Bill Moyers: Joblessness is Killing Us

[marmar]

http://vimeo.com/75553861


Bill Moyers Essay: Joblessness is Killing Us
September 27, 2013


In an essay following his conversation with Greenpeace International’s Kumi Naidoo, Bill Moyers links Naidoo’s courage in speaking truth to power with an account of the recent visit by Pope Francis to Sardinia, the Mediterranean island known for its beautiful beaches and palatial homes owned by the richest of the rich. Sardinia is now blighted by widespread joblessness — 51 percent of its young people are out of work — and as the pope heard the stories of desperation and deprivation, he threw away his prepared speech and decried a global economic system “that does us so much harm.” The story leads Bill to conclude that unless we “dethrone our present system of financial capitalism that rewards those at the top” while everyone else is struggling, “it will consume us” and democracy will be finished.


http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-joblessness-is-killing-us-the-pope-says-so-%c2%a0/

[xchrom]

1. du rec.

[adirondacker]

2. Thanks! Highly Recommended listening, irregadless of your opinion of the Pope and Catholic church!nt

[LittleGirl]

3. I watched this last night

Everyone should hear it. It needs to go viral.

[dkf]

4. Even if the rich didn't make so much that doesn't increase demand for the labor of the jobless.

The only way you do that is "make work" jobs or pure welfare.

The problem is we haven't figured out what jobless people should do that creates something valuable.

[Romulox]

5. We have no problem spending trillions on a Defense Industry entirely dependent on government.

"The problem is we haven't figured out what jobless people should do that creates something valuable."

Our infrastructure is collapsing around us. Schools go underfunded. There are homeless in the streets of all of our major cities. But "nobody knows" of anything that need be done to "make work" here in the US? I cry nonsense.

[dkf]

7. How many of those jobless have the skills to build infrastructure?

A minimal amount at best. Those projects will go to people who have jobs.

Isn't the problem that we are not training the jobless? Simply being unemployed builds no skills whatsoever. Even college builds underlying knowledge but little practical skill.

Being unemployed cannot be wasted time. It needs to be used to further whatever employers are looking for or to create businesses.

[bvar22]

14. A national, green, World Class High Speed Rail System...

...built & maintained by Americans using only American Made components would be a start.

Trade Unions and Apprenticeships for the required skills would fill the gaps very quickly.
We could do this for FAR less than making unnecessary weapons (like the F35),
and employ many more Americans in GOOD PAYING jobs with guaranteed benefits across the NATION,
[font size=3]AND (this is the BEST part)...we would all have something USEFUL that would BENEFIT Everybody & The Environment after the money was spent![/font]

We could do this easily...and MORE with the money we are now just throwing away.

[dkf]

35. And where is the leadership on this?

Maybe if Elon Musk really took it up we could get somewhere.

[bvar22]

41. Where is the Democratic Party Leadership?

...on a massive Jobs Program that could possibly save America's Working Class,
AND give America something useful that would benefit EVERYBODY for at least a generation?


That is a good question.





You will know them by their [font size=3]WORKS.[/font]

[Enthusiast]

47. +1

Yes, bvar22. There are good answers but they have the nasty side effect of benefiting real people and not just the 1%.

[Not Sure]

22. Have you ever worked in construction?

The entry level job at most construction companies is laborer, which is a position filled by people without any special skills but who have an ability to carry materials, use a shovel, etc. Laborers may assist other skilled craftsmen and acquire skills over time in several trades, from machine operator to surveying to pipefitting. On the job is where those skills are learned. There are some schools that teach construction trades and management and land surveying, but they aren't as common as you might think. The point is, the entry-level job comes first, then come the skills.

[dkf]

37. And entry level construction jobs are the hope of the millions of unemployed?

Is this what we would consider a "good paying job"? Moreover is this something a middle aged average American can handle?

[Not Sure]

46. No, but it's a start for a lot of people

It's not a good paying job at first, but what do you expect? You think you should make six figures right off the bat without any skills or experience? It's silly to expect that or even half of that. You start at the bottom and work your way up. Obviously there aren't enough construction jobs to go around to fix the country's unemployment crisis, but it's a start.

I point it out because that's how I started out during my college days, as a surveyor's assistant, carrying stakes and hammers and machetes and going where I was told. It didn't take long before I was making much better money than I'd make as an art teacher at a high school (what I pursued for my degree).

I had to start over after the mortgage crisis left a lot of civil engineering firms with excess workforce and not enough projects to keep them busy. I was a project manager and designer in charge of large multi-use developments, sitting at a computer most days working out designs in a 3D model environment and dealing with clients, municipalities and contractors the rest of the time. It was fun while it lasted but the economic collapse put an end to it. I tried working in oil and gas doing design work but I couldn't live with the idea that I was part of the destruction of the environment no matter how much I tried to hold the oil and gas companies' feet to the fire and follow rules and regulations, so I left that behind.

I started over in my late thirties as a railroader. I don't know if that meets anyone's definition of "middle-aged" but I am no spring chicken and I am out there in the elements at all hours of the day and night moving freight. FWIW, it sucked starting over, especially in terms of pay, since I wasn't a young kid with only my mouth to feed anymore. I have a wife and two kids to take care of now, so it was no picnic.

I'm as average as they come and if I can do it, anyone else who's average can do it. It's a matter of will. It's also a matter of checking in your "white collar" attitude and being willing to get dirty to make ends meet. If the average American can't do that, or worse, isn't willing to do that, we are screwed.

[noiretextatique]

31. i am an unemployed skilled worker

however I am 54 years old. because of my age, it seems my skills do not matter and/or I am worth less than I was a few years ago. M y last job paid so poorly that I am literally better off on unemployment. Working has become wasted time.

[adirondacker]

9. Add to that; cutting the hours back to a reasonable 35 hrs a work week so people can have a Life!

[chervilant]

27. OMG!!

I've got to put that one back on ignore!

[Coyotl]

8. Raise the minimum wage and tax the rich

Watch how fast the economy recovers when people spend money the weekend their paycheck is cut, on local purchases like food and other retail needs.

Using increased tax revenue in targeted fashion on infrastructure will add more stimulus to the increased wage stimulus and have long-term economic benefit.

[dkf]

10. 47 percent of U.S. jobs are “at risk” of being automated in the next 20 years.

In “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?,” Frey and Osborne estimate that 47 percent of U.S. jobs are “at risk” of being automated in the next 20 years. This does not mean that they necessarily will be automated (despite the way the study has been portrayed in some media outlets)—rather, the authors argue, it is plausible over the next two decades that existing and foreseeable AI technologies could be used to cost-effectively automate those jobs out of existence. Machines may not (and probably won't) do the jobs the same way as people, however—just remember the last time you used an automated check-out system at a grocery store. There’s a difference between machines doing something cheaply and doing it well. Frey and Osborne took into account the possibility of such “task simplification” in their analysis.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/09/27/researchers_claim_many_jobs_at_risk_for_automation_here_s_what_they_missed.html

Raise the labor cost and you likely increase levels of automation. There are more dimensions to consider than "raising the minimum wage will increase total wages and therefore spending."

[Coyotl]

17. I'm talking about what happens the next weekend. Raise the minimum wage NOW.

Automation is good for productivity. Without it, we would have stagnated long ago.

[drynberg]

11. YOU MEAN, LIKE INFRASTRUCTURE?

Dams on the edge of collapse, bridges about to fail, sewers leaking and almost not able to function, power flickering due to old decrepit wiring, etc. Investing in these systems would not be "make work", but rather be a way to make us more secure, efficient, and productive. These investments could be paid for by a small increase in the top 2% of America's income persons. After all, these top 2% rely the most on our infrastructure to produce their incomes. Are you really ignorant of these ways of increasing employment and productivity, or do you just not care?

[dkf]

13. They should raise the gas tax to permanently fund infrastructure. This isn't a one time thing.

It can't be done with sporadic funding.

[robinlynne]

19. letting ALL bush tax cuts simply expire would be plenty of funding.

[questionseverything]

23. families making under $450,000

are not the problem and for those making under a 100 grand those bush tax cuts were needed

the death tax on huge estates is where the money is...think an extra 10 % on either kochs 31 billion

[questionseverything]

12. sigh

dkf said,''The problem is we haven't figured out what jobless people should do that creates something valuable."

there is plenty of work to do,taking care of the elderly,our children,the homeless,not to mention infrastructure needs...

the problem is attitudes that do not believe those tasks have value...that no one is willing to pay for those things

it is no secret the economy is consumer driven (70 %),when the manufacturing base was devastated in the last crash we lost our disposable income which in turn cripples the jobs recovery

taxing the rich to provide a safety net would increase disposable income which would lead to jobs

i think the best time to tax a person is on their death,i am talking about the huge estates (think walmart heirs)

[dkf]

15. The problem is that people can't afford to pay for another person's services.

We don't make a decent salary times 2 so that we can fund another human being's labor in any comfort whatsoever. Even hiring at the current minimum wage with all the taxes and benefits is beyond the capacity of most people.

And taking care of the homeless? Is that a job? They don't need to be taken care of unless they suffer mental deficiencies. Otherwise they are the jobless just like anyone else.

[questionseverything]

20. individuals cant pay

that is why we have to do it as a gov't

i have been paying into ss since i was 12 years old,and income taxes since i was 19, now at 55 if my life falls apart and i can not take care of myself, does the gov't i have been supporting for the last 35 plus years have no obligation to me?

[dkf]

38. We haven't been paying enough to fund the government.

Our per capita debt is mindboggling.

So I am not sure our government owes us much of anything. If anything we have been taking too much and leaving it all for the next generation to pay our bills. And then on top we say they need to take care of our needs.

Is that fair? I don't know.

[questionseverything]

40. we have paid enough to fund the gov't

just not enough to fund endless wars,endless spying,endless detention of citizens for the war on drugs,ect

it is about the wrong prioritizes

as i said in #12

taxing the rich to provide a safety net would increase disposable income which would lead to jobs

i think the best time to tax a person is on their death,i am talking about the huge estates (think walmart heirs)

[Enthusiast]

48. Exactly. Our problem is we have the wrong priorities.

Bad priority number one is the focus on military this and military that, to the exclusion of real needs.

[bvar22]

16. THe "Inheritance Tax (or Death Tax) is the most FAIR and American of ALL taxes...

...if this Nation wants to describe itself as a Meritocracy.

[questionseverything]

21. ?

mer·i·toc·ra·cy (mr-tkr-s)
n. pl. mer·i·toc·ra·cies
1. A system in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement.
2.
a. A group of leaders or officeholders selected on the basis of individual ability or achievement.
b. Leadership by such a group.
/////////////////////////////

i can not tell if you agree with me or are making fun of me..lol

[bvar22]

25. I absolutely agree.

The US likes to brag that it is as a country where anyone can achieve the American Dream if they work hard and stay out of trouble.
This was once TRUE in my lifetime,
but is a sick joke now.

The problem is that NOW it is like continuing to play Monopoly after all the property belongs to one player and that person has WON....but the game isn't over.
It doesn't stop and reset. The dice keep rolling, and the ONE keeps getting richer.
No one else stands a chance, and no "newcomer" can enter the game with any hope
of anything other than bankruptcy.

[Enthusiast]

49. Fact

[Hydra]

28. Do we really need more stuff created?

The idea that we need 100% full employment means we'd need a total consumer throwaway society.

The fact that productivity has increased by 44% in the US and almost all of the gains went to the 1% says it all. We're slaving away to support their bad behavior.

[tblue37]

32. They could do infrastructure repair, unskilled healthcare assistance

where needed, a lot of important work that presently doesn't get adequately covered because it depends on not always available unpaid volunteers. Many other necessary jobs don't get done because no one and no entity that could afford to subsidize humane work is willing to do so.

FDR's WPA had no trouble finding USEF work for hirees to do.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

6. +1

K and R!

[yuiyoshida]

18. Is it me, or does it seem like many jobs have gone from

full time to part time? If a company does not have to pay out benefits to a part time employee they make more profit. So Jobs that were once 12 hour, suddenly turn into 3 people for four hour shifts. Part timers are not covered by any benefits at all nor qualified for any kind of health care. They make less money and have to work more shifts elsewhere to survive.

[adirondacker]

24. It's a feast or famine design. You can work an 80 an hour work week on salary or a 30 hour

work week on minimum wage. Still an employers market out here for both skilled and unskilled labor.

[Uncle Joe]

26. "Capitalism is a good servant but a poor master"

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[chervilant]

29. I would add that

marginal employment AND joblessness are ongoing threats to our citizenry AND our democracy!

I finally have a job, in an industry in which I never dreamed I would participate. I work hard, but barely make enough to pay my rent and utilities.

I am sitting here hoping the ibuprofen I just took will mitigate the pain from my rotten molar that needs a root canal and cap. I used to have dental insurance, and regular checkups -- back in the day.

I am concerned about sepsis. It's getting hard to eat.

Like millions of other TRAINED, FULLY CAPABLE, WILLING TO WORK citizens, I would like to have a job that pays enough for adequate health and dental care, and an annual vacay. I am disgusted with the water-carriers for the 1%, who just don't seem to get that capitalism needs to go.

"Valuable" has become a delimiter to quash the suffering masses...

[questionseverything]

30. it is not that capitalism

needs to go...i think we need a mixed system

a social safety net for those at the bottom of the income scale with a chance to rise according to their work and abilities

[tblue37]

34. And those who have made out like bandits should have to pay

appropriate--meaning reasonable, fair--taxes.

Just because the system has enabled them to make out like bandits, that doesn't mean they should get away with BEHAVING like bandits!

[questionseverything]

36. agreed

since we just got a new income tax rate that is a little tougher on the 1 %,that was a step in right direction but

i would like to see the death tax raised for estates over 20 million,,,an additional 10 % when either koch brother meets his maker would be an additional $3,100,000,000.

the fairest time to tax a person is at their death,their heirs have already had a lifetime of privilege and headstarts and the dead will not miss it!!

[chervilant]

42. Would that we could morph

an economic system which -- by design -- concentrates the vast wealth it produces into the hands of a lucky few. I think Marx was spot on when he predicted that the Hoi Polloi would rise up and throw off the shackles of economic oppression forged by the capitalist hedonists who own and control the majority of this planet's wealth.

[tblue37]

33. When I needed dental work at a time when I couldn't afford it,

a friend took me to a nearby dental scool (an hour away), where last year dental students did the work for a nominal fee. I think I paid $50 for about $500 worth of work--or maybe it was worth even more.

You have to go EARLY to get in line because so many people need such help, but it was worth it.

[chervilant]

43. Thanks for your concern.

There are no dental colleges near me, and the closest one charges hundreds to do the work I need.

[tblue37]

44. I'm really sorry to hear that. Dental pain is excruciating,

and the infection is not good for the rest of the body. Is there any sort of scial services office that might help you find funding? Sometimes money is available, but deliberately not made widey known by those who could use it.

I sure hope you get help.

Have you contacted Wishadoo? DUers are very generous when real needs are made known. I am not well off myself, but I can manage to kick in $10 whenever a Wishadoo notice goes out on DU. A lot of DUERS will do that, and such crowd sourcing can add up quickly to cover an imortant need.

[chervilant]

45. Wishadoo helped

me avoid homelessness, and I hesitate to ask for help again. I'm going to call my dentist tomorrow, and see if he'll let me make payments. I cannot tolerate the pain much longer.

[tblue37]

53. No no no--please do NOT

hesitate to ask for help again. I would gladly kick in my meager contribution for you, and I am certain other DUers would gladly do the same! But we can't help if we don't have a way to do so!

[chervilant]

54. I am touched by your concern.

I need to talk to my dentist before I do anything else.

I'll keep you posted.

[tblue37]

55. Dental pain is the worst, and those infections can

cause serious problems all through your body. They are not minor issues. Your heart can be weakened by infections that start in the mouth, and other such scary things can happen, too.

As soon as you do talk to your dentist, please let DU help you!

[Enthusiast]

50. Water-carriers for the 1% must be called out.

Especially those in our party.

[redqueen]

39. Reminds me of this paragraph from "Rise of the Robots"

If one machine can cut necessary human labour by half, why make half of the workforce redundant, rather than employing the same number for half the time? Why not take advantage of automation to reduce the average working week from 40 hours to 30, and then to 20, and then to 10, with each diminishing block of labour time counting as a full time job? This would be possible if the gains from automation were not mostly seized by the rich and powerful, but were distributed fairly instead.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/feb/19/rise-of-robots-future-of-work

[Enthusiast]

51. +1

[adirondacker]

52. Reminds me of when nail guns were introduced to carpentry. Instead of letting the framers enjoy the

benefits of faster and an easier way of nailing, the production expectations increased so that you were wearing your rotator cuff out in a matter of years from flinging it around as fast as possible to meet the project deadline. You can add to it the increased rate of accidents, and sloppy workmanship and wonder where all the benefits of this device went.

[Jasana]

56. Excellent Essay. Thanks for the link. K&R nt

[raouldukelives]

57. Representaive democracy is toast.

Unless people stop supporting multinational corporations over their children's futures.
I really don't think they even grasp the reality of what they own, what they have toiled and invested in, the grand legacy of being an industrious cog in the march to destruction.
They still holler about loving America. Even as they daily busy themselves ensuring its demise.