What do the jobs look like today compared to the past? One is very few jobs today will last until retirement. Another is jobs today will probably be lost to automation of some type.
All workers should have skills in a profession and a trade of some sort. Most jobs today do not pay enough for one person to support a family, which was not true in 1950s—1980s. It was in the 1980s—the Nixon and Reagan years when unions came under attacked by the anti-union GOP and amped up in the 1990s when the corporate Democrats helped the GOP—in the Clinton years.
The work available today is becoming more gig jobs or part-time jobs than full-time work. It’s only part-time jobs coming out of labor centers like the temp agencies, Labor Ready, Adecco or Professional Staffing Solutions. The temp agencies convince company owners that they will save money them by doing all the paperwork connected to employees, and, in return, the company pays the hired workers and the temp agency. If a hired workers gets $10 an hour, the company pays the temp agency $20. Very few of these workers have a pension and though the temp agencies pay into Social Security for workers, but other workers who are paid under the table do not pay into Social Security and will have nothing in their retirement years.
The best pension jobs up to now were earned by public government workers and trade unions which are the best for the unions handling their own pensions with the federal government watching over these pensions, thanks to Jimmy Hoffa, the old Teamsters’ president.
Most jobs will be by robots and the jobs left will be mainly labor, which will eventually be lost, such as picking crops or driving trucks or cars. Brick and mortar stores are going away. Teachers will have larger classes using the Internet, which will mean they will mean less teachers. Doctors will be using tell med, doing medicine over the telephone or computer. It is thought doctors will be able to see more people.
In all adversity, there is a window of opportunity, such as what climate change will or has brought us, like raising sea levels, severe storms, crop losses and changes in the growing seasons or in different locations, more destructive floods, starvation, more arid lands, and more devastating wildland fires. All of these changes will have to be dealt with and it will take a strong and educated workforce to tackle each one of these concerns.
However, there still won’t be enough jobs paying a living wage for a family. This is where universal basic income (UBI) will save workers and the capitalist system, which the very rich depend on to keep them rich. A good book to read on this subject is “Rights of Man” by Thomas Paine and “With Liberty and Dividends for All” by Peter Bernes. This week while speaking in South Africa at the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, former president Barack Obama spoke in favor of a UBI. Citing the prevalence of and growing use of artificial intelligence, Obama said meaningful jobs are leaving us. “It’s not just money that a job provides. It provides dignity and structure and a sense of place and a sense of purpose.”
Change is occurring at a fast pace and it requires us to reimagine the way we do things both socially and politically, Obama said, adding we’ll have to consider thinking about these solutions for these problems, “like a universal income.”
The answer has been before us since 1797, now we need a leader to bring it about. Think of Bernie Sanders’ platform or forward-thinking people and can pull it off with all workers in 2018-2020. Our only and last hope chance to save what is left of our lifestyles and our democracy. Where is the cash that government needs to function, protect and take care of its citizenry?
The GOP here and the right-wing governments around the world all say there is no money. So where is the cash? Instead of Trump spending money on repairing our infrastructure, he gave the wealthiest a huge tax cut they didn’t need, and of course, they didn’t share that windfall with their employees. Most are spending it making themselves wealthier by buying back their stocks.
So, explain again why workers vote Republican.
Yes, they are coming for us. Workers need to have one another’s backs because no one else will. Neither the broader labor movement nor the Democratic party are prepared to meet the urgency of this moment. So it’s going to fall upon the rest of us to mount a real resistance against Trump’s authoritarian takeover. We’re going to have to get our hands dirty. I don’t care if you have a good, well-paying union job and you are in the middle class now—if you see a worker being dragged out of his workplace regardless of how skilled the job and potentially taken to another country, you should be ready to be there for that worker. When I.C.E. shows up, gather around and shame them into leaving. It has worked in other places. America is sleep walking into authoritarianism, and if there’s anyone out there who is a member of a labor union that is safe—at this point— and doesn’t think this applies to them. Understand that they just haven’t gotten to you yet. They’re coming for all of us. There are ...
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