Jack Kerouac, the iconic figure of the beat generation, posed this question over half a century ago to a society facing an uncertain future. Fast-forward to contemporary events in America and very few issues have been resolved in the past fifty years. It is not for lack of trying; the American people arrived in mass (for American standards) in 2008 to move the country in a direction it desperately needs. The coming year will bring about a resurgence of the ‘hope’ and ‘change’ sought after, three years hence; however, this time it will take on a fundamentally different appearance.
With the increasing assault on unions gripping the nation and Republicans focusing on killing jobs more than rebuilding the economy, many individuals throughout the nation will build upon their anger and make it politically risky for a politician to defy the concerns of the workers – abstract will become action.
The United States is entering into a year in which the political landscape will become increasingly volatile. With Main Street struggling to get by and Wall Street’s casino back open and pushing past 12,000, the stage is set for a contentious year between the haves and the have nots. The divergence in reality – between Wall and Main Street – can be seen in a single news cycle; stories concerning unemployment, bankruptcy, and foreclosures are being reported along side the successes made by hedge funds, a sky-rocketing stock market, and ever-increasing corporate bonuses. Something will eventually give in the minds of the workers and the faster they act the better off the nation will be.
Elected leaders (Democrats and Republicans alike) across the United States have nearly given up on the American worker, focusing more attention on deficit reduction than job creation. American politicians seem unwilling or uninterested in helping people, instead closing the institutions relied upon by the people; institutions in the recent past that have been deemed necessary for a strong society by both parties.
“Independence? That’s middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.” – George Bernard Shaw
Instead of focusing their attention on openly discussing reforms in existing programs that are in need of long-term stability, America’s political Right have decided to build political capital by attacking the livelihoods of American workers.
The public sector, particularly public sector unions, will be under assault throughout 2011; their wages and pensions have been blamed for the state’s skyrocketing deficits and the failure of any and all government programs, no matter how ambiguous the circumstances.
Public sector workers have become the new scapegoat for America’s ills and will provide politicians – on both sides – with a big enough smokescreen to ignore legitimate issues.
The reality of the situation is that (as stated by John Schmitt’s CEPR: The Wage Penality for State and Local Government Employees and the 1 November 2010 Office of Personal Management Report) public sector wages and benefits are, on average, 4% less than their private sector counterparts. Currently, the numbers used to perpetuate the lie that public sector workers are overpaid stems from the fact that the “analysts” willfully neglect to inform others that their private sector numbers are based on a larger pool of workers with more minimum wage jobs and less benefit options – since benefit options are not offered to anyone working less than 40 hours per week.
The reality is that states are not taxing enough rather then spending too much. Forty-nine states (even ‘right-to-work’ states) have projected shortfalls – North Dakota was spared due to the oil boom. If public sector unions are to blame for budget shortfalls then anti-union states, like Texas (which has the second largest budget shortfall behind California), should not have the issues it currently has. Under the logic being put forth by the nation’s leaders, right to work states should be better off than their counterparts.
“In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.” – Aristotle
The movement of numerous Republican politicians to turn the short-term fight over budget deficits into a long-term struggle over collective-bargaining and union power is one of, if not the, biggest challenges Americans unions have been forced to face.
With industrial relations back at the center of American politics, as well as a resurgence of wild-eyed right-wingers awaiting a chance to slay the ‘Leviathan’, it is important the war being fought (and inevitably won) by the union be done so in the correct fashion; provide a platform for the unions to redesign existing structures to increase services and productivity, thus diminishing any future possibility of successful right-wing demonization of the American working-class. The public sector needs to redesign its image to show the rest of society that its successes are vital for the country - few seem to realize this fact. The past thirty years has been abysmal for the labor movements (in numbers, not density) across the globe, and the United States, in particular, needs to find a way to move the working-class back to the unionization that was prevalent not long ago.
"There is class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning." - Warren Buffett.
The plan for 2011 is for the rich and powerful to initiate inter-class warfare; divide the nation against itself and ensure the anger and hostility is not directed to those very individuals driving the country into chaos. Politics in 2011 and 2012 will reinforce James Madison’s desire to ensure the wealthy remain in power. Sadly, the assault on individual livelihoods will destabilize an already fragile economy and force American citizens to initiate a skewed examination of the role of the state.
The rhetoric behind the attacks on public sector unions will be shrouded in the concept of making citizens more responsible for their future, even though the recent economic collapse has shown the world that individuals are not in control of their future. If the self-proclaimed ‘party of fiscal responsibility’ actually understood how markets worked, they would understand that the fluidity of the private sectors capital allows it to be mobile, and that most private sector companies tend to be drawn toward regions of the country with a strong public sector. In thus, politicians should be finding ways to strengthen their existing public sector in the hopes of bringing in private businesses.
If the interest remains on pitting sectors of America’s working-class against each other than the calls for true reform will be tempered and control of the nation will remain in the hands of the over-privileged and substance-less. If public sector workers are successfully demonized with limited recourse, American society will struggle for the long-term, the achievement gap will grow ever-wider, and the most capable in society will refuse to consider an occupation in the public sector – draining an already dwindling pool of potential employees.
“Power concedes nothing without a demand: it never did and it never will.” – Fredrick Douglas
As touched on in the introduction to this diary, the renaissance of hope throughout America over the coming year will be brought about by numerous individuals, inspired by the actions of the few. Over the course of 2011, many people will finally realize how rigged Washington truly is (especially post-Citizen’s United) and that they can no longer sit back and wait for some else to make matters better. The coming year will find a society, though under heavy strained and frightened by the unknown, willing to make an effort to help their neighbors or strangers, because it is simply the right thing to do. Moreover, the hope and change demanded will be realized when individuals understand that they can no longer treat democracy as a spectator sport - that, as Fredrick Douglas stated, change can only accomplished when people demand it.
As has been witnessed in Madison, WI, as well as with other unions becoming increasingly vocal across the country, working-class men and women will move the country forward and provide it the inspiration needed to become increasingly unified; they have taken it upon themselves to defend what is right, help their neighbors, and defend their communities.