There are just not enough jobs that pay a living wage in the world, which helps perpetuate the wage inequality and the opportunity inequality. If the world is to stay with the present capitalist system it will have to change to a hybrid system of capitalism and wages will have to be supplemented by non-labor cash or the equivalent of such.
The non-labor cash is out there just not collected yet. It is could be called co-owned wealth, one could be rent from financial infrastructure, which financial firms pay nothing at this time, and another is air, which gets into carbon that causes the most harm in the atmosphere for carbon absorption. Then there is the intellectual property protection within the U.S and the worldwide, which corporations pay nothing. These are our Commons.
There is also the electromagnetic spectrum used for radio, television and mobile phones. A 20 percent value added fee on those spectrum intensive industries would generate $84 billion for dividends to pay rent to the people. Other assets that might be rented for dividends are minerals and timber on public lands. These are our Commons.
In Europe, there is a growing interest in a universal guaranteed income high enough to ensure a person could maintain an existence in dignity; such income would be in addition to not in lieu of existing social programs. Switzerland is trying for a 2,800 monthly stipend for its citizens.
All of this is driven by the sense of social solidarity and a belief in individual dignity as a human right.
There are three phases of a general strike and unions must plan for one. Those three phases are: 1. general strike in an industry 2. general strike in a community 3. general national strike We need to move away from being on the defensive and move toward a good offensive. The American Federal of Labor (AFL) could not have held a general strike if it wanted to because they had thousands of different contracts that expired at different times of the year. This was done deliberately so that there is no consolidation of power for a general strike. Also, nowadays, there is no law agency that will support labor, except the National Labor Relations Board (NLBR), which has been under attack and in decline for years. This leaves the burden of change up to unions, and unless unions work together, little will change. We essentially have a combination of job trusts, which are not as strong as contracts, and the courts can break easily because the NLBR will be further weakened and essentially elim...
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