|
A BLACK HOLE IN THE DARK
SIDE Is there anybody reading this who considers themselves cheap labor? Probably not, we like imagine ourselves to be integral parts of the American dream. But, we are, in fact, cheap labor in a world of corporate neocons who honor no nationality. Bottom line: if corporate leadership is juggling the factors of CEO compensation, golden parachutes, profits, and your security at the moment the economy hiccups, (bet on it) your security will be the first thing to hit the floor. Guaranteed. A man chasing money is a like a man chasing tail. He's usually fraught with anticipation and has a tenuous grip on principle --and now we’ve had back-to-back presidential examples of both desires. Democratic or Republican, this demon has been around since Sampson spilled the beans to Delilah and Esau duped Isaac. But as of this moment, the money part of the analogy can be temporarily exorcised by voting the radical neoconservatives figure-headed by George Bush out of office the next time you get a chance. The reason the Bush League is hell bent on undermining social safety-net programs such as Social Security, public education, day care programs, etc. is because they're a counter-force to the business tool of manipulating desperate, cheap labor. As one poster to the internet weblog OneGoodMove puts it, "Cheap-labor Conservatives don't like social safety nets because when you're not only unemployed, but desperate because you have no options, corporations can pay what is often next to nothing. They want you over a barrel in a position to work cheap or starve.” That same writer suggests that those who oppose the policies of the corporate sychopants in the Bush administration, should start using the term "Cheap-labor Conservatives" to describe the friends of the president. This is not a bad idea. On the eve of Labor Day it might be good to remember there once was a viable labor movement in this country which performed a valuable counterforce to juggernaught of corporate power wedded to government. Yes, they had flaws, but without unions we would probably not be enjoying our 40 hour work week, occupational safety standards, 15 minute breaks, paid vacations, health-care coverage and many other things we take for granted --and which are in the process of being dismantled piece by piece by the neocon carpetbaggers of the Bush Administration. But what is a Cheap-labor Conservative anyway? Well, as it says in the Bible, you will know them by their works. Again OneGoodMove recommends keeping your eyes peeled for signs of anyone caught doing the following: A Cheap-labor Conservative will be working against the minimum wage, or other improvements in wages and working conditions, because these reforms undermine his efforts to keep you over a barrel and desperate to hold your job. Cheap-labor Conservatives will be pushing what they like to call "free trade" (NAFTA, etc.), because the world is full of deperately poor people who will always work cheaply. Cheap-labor Conservatives would prefer that more Americans accept the present lower standards of the world labor market rather than use American power to lean on business to raise the level of global standards and “lift all boats”. In this the Bush administration is an ally of business, not average Americans --and, yes, in his support for NAFTA at least, Bill Clinton was guilty of being a Cheap-labor Conservative. You’ll find Cheap-labor Conservatives working against a woman's right to choose, because unwanted children are an economic burden that put poor women "over a barrel," forcing them to work cheap. And organized labor? Cheap-labor Conservatives will forever oppose unions, because when laborers conspire, wages rise. That's why workers organize. (Though labor unions have fallen on hard times, they're showing new life. A report in the Pacific News Service gives a recent example of the way businesses deal with the threat of labor organization. It seems that in March 2003 a Brooklyn, NY judge, Steven Davis, "...ordered the firm Extreme Building Services, to stop 'physically assaulting employees, preventing them from washing up at the fire hydrant, destroying employees' asbestos workers licenses, (and) interrogating employees concerning their union membership.' Davis' ruling ended a trial marked by accusations that the asbestos removal company fired workers for union activity, exposed them to deadly asbestos fibers and was owned by a man who brought a gun onto the job to terrorize them." And this is not an historical anomaly. Similar actions by Ford Motor in the 1930's led to strong labor unions.) Cheap-labor Conservatives will be working to encourage bigotry --racism, jingoism, misogyny, homophobia -- because bigotry among wage earners keeps them from recognizing their common interests as wage earners. Finally, Cheap-Labor Conservatives' dirtiest secret is that they don't really like prosperity for the laboring class, because such prosperity means business is probably paying too much for labor. This accounts for the disconnect we often find between the price of stocks and the level of unemployment. Cheap-labor conservatives say "liberals are destroying America." But cheap-labor conservatives have always raged against New Deal liberalism from the moment of its birth, ignoring the improved standards for working Americans that have been the legacy of liberal thought and action. Cheap-labor Conservatives oppose those labor provisions that have made our working lives livable. Why is that again? Because too much of a good thing for you is a drain on a Cheap-labor Conservative’s bottom line and life-style. For them the idea is to maintain a global cheap-labor pool that's always available and willing to improve their profit margins. It's simple economics. |