unions", (Piven and Cloward 421). The alignment
of the working class with the
Democratic Party coalition developed two powerful
strategies to combat the
wealthy and business leaders. As stated previously, the
workers held extreme
striking power over the means of production in factories.
Now they had
power in the organization of the working class population and
could
coordinate their votes to consolidate political force for their
perspectives.
The concept is similar to how the employees of a
corporation have incentives to
pursue company goals as a team. "The main
political project of labor parties
became the use of state power to develop
the welfare state" (Piven and Cloward
21). Therefor, in the 1930’s the
democrats became a party of vigorous
government intervention in the economy
and thus the social realm. The goals of
the party were to regulate,
redistribute economic wealth and to protect people
who are in need of
assistance in an increasingly competitive society. The
depression of 1929 and
the coming of Franklin D. Roosevelt into the presidency
with the New Deal
help syndicate and enlarge the commitment to governmental
expansions of
assistance programs and industry regulation. Due to the economic
conditions
of the era, the advocators of economic assistance proved to be
attractive to
society and The Democratic Party flourished. The result of these
campaigns
was increased worker’s rights and a seemingly practical welfare
state.
Worker’s Rights Massive unemployment during the Great Depression
created a
socially dysfunctional society. Without the ability to create income
through
employment, basic physiological necessities were not being met. "When
large
numbers of people are suddenly barred from their traditional occupations,
the
entire structure of social control is weakened and may even collapse"
(Piven
and Cloward 7). During the depression, society experienced this
symptom, which
resulted in massive protests. The Democratic Party under the
direction of
Roosevelt recognized the need for government intervention.
The party aligned
itself with the working class and began to advocate
worker’s rights
legislation. Under Democratic Party control, federal funds
were used to
establish the Works Progress Administration, now known as the
Work Project
Administration, which distributed assistance to citizens in
need of subsistence.
In 1935, Roosevelt again used federal funds to
create public works programs,
which gave employment opportunities to the
unemployed. As a result of declining
republican political power, these and
other initiatives were introduced to help
increase worker’s rights. These
worker’s rights that the Democratic Party
supported were the same rights that
the Republican Party had worked so hard to
repress from regulation. In
addition to passing labor rights laws, legislative
action was taken against
the wealthy industrialist’s use of legal injunctions.
These lawful
injunctions were used as an intimidating scheme to suppress union
membership
and ultimately strikes. In 1932 the U.S. congress enacted the
Norris-La
Guardia Anti-Injunction Act. This legislation severely limited
the
self-motivated employer’s use of injunctions as a standard operating
procedure
against strikes. Another tactic of wealthy employers to combat
unions was the
use of the open shop strategy. Abolishment of the open shop
regime was usually
one of the primary demands by labor unions in collective
bargaining. The
National Labor Relations Act of 1935, known as the Wagner
act, because of its
sponsor Robert Wagner was adopted and help end the open
shop crusades. This act
federally guaranteed workers the right to organize
through trade unions, use of
collective bargaining and firmly incorporated a
set of employment standards. It
also restricted employers from practicing
pre-employment tactics such as the
open shop strategy. This reduced the power
that republican business
representatives could exert over the prospective and
employed worker. In
addition, the federal mandated right of collective
bargaining guaranteed workers
negotiation hearings in which employers had to
listen to the worker’s needs.
Congress also established the Social
Security Act, which is a form of social
welfare. In 1938, the United States
Congress implemented the Fair Labor
Standards Act. This primary functions
of this act was to eliminate labor
conditions that are dangerous to work’s
health and productivity, it also
established a minimum wage to eliminate the
disastrous effects of high labor
supplies, overtime wages were developed to
eliminate excessive work weeks, and
finally it eliminate oppressive child
labor. The result of the Democratic Party
effect on legislation during the
labor movement is essential a bill of rights
granted to the working class of
America. No longer would the wealthy elite of
America victimize the low
wage working class in such inhumane techniques.
Instead, these
legislative acts marked the beginning of a new challenge to
the
Republican Party. Now the party had to reclaim lost legal ground by
slowly
returning to power of the United States Government. Political
Phenomena The
legislative mandates of the Roosevelt era helped establish what
is now known as
the labor movement. Society was suffering adverse conditions
and the Democratic
Party mobilized the people into a political voice. The
Republican Party was
essentially powerless, regardless of their financial
position because government
officials were responding to public outcries.
This historically proves that when
conditions are unfair, a political party
can mobilize society and gain control.
Roosevelt also initiated measures
that resulted in higher taxes on the rich and
restricted private utility
companies. Although these combinations did not stop
the wealthy republicans
from continuing to gain additional wealth, it only
slowed their progress.
History when again prove that the Republican Party would
come back into power
and restrict the rights of workers. This occurred when a
Republican
majority Congress passed the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947,
known as
the Taft-Hartley Act evidencing this reoccurring political
phenomenon.
This act retracted some of the rights that were implemented
during the labor
movement. These provisions included restricting supervisory
employee’s
protection from the NLRA and emphasized the right of employees not
to join a
labor union. These restrictions of labor rights were in the
interest of the
Republican Party and were created to reduce the power
previous legislation
granted labor unions. The successful creation of this
statute reinforces the
evidence that wealthy Republicans continually attempt
to swindle the blue-collar
labor class. Their motives are based within
selfish financial greed and
capitalist economy theory. This congressional act
illustrates the phenomenon
that bipartisan control and power is cyclical. The
Democrats did regained
majority of congress and implemented numerous
anti-business and social interest
acts in the 1960’s. Due to the political
cycle, The Republican Party
inevitable would gain control of congress once
again, but the question was when?
Globalization During the economic
crisis of the seventies, particularly the
great recession of 1973-1975
businesses began to understand their role in the
world’s economy. America was
importing more then it was exporting, which was
creating an unfamiliar and
enormous trade deficit. "In 1971, for the first
time since the 1890’s, the
U.S. imported more then it exported", (Cohen and
Rogers 36) Increased
competition from foreign firms posed a substantial threat
to American
corporations. The result of this threat forced American corporations
to
compete with globalization. Corporations could no longer produce
simple
marketing campaigns to develop brand loyal consumers. Global
competition forced
these companies to produce the highest quality, lowest
price and distribute
through efficient channels. The international
competition however, operating in
countries were labor is cheaper, taxes are
lower, there is fewer industry
regulations and an absence of unions. In
addition to these competitive forces,
managers of the corporations must also
answer to the wealthy shareholders of the
corporation. Many business leaders
formed think tanks to devise strategies to
compete with this new threat.
"American business leaders set about developing
a political program to shore
up profits by slashing taxes and business
regulation, lowering wages and
welfare spending, and building up American
military power abroad", (Piven and
Cloward 443). The sources of all of these
objectives were rooted within
government policies. These policies would
inevitable have to change for these
goals to be achieved. So, the corporate
elite implemented a political
strategy that would slowly form over decades to
achieve. Corporate
Politicians Even in modern times the wealthy elitist of
society still could
influence political matters through the power massive
financial resources.
During the 1980’s business elite continued to align
themselves with the
Republican Party for it conservative ideals. The methods the
wealthy
corporation shareholders influence legislation during modern times
has
extremely advanced. The development of political action committees
has
encouraged corporations to channel financial contributions into
political
campaigns. Corporations will develop a PAC, establish a set of
issues that it
promotes politically. If a politician is campaigning for an
election with
corresponding views, then it is in the best interest of the PAC
to contribute to
the campaign. More importantly, corporations are to
contribute to groups and
individuals not directly affiliated with a
candidate, such as the GOP. These
groups or individuals can register,
persuade voters, endorse a platform,
advocate a candidate and oppose another.
The Supreme Court ruled that the First
Amendment of the Constitution
protected this type of spending as a form of free
speech in its 1976
decision, Buckley vs. Valeo. These donations are referred to
as "soft money"
because they are not directly related to a campaign. The
absence of
regulation on soft money donations results in the option for
corporations to
contribute millions of dollars to further their political
interest. This
advantage has a profound effect in the corporate political
strategy.
"[Corporations] can simply treat politics as a business expense, a
budget
item like advertising, research and development, or public
relations"
(Clawson, Neustadl, and Weller 109). Through the strategy of the
use of campaign
contributing "soft money", corporations have vastly increased
their
influence on political issues. This new corporate political influence
has
succeeded in their campaign to minimize threats to profitability. These
threats
were reduced most noted during the Reagan years when the Republican
Party
dominated the government. "The administration has made significant cuts
in
social spending, particularly in low income programs, and made plain its
desire
for deeper cuts; achieved a massive, and massively regressive,
revision of the
Federal tax system in 1981; dramatically scaled back the
enforcement of
regulations that posed any significant limits to business
power", (Cohen and
Rogers 38). This success demonstrates the influential
power that wealth has over
the United States government. The government by
definition should act in the
best interest of the population and not the
elite. Instead the influx of soft
money continues to be unregulated and as
proven by the Supreme Court decisions
in 1976. This decision closely
resembles how the courts protected the rights of
employers in the labor
disputes of the 1920’s. Why the Poor? The reasons why
the rich corporations
target the government are because the government holds the
supreme lawful
power over the entire population. History has proven to these
elitists that
with well financed operations targeting campaigning officials over
time
favorable legislation will be passed. The legislation usually reduces
some
sort of cost or regulation in that firms industry. This increases
the
profitability of the company, which is directly related to the owner’s
wealth.
These incremental increases in profits have lead to more
investments to further
heighten the value of the wealthy. This is apparent by
the vast and increasing
gap between the rich and the poor in America. The
poor are relatively easy
targets in comparison to the costs of soft money
contributions. In America, it
is very difficult for the poor to change their
financial status. So, once a
person is poor they are generally poor for the
rest of their lives. They will
continue to spend their lives spending the
little money on the products these
corporations provide. In short, the
corporations are developing an enlarging
consumer base that is dependent upon
their products. The middle class is slowly
disappearing because of the loss
of blue-collar jobs. The loss of blue-collar
jobs is a symptom of the
increasing presence of globalization. Globalization has
privileged companies
to outsource their production needs to other countries with
lower regulation
and labor costs. This resembles much of the labor practices of
companies in
the 1920’s were the labor rights were essentially ignored.
Another easy
solution to minimize the firms operating costs is by eliminating
valuable
jobs. These sometimes massive downsizing satisfied the wealthy
stockholders
because the firm had lower production costs and higher
profitability.
"Investors often applaud the news of a layoff as a sign of
corporate
turn-around. The payroll is a large, ongoing liability to the balance
sheet,
and investors are titillated by anything that reduces it", (Downs
14).
History repeats itself as we see that wealthy investors and managers
again
behave in manners regardless of people’s needs. The forces unleashed
by
corporate executions and globalization have brought into the labor
market
thousands of unskilled job seekers with little or no income. A new
underclass
has of previously employed individuals has become a nationwide
trend in our
social and economic condition. These people are forced to take
jobs within the
service sector and these jobs typical pay wages that are
lower then those of
manufacturing jobs. These trends have formed a synergetic
effect on the growing
wealth gap between the rich and the poor. Conclusion In
today’s modern economy
companies do not have to worry about the United States
government regulating the
labor industries in other countries because of
jurisdiction. The use of soft
money in the United States government has
proven that even at home corporations
can freely advocate legislation that is
favorable to their terms. This has had a
profound effect on the income gap in
American society. The wealthy possess
financial resources that provide
enormous opportunities to create more wealth.
This need for excessive
wealth is deeply rooted into the personalities of these
individuals. In
America, society considers the pursuit of wealth has a
fundamental right of
capitalism. The ethical boundary was crossed by the use of
financial
resources to victimize portions of society for hopes of future gains
in
wealth. Since the industrial revolution, the production owning wealthy
has
continually endeavored systems to reduce labor costs at the expense of
the
worker. . The labor movement was a result of government intervention in
the
1930’s. The resulting legislation of this intervention produced
several
benefits to the working class, in particular the ability to form a
labor union.
Regardless, the republican elitist developed strategies to
undermine the
strength of labor unions. Unfortunately, history has proven
time and time again
that the cost of labor is all too easy to reduce. Today’s
global economy
requires the use of an educated workforce in technology
related jobs. This has
left unskilled workers to seek low wage employment in
the service industry.
Closely resembling the falling labor costs that
characterized the Great
Depression. Once again government action is
required to limit the power of the
wealthy elite. The masses of society’s
working class must again be reunited
and organized to act as political class
if the power is to return to the
people.
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