As we have all seen, big business and the wealthy have decided that it is time to engage in class warfare against the American people and the United States government. Papa John’s CEO says his company will reduce workers hours due to President Obama’s reelection and the recognition that Obamacare is here to stay. Murray Energy Corp is firing people due to Obama’s reelection and not due to any actual change in policy or in the market. Supposedly a Las Vegas CEO is firing employees, once again, because of Obama’s reelection.
I am sure this list will grow and it is clearly a statement by the very rich and big business that unless they get their way, unless we the people comply with their demands, they will make average people suffer. There was no change in the market that is forcing these actions. There was no immediate change to regulations and no change in their profit or in the number of their customers. There is not even a change in the idea that businesses provide health insurance for their employees because that is how we have done it for decades. I would like to say this is a temper tantrum of the rich because they did not get their way this election cycle despite the hundreds of millions they spent to make it go their way. Unfortunately, I think it is much worse than that.
It is economic terrorism and we need to call it that. They want to use their power and wealth to punish Americans for not following the lead of the wealthy. The independence of many American voters has shocked many of those at the top and they cannot understand why we do not follow. These individuals think they should be the only people who have a say in our government and in how our society should function and this election showed them that there are still enough independently minded Americans who will not follow them. In an attempt to change that equation they are now threatening all of us.
It appears to me that they want to use their control of capital to do three things. First, they want to dictate to all of us who our elected officials should be and what policies our government should enact. When dictating to us what we should do does not work, they then use their control to accomplish their second task, which is to punish the American people. Basically, they are saying if we do not do as they say, they will take their money and jobs away. They will fire people and do what they can to destroy the economy. We are children who need to be disciplined for not listening. Finally, they want us to fear them because through fear they can dominate us. By making us afraid that they will punish us by firing people, they expect us to support politicians who are opposed to regulation, entitlement programs, and any policy that helps the average person.
We also have our politicians who want us to be afraid. Just think about how the Republicans want to hold the debt ceiling, and our economy, hostage to getting their demands met. They at least bluster they are willing to destroy our economy unless Obama does as they demand.
I see all of these actions as acts of economic terrorism and it is time we start defining it and calling it out when it happens. We need to explain how this is the real class warfare happening in this country. We need to demand that our journalists write about it in terms of class warfare. And we need to continue to stand up to those would be dictators who would take control of this country from the average person.
We have often said that it is not us engaged in class warfare but the right. Now, we have the proof. Firing people because they may not have voted for your selected politician is economic terrorism. The use of fear to get your way is terrorism and the rich want us to be afraid. Let's call them out on it.