Oh this is so good let's run it again.. one more time, updated:
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Cheap Labor Conservatives...
When you cut right through it, right-wing ideology is just "dime-store economics" – intended to dress their ideology up and make it look respectable. You don't really need to know much about economics to understand it. They certainly don't. It all gets down to two simple words.
"Cheap labor". That's their whole philosophy in a nutshell – which gives you a short and pithy "catch phrase" that describes them perfectly. You've heard of "big-government liberals". Well they're "cheap-labor conservatives".
"Cheap-labor conservative" is a moniker they will never shake, and never live down. Because it's exactly what they are. You see, cheap-labor conservatives are defenders of corporate America – whose fortunes depend on labor. The larger the labor supply, the cheaper it is. The more desperately you need a job, the cheaper you'll work, and the more power those "corporate lords" have over you. If you are among the ultra rich – your wealth, power and privilege is enhanced by a labor pool, forced to work cheap.
Don't believe me? Well, let's apply this principle, and see how many “conservative” positions become instantly understandable.
* Cheap-labor conservatives don't like social spending or our "safety net". Why? Because when you're unemployed and desperate, corporations can pay you whatever they feel like – which is inevitably next to nothing. They want you "over a barrel" and in a position to "work cheap or starve".
* Cheap-labor conservatives don't like the minimum wage, or other improvements in wages and working conditions. Why? These reforms undo all of their efforts to keep you "over a barrel".
* Cheap-labor conservatives like "free trade", NAFTA, GATT, etc. Why? Because there is a huge supply of desperately poor people in the third world, who are "over a barrel", and will work cheap.
* Cheap-labor conservatives oppose a woman's right to choose. Why? Unwanted children are an economic burden that put poor women "over a barrel", forcing them to work cheap.
* Cheap-labor conservatives don't like unions. Why? Because when labor "sticks together", wages go up. That's why workers unionize. Seems workers don't like being "over a barrel".
* Illegal immigrants are the latest ploy to drive wages down. Keep your eye on the efforts to crack down on the 10-thousand or so Mexicans who illegally enter the USA every day. The crack down won’t happen. Every one of them represents lower pay scales for carpenters, electricians, bricklayers, roofers, gardeners, maids, mechanics, cooks, dishwashers, bellhops, farmhands and highway construction workers.
* On the educated end of the scale, the millions of jobs being shipped to India, Pakistan, Malaysia and China, are also an effective way to turn America's highly skilled technical people into minimum wage drudges, desperate for a job.
* Cheap-labor conservatives constantly bray about "morality", "virtue", "respect for authority", "hard work" and other "values". Why? So they can blame your being "over a barrel" on your own "immorality", lack of "values" and "poor choices".
* Cheap-labor conservatives encourage racism, misogyny, homophobia and other forms of bigotry. Why? Bigotry among wage earners distracts them, and keeps them from recognizing their common interests as wage earners.
The Cheap-Labor Conservatives' "Dirty Secret": They Don't Really Like Prosperity
Maybe you don't believe that cheap-labor conservatives like unemployment, poverty and "cheap labor". Consider these facts.
· Unemployment was 23 percent when FDR took office in 1933. It dropped to 2.5 percent by time the next Republican was in the White House in 1953. It climbed back to 6.5 percent by the end of the Eisenhower administration. It dropped to 3.5 percent by the time LBJ left office. It climbed over 5 percent shortly after Nixon took office, and stayed there for 27 years, until Clinton brought it down to 4.5 percent early in his second term.
·That same period – especially from the late forties into the early seventies – was the "golden age" of the United States. We sent men to the moon. We built our Interstate Highway system. We ended segregation in the South and established Medicare. In those days, a single wage earner could support an entire family on his wages.
These facts provide a nice background to evaluate cheap-labor conservative claims like "liberals are destroying America." In fact, cheap-labor conservatives have howled with outrage and indignation against New Deal liberalism from its inception in the 1930's all the way to the present. You can go to "Free Republic" or Hannity's forum right now, and find a cheap-labor conservative comparing New Deal Liberalism to "Stalinism".
· Cheap-labor conservatives opposed virtually all of the New Deal, including every improvement in wages and working conditions.
· Cheap-labor conservatives have a long and sorry history of opposing virtually every advancement in this country's development – going right back to the American revolution
· Cheap-labor conservatives have hated Social Security and Medicare since their inception.
· Many cheap-labor conservatives are hostile to public education. They think it should be privatized. But why are we surprised? Cheap-labor conservatives opposed universal public education in its early days.
· Cheap-labor conservatives hate the progressive income tax like the devil hates holy water.
· Cheap-labor conservatives like budget deficits and a huge national debt for two reasons. A bankrupt government has a harder time doing any "social spending" – which cheap-labor conservatives oppose, and . . .
· Wealthy cheap-labor conservatives like say, George W. Bush, buy the bonds and then earn tax free interest on the money they lend the government. [Check out Dubya's financial disclosures. The President is a big holder of the T-bills that finance the deficit he is helping to expand.] The deficit created by cheap-labor conservatives – while they posture as being "fiscally conservative" -- may count as the biggest con job in American history. They also invest heavily in weapons makers. Guess who made billions with the beginning of the Iraq War: George H.W. Bush, who will be able to pass his billions on to his kids if Dubya is successful in wiping out the inheritance tax on rich folks. (See: Caryle Group- managing partners. )
· "Free Trade", globalization, NAFTA and especially GATT are intended to create a world-wide "corporate playground" where national governments serve the interests of corporations -- which means "cheap labor".
The ugly truth is that cheap-labor conservatives just don't like working people. They don't like "bottom up" prosperity, and the reason for it is very simple. If people are too prosperous their corporate lords have a harder time kicking them around. Once you understand this about the cheap-labor conservatives, the real motivation for their policies makes perfect sense. Remember, cheap-labor conservatives believe in social hierarchy and privilege, so the only prosperity they want is limited to them. They want to see absolutely nothing that benefits the guy – or more often the woman – who works for an hourly wage.
So there you have it, in one easy-to-remember phrase. See how easy it is to understand these cheap-labor conservatives? The more ignorant and destitute people there are – desperate for any job they can get – the cheaper the cheap-labor conservatives can get them to work.
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