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Originally Posted by roachboy
the manufacturing sector's been entirey reorganized. everyone notices but sometimes it seems like nobody knows, like saying it's violating some rule or worse like farting in church. kanban just in time supply chains lean production flexibility all those words meant production becoming fragmented then mobile then a matter of subcontracting in contexts where labor costs had become variable and so the "logic" of capitalism in its oldest form, straight exploitation of people who sell their labor power for a wage, particularly in contexts where working people cannot organize themselves into unions in order to protect their own interests....this is what neoliberalism has brought back in a shiny new form.
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They haven't brought unions back yet. AND 30+ years of trashing unions may make it hard. Until the government allows people to vote for unions and employers avtually stay and don't just up and move... we'll see. But, I would definitely at this point say, neo-liberalism hasn't even come close to protecting the workers.
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i can imagine policy/regulation actions that could break up the globalized system of labor exploitation, of deterritorialized production managed via supply chain interfaces---but i cant quite see who would intiate such a thing given that access to cheap goods has been presented to us as an end in itself and as desirable in part because price is severed from an idea of production.
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I've been saying this for 20 years. I am a strong believer that to "level" the playing field somewhat, any business doing business within the US (including ALL IMPORTS), should abide by US labor and safety laws. I believe if Nike wants to pay people overseas to make their shoes, then they should have to pay them minimum wage, have the same safety standards AND should be paying into a retirement fund similar to SS or better for those workers.
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so maybe opening up commercial lending and aggressively supporting new business? and extending the new-deal style public works projects to make more jobs available.
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Commercial lending to small businesses is a start as is rebuilding the infrastructure. But, we need to find ways to cut down the top heaviness in companies. Stop allowing leveraged buyouts and mergers that cost billions in loans and the company will never see that kind of revenue.
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thing is that the employment problems are results of structural transformations that the entire center-right american political establishment has cheerleaded along. it's just come to a head under obama. i do not envy the administration having to figure out how to deal with the consequences of what amounts to 30 years of herbert hoover-style economic ideology.
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That's not true, this has finally hit everyone, but this recession has been going on in one sense or another for a very long time.
Factories have been closing down, moving out and the job market paid less for the past 30+ years.
Companies have been given tax abatement and credits while laying off thousands, moving overseas and paying their upper management outrageous salaries to kill jobs. This was shown in MANY 80's movies. They warned us, they showed us what was coming... I don't believe the main stream people wanted it, but the CEO's and special interest groups were able to buy the politicians and so policy kept moving in a VERY BAD DIRECTION. Clinton may have been able to change things but once the GOP got Congress and went after him for EVERYTHING he did and kept his hands tied while feeding us bullshit scandals (whitewater, Lewinsky, etc) that went nowhere but kept us from seeing how the GOP was continuing bad policy.
Bush, I think may have tried to change things but he was a puppet for Cheney and Wall Street.
Obama, I think wants the best for America, in his mind... BUT he has not changed ANYTHING In DC, he tried to push an extremely costly and the wrong healthcare plan down our throats and he continues to pass blame and be pessimistic, instead of being a true leader. Plus, as Bush was a puppet for the radical right and the ultra rich in many ways... Obama is a puppet for the extreme radical left and going too far in any direction is bad and will only make matters worse.
If we are to truly heal and regain our national prestige and greatness, we need leaders on BOTH sides willing to work for that and put into policy the BEST plans for us, not some party platform that was decided by the extremists controlling the party.