Over at Interfluidity there’s a good post titled “Why Are Americans So Unhappy?”
Part of the answer boils down to this graph:
What this measures is what percentage of expenses of employees wages pay.
You’ll notice it keeps going down. It peaked near 100% around 1968 and has been trending down since. It’s now under 80%. Note the spike in 2020 when the government let lose the taps and actually helped people. I know a lot of people who, contra the “lockdowns sucks” remember 2020 as the only time they got to take a paid vacation. (And suicides in the under 18 group dropped massively, because school sucks.)
What makes up the rest of the money people use to support themselves? Well, for the better off its assets based wealth: dividends, capital gains and all that good stuff. But for all intents and purposes if you aren’t in top 10% the amount of money you get from these sources is infintesimal. So, in fact, what actually makes it up is having two people working where one plus maybe a minor part time job would cover it.
The post is worth reading in total, but I want to point out something simple: this is deliberate. This is a result of policy. This is what American elites worked hard to create.
There are a lot of moving parts, but the most important for a long time was that the idea of NAIRU, that unemployment below a certain level was bad and caused inflation, so every time unemployment got low, the Federal reserve would crush the economy. (This is why good employment news would cause the market to go down, and bad employment news would cause it to rise all through the 80s to 2000s.)
Low unemployment is when employers are forced to raise wages, since there’s more jobs than applicants. It’s when labor has pricing power. So the Federal Reserve spent over 30 years (and still does occasionally) deliberately suppressing wages because they figured that wages were the most important form of inflation.
Or that’s what they said. There’s lots of sources of inflation, but somehow the Fed was never concerned with bubbles, never concerned with moral risk, never concerned with oligopolies and monopolies, never concerned with actually supply as opposed to demand. Nope, it was all those nasty workers who wanted raises.
Now a cynic, or perhaps a realist, might think “if there were a lot of ways to deal with inflation and the only one they did was crush wages” that perhaps inflation wasn’t at least 50% just an excuse to crush wages.
A realist might notice that everything else happening, like tax cuts on the rich, the end of Glass-Steagall, deregulation and much more all seemed to have as its effect making the already rich richer, and notice that wages are an expense to rich people, not their primary source of income, and that crushing wages thus also helped make the already wealth even richer.
Since many people pointed out, as early as the mid 80s, that the result of the policies being pursued would be rampant inequality, and indeed it was showing up in the stats as early as those 80s, one can safely assume that decision makers, whether at the Fed, Congress or anywhere else understood what the results would be.
But, after all, they are the important people. The good people. The job creators. The people who are worthy of having lots of money. Nurses, orderlies, janitors, clerical workers, garbage men: pretty much everyone who has a job that actually does something the economy actually needs done and when it isn’t done people scream, they’re putzes and don’t deserve to have a good life. Just disposable trash.
At its heart it really is this simple. There were plenty of ways to deal with inflation, and many were suggested at the time. The most regressive path, one everyone knew would cause a lot of poverty and increase the wealth of a minority massively was chosen. It was chosen because it benefited the people in charge and their retainers, and those people didn’t and don’t care about anyone else.
Along the way the morons also managed to piss away America’s industrial and tech lead and lose America’s superpower status. But being fake rich (because it’s China that’s actually rich now, no matter how many billions of US dollars you have) and crushing their lessers was what was important to them.
And yeah, plenty of people, your kind and gentle host included, predicted this, well in advance. It was known. If you didn’t know, it was because you metaphorically had your fingers in your ears as you chanted “it doesn’t matter who makes things, or where. The market is global and fungible. It doesn’t matter who makes things, or where the market is….”
Anyway, it worked out for a few people. A few million. It’s a big club, as a comedian once noted, and you aren’t in it.
Your living standard was crushed, your wife was forced to work (not just permitted, but forced) and your children’s future was pissed down the drain deliberately, along with America’s place in the world, because it made a few million people rich, and a few thousand so rich Gilded Age barons would be jealous.
There was a class war.
The rich won.
You lost.
What I write here is for the benefit of everyone, but alas, I live in capitalism and I, and the site, take money to keep running. If you value the writing here and can, please subscribe or donate.
mago
The rich won.
You lost.
Yeah, for this go round. I’ll die poor and the rich will probably die rich, but we’ll all be dead, and there’s the reality of cause and effect, or karma if you will. Of course if you think reincarnation is just a concept, then it doesn’t matter.
Nihilism is its own punishment.
Purple Library Guy
I’ve always said that if it weren’t for the class war, successful feminism should have resulted in households with two half-time jobs.
Jefferson Hamilton
Waldman is a dweebazoid who seems to spend an inordinate amount of his time coming up with DOA procedural “solutions” to the problem that civilization is by nature ruled by and for unscrupulous bastards, but his heart is in the right place, which is more than I can say for most people.
Feral Finster
A huge change came from a change in U.S. banking regulation that took place, IIRC, in 1974.
Before then, a bank could take only one income into account in deciding whether to extend a mortgage loan. A second income was considered “temporary”, as if the either spouse lost their job, the family’s ability to service the loan was called into question.
After the change, the bank could take two incomes into account. The upshot of this change was that both spouses had to work to afford a home in a semi-decent school district, because they were competing with two income families. (This is also one reason why the prices of residential housing soared in the 1970s, as there was more money available to chase real estate.)
For those of us who are not feral cats or hedge fund billionaires, anything else was like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
This rather obscure change in regulation went almost unnoticed at the time. But it probably had more real world impact on the average frustrated American family than all the Supreme Court decisions ever handed down, all the presidential elections since I don’t know when, all the LGTBQXYZPDQ+ ever to draw breath. We can argue later whether the change was a good thing or not. At this point, good luck getting that genie back into the bottle.
Mark Level
A very timely post, after the weak-sauce DSA won 3 seats in NYC, and in Colorado, the Tigrayan/Ethiopian (sometimes countries at war, at times not) former Attorney Melat Kiros had a “surprise” landslide win over a 30-year incumbent opponent which caused a meltdown on the Right that “Communists” are coming to power, it’s like when Chris “Tweety” Mathews whined that Bernie needed to be stopped, otherwise the Red Guards would come to Matthews’ backyard and hang him from a tree!! Matthews pretty much laughed out of his cushy MSDNC post at this point. Why is Kiros an ex-attorney; her prominent Law Firm fired her for writing something pro-Palestinian. She then realized she needed to run for office, push back. Vox calls Kiros “the first political star truly formed by the 2020s”, post-Oct. 7 open genocide.
“Daddy” Trump did a rant about the Reds coming for “Us” good billionaire Epstein Class Winners. LAS I expect sees incipient Leninism everywhere, he sees it like members of the John Birch Society in the 40s-70s would look under their beds every night and morning in case a sinister Red Bolshevik with a knife lying in wait.
Daddy said “every Communist society failed”, “for 1,000s of years,” realized he didn’t know shit about ancient “Communism” & said “groups under different names.” Doubt he knows Jack Shit about ancient, communitarian Hunter-Gatherers and the rise of Agriculture, and how harmful that was to humans, with private ownership of land and the rise of feudal kings, for a couple of centuries people shrunk due to malnutrition, some famines seen until they worked the kinks out.
I wish someone would tell Trump about the Pacific Northwest Indigenous pre-conquest practice of Potlach, the Chiefs were the ones who gained love and prominence by competing to Give the Most Away, build community. That would likely cause Trump to stroke out, way more effective than the Thomas Crooks and the pro-Ukraine Fanatic “assassination attempt” Psyops. For those few unaware, see a link here– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch
This is precisely why Ayn Rand said the Mesoamerican Natives had to be killed to the last one, dirty “Communists!” taking care of their members.
Yes, “Communism doesn’t work,” because any country that takes care of its own people instead of following the Settler-Colonialist Playbook gets attacked with sabotage (bio-weapons used against Cuban agriculture for decades by CIA), invasions and bombings, regime change for Fascism, Sanctions, coups. Nonetheless China wildly successful, a hybrid model, State Capitalist but designed to serve the public and lift them higher economically. That’s why China is the real Prize they have their Eye on, supposed to destroy Iran and Russia first, but that didn’t go to plan.
Shit, FDR’s New Deal was a hybrid Statist/ Socialist model, saved the country from Revolution, just as it was designed to. I know I’m being Captain Obvious here, but note that NOBODY in the Dimmie Liberal (never a sliver of Leftism allowed) paid political class will never let these Trust-Fund DSA kids (my mild criticism not directed at Ms. Kiros) who hold Winning positions into their Small Tent. They’d rather lose Elections and hand the government over to literal Fascists, even if the despised Trump is central to their rhetorical posturing, entirely empty of content.
And Trump’s ICE rounds up brown and non-white workers, never goes after the Employers who keep wages artificially low, coz they are on the side of the Angels. Dimmies whine about the brutality, rightly, but if empowered they won’t fine or punish the Employers either.
Back to Ian’s post– Great chart, you can see the organized Wage Plunge starting c. 1975, the time of the (Jerome) Powell memo, demanding that the “excessive” democracy still left over from the New Deal be strangled.
Yes, women forced into the Labor System just to borderline survive, maybe can’t pay for childcare, have to go to the informal labor system, trade childcare with your neighbors (that’s SOCIALIST!! shouldn’t it be banned?) Well, I guess if it’s with Family members, it’s protected and not illegal or “dangerous” (even though more children and vulnerable people are abused by family members than by strangers.)
Poorly educated youth, since Education in US denied resources starting at the same time, must live with parents, thus the rise of Incels, men who will never have the incomes to get a partner, lifelong feeling of being a “loser.” But hey, good for the Financial sector and the Elites, and TINA, “There is No Alternative.” Let them deliver food (DoorDash) or drive for Uber. Bring along a water bottle to pee in!!
Ian here aligns himself with Tucker Carlson (I do too, never had that on my Bingo Card back in the day when he called Iraqis “monkeys who don’t know how to use forks”, though forks originated in that region, among the Ottoman Turks and spread widely). Tucker recently noted that families making $60,000 per year in USA are not viable, constant precarity and one medical issue or car accident away from homelessness, lifelong medical debt, extortion. Tucker planning to support a new 3rd Party, as he diagnoses (mostly correctly I think) that the American Public are now Economically Left, and Socially Right. I wish him and his allies luck!! If they go too far with the Identity Politricks Social Engineering, ban Abortion in Red States as well as Blue, they will of course deserve to Lose.
Just heard on yesterday’s Due Dissidence, catching up, that that McMorrow woman I applauded for dropping out was actually a LESS odious pro-Zionist than the opponent who now remains, running against El-Sayed, a fanatical Exterminationist. That won’t fly in Michigan!! These fools shooting themselves in the foot, thank the Gods.
They also covered that Daddy and his Allies are angry that these filthy Lefties are telling people an obvious truth: You can’t afford to live, to pay for food, shelter, etc.
Yes, late Empire under Daddy, Trump Family makes billion$ thru Insider Trading, Payoffs from GCC vassal, “Qatar 1” luxury Jet will go to Trump’s future “Presidential Library”. You can’t want “nice things,” affordable health care. Deny the public the lowest levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy, Physiological needs, e.g. Food, warmth, shelter, and security, you gotta sleep on the street, hungry and cold, in a culture with little Social solidarity or services, okay some Churches offer food lines if you’ll listen to their pitch . . . and expect people to Die Quietly, not rebel?
That has never really worked, but America is “Exceptional”, the Ruling Class is clear that there will never be even mild reform, much less Revolution The Czar was pretty confident back in the day, and we all know how that worked out, however.
spud
Steve Keen argues that there has been a significant lack of wage growth since the 1990s, attributing this stagnation to various economic factors, including the decline in the bargaining power of workers and changes in credit conditions. This has contributed to broader economic issues, such as increased debt and financial instability.
macrovoices.com Wikipedia
Wage Growth Stagnation Since the 1990s
Key Factors Contributing to Wage Stagnation
Decline in Bargaining Power: Workers have experienced a significant reduction in their bargaining power, which has limited their ability to negotiate higher wages.
Changes in Credit Conditions: The economic environment has shifted, affecting credit availability and conditions, which in turn impacts wage growth.
Broader Economic Implications
The stagnation in wage growth since the 1990s has led to several broader economic issues:
Increased Debt: As wages have not kept pace with inflation and living costs, many individuals have turned to debt to maintain their standard of living.
Financial Instability: The combination of stagnant wages and rising debt levels has contributed to financial instability, making economies more vulnerable to crises.
Steve Keen emphasizes that these factors are interconnected, creating a cycle that perpetuates economic challenges.
Wikipedia macrovoices.com
The main factors contributing to wage stagnation since the 1990s include declining union membership, changes in labor market policies that weaken wage growth, and increased employer concentration in local job markets, which reduces competition for workers. Additionally, globalization and economic policies that prioritize corporate interests over worker interests have also played significant roles.
nber.org aflcio.org
The decline in workers’ bargaining power, driven by eroded collective bargaining and weaker unions, has suppressed wage growth for typical workers by $1.56 per hour since 1979, a 7.9% decline for median earners. This erosion also contributed to rising wage inequality, particularly among men, as deunionization accounted for about a fifth of the increase in men’s wage inequality during the 1980s.
epi.org economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org
The lack of wage growth since the 1990s has led to rising income inequality and stagnating living standards for low- and moderate-income Americans, making it difficult for many families to meet basic needs. This stagnation has been linked to policy choices that favor those with higher income and wealth, resulting in a significant gap between productivity growth and wage increases.
epi.org noahpinion.blog
Bill Clinton’s presidency marked a significant shift in the Democratic Party’s approach to labor, moving away from the pro-labor policies of the New Deal era. Clinton’s administration focused on neoliberal policies that often marginalized the working class and labor unions, contrasting sharply with the labor rights and protections established during the New Deal.
Wikipedia Jacobin
Bill Clinton’s Impact on Labor
Bill Clinton’s presidency (1993-2001) represented a notable departure from the pro-labor policies that characterized the New Deal era. His administration embraced neoliberal economic policies that often sidelined the interests of the working class and labor unions.
Shift from New Deal Policies
Neoliberal Approach: Clinton’s policies marked a shift towards neoliberalism, which prioritized market-driven solutions over government intervention. This approach often marginalized labor interests.
End of Pro-Labor Era: The Democratic Party, under Clinton, moved away from the strong labor protections established during the New Deal, such as collective bargaining rights and minimum wage laws.
Key Differences Between Clinton and New Deal Policies
Aspect New Deal Era Policies Clinton Era Policies
Focus on Labor Rights Strong support for labor unions and rights Neoliberal policies that often sidelined labor
Economic Strategy Government intervention to support workers Market-driven solutions and deregulation
Collective Bargaining Guaranteed rights through legislation Weakened protections for unions
Minimum Wage Established and protected minimum wage laws Limited increases and protections
Consequences for the Working Class
Marginalization: The shift in focus led to the marginalization of the working class, as policies favored the interests of the donor class and corporate entities.
Long-term Effects: This change contributed to a decline in labor power and a growing economic divide, setting the stage for future political challenges for the Democratic Party.
Clinton’s presidency thus marked a critical turning point in the Democratic Party’s relationship with labor, moving away from the foundational principles of the New Deal.
Wikipedia
Steve Keen argues that the economic issues we face today can be traced back to the neoliberal policies implemented during Bill Clinton’s presidency, particularly the deregulation of finance, which contributed to the financial crisis of 2008. These policies are seen as having fostered an environment that led to significant economic instability.
Wikipedia wamc.org
Steve Keen’s Perspective on Today’s Economy
Neoliberal Policies and Economic Instability
Steve Keen attributes many of today’s economic challenges to the neoliberal policies enacted during Bill Clinton’s presidency. These policies, particularly the deregulation of the financial sector, are viewed as significant contributors to the economic instability that culminated in the financial crisis of 2008.
Key Points of Concern
Deregulation of Finance: The financial deregulation during Clinton’s administration is criticized for creating an environment that allowed excessive risk-taking by financial institutions.
Long-term Effects: Keen argues that these policies fostered conditions that led to significant economic instability, which has had lasting impacts on the economy.
Summary of Impacts
Aspect Description
Deregulation Led to increased risk in financial markets, contributing to the 2008 crisis.
Economic Instability Resulted in a volatile economic environment that continues to affect growth.
Neoliberal Legacy Policies are seen as foundational to ongoing economic issues today.
Keen’s analysis suggests that the repercussions of Clinton’s economic policies are still felt in the current economic landscape, highlighting the importance of understanding historical policy decisions in addressing contemporary economic problems.
Wikipedia wamc.org
Bill Clinton implemented several neoliberal policies during his presidency, including deregulation of finance, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and welfare reform through the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. These policies aimed to promote free-market principles and reduce government intervention in the economy.
Mother Jones Wikipedia
Deregulation of financial institutions allowed for excessive risk-taking and inadequate oversight, particularly in the subprime mortgage market, which contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. This lack of regulation led to practices such as predatory lending and the creation of complex financial products that ultimately failed when housing prices declined.
Wikipedia ebsco.com
Alternative economic policies during Bill Clinton’s presidency could have included greater regulation of financial markets to prevent the creation of economic bubbles and a stronger focus on public investment in infrastructure and social programs. Additionally, more aggressive measures to address income inequality and support for labor rights could have been pursued.
William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum americanprogress.org
————-
https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/30-the-recent-past/bill-clinton-on-free-trade-and-financial-deregulation-1993-2000/
…
———
what was done before clinton, was reversible, but what clinton did, is not reversible.
Jefferson Hamilton
God, I wish people would stop bringing up the potlatch practice like it’s a sign of some pre-industrial edenic existence. The PNW tribes were some of the most unequal hunter gatherers we know of! They practiced slavery! They were giving food away out of the goodness of their hearts, it was a status game, a sign of incipient hereditary chiefdom.
Jefferson Hamilton
God damn it they WEREN’T giving food away, etc.
Ian Welsh
Status games where you give stuff away are better than status games where you don’t. The Roman Republic was awful in many ways, but that rich men competed to give temples, libraries, gyms, parks and baths was one of the good things.
Same as gilded Age rich building libraries.
mago
Enjoying the comments here per usual, I wanted to add on to my somewhat esoteric observation, by quoting once again the 10th century Indian pandita Shantideva who said:
At the moment of death only goodness gained in life will help me.
This, alas, is what I shrugged away.
Mark Level
Jeff Hamilton, I’m not buying you know more about the topic than I, or the Anarchist sources I learned this from, that they and I are completely wrong or mistaken. I have no doubt that there were tribes where Slavery and Coercion were accepted; these tribes are extremely diverse. The whole thing is not an Urban History Legend, just due to your cynicism.
If from 1885 to 1951 the Canadian government criminalized Potlatch, that proves that it threatened TPTB. And it was practiced inland to and in the Far North. You are going to have to break into Wikipedia and edit away the truth, best of luck if you are that certain and powerful, but I don’t believe you will succeed– See here if like Karl Rove you can create your own (historical) morality and reality– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch
Potlatch was a Carnival, as seen in some Bosch paintings or the writings of Bakunin on early folk Communism, or Francois Rabelais’ 4 or 5 Books on Gargantua and Pantagruel. I won’t accuse you of Racism, but your attitude of Condescencion and that you alone have “THE TRUTH” suggests that could be a motive. Other than Calvinists, Puritans, the Scoptsi (Russian fanatics who went back to the Old Testament beliefs, the men castrated themselves), few cultures are as dour and Anti-Sensual as you claim.
Exclusivist Claims of Authority without actually contradicting the claims made does not a Pundit make.
Dan Kelly
spud, the unions themselves – and by extension all forceful union supporters – deserve a lot of, if not more, blame.
Perhaps blame isn’t the best word rather simply recognizing past errors so that perhaps they won’t be made again.
Because if the unions were stronger and more aware they would have been able to resist.
That was the whole point of unions, remember?
A Bill Clinton can come along at any time.
He should have been expected and dealt with accordingly…
Carborundum
It’s important to understand that we’re comparing two populations here. Personal consumption expenditure is consumption from all households (and NPISH). Compensation of employees received is only employees (i.e., it excludes those who are not employees, notably including the self-employed).
When one peers under the hood for the time frame covered, the two things that stand out most glaringly (not unrelated) are that there have been very significant increases in the fractions of both income coming from transfer payments and personal consumption expenditure going to health services. My view – to a non-trivial extent, this is what it looks like when population aging intersects with healthcare costs that are completely out of control.
Mark Level
I am wrong from time to time, sometimes badly wrong. At one point I imagined Bessent and the Oil Barons etc. could talk Trump down from emptying the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and sending gas prices soaring to double digits, at least in California. We’re not there yet, but clearly the day is nigh.
Recently I stated that though JD Vance is as Evil at the rest of the Stephen Miller-Hegseth-Laura Loomer et al crew, but not as Stupid.
I was badly mistaken. Andrei Martyanov talking to Nima just now quoted JD Vance, The Russians have NO attack capacity against Ukraine now!! And water is not wet.
They were building up the Narrative for tomorrow, NATO “(In)Security Conference in Ankara, July 7-8, the Turks good vassals to God-Emperor Drumpf. Russia hit Ukraine, “Keev” itself extremely hard in 2 of the last 4 days. The Massacre of Innocents, children, in recent Banderist-Nato provocations, purely for Narrative, went too far, the Gloves are off.
From now on, No Chance Vance as a Pundit sits at the Children’s Table at Gatherings, along with the ghost of the dude who saw “Light at the End of the Tunnel” during the Vietnam misadventure. Patrovsk taken in recent days, even Western MSM admitting. Vance can huff paint from a paper bag with the rest of the Loonies, he’s a joke, no credibility going forward.
spud
Dan Kelly:
agreed. they even endorsed his second term, and every neo-liberal democrat after that. they left their power laying on the floor and walked away from it, and it was george meany who did it.
Warvigilent
Lol tribes were super unequal ???? god dam what is this bullshit? ok if they were so unequal where are the palatial mansions built on the backs of these slaves? Where is the massive public statues to the greatness of these so unequal chiefs, I mean I guess totem poles might count but they were largely memorials and deliberately were kept only until they fell on their own. So unequal they had more gender equality and that oh so awful Potlach was terrifying to the chattel slavery practicing colonizers that they strived to deliberately wipe out the specific practice because the very notion of the wealthy giving away anything was so anti-antithetical to their beloved commerce and stratified divided society not just by class but by vast gulfs in economic equality. and just plain icky that even today people still belittle the practice
do you even listen to yourself?? the tribes are worse than the genocidal invaders who even today are destroying their own environment and society with their extreme inequality ? Dude , LITERAL KINGS ON GOLD THRONES, WEALTHY SCIONS OF VAST BUSINESS/FAMILY HOLDINGS WHO LIVED IN CENTURIES OLD FAMILY ESTATES , funded and pushed for the colonization of north America and the genocide of most of the inhabitants. BUT Cheifs in villages along the bc coast who lived in buildings that were often temporary or rebuilt year to year, who shared what they had with the whole village are the greedy selfish ones???
I could go on. you are probably right they didn’t do it just out of the kindness of their hearts ( though I think there was some of that an certainly significantly more that of western charity) but because they lived in a society that actually expected its leaders to be competent , to be unselfish, to provide for and protect everyone like a real leader should. A society that recognized wealth disparity will lead to obvious problems found a solution to occasionally level things out , sorta like how there use to be debt jubilees in our now greed dominated cultures. No wonder the greedheads hate it so much.
PS for others info , the real potlach assent just food like the modern tradition, it included everything : tools, clothes, blankets, homes, boats, everything.
Mark Level
Dan Kelly makes an important point. I’ll 2nd spud, and I have an insider’s view. I had an elected position in CTA, the California Teachers Association, for 8 years, on their 4x annual Executive Counsel, was also a Grievance chair for many years, trying (mostly successfully, but sometimes undermined by our sellout Union President, a Counselor and not even a teacher, and even moreso by our CTA Staff “support”, a former #2 Administrator in the District with open conflicts of interest, who was mentally invested on the side of Admin, and would throw fights like the Dimmies do for their betters, the R. Daddies) to prevent us from winning even small gains. The main thing that helped me was the stupidity and arrogance of top District Admin, who openly spat not just in Teachers’ faces but also did the same to the Paraprofessionals, and the Custodial and Maintenance staff, soon became widely hated by nearly all. There are always suck-ups and bootlickers, but over the years these people became fewer and more marginalized, we were the proverbial frogs boiling in the pot, and most knew it.
I could achieve victories within our district, with 2 strong allies and many part-time allies we usually did notch a few victories every year. BUT to Dan’s point, at the broader, higher level we were sold out, openly, and I could do next to nothing. The clearest example, I wasn’t a member of the NEA, National Educational Association until 2018, attended one large RA, Regional Assembly in 2018 in Minneapolis.
Now the truly sleazy betrayal of the membership by NEA was years prior. In 2008 the comfortable, bureaucratic Pod People there boosted Hillary, gave her the nomination, to shut out Bernie, more ideologically aligned with the membership, inside-job betrayal. And not even effective, either!! The charismatic fake “Change Agent” Obama came along and shellacked her and Bill’s Racist “Superpredators” bullshit, and we got a different can of dogshit. “The first black President” was resolutely anti-Union, we got NCLB, a continuation of Bush Jr. Privatization scams, it may’ve been Personal for Barry, and I can’t say I blame him. NCLB, “No Child’s Behind Left,” endless Testing, Drill and Kill pushed onto the Public Schools, Bill Gates and the Billionaire Class funding Private and Charter Schools thru sold-out Swine like Corey Booker and too many others to count. Arnie Duncan, Education Superintendent showed flagrant contempt for Public Schools and Teachers, spitting in our faces was de rigeur among the DC Class.
I could say more, but will instead thank Warvigilent for joining me and Ian in calling out JeffHam’s pathetic, defeatist Lies: basically barking that there was never a Liberated or Egalitarian Society, ever, on God’s Gray Earth for Millennia of “Civilization.” What a loser, peddling complete Learned Helplessness and Surrender. Gosh, I wonder what Class he belongs to? (In his heart he’s certainly Ruling Class, whether his bankbook reflects that or not.) Masterful take-down by WV, more detailed than mine.
This makes me pivot to additional comments on Vance and the Ruling Elites generally. Carlin’s Big Club, you’re not in it already mentioned. Beyond that, I think that the old Bill Hicks’ jape about the President applies. That before his formal Inauguration, he is taken into a closed room with the CIA and other actual apparatchik rulers, and shown a film of JFK’s assassination, made from the Grassy Knoll. Gotta get their minds right.
So Vance at one time had a Brain, even though partially colonized by his Daddy, Peter Thiel. But membership in that Club dumbs you down, rapidly. Was AOC ever for a minute actually “progressive,” color me extremely dubious on that one. She was, like Barry Obama’s mom, an “Intelligence community” asset, when she worked at Senator Ted Kennedy’s Office as a young, pretend-“Working Class Bartender” quasi-Sanderist Revolutionary (not). Now she’s a Zionist-lover, Leticia James e.g., NeoCon piece of garbage, which suggests that’s what she always was.
Vance drinks the shit-filled water that the others in his Elite Fishbowl do, so one Acorn of Wisdom he had is flushed down the toilet or cleaned out of the bowl by His Betters. Okay, that’s how it is.
For the Ukraine Dead-Enders, I’ll share this link, indeed the whole Narrative, Russia is Toppling at Any Moment, they have No Offensive Capacity, they are fighting with Shovels and Washing Machine Chips, but at the same moment, 2nd Impossible Thing to believe before Breakfast, “If not stopped by the plucky Ukrainian democracy, Russia will march relentlessly West and take ALL of Europe up to Italy!!” Hey, it’s March 7, today and tomorrow the stinking Propaganda will be endlessly spewed at the NATO Insecurity Conference, in the pre-suicide EUrope. General Pyrrhus declaring his massive victory right before it melts into Marx’s thin air.
Link to Danny Haiphong and Andrei Martyanov for those not Ostriches with their head in the ground here– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aosW4uuWS0&t=1609s