Corporate greed is the root of so many problems, including inflation. That the Fed hasn't addressed this is malpractice. They and the media can blame regular workers finally making a little more money as the cause for inflation, raising interest rates to make things even more unaffordable, but until corporate greed is fully addressed, regular people will continue to suffer for it. Good for the unions. Happy for the WGA and cautiously optimistic about SAG and the UAW. Thank goodness for Joe Biden. He and the Democrats must win big in 2024. They must.
The Fed, made up of bankers, isn’t set up to consider the real human toll that things like hiking interest rates has upon working families. They intentionally cause pain in order to reduce demand, but there isn’t a mechanism in place to reduce corporate greed and opportunism. That is a central conundrum of our times. Unions may have an important role to play, if we can keep them truly representative of the workers.
Corporate greed is a reflection of individual greed. Recall that the wealthiest 10% of the population owns 89% of stocks and mutual funds, per a Federal Reserve report from a couple of years ago. I doubt that ratio has changed materially since October 2021.
One key mechanism to control excessive, narrow wealth accumulation by a very small part of the population is, of course, a progressive tax structure, applicable to both corporations and very-high-income individuals as well as to the population as a whole. We, thanks to incessant Republican efforts for the last 50 years or so (and also to Bill Clinton, goddamnit), highlighted in the last administration by a blatant multi-trillion-dollar tax gift to the morbidly wealthy, have the exact opposite: a _regressive_ system that actually excuses corporations and the extremely wealthy from paying much income tax at all and lands the greatest burden on the wage earners and middle-income salaried workers.
In case you were wondering (and since I'm up on my soapbox anyway), in addition to collective bargaining (i.e., strong labor unions), another crucial mechanism for asserting and maintaining reasonable equilibrium and equity in society is a meaningful, vigorously enforced regulatory structure. As we've repeatedly seen over the last few decades (and Milton Friedman be damned), unconstrained capitalism quickly becomes monopolistic, cut-throat, viciously hyper-exploitative, and unsustainably environmentally destructive. The so-called "free market" is but a rationalization for authoritarian corporate, thus oligarchic, control of an entire economy.
I realize I'm probably mostly preaching to the converted here. But that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
It’s not corporate greed. It’s personal greed. We need to shift from seeing corporations as beings that do things. It’s the people there who make the decisions and those decision making people who need to be held responsible.
Somehow, my heart fails to bleed for studio executives. It could be the sight of their tens-of-millions-dollar homes... Or of their yachts... Or their private planes.... Or maybe I am just cruel. But I am feeling no compassion for them whatsoever. Why can't more executives be like Taylor Swift, who decided she had enough money and divvied up her latest tour earnings among her crew? And then encouraged people to vote?
Or why not more like Dolly Parton, who shares her wealth in a way that improves lives rather than buying a yacht? Seriously, the greed in this country is out of control and it's killing us - and our planet.
These CEOs and companies are making obscene amounts of money. How much is enough? I’m thrilled to see these unions succeed and finally be treated with respect. And I couldn’t be more proud of Biden! Bravo! 👏👏👏
It’s a tougher question because the RR are governed by federal law, and so they can’t strike without authority to do so. That makes it almost an impossible political choice, because so long as Congress isn’t passing laws to help them, a strike forces the administration to choose between nationwide economic damage and siding with workers. It’s an unenviable position.
I hope that the country-wide pro-union momentum continues to build. It's time to repeal the "right to work" laws, which are anything but. The fact that the studios even considered the possibility of "starving out" the strikers is a clear indication that even with strong unions behind us, our society condones rewarding abuse of power in the name of greed.
I look to Michigan and Minnesota as a great example of what can happen when Democrats gain a trifecta in government and can rollback regressive laws like right to work.
I'm a teacher in Nevada. I wish we could roll back right to work here, but the casinos would never allow it. They're the ones that really run everything here. Happy for the states that can make it happen!
I am thrilled that there has been a resurgence of union power as it is the only way to rein in corporate greed. This lesson is clear to anyone who has studied history; it is not subtle. I hope this will encourage strikers of the future to stand their ground and also that we will not see blood shed over the rights to unionize and to strike, as it has in the past. I am also ecstatic to hear that Pres. Biden will stand in the picket line. What a precedent!
Unions were strong until Reagan and his union busting of the air traffic controllers. The best way to keep unions powerful is to keep Republicans out of office.
That does need to change, but I submit that we should feel paralyzed and without recourse while that law is in place. There are plenty of things we can and must do even as we set our sights upon undoing Citizens United. It’s a tall order but it can happen if we have the votes.
Democratic leadership should be flooding the airwaves in support of unionization.
They should have been doing this for years, just as they should have focused on income inequality, just as they should have focused on SCOTUS and state elections.
It’s taken a whole new generation to move the center of the party back over to workers’ rights. People like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were seen as fringe leftists before, and now they are more or less in step with the White House. Change takes time, and the old guard needs to go. As we’re seeing with Bob Menendez, it’s not easy to get them out! But we press onwards.
If we believe a minimum wage is necessary, why not a maximum wage? It would solve so many wage issues if companies were required to raise all workers' wages by the same percentage of their salaries as the percentage given to management in raises, bonuses, etc., meaning if the CEO gets a 40% increase in salary, every other worker gets 40%, too. It's only fair and it would certainly cut down on the huge wage disparities and do a much better job of sharing the wealth across all society. Strikes would be rare if non-existent. Perhaps inflation would slow, as well, since corporations would be a little more cautious about raising prices since they would have to share the wealth throughout all levels of employees. Too radical? We can all dream, right?
I suppose, but it didn't work for long, did it? Greed always seems to win in this country, never the greater good. (And yes, I've lived long enough to be cynical).
We will be making up for the railroad intervention for years. We'd have been much further along in these other negotiations in society. Excited to see progress, thank you for taking time out of your vacay to inform.
Hopefully this helps the big three automakers realize that honest negotiations and a fair settlement is in their best interests. I'm not holding my breath though.
I am encouraged that Ford is already meeting many of the autoworkers’ demands in its negotiations in Canada. That’s why the rolling strikes did not go after Ford plants. Work with the UAW, and they’ll work with you!
With the end of the strike comes the loss of these exceptional shorts I have been reading and how well we have been educating one another on many topics. Thanks for the support.
As a reader, writer, and viewer I'm thrilled with this news. I teach management and have been in healthcare and higher education for almost 50 years (yes, I'm ancient!) I teach my students that unions come in and win, when management FAILS their workers. With mergers and acquisitions, corporate and hedge fund takeovers of hospitals and physician practices, watch this sector for the next wave of union growth. I'm going to sit on the sidelines, cheer, and say: I TOLD YOU SO!
Hopefully the SAG-AFTRA and UAW strikes will end soon and the unions will prevail.
I'm also hopeful that the folks affected by these strikes will help get out the vote for '24 to enable a less hostile environment for labor nationwide.
Corporate greed is the root of so many problems, including inflation. That the Fed hasn't addressed this is malpractice. They and the media can blame regular workers finally making a little more money as the cause for inflation, raising interest rates to make things even more unaffordable, but until corporate greed is fully addressed, regular people will continue to suffer for it. Good for the unions. Happy for the WGA and cautiously optimistic about SAG and the UAW. Thank goodness for Joe Biden. He and the Democrats must win big in 2024. They must.
The Fed, made up of bankers, isn’t set up to consider the real human toll that things like hiking interest rates has upon working families. They intentionally cause pain in order to reduce demand, but there isn’t a mechanism in place to reduce corporate greed and opportunism. That is a central conundrum of our times. Unions may have an important role to play, if we can keep them truly representative of the workers.
Substitute the Fed with Republican and bankers with mostly lawyers, and your response describes our country pretty well.
Corporate greed is a reflection of individual greed. Recall that the wealthiest 10% of the population owns 89% of stocks and mutual funds, per a Federal Reserve report from a couple of years ago. I doubt that ratio has changed materially since October 2021.
One key mechanism to control excessive, narrow wealth accumulation by a very small part of the population is, of course, a progressive tax structure, applicable to both corporations and very-high-income individuals as well as to the population as a whole. We, thanks to incessant Republican efforts for the last 50 years or so (and also to Bill Clinton, goddamnit), highlighted in the last administration by a blatant multi-trillion-dollar tax gift to the morbidly wealthy, have the exact opposite: a _regressive_ system that actually excuses corporations and the extremely wealthy from paying much income tax at all and lands the greatest burden on the wage earners and middle-income salaried workers.
In case you were wondering (and since I'm up on my soapbox anyway), in addition to collective bargaining (i.e., strong labor unions), another crucial mechanism for asserting and maintaining reasonable equilibrium and equity in society is a meaningful, vigorously enforced regulatory structure. As we've repeatedly seen over the last few decades (and Milton Friedman be damned), unconstrained capitalism quickly becomes monopolistic, cut-throat, viciously hyper-exploitative, and unsustainably environmentally destructive. The so-called "free market" is but a rationalization for authoritarian corporate, thus oligarchic, control of an entire economy.
I realize I'm probably mostly preaching to the converted here. But that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
< rant mode off >
Excellent rant. You never know who reads these things. Maybe it breaks through to some. Keep preaching.
It’s not corporate greed. It’s personal greed. We need to shift from seeing corporations as beings that do things. It’s the people there who make the decisions and those decision making people who need to be held responsible.
"Narrator: It was the studios that caused this." Love it.
Did anyone else imagine that in Morgan Freeman's voice?
I hear it in George Takei’s voice.
Even better!
No, but now that you mentioned it, I don't know why I didn't!
We SO need this in Morgan Freeman's voice! Absolutely!
I heard it in Kathleen Turner's voice.
Yes!
Somehow, my heart fails to bleed for studio executives. It could be the sight of their tens-of-millions-dollar homes... Or of their yachts... Or their private planes.... Or maybe I am just cruel. But I am feeling no compassion for them whatsoever. Why can't more executives be like Taylor Swift, who decided she had enough money and divvied up her latest tour earnings among her crew? And then encouraged people to vote?
Or why not more like Dolly Parton, who shares her wealth in a way that improves lives rather than buying a yacht? Seriously, the greed in this country is out of control and it's killing us - and our planet.
It doesn’t matter to me how many big houses or yachts someone has. But it matters that they take care of all the people who bought them for them
These CEOs and companies are making obscene amounts of money. How much is enough? I’m thrilled to see these unions succeed and finally be treated with respect. And I couldn’t be more proud of Biden! Bravo! 👏👏👏
I agrée, although I wish he would have (could have?) done something for the RR Unions. They got screwed.
It’s a tougher question because the RR are governed by federal law, and so they can’t strike without authority to do so. That makes it almost an impossible political choice, because so long as Congress isn’t passing laws to help them, a strike forces the administration to choose between nationwide economic damage and siding with workers. It’s an unenviable position.
Completely agree. Without people they have nothing.
I hope that the country-wide pro-union momentum continues to build. It's time to repeal the "right to work" laws, which are anything but. The fact that the studios even considered the possibility of "starving out" the strikers is a clear indication that even with strong unions behind us, our society condones rewarding abuse of power in the name of greed.
I look to Michigan and Minnesota as a great example of what can happen when Democrats gain a trifecta in government and can rollback regressive laws like right to work.
I'm a teacher in Nevada. I wish we could roll back right to work here, but the casinos would never allow it. They're the ones that really run everything here. Happy for the states that can make it happen!
and Maine? We have a Dem Gov, Dem House and Dem Senate.....
CHILD LABOR!!
I am thrilled that there has been a resurgence of union power as it is the only way to rein in corporate greed. This lesson is clear to anyone who has studied history; it is not subtle. I hope this will encourage strikers of the future to stand their ground and also that we will not see blood shed over the rights to unionize and to strike, as it has in the past. I am also ecstatic to hear that Pres. Biden will stand in the picket line. What a precedent!
Unions were strong until Reagan and his union busting of the air traffic controllers. The best way to keep unions powerful is to keep Republicans out of office.
None of this will really change until Citizens United/McCutchen are overturned, and campaign contributions are recognized legally as bribes.
Take the money out of politics, and THINGS WILL CHANGE
That does need to change, but I submit that we should feel paralyzed and without recourse while that law is in place. There are plenty of things we can and must do even as we set our sights upon undoing Citizens United. It’s a tall order but it can happen if we have the votes.
Is there a missing “not” between should and feel?
Democratic leadership should be flooding the airwaves in support of unionization.
They should have been doing this for years, just as they should have focused on income inequality, just as they should have focused on SCOTUS and state elections.
Yet another missed opportunity.
It’s taken a whole new generation to move the center of the party back over to workers’ rights. People like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were seen as fringe leftists before, and now they are more or less in step with the White House. Change takes time, and the old guard needs to go. As we’re seeing with Bob Menendez, it’s not easy to get them out! But we press onwards.
If we believe a minimum wage is necessary, why not a maximum wage? It would solve so many wage issues if companies were required to raise all workers' wages by the same percentage of their salaries as the percentage given to management in raises, bonuses, etc., meaning if the CEO gets a 40% increase in salary, every other worker gets 40%, too. It's only fair and it would certainly cut down on the huge wage disparities and do a much better job of sharing the wealth across all society. Strikes would be rare if non-existent. Perhaps inflation would slow, as well, since corporations would be a little more cautious about raising prices since they would have to share the wealth throughout all levels of employees. Too radical? We can all dream, right?
Isn’t that what progressive tax rates were supposed to do? Bring back higher tax rates for high earners.
I suppose, but it didn't work for long, did it? Greed always seems to win in this country, never the greater good. (And yes, I've lived long enough to be cynical).
It didn’t work because voters were fooled into thinking trickle down economics would help everyone. It only helped the rich.
We will be making up for the railroad intervention for years. We'd have been much further along in these other negotiations in society. Excited to see progress, thank you for taking time out of your vacay to inform.
Hopefully this helps the big three automakers realize that honest negotiations and a fair settlement is in their best interests. I'm not holding my breath though.
I am encouraged that Ford is already meeting many of the autoworkers’ demands in its negotiations in Canada. That’s why the rolling strikes did not go after Ford plants. Work with the UAW, and they’ll work with you!
Nice work here!
With the end of the strike comes the loss of these exceptional shorts I have been reading and how well we have been educating one another on many topics. Thanks for the support.
I am a SAG-AFTRA member. I am thrilled to see the WGA negotiations where they are, and hope that writers will not cross SAG-AFTRA lines.
As a reader, writer, and viewer I'm thrilled with this news. I teach management and have been in healthcare and higher education for almost 50 years (yes, I'm ancient!) I teach my students that unions come in and win, when management FAILS their workers. With mergers and acquisitions, corporate and hedge fund takeovers of hospitals and physician practices, watch this sector for the next wave of union growth. I'm going to sit on the sidelines, cheer, and say: I TOLD YOU SO!
Good news! Thank you for explaining the details.
Hopefully the SAG-AFTRA and UAW strikes will end soon and the unions will prevail.
I'm also hopeful that the folks affected by these strikes will help get out the vote for '24 to enable a less hostile environment for labor nationwide.