Salon has an interesting and fairly convincing article that claims the reason our social contract is unraveling is because the American people have “outlived their usefulness to the rich”.
Even the robber barons of the 19th century depended on the poor and the middle class to work in their factories, buy the resulting goods, and do other work. But now, with the new global economy, not only do the rich freely outsource American jobs to other countries, their biggest markets are also other countries. The only workforce they need here are laborers to be servants and to take care of golf courses. But as New York mayor Michael Bloomberg pointed out, that’s what illegal immigrants are for.
Their conclusion? The rich have absolutely no incentive to pay taxes any more. Which is why the GOP is so strongly against taxes of any kind.
The article has an interesting solution:
a new social contract, in which the American people, through representatives whom they actually control, would ordain that American corporations are chartered to create jobs in the U.S. for American workers, and if that does not interest their shareholders and managers then they can do without legal privileges granted by the sovereign people, like limited liability.
In other words, make corporate charters dependent on creating American jobs.
If that doesn’t happen, then he suggests that the poor and middle class of this country should prepare to leave or be kicked out — like the great exodus from British controlled countries like Scotland and Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries, caused in great part by exploding housing and food costs (which is already happening here).
After depopulation “the U.S. could become a kind of giant Aspen for the small population of the super-rich and their non-voting immigrant retainers.” See, the GOP does have a plan.
5 Comments
Unfortunately, unlike Scotland and Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries, we have nowhere to go. THEY came HERE. And the only frontier left, space, takes a lot more than gumption and a covered wagon to emigrate.
The Republicans hoodwinked enough into voting for them in 2010, and now we are seeing, from Wisonsin, to Florida, to Washington DC what they do with power. Let’s make sure in 2012 and beyond they get kicked out for good.
This scenario is one that I wondered about myself long before the current melt-down. I don’t know whether to be encouraged or terrified that someone else is thinking the same thing!
Jason, the Scots and Irish went to lots of places, not just the US. And they didn’t use covered wagons either.
I know several US ex-pats who moved to SE Asia and South America, and love not living in the US. As one of them once told me, when he retired from the US military he realized he had enough money in his pension to be poor in the US, or live like a king in Thailand. He had been stationed in Thailand, so he was already familiar with it. He never looked back.
IK – my point was that there is nowhere left on Earth where people can go and create their own (theoretically improved) country and build their own wealth. Also note your example is someone with a pension – try living like a king in Thailand by working in Thailand at the prevailing wage there. Most of us aren’t fortunate enough to have enough money in the bank or pensions to play that game.
I have a move to New Zealand as my backup plan, but I would rather try to save this country if it can be done.
The flaw is no one would be left to pay the taxes that pay the mercenaries who would turn on their rich overlords and the area now called the United States would be controlled by warlords.
I think they will be content to precede in: cutting education and keeping the masses misinformed and unable to think reasoned thoughts, increasing regressive taxes, and billing themselves as the source of all employment. That is until the uprising, like the ones in the Middle East, reaches these shores.