Ted Rall for August 31, 2009
Transcript:
Everyone is unemployed, so why is the economy doing so well? The economy lives deep beneath the sea, far away from people. (Fish 1: Living things suck!) (Fish 2: Freak.) The economy's extreme shyness drives scientists batty... (Woman: The economy is selfish. It doesn't care about anyone!) (Man: I just want to see it once.) ...but this defense mechanism has kept it safe for centuries. (Man 2: Fortunately the economy is doing great!)
It is fitting to remember why we are celebrating Labor Day. A hundred years or so ago, laborers worked 60 hours a week. Children as young as 12 were required to work. Labor was cheap, and underpaid. Brave people started forming Labor Unions. Through strikes and getting people who supported labor elected, workers cut the work week from 60 to 50, then 48, and finally 40 hours. Factories were forbidden to employ child workers.
Manufacturers could only produce only a third of what they could before. They were forced to introduce automation and the assembly line to keep production up. This succeeded so well that American manufacturing became dominant in the world, and our country became rich!
During WWII, many workers went to war and we again had a huge shortage of labor. Women were brought into the workforce. After the war, there was a surplus of labor, real wages dropped, and the average Americans quality of life started to drop. Still business did really well. We had the Vietnam war, and another labor shortage., and things improved for awhile. When it ended, we had stagflation until Regan became president. He ran constant budget deficits and put the country into a debt spiral. He gave the money to the rich - the start of the “rob from the poor, give to the rich program.”
When W was elected, his people recalled the Vietnam era. They realized that a perpetual war was the solution, and invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq. They encouraged companies to outsource jobs to Mexico, China, and other far eastern countries. With a $500 B annual trade deficit, the end wasn’t long in coming.
We now encourage companies that export jobs, and punish companies that invest in automation and making our workers more productive. Government is now anti-Labor.
Labor Day was started to honor the Labor movement and American workers, once the best in the world. It is now a very hollow holiday unless we remember the glories of the past and learn the lesson we need to to return to those proud days.