American Workers 19th Century
American Worker 21st Century
In the 18th Century most Americans lived on the land. During the 19th Century mechanization made farming vastly more efficient while steam transport created a global market for this agricultural bounty. But paradoxically, farmers suffered; from tight competition, loan payments and the monopolistic extortion of rail carriers. They tried defending themselves with political activism and production quotas but the logic of technological efficiency was unstoppable. Eventually, the vast majority of Americans left the land and moved to the cities. Henceforth, only a few people would be needed to feed society.
In the cities they found manufacturing jobs which didn’t always pay well, because the urban labor market was just as competitive as the agricultural commodities market. Still, the machines wouldn’t run themselves and the workers eventually managed to organize themselves, creating a Union movement which gave them substantial power over wages and work conditions. America became the manufacturing center of the world and (after the unrest of the 30’s) America truly did have the highest standard of living in the world. But the machines gradually became more efficient and the newly industrialized nations of Asia brought a glut of low wage competition for manufacturers. Meanwhile, Corporate America waged a relentless war against Unions and membership fell almost to the point of insignificance. Once again, modern technology was conspiring to put Americans out of work. Once again the political system did little to help.
With Farm jobs gone and most Manufacturing jobs too, unemployment and low wages became the new normal. Of the remaining jobs, many of the best paying were in Construction, but this industry wasn’t sustainable; it was a bubble economy based ultimately on foreign creditors. Predictably, it collapsed. Things went from bad to worse.
Americans (and all humans) were now living in a paradox. A technological revolution had virtually eliminated the need for human labor. A small minority could now feed, clothe and house an entire civilization. In some respects they stood on the brink of Utopia, but there was an enormous obstacle blocking the path. All of the manufacturing capital, financial capital and intellectual property was owned by an oligarchy of selfish and short-sighted “business leaders”. These individuals controlled all the levers of the economy but it was an economy that scarcely required workers. Middle aged people entered forced retirement; young people worked for free in the hope that someday they would be paid. Construction Unions faded away.
Recently, Google announced plans to automate the entire chain of supply and distribution. Robots will deliver raw materials, robots will manufacture and robots will deliver the finished product - but not to you perhaps. They will only deliver to people who can pay which increasingly leaves most Americans out of the picture.
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Where does this leave us you ask? Look to the slums of Mexico, Venezuela and India, this is your answer. Like the U.S., these nations are “Democracies”, but tell that to the poorer residents of Mumbai, Caracas or Mexico City; it’s tough to vote when you’re struggling to hustle a thousand calories just to survive another day. Humans have become expendable, soon we won’t even be useful as cannon fodder. Increasingly the impoverished majority will be herded into slums where hunger, disease and violence will gradually eliminate them. The rich no longer need us.
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There is an answer to this nightmare. There’s still time to save ourselves, perhaps. But it will definitely require new thinking and a great deal of dedication. It will entail a fundamental restructuring of our government; not an easy goal for certain, but probably easier than picking through a dump, selling your kidney or prostituting a daughter just to make ends meet. So, what am I selling? Three words; Civil Service Candidacy.
Extend the Civil Service Act of 1883 to include candidates for public office. Rescind the power of political parties to select candidates, conferring that authority exclusively on the Office of Personnel Management. Require all aspiring lawmakers to take a Civil Service Examination and submit the high scorers to a lottery. The winners will run for office (on Federal funds) and eventually write our laws. Basically, take the corporations out of the loop and treat candidates like any other group of Government employees.
Crazy I know, but I’ve invested all of my intellectual capital in this idea. I even wrote a forty page essay in the hopes of winning converts. The paper rambles through a number of topics on the way to civil service candidacy because I wanted to make the case thoroughly, but rest assured there is a concrete proposal after the conclusion and a link to my blog as well. If you have a long attention span and an open mind I would encourage you read it.
The oligarchy which controls our country is bipartisan, and they won’t rest until you’re living in a cardboard shanty next to the landfill. The only solution is to replace their pawns in D.C. with intelligent, independent citizens. I don’t imagine this will be easy but I refuse to believe it’s impossible, not without trying anyhow.