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30 Years Ago: The Day The Middle Class Died
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy a répondu le Sun 7 Aug, 2011 @ 2:25am |
 Coolness: 106120 | by Michael Moore
From time to time, someone under 30 will ask me, "When did this all begin, America's downward slide?" They say they've heard of a time when working people could raise a family and send the kids to college on just one parent's income (and that college in states like California and New York was almost free). That anyone who wanted a decent paying job could get one. That people only worked five days a week, eight hours a day, got the whole weekend off and had a paid vacation every summer. That many jobs were union jobs, from baggers at the grocery store to the guy painting your house, and this meant that no matter how "lowly" your job was you had guarantees of a pension, occasional raises, health insurance and someone to stick up for you if you were unfairly treated. [On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days.] On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days. Young people have heard of this mythical time -- but it was no myth, it was real. And when they ask, "When did this all end?", I say, "It ended on this day: August 5th, 1981." Beginning on this date, 30 years ago, Big Business and the Right Wing decided to "go for it" -- to see if they could actually destroy the middle class so that they could become richer themselves. And they've succeeded. On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days. It was a bold and brash move. No one had ever tried it. What made it even bolder was that PATCO was one of only two unions that had endorsed Reagan for president! It sent a shock wave through workers across the country. If he would do this to the people who were with him, what would he do to us? Reagan had been backed by Wall Street in his run for the White House and they, along with right-wing Christians, wanted to restructure America and turn back the tide that President Franklin D. Roosevelt started -- a tide that was intended to make life better for the average working person. The rich hated paying better wages and providing benefits. They hated paying taxes even more. And they despised unions. The right-wing Christians hated anything that sounded like socialism or holding out a helping hand to minorities or women. Reagan promised to end all that. So when the air traffic controllers went on strike, he seized the moment. In getting rid of every single last one of them and outlawing their union, he sent a clear and strong message: The days of everyone having a comfortable middle class life were over. America, from now on, would be run this way: * The super-rich will make more, much much more, and the rest of you will scramble for the crumbs that are left. * Everyone must work! Mom, Dad, the teenagers in the house! Dad, you work a second job! Kids, here's your latch-key! Your parents might be home in time to put you to bed. * 50 million of you must go without health insurance! And health insurance companies: you go ahead and decide who you want to help -- or not. * Unions are evil! You will not belong to a union! You do not need an advocate! Shut up and get back to work! No, you can't leave now, we're not done. Your kids can make their own dinner. * You want to go to college? No problem -- just sign here and be in hock to a bank for the next 20 years! * What's "a raise"? Get back to work and shut up! And so it went. But Reagan could not have pulled this off by himself in 1981. He had some big help: The AFL-CIO. The biggest organization of unions in America told its members to cross the picket lines of the air traffic controllers and go to work. And that's just what these union members did. Union pilots, flight attendants, delivery truck drivers, baggage handlers -- they all crossed the line and helped to break the strike. And union members of all stripes crossed the picket lines and continued to fly. Reagan and Wall Street could not believe their eyes! Hundreds of thousands of working people and union members endorsing the firing of fellow union members. It was Christmas in August for Corporate America. And that was the beginning of the end. Reagan and the Republicans knew they could get away with anything -- and they did. They slashed taxes on the rich. They made it harder for you to start a union at your workplace. They eliminated safety regulations on the job. They ignored the monopoly laws and allowed thousands of companies to merge or be bought out and closed down. Corporations froze wages and threatened to move overseas if the workers didn't accept lower pay and less benefits. And when the workers agreed to work for less, they moved the jobs overseas anyway. And at every step along the way, the majority of Americans went along with this. There was little opposition or fight-back. The "masses" did not rise up and protect their jobs, their homes, their schools (which used to be the best in the world). They just accepted their fate and took the beating. I have often wondered what would have happened had we all just stopped flying, period, back in 1981. What if all the unions had said to Reagan, "Give those controllers their jobs back or we're shutting the country down!"? You know what would have happened. The corporate elite and their boy Reagan would have buckled. But we didn't do it. And so, bit by bit, piece by piece, in the ensuing 30 years, those in power have destroyed the middle class of our country and, in turn, have wrecked the future for our young people. Wages have remained stagnant for 30 years. Take a look at the statistics and you can see that every decline we're now suffering with had it's beginning in 1981 (here's a little scene to illustrate that from my last movie). It all began on this day, 30 years ago. One of the darkest days in American history. And we let it happen to us. Yes, they had the money, and the media and the cops. But we had 200 million of us. Ever wonder what it would look like if 200 million got truly upset and wanted their country, their life, their job, their weekend, their time with their kids back? Have we all just given up? What are we waiting for? Forget about the 20% who support the Tea Party -- we are the other 80%! This decline will only end when we demand it. And not through an online petition or a tweet. We are going to have to turn the TV and the computer and the video games off and get out in the streets (like they've done in Wisconsin). Some of you need to run for local office next year. We need to demand that the Democrats either get a spine and stop taking corporate money -- or step aside. When is enough, enough? The middle class dream will not just magically reappear. Wall Street's plan is clear: America is to be a nation of Haves and Have Nothings. Is that OK for you? Why not use today to pause and think about the little steps you can take to turn this around in your neighborhood, at your workplace, in your school? Is there any better day to start than today? [ www.michaelmoore.com ] |
| I'm feeling shiraz right now.. | |
| Bad [-1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini a répondu le Mon 8 Aug, 2011 @ 12:45am |
 Coolness: 145205 | poor leftists, burned by obama... |
| I'm feeling surly right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» DynV a répondu le Mon 8 Aug, 2011 @ 1:20am |
 Coolness: 108810 | I thought the repetition was annoying at first, but then it was a symbol. |
| I'm feeling <3 sexi_babe_69 right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini a répondu le Mon 8 Aug, 2011 @ 3:01pm |
| Coolness: 145205 | got to get rid of obama, i'm not saying you should want a tea party hack instead of him, but, come on, this guy has to go he's a fucking tooooooooooooooool! |
| I'm feeling surly right now.. | |
| Good [+5]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy a répondu le Mon 8 Aug, 2011 @ 4:37pm |
| Coolness: 106120 | Almost 30 years of right-wing slash and burn management, and you blame Obama? |
| I'm feeling shiraz right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» crimson a répondu le Mon 8 Aug, 2011 @ 5:18pm |
 Coolness: 66430 | Originally Posted By DATABOY
Almost 30 years of right-wing slash and burn management, and you blame Obama? lol +1 |
| I'm feeling freaky right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini a répondu le Fri 12 Aug, 2011 @ 11:31am |
| Coolness: 145205 | ok but the guy who is supposed to be the savior sells you down the river...
no new regulations after the crisis no criminal prosecutions for any crimes related to the crisis no additional taxes on wallsteet. seriously what has this guy done for you? btw did you forget the 90s? Clinton wasn't a right wing reactionary but he still screwed you...(so called 'free trade') you shouldn't post stuff by Michael Moore, the guy is a proven liar (roger and me is a tapestry of miss truths) databoy you just got to get passed the idea that everything that is wrong with the world is due to the right wing people in the world. |
| I'm feeling surly right now.. | |
| Good [+3]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy a répondu le Fri 12 Aug, 2011 @ 1:00pm |
| Coolness: 106120 | Originally Posted By BASDINI
ok but the guy who is supposed to be the savior sells you down the river... Obama, a savior? more like a janitor hired to kleen up after the republican orgie. Problem is, half of the GOP is sticking around to make sure the job doesnt get done. Have you found any lies or miss truthes in this article? If not, I dont see your point. |
| I'm feeling shiraz right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini a répondu le Sat 13 Aug, 2011 @ 11:18am |
| Coolness: 145205 | remember that time when obama had a majority, remember that time between march 09 and nov 2010? didn't end the fucking iraq war, still there,
all i'm saying is you have to come to the realization that the Democrats in the US are rotten to the to the core... stop supporting them, they are totally beholden to wall street and big pharma and the insurance industry... Stop supporting wallstreet hacks, the middle class is dieing? Do something about it. This drives me nuts with leftists, I am a bigger critic of wallstreet then most leftists, how can this be? I would love to meet a leftist who thought that the bailouts of 08 were wrong and that taxing wallstreet on turnover. |
| I'm feeling surly right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy a répondu le Sun 14 Aug, 2011 @ 1:36am |
| Coolness: 106120 | Why are we talking about Obama? I didn't vote for him, I'm not even American.
Most of the articles I post aren't even about the left or the right or Obama, there about greed and corruption and social dynamics and community action. But you basdini, I don't really get your point. You seem to be for total deregulation when It comes to the financial sector, you're against taxes, you seem to identify quite readily to the right, quite frankly you seem to share a lot in common with the tea party. But when confronted with the disastrous results that the right wing economic and politics that have had on the social fabric of America and Europe, you turn to the lefty and call him out on what he didn't do, as if he as responsible for the mess. How bout scrutinizing the politicians that are championing your own causes for a change. |
| I'm feeling shiraz right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» basdini a répondu le Mon 5 Sep, 2011 @ 7:48am |
| Coolness: 145205 | |
| I'm feeling surly right now.. | |
30 Years Ago: The Day The Middle Class Died
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