There was a time at the end of Reconstruction and at the turn of the 20th century when a few men controlled all the wealth of America. Sounds like today right.
These guys robbed everyone because slavery had ended but it didn’t mean greed was removed from their hearts. You see, in a capitalistic society greed is a necessary component of the system. What most fail to realize is that “the system is designed to protect the system”, which means there MUST be a permanent underclass for it to work.
Fast forward to the 21st century. Little attention is being paid to the unraveling of a public policy in the United States for more than a century, which emerged in stages between the 1890s and 1930s. During this period they called it an institutional framework to balance the needs of the American people with the vast inequalities of wealth and power fashioned by the triumph of industrial capitalism. What I am talking about is the efforts to design policy for the benefit of the wealthy.
Their scheme then was originated in the widespread apprehension that the rapidly growing power of the railroads robber barons, national corporations (the Rockefellers) and banks (like J.P. Morgan’s) was undermining fundamental American values that threatened democracy. What the MIGHTY did was strangling the MEEK or crucified mankind upon a cross of gold much like Wall Street is doing today. A hundred years ago a commented a programmatic and radical group took a stance for labor. They were the American Federation of Labor and their convention delegates who in 1894 advocated nationalizing all major industries and financial corporations. If you missed that “they were called Unions”.
I am one who would argue that, like a century ago many, this form of capitalism needs to be replaced with some form of “cooperative commonwealth”, meaning that large corporate enterprises should be broken up or strictly regulated to ensure fair competition, limit the concentration of power and prevent these interests from overwhelming the public good. Now, before you go all Tea Party on me this is simply a “progressive” view of the system today.
I am well aware that such views, in most instances, will be vehemently and sometimes violently opposed by the more conservative political forces. And you know who they are! Therefore, we need to remember that it was political pressure from anti-capitalists, anti-monopolists, populists, progressives, working-class activists and socialists led, over time, who accomplished a lot for the working class people. Moreover, the state, meaning a government for the people should service and promote private enterprise. Thereby, fostering growth and this illusive ideal called the American Dream.
In exchange, the federal government should adopt a series of far-reaching reforms to shield and empower citizens from these powerful entities safeguarding society’s democratic character. Such as real regulations for business and banking to protect consumers, limit the power of individual corporations and prevent anti-competitive practices.
It was my understanding that these principles were the underlying measures and the reasons for the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) and the Glass-Steagall Act (1933) — which insured bank deposits and separated investment from commercial banking — was that government was responsible for protecting society against the shortcomings of a market economy. As we can clearly see the profit motive cannot always be counted on to serve the public’s welfare.
I believe the government should guarantee workers’ the right to form unions and engage in collective bargaining. The core premise of the 1914 Clayton Act and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 was that individual workers lacked the power to protect their interests when dealing with large employers. For the most poorly paid, the federal government mandated a minimum wage and maximum hours.
With these guarantee’s every American citizen should be entitled to social insurance: Unemployment insurance (1935), Social Security (1935), and, later, Medicaid and Medicare (1965) were grounded in the recognition that citizens could not always be self-sufficient and that it was the role of government to aid those unable to fend for themselves. The unemployment-insurance program left unrestrained employers’ ability to lay off workers but recognized that those who were jobless through no fault of their own ought to receive public support.
These measures shaped the contours of U.S. political and economic life between 1940 and 2000: They amounted to a social contract that, however imperfect, it does preserve the dynamism of capitalism while guarding citizens against the power imbalances and uncertainties that a competitive economy produces. These gains in the area of humanity have been and are under attack by conservatives and the attacks have been escalating today. We need to take a stand because the rich and wealthy are not going to give you anything. All of these gains like Civil Rights were fought for and many died so we can have a reasonable work day or a vacation.
The conservatives decried regulation for business now, just as they did in 1880, as unwarranted interference in the workings of the market: Regulatory laws (including antitrust laws) are weakly enforced or vitiated through administrative rule-making; regulatory agencies are starved through budget cuts; Glass-Steagall was repealed, with consequences that are all too well known; and the financial institutions that spawned today’s economic crisis. This thinking creates the reckless behavior predicted by early-20th-century reformers and fight against further regulation tooth and nail.
Private-sector employers’ fierce attacks on unions since the 1970s contributed significantly to the sharp decline in the number of unionized workers, and many state governments are seeking to delegitimize and weaken public-sector unions. Meanwhile, the social safety net has frayed: Unemployment benefits are meager in many states and are not being extended to match the length of the downturn. When in fact the real value of the minimum wage is lower than it was in the 1970s.Today the Republicans are taking aim at Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and Obamacare.
To a person who knows history, the agenda of today’s conservative’s looks like a bizarre effort to return to the Gilded Age, an era with little regulation of business, no social insurance and no legal protections for workers. This draconian agenda calls for the destruction or weakening of institutions without acknowledging why they came into being.
In a democracy, of course, the ultimate check on such campaigns is the electoral system. Therefore, I say all we have is the vote – we must use it because the Titans of industry may wield far more power in the economic arena than average citizens, but if all votes count equally, the citizenry can protect themselves through the political arena. Just look at what Republicans across the nation are doing. They have sponsored ID requirements for voting that are far more likely to disenfranchise legitimate and unprivileged voters than they are to prevent fraud.
Last year, the Supreme Court, reversed a century of precedent, ruled that corporate funds can be used in support of political campaigns. Some Tea Partyers even want to do away with the direct election of senators, adopted in 1913. These ideas are rooted in the Gilded Age when Jim Crow was the law and society was unjust. It is time to stand up! Take a stand and fight for our rights! VOTE…
Parts of this blog were captured as a result of reading Alexander Keyssar the Stirling professor of history and social policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School. And this is my THOUGHT PROVOKING PERSPECTIVE thanks to the professor.
The Peril’s Of Justice
We as African Americans understand, as Richard Pryor famously said, when it comes to justice what we find is JUST-US! This statement could not be more profound today as it relates to some of the news stories that involve African Americans, namely the recent murder of the young child Trayvon Martin.
Frankly, this case takes me back nearly sixty-years when another young black child was murdered where the culprits did not receive due justice. I wonder if the story would be different if the victim was white and the shooter was black. I think we know the answer to that!!!
But I read a piece today written by Mr. Jonathan Capehart and like him I had the same questions that he asked in this article. First, he asked, what was Zimmerman’s relationship with the Sanford, Fla., police department? Then he asked why was Zimmerman portrayed as a volunteer neighborhood watch captain when he was not part of a registered neighborhood watch program? Further he asked, did the Sanford Police Department ever warn him about his activities in this unofficial capacity?
When you consider that Zimmerman was known to have placed, as it was reported, 46 calls to that department between Jan. 1, 2011, and the Feb. 26 shooting; did the Sanford police have specific orders on how to deal with him? Did they have a file on him? Did they have him on any kind of special watch list?
To these questions, the Police Chief said, “we don’t have the grounds to arrest him.” Yet, Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense was sufficient justification to not arrest him. My next question was why did Chief Lee accept Zimmerman’s self-defense plea on its face? Did the police run a background check on Zimmerman? Did his previous arrest, for resisting arrest without violence, raise any red flags with police? Did Lee attempt to establish probable cause? How did he go about it? Was Zimmerman tested for drugs or alcohol? If not, why not? Was Zimmerman’s gun confiscated? Was it tested? Where is that gun now?
These are all valid questions that demand answers.
Now, here are a few questions that come to mind with respect to the crime scene. What did police do with Trayvon’s body at the scene? What did police do with Trayvon’s body once taken from the scene? Why was it tested for drugs and alcohol? What did police do with Trayvon’s personal effects? Where is his cell phone? Did police try to contact Trayvon’s 16-year-old girlfriend, who was talking to him during the initial moments of the confrontation with Zimmerman and who tried several times to call him back? Hmmmm!
So as you can see there are many more questions than answers and frankly a thorough investigation would have answered these questions. Thankfully, the Department of Justice has decided to review the case to ensure that some of these questions are answered – maybe. There is such a thing as right and wrong; some things are right and some things are wrong. When you look at the aforementioned questions in this case that are unanswered – it stinks of wrong. Oh, and for sure racism!!!
There are so many more questions than answers and I pray we get them answered, and justice is served. With that said, I would suggest that you compare this to little Emmitt Till and recall the Peril’s Of Justice.
And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640
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