In his press conference last night, President Obama articlated an extremely important point:
"Bankers and executives on Wall Street need to realize that enriching themselves on the taxpayers' dime is inexcusable, that the days of out-sized rewards and reckless speculation that puts us all at risk have to be over," he said. "At the same time, the rest of us can't afford to demonize every investor or entrepreneur who seeks to make a profit. That drive is what has always fueled our prosperity, and it is what will ultimately get these banks lending and our economy moving once more."
HuffPo, quoting President Obama
And you thought it was the sweat of workers who made America. Wrong!
More, after the fold.
The drive to profit "has always fueled our prosperity." That is, greed is good, to a point. All you people talking workers taking their "fair share" have missed that point. It is investor's "drive to profit" that fuels our prosperity.
Speculation bad. Out-sized rewards are bad. But drive to profit makes our economy great.
Now that we have that clear, I will start complimenting the investors who supported the Great Class Stratification the last thirty years. Their drive to profit made our economy great.
That God for the investor class.
I respectfully disagree. Working people made America.
That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.
Barack Obama, DNC Speech, 2008
Of course, there is no need to demonize people, but there is no need to idealize the greed of investors.
I became a Democrat around 1968 when I was 13. I support working people. At best, the exploitation of workers by investors is something to be tolerated, but I draw the line at praising investors for fueling "our prosperity" by their greed.
I stand with Teddy Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, Paul Wellstone, Jeff Merkley, Walter Reuther.
Many here may not know Walter Reuther.
For Reuther, unionism was not confined simply to improving life at the workplace. He viewed the role of the union as a social movement aimed at uplifting the community within the guarantees of democratic values. After his untimely death, with May, in a plane crash in 1970, waves of downsizing devastated cities and created problems for labor that still exist today. You can just imagine him wading into the fight against wanton job destruction, done for the sake of propping up corporate balance sheets.
Time 100, Most Important People of the Century, 1998
"A social movement aimed at uplifting the community within the guarantees of democratic values." Yes, that is what he made the UAW into. We need such a movement today. Some people see that in the person of Barack Obama. It sure is not within investors' drive for profits.
Investors' drive for profit caused the outsouring of jobs. Investors' drive for profit caused the wanton job destruction. Investors' drive for profit caused the union busting tactics.
It what may be my last diary here for a while, I want to talk about Walter Reuther. I grew up reading "Solidarity," the UAW newspaper and learned progressive values from the UAW newspaper in the late 1960s. He died in 1969 or 1970. I first learned about the concept of universal health care from "Solidarity." The UAW fought for it back then:
Long before medical costs became a national issue, Reuther was advocating universal health care. He organized the Committee of One Hundred to put the issue on the national agenda and set the stage for congressional action.
Time 100, Most Important People of the Century, 1998
Time 100, Most Important People of the Century, 1998
The environment and civil rights:
Reuther's activism couldn't be contained by the collective-bargaining arena. One of many social problems that spurred him to action was the despoiling of the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Erie, a dying body of water that has been substantially revived by the cleanup effort he supported. At home, he helped mobilize volunteers to restore Paint Creek, a stream running through his community. He became actively involved in developing low-cost housing units in Detroit's inner city, including the Martin Luther King Jr. complex in downtown Detroit.
Here's a little history:
Reuther was 29 in 1936, when he became president of Local 174. It was a tumultuous period in labor history, when the U.A.W. literally fought for survival. Reuther became one of the union's generals, directing a series of sit-down strikes and other guerrilla tactics to try to organize auto plants. He soon gained national prominence and even entry into President Roosevelt's White House. He and his wife May also became great friends of Eleanor Roosevelt's.
It's not difficult to see why he was welcome. In 1940, a year before Pearl Harbor, he proposed converting available capacity in auto plants to military production. Echoing F.D.R.'s "Arsenal of Democracy" stance, he urged that the industry turn out "500 planes a day." His plan was harshly criticized by the corporations, which were unwilling to give up any part of their profitable business. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the rapid conversion to military production validated Reuther's vision.
At the 1946 U.A.W. convention, Reuther emerged as president in a closely fought race, on a platform against Soviet communist "outside interference" and for a new, more socially conscious approach to collective bargaining. He pledged to work for "a labor movement whose philosophy demands that it fight for the welfare of the public at large ... We won the war. The task now is to win the peace." Two years later, a would-be assassin, for reasons still unknown, fired shots through Reuther's kitchen window, shattering his right arm.
snip
Reuther kept pressing for new and better benefits, and over time, the union won the things that employees today take for granted. [TomP: This was written in 1998. Things change in 10 years.]
snip
The negotiation of decent working, health and safety conditions, coupled with a sound grievance procedure, added immeasurably to the personal sense of dignity and self-respect of the worker.
Time 100, Most Important People of the Century, 1998
I think of all that Reuther and workers fought for as I ponder the state of affairs today. I won't praise the greed of investors. It is the sweat of workers who made America.
I don't think I belong here anymore. I don't fit.
This is no GBCW. I'll likely be around from time to time. But there are other places to go, things to do. Causes that matter, blogs that fight for real change.
Y'all take care. (and I'm not from the South)
In solidarity.
