We need to wake up and speak out to make sure that the people's and the nation's needs are addressed. If we do not, we will wake up to a nation that is not ours. Those who have the money will scoop up the bargain basement "buys" of the United States. Our industry will not be ours. Our agricultural capacity will no longer be ours. Our utilities and infrastructure will no longer be ours. We will belong to global moguls and multinational corporations. There will be no United States left. The current crisis is already seeing the big sharks eating the slightly smaller sharks. We are watching a dramatic growth in the concentration of wealth and power as this disaster unfolds. That concentration will weaken us further; setting us up for continued "collapses" in the future. We have to stop this and reverse course, while retaining our capacity to support ourselves. If we do not, then we are signing away any figment of sovereignty and autonomy we have left.
In speaking out, we need to make clear that we want a bottom-up recovery - not a trickle-down recovery. We want controls on those institutions receiving aid to ensure that they are serving the needs of the people - not their interests. We should demand a voice in the recovery and a place at the table. We want to come out of this recovery stronger as a people and a nation - not sold into a permanent servitude to the powerful.
Additional Resources
The truth about UAW members and the U.S. auto industry. UAW.org
Olbermann Exposes Myth Of Auto Workers' Average $70/Hr. Salary. The Liberal Curmudgeon. 12/02/08.
The media myth: Detroit's $70-an-hour autoworker. Eric Boehlert. Media Matters. 11/25/08.
Wages and labor costs. UAW.
Shame On You CBS. Rowan Wolf. Uncommon Thought Journal. 5/15/2007.
Schultz & Francis, 4/24/03, Wall Street Journal. Executives Get Pension Security While Plans for Workers Falter (also available here and here)
Hidden Burden: As Workers' Pensions Wither, Those for Executives Flourish also available here
In speaking out, we need to make clear that we want a bottom-up recovery - not a trickle-down recovery. We want controls on those institutions receiving aid to ensure that they are serving the needs of the people - not their interests. We should demand a voice in the recovery and a place at the table. We want to come out of this recovery stronger as a people and a nation - not sold into a permanent servitude to the powerful.
Additional Resources
The truth about UAW members and the U.S. auto industry. UAW.org
Olbermann Exposes Myth Of Auto Workers' Average $70/Hr. Salary. The Liberal Curmudgeon. 12/02/08.
Wages and labor costs. UAW.
Shame On You CBS. Rowan Wolf. Uncommon Thought Journal. 5/15/2007.
Schultz & Francis, 4/24/03, Wall Street Journal. Executives Get Pension Security While Plans for Workers Falter (also available here and here)
Hidden Burden: As Workers' Pensions Wither, Those for Executives Flourish also available here
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