The two things which will destroy our world as we know it, are inequality and climate change. The Freedom of Enterprise Act (FEA) being proposed by the Republicans will be against anything that alleviates climate change and inequality. In fact, EEA exempts anyone worth a billion dollars from paying taxes and from having to obey all laws, exempts for now homicide and assault.
OxFam, an international charitable organization focused on eliminating global poverty, says there are now 2,043 billionaires in the world and their fortunes grew by $762 billion in 2017 while the poorest of humanity saw no increase in their wealth.
Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett have $250 billion more than 160 million Americans. If this trend continues driving up the bargaining power of those at the top while driving down the bargaining power of those at the bottom, this will trap people in poverty and further fracture our society.
OxFam said the massive inequalities are being driven by factors that include excessive financial returns to company owners and shareholders at the expense of ordinary workers and the rest of the economy. The ability of rich people to use tax havens to evade or shield trillions of dollars from tax authorities, public policy that permits market conditions that push down wages and infringe on labor rights while extreme wealth is inherited and not earned.
Read the book “Capital” by Thomas Piketty to understand how this is coming about. The Have Nots will not stay at peace with this much longer. Just look at Greece, which has a new austerity bill the will limit the right to strike and speed-up property foreclosures. You won’t find this being reported in the news because the corporate media does not want you to know about any of this occurring, preferring to participate in the blindside of the working people.
It is time for a universal basic income and a $15 to $22 minimum wage.
The survival of American democracy requires the existence of a flourishing union work force. In a survey, 68 percent of Americans approve of labor unions. So, as an old sheet metal organizer, I say we need to go all out in organizing while the soldering iron is hot, to use a sheet metal workers tool. We should organize all workers no matter where or what kind of work they do. All workers have the right to belong to a union and all should support each other. If you, in your work place, do not know how to form a union, then do what Napoleon’s military adopted adage, ‘Jump into the battle and then figure it out.’ One of the best ways to organize is worker to worker and plan it out over a meal or coffee and talk to other union workers to see what would work best for you and also what unions are winning at this time. Just go for it. When things are in disarray, like the shit show in Washington, D.C., they might not even know what you are doing until it is too late for them to push back aga...
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