Let me put it another way: Let's say there is going to be a negotiating between two parties. On one side of the table are 500,000 people, and on the other side there are two people. You are a member of the negotiating party with 500,000 people, and your main negotiator puts forward a proposal.
Standard stuff... Here's the way we are going to organize the economy. You go over the free market stuff, and investment, proper levels of regulation to avoid abuse and fraud, a proper legal framework, etc. You get to the workers, and again, you stick to pretty reasonable and standard stuff: Every human being willing and able to work will have the right to do so at a living wage. And you go down the list that will ensure a basic standard that will maintain the human dignity of each worker.
So you earn a living wage, and you contribute to a pension system, and you have right to vacation, lunch hour, laws against exploitation of child labor, etc. Your side of the table is reasonable, recognizes that people who take risks in investment should be able to make a profit, etc. You are a decent, logical, and reasonable human being.
So you finish your proposal, and on the other side, the two guys negotiating with the 500,000 on your side, put their proposal forward...
First they tell you that they are going to organize the economy in such a way as to create an artificial method of transferring the value of human labor, raw material, food, fuel, etc., onto a global financial system which will be responsible for managing monetary and investment policies--and they tell you that this system will be very efficient. So so far so good, your side is eager to learn more...
Then we get to the specifics as related to the workers: Workers will work in all kinds of industries, in businesses that provide products and services. The difference between the cost of production, and the market value of the product or service will be the profit.
In a relentless pursuit of increased profits, the worker will be pushed to become ever more efficient so as to improve her productivity on a constant basis, and hence increase the delta between the cost of production and profit.
But workers' wages will not grow on par with productivity increases. The extra profit created by the worker's labor will go to the two guys. But "wait, it gets better," the two guys say. At this point the 500,000 across the table are kind of scratching their heads. "Okay, go on then..." In addition to that, the worker will have to accept being squeezed even more (similar to squeezing the juice out of an orange), and will willingly accept to give up the rights to pensions, and diminish other rights, like overtime pay, vacations, family leave, health care, education.
At this point the 500,000 are kind of looking at the two guys with a perplexed, and incredulous look...
So the two guys propose that whenever feasible, they will shut down factories at home, and pursuit quasi-slave labor across the world, and then make the homeland workers compete on wages against those slave-wage workers in third world countries, who do not respect human rights, and heavily exploit and pollute the environment.
But they are not done with their proposal... They acknowledge that there is going to be some discontent among "some" workers, so they propose to push the worker to work at subsistence level and earn just enough to stay alive, but to keep him completely exhausted, stressed out, and emotionally drained. That way, the worker will not have the ability to think straight and understand to the degree he's being exploited.
And as a backup to this, the two guys also propose that they will implement some sort of "bread and circuses" program, where they will use their control of the media to bombard the minds of the workers with utter and complete bullshit, with misinformation, with crass entertainment, etc. They point out that other tiny groups of ruling elite sociopaths have always resorted to similar methods throughout history.
The negotiator for the 500,000 workers ask, "Is there anything else?" And the two sociopaths say, "yes, there is one final thing... The only way we can make this work is with the total acquiescence of the people on your side. You have to understand, we are only two guys, and you are 500,000 strong. So you'll have to buy into our made-up economic model specifically-designed to transfer all the wealth and power from your side to the two of us."
So the 500,000 start laughing out loud! They laugh and laugh and laugh... Tears run down their cheeks... They can't control it. After the laughter subsides, the negotiators for the 500,000 tell the two guys, "FUCK YOU, you piece of shit! Here's the way it's going to be..." And the two guys have no option but to go with the first proposal. And all is good after that.
And nurses, police officers, construction workers, civil engineers, firefighters, journalists, manufacturing employees, technology workers, medical doctors, lawyers, they all take part in working to provide products and services needed in society. And the poor, the sick, the old, the infirm, are helped, according to their needs.
And we live in a healthy and prosperous society. It's up to you.
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15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Wealth Inequality in America (click to view)
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