Paul Krugman: Disdain For Workers

[Hissyspit]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/opinion/krugman-disdain-for-workers.html

Op/Ed Columnist

Disdain for Workers

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: September 20, 2012 26 Comments

- snip -

For the fact is that the modern Republican Party just doesn’t have much respect for people who work for other people, no matter how faithfully and well they do their jobs. All the party’s affection is reserved for “job creators,” a k a employers and investors. Leading figures in the party find it hard even to pretend to have any regard for ordinary working families — who, it goes without saying, make up the vast majority of Americans.

Am I exaggerating? Consider the Twitter message sent out by Eric Cantor, the Republican House majority leader, on Labor Day — a holiday that specifically celebrates America’s workers. Here’s what it said, in its entirety: “Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success.” Yes, on a day set aside to honor workers, all Mr. Cantor could bring himself to do was praise their bosses.

- snip -

And when Mr. Romney waxed rhapsodic about the opportunities America offered to immigrants, he declared that they came in pursuit of “freedom to build a business.” What about those who came here not to found businesses, but simply to make an honest living? Not worth mentioning.

- snip -

Where does this disdain for workers come from? Some of it, obviously, reflects the influence of money in politics: big-money donors, like the ones Mr. Romney was speaking to when he went off on half the nation, don’t live paycheck to paycheck. But it also reflects the extent to which the G.O.P. has been taken over by an Ayn Rand-type vision of society, in which a handful of heroic businessmen are responsible for all economic good, while the rest of us are just along for the ride.

In the eyes of those who share this vision, the wealthy deserve special treatment, and not just in the form of low taxes. They must also receive respect, indeed deference, at all times. That’s why even the slightest hint from the president that the rich might not be all that — that, say, some bankers may have behaved badly, or that even “job creators” depend on government-built infrastructure — elicits frantic cries that Mr. Obama is a socialist.

MORE[p]

[porphyrian]

1. . n/t

[PowerToThePeople]

2. quoting a DU sig that I very much enjoy

"It's all fun and games until they pull out a fucking guillotine."

[thatsrightimirish]

3. It is interesting

I was speaking to a Republican or as she called herself " A conservative Democrat" today who is going to vote for Romney. She said everyone from her family belonged to a union and she is 100% "in favor" of unions ( except for public unions of course).

So here I am speaking to a Republican who is "pro-union" and comes from a background where her parents struggled. Her family clearly benefited from unions, but she is willing to vote against the economic fabric of her family because quite frankly, she reaped the benefits of it. Why should she care about anybody else?

I think that is the problem with millions of Americans today. Too many people lose perspective of where they come from and the sacrifices it took to get them there. Back in the day people died on the streets to be paid a decent wage and have safe working conditions. People lose sight of that.

We simply cannot afford to let politicians who want to give corporate America 100% control over all of our lives . That is why we must do everything we can to reelect our President. He may not be perfect, but he comes from a family that struggled, and his politics reflect that.

[tblue37]

4. Where your post says "MORE" at the end, you are supposed to

have a link for us to follow to the "more" you are promising!

[Hissyspit]

6. ?

It's at the top.

[tech3149]

5. I have a solution to that disdain

I don't care if your middle management, upper management, CEO, CIO, CFO, investor, or shareholder. Take a year out of your wonderful life, without any support from the people you know or the wealth you may have, and do the job of anyone who works for your organization for what they are willing to pay.
I expect that most would run away screaming and crying.
The hardest and most challenging life is to have to work for a living, especially today. I quit working for a paycheck in 2002 because I could no longer support people who couldn't do my job on their best day but relied on me to support their profits.

I spent countless hours of my own time trying to improve my skills and my co-workers as well as maintaining the viability of the company in a fluid environment with little if any recognition.
As long as the corporate mentality and business ethic values only short term p/l or ibg/ybg, let's make as much right now mentality we are all screwn.