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Today's Pig Is Tomorrow's Bacon
Abookamongstthemany
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http://www.gregpalast.com/todays-pig-is-tomorrows-bacon-a-labor-day-recipe
TODAY’S PIG IS TOMORROW’S BACON (a Labor Day recipe)
Published by Greg Palast September 3rd, 2006 in Articles
Some years from now, in an economic refugee relocation “Enterprise Zone,” your kids will ask you, “What did you do in the Class War, Daddy?”
The trick of class war is not to let the victims know they’re under attack. That’s how, little by little, the owners of the planet take away what little we have.
This week, Dupont, the chemical giant, slashed employee pension benefits by two-thirds. Furthermore, new Dupont workers won’t get a guaranteed pension at all — and no health care after retirement. It’s part of Dupont’s new “Die Young” program, I hear. Dupont is not in financial straits. Rather, the slash attack on its workers’ pensions was aimed at adding a crucial three cents a share to company earnings, from $3.11 per share to $3.14.
So Happy Labor Day.
And this week, the government made it official: For the first time since the Labor Department began measuring how the American pie is sliced, those in the top fifth of the wealth scale are now gobbling up over half (50.4%) of our nation’s annual income.
So Happy Labor Day.
We don’t even get to lick the plates. While 15.9% of us don’t have health insurance (a record, Mr. President!), even those of us who have it, don’t have it: we’re spending 36% more per family out of pocket on medical costs since the new regime took power in Washington. If you’ve actually tried to collect from your insurance company, you know what I mean.
So Happy Labor Day.
But if you think I have nothing nice to say about George W. Bush, let me report that the USA now has more millionaires than ever — 7.4 million! And over the past decade, the number of billionaires has more than tripled, 341 of them!
If that doesn’t make you feel like you’re missing out, this should: You, Mr. Median, are earning, after inflation, a little less than you earned when Richard Nixon reigned. Median household income — and most of us are “median” — is down. Way down.
Since the Bush Putsch in 2000, median income has fallen 5.9%.
Mr. Bush and friends are offering us an “ownership” society. But he didn’t mention who already owns it. The richest fifth of America owns 83% of all shares in the stock market. But that’s a bit misleading because most of that, 53% of all the stock, is owned by just one percent of American households.
And what does the Wealthy One Percent want? Answer: more wealth. Where will they get it? As with a tube of toothpaste, they’re squeezing it from the bottom. Median paychecks have gone down by 5.9% during the current regime, but Americans in the bottom fifth have seen their incomes sliced by 20%.
At the other end, CEO pay at the Fortune 500 has bloated by 51% during the first four years of the Bush regime to an average of $8.1 million per annum.
So who’s winning? It’s a crude indicator, but let’s take a peek at the Class War body count.
When Reagan took power in 1980, the One Percent possessed 33% of America’s wealth as measured by capital income. By 2006, the One Percent has swallowed over half of all America’s assets, from sea to shining sea. One hundred fifty million Americans altogether own less than 3% of all private assets.
Yes, American middle-class house values are up, but we’re blowing that gain to stay alive. Edward Wolff, the New York University expert on income, explained to me that, “The middle class is mortgaging itself to death.” As a result of mortgaging our new equity, 60% of all households have seen a decline in net worth.
Is America getting poorer? No, just its people, We the Median. In fact, we are producing an astonishing amount of new wealth in the USA. We are a lean, mean production machine. Output per worker in BushAmerica zoomed by 15% over four years through 2004. Problem is, although worker productivity keeps rising, the producers are getting less and less of it.
The gap between what we produce and what we get is widening like an alligator’s jaw. The more you work, the less you get. It used to be that as the economic pie got bigger, everyone’s slice got bigger too. No more.
The One Percent have swallowed your share before you can get your fork in.
The loot Dupont sucked from its employees’ retirement funds will be put to good use. It will more than cover the cost of the company directors’ decision to hike the pension set aside for CEO Charles Holliday to $2.1 million a year. And that’s fair, I suppose: Holliday’s a winning general in the class war. And shouldn’t the winners of war get the spoils?
Of course, there are killjoys who cling to that Calvinist-Marxist belief that a system forever fattening the richest cannot continue without end. Professor Michael Zweig, Director of the State University of New York’s Center for Study of Working Class Life, put it in culinary terms: “Today’s pig is tomorrow’s bacon.”
TODAY’S PIG IS TOMORROW’S BACON (a Labor Day recipe)
Published by Greg Palast September 3rd, 2006 in Articles
Some years from now, in an economic refugee relocation “Enterprise Zone,” your kids will ask you, “What did you do in the Class War, Daddy?”
The trick of class war is not to let the victims know they’re under attack. That’s how, little by little, the owners of the planet take away what little we have.
This week, Dupont, the chemical giant, slashed employee pension benefits by two-thirds. Furthermore, new Dupont workers won’t get a guaranteed pension at all — and no health care after retirement. It’s part of Dupont’s new “Die Young” program, I hear. Dupont is not in financial straits. Rather, the slash attack on its workers’ pensions was aimed at adding a crucial three cents a share to company earnings, from $3.11 per share to $3.14.
So Happy Labor Day.
And this week, the government made it official: For the first time since the Labor Department began measuring how the American pie is sliced, those in the top fifth of the wealth scale are now gobbling up over half (50.4%) of our nation’s annual income.
So Happy Labor Day.
We don’t even get to lick the plates. While 15.9% of us don’t have health insurance (a record, Mr. President!), even those of us who have it, don’t have it: we’re spending 36% more per family out of pocket on medical costs since the new regime took power in Washington. If you’ve actually tried to collect from your insurance company, you know what I mean.
So Happy Labor Day.
But if you think I have nothing nice to say about George W. Bush, let me report that the USA now has more millionaires than ever — 7.4 million! And over the past decade, the number of billionaires has more than tripled, 341 of them!
If that doesn’t make you feel like you’re missing out, this should: You, Mr. Median, are earning, after inflation, a little less than you earned when Richard Nixon reigned. Median household income — and most of us are “median” — is down. Way down.
Since the Bush Putsch in 2000, median income has fallen 5.9%.
Mr. Bush and friends are offering us an “ownership” society. But he didn’t mention who already owns it. The richest fifth of America owns 83% of all shares in the stock market. But that’s a bit misleading because most of that, 53% of all the stock, is owned by just one percent of American households.
And what does the Wealthy One Percent want? Answer: more wealth. Where will they get it? As with a tube of toothpaste, they’re squeezing it from the bottom. Median paychecks have gone down by 5.9% during the current regime, but Americans in the bottom fifth have seen their incomes sliced by 20%.
At the other end, CEO pay at the Fortune 500 has bloated by 51% during the first four years of the Bush regime to an average of $8.1 million per annum.
So who’s winning? It’s a crude indicator, but let’s take a peek at the Class War body count.
When Reagan took power in 1980, the One Percent possessed 33% of America’s wealth as measured by capital income. By 2006, the One Percent has swallowed over half of all America’s assets, from sea to shining sea. One hundred fifty million Americans altogether own less than 3% of all private assets.
Yes, American middle-class house values are up, but we’re blowing that gain to stay alive. Edward Wolff, the New York University expert on income, explained to me that, “The middle class is mortgaging itself to death.” As a result of mortgaging our new equity, 60% of all households have seen a decline in net worth.
Is America getting poorer? No, just its people, We the Median. In fact, we are producing an astonishing amount of new wealth in the USA. We are a lean, mean production machine. Output per worker in BushAmerica zoomed by 15% over four years through 2004. Problem is, although worker productivity keeps rising, the producers are getting less and less of it.
The gap between what we produce and what we get is widening like an alligator’s jaw. The more you work, the less you get. It used to be that as the economic pie got bigger, everyone’s slice got bigger too. No more.
The One Percent have swallowed your share before you can get your fork in.
The loot Dupont sucked from its employees’ retirement funds will be put to good use. It will more than cover the cost of the company directors’ decision to hike the pension set aside for CEO Charles Holliday to $2.1 million a year. And that’s fair, I suppose: Holliday’s a winning general in the class war. And shouldn’t the winners of war get the spoils?
Of course, there are killjoys who cling to that Calvinist-Marxist belief that a system forever fattening the richest cannot continue without end. Professor Michael Zweig, Director of the State University of New York’s Center for Study of Working Class Life, put it in culinary terms: “Today’s pig is tomorrow’s bacon.”
If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
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ccfa.org
http://organicconsumers.com/
i've also noticed this one lady that lives somewhere close ot me...i'd see her walking to burger king in the early morning to start her shitty job...recently i've noticed in the afternoon she is walking to a part time job at the local vet...all that walking and working just to get by?
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
ccfa.org
http://organicconsumers.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thelastreel http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19604327965
oh come on now, don't tell me you fall for that.
BBC report on health care in cuba http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/5232628.stm
http://www.myspace.com/thelastreel http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19604327965
How is the middle class defined? What is the evidence it is "shrinking?" Has there ever been a more prosperous middle class in the history of human civilization?
Health care. The government pays for poor people's health insurance (medicare, medicaid). Most people can choose their own doctor and the type of plans they need. Most of the people without health insurance choose not to have it - mostly young people in their 20s just starting out. But all of this is pointless - why is it the government's responsibility, or why is it the responsibility of a company to give you health care? We need cars...should they give us cars? I need a house, should my company give me a house? I need a plasma tv, should someone buy me that to?
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
America is rich, and American pollutes, and American's still don't have enough.
We need less pollution, less cars, less manufacturing, less oil, less consumerism, etc. But we still want more money, more jobs, more care, more government, more help, more medical treatment, more medicine, more insurance, ect.
Somehow I don't think this equation is going to work out.
you dont need a plasma tv... you dont need a tv..
you dont need a car. you just need adequet public transport
need is something you cannot, literally, live without... you cannot live without your health. this is a concept we have accepted long ago in britain.
http://www.myspace.com/thelastreel http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19604327965
Right, and in the US, those who cannot afford insurance get it from the government. If an emergency arises, then ER MUST treat you...you are not denied.
So we need food. Why doesn't the government or my boss pay for that? I need water, why should I pay my water bill?
My point with using plasma tv is that a lot of those who don't have health insurance choose plasma tv's over health care.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Preventive doctor care is in the best interest of a society.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
True. And I think it's important to have a government agency to help those who cannot afford health care. But I don't understand the government paying for health care for those who can afford it. Especially if those who want it prefer doctors that they can choose.
Choice is important. When I got my first job, I worked for a start-up tha didn't offer health insurance. I thought the job was still a good opportunity. But I chose not to buy my own health insurance because spending money on other things was more important to me at the time.
Maybe I'm biased because NY's medicaid system is completely out of control. We spend more than TX and CA COMBINED....and that's not per capita, total amount. There is so much waste...and no accountability.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Maybe we should fix the problems areas of waste to make the system more efficient.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
it is very hard to get onto medicare/caid if you are 25 or over. and didn't bush cut a whoooooole bunch from that program (as well as student loans) around christmas?
do you REALLY need a plasma tv, or do you WANT one> everyone NEEDS health care. there is no reason for someone to pay close to $100 a paycheck for health insurance and then have to pay $3,000 before the insurance will actually pay for anything.
i've worked plenty of places where ppl just couldn't afford the health insurance provided by the company
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
how about taking some of the money that's going towards bonuses for halliburton and the inflated costs of the no-bid contracts or all the $ spent on rebuilding and actually using it on something the populace will benefit from?
do you guys complain this much about corporate welfare?
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
what about ppl who can't afford their meds?
ya know, i know a guy who is pretty poor...he went to the er b/c he had blood in his urine...they treated him, sort of...pretty much told him he had growths in him (forgot where, i think his kidneys?) but that was as much as they could do for him...he had ot make an appointment w/ a specialist to have it taken care of...looks like he was pretty much denied to me...sure, he was told the CAUSE, but given no real help as to fixing it
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
No it's not hard to get medical care if your income falls below a certain level. As far as student loans....I'm SOOOOO far in the red, I don't even want to discuss it :(
But my plasma tv comment was geared towards myself...and other people in their 20's who decided not to get health insurance because we wanted other things. This was of course until I realized I had issues, and decided I might want to forgo drinking with my friends and instead figure out how to see professionals within my budget.
Seriously, I really do advocate a social safety net for people who cannot afford it, but if you are single, young, and have the "average" job, you can afford health insurance if it's that important to you.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
This I can agree with you...and I think we can do better. All I'm saying is that universal health care isn't the answer.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
what about ppl w/ a family?
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Whether or not you qualify for medicaid/medicare is dependent on your family status and number of children you have. I don't have a problem with that.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
No matter how you look at though you can't really call it fair when the richest nation in the world is ranked last among industrialized nations in health care, even behind some third world countries...a crime.
and where do we fall, again, in education, child mortality rates, scientists, engineers....?
profits are more important than life
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Ranked. What does that mean? How is it operationalized?
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
I can agree with you on education...and the public education system and it's lack of incentives and accountability is to blame...but that's for another thread
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
worst/best...most/least...and where your country falls in compared to others.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
what does worst/best mean? or most least?
I'm guessing choice of dr is underated in these rankings...I like my dr...I would not respond well to someone telling me where to go.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
The countries where the most people have healthcare are at the top of the ranking and it goes down form there. It's a way to compare.
I don't undertsand what having a choice of dr has to do with it. Any doctor care at all would be a nice change for many.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
I don't think using the % of people that have health care is a good way to measure quality of health care. Choosing which dr you want, not having to wait, etc, providing for those who can't afford while allowing those who can afford the choice seems like a big benefit to me.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
i think the public educaitonal system has several errors within it, but yes, accountability and incentives would be two of them...another would be that we spend more on the war on drugs than education and they cut programs like the head start program completely
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
the percentage of population with access to health care, I believe. this was in 2000 or so things may be different now..