Read the first half, decided it deserved to be cross-posted, hit ctrl+v.
Damon Silvers, Associate General Counsel of AFL-CIO, has a pretty good piece about how anti-union business practices and a society of low-wages and high-spending contributed to the current financial crisis. It's a good read, made none the less impacting because he wrote it in April.
Going to read the other half.
The problem is that I've been reading stuff like this for YEARS now. It applies here in Canada too. Both on an academic level and on a very visceral real level. Anyone who has
really been paying attention knows that REAL wages have been stagnant or falling for decades.
But while you're starting to see a smattering of unfocused political will to do something, I have yet to see any politician - even Obama - stand up and clearly articulate this exact problem to the people at large, to get this idea stuck in
everyone's head.
To my mind, until EVERYBODY in North America understands that this is the true root issue causing huge problems, we will not see true solutions. We will see the same old obfuscation, pandering, filibustering, nonsense and sound bites.
This isn't actually that complicated a concept, but most of the stupid college kids who actually bother to learn about the issue are content to preach to self-satisfied fellow converts, all while everyday workers continue to spin their wheels with no more than an unfocused idea that "The Man is keepn' 'em down." - if they get that far at all.
If we want to see anything more than a perpetual reaguard action, we need to get everybody on board the same fucking train. Because without massive public support for leglation that is sure to opposed by the deep-pocketed, I can assure you that legislation will not pass and we will all continue to be fucked.