We Aren’t What We Used To Be

It’s easy to get Rudy excited, but this week his jubilation was running on steroids. He had heard from his favorite news source that North Carolina had drastically cut its unemployment benefits. He tracked me down during my early morning swim session to share his enthusiasm and excitement.

     “Did you hear the good news?” Rudy asked, sporting a larger than usual grim that brimmed like the Cheshire cat from Wonderland.

     “From that grin you’re sporting, you must be referring to McCrory from North Carolina?” I rhetorically asked. The state’s governor had signed into law a bill lowing unemployment benefits and canceling federal extensions, which would account for his grim.

     “Finally we have a governor who is not afraid to lead. I think they should run McCrory for President come 2016. He’ll get the nation back on fiscal track,” Rudy concluded.

     “Hum,” I reflected, while slipping on swimwear paraphernalia. “What makes you so confident? Except for Chris Christie, he’ll have a long list of corporate-financed candidates to compete with.”

     “Hell, he’s turned around his whole state in seven months,” Rudy responded as if their Governor had found the panacea for saving the nation from its follies.

     “That depends on how you define turnaround,” I replied. There was an urge to mention that North Carolina had a former reputation for being progressive. Now, in its quest to return to its old plantation mentality, it was showing signs of regression.

     “All we have to do in Ohio is follow his lead. We start cutting unemployment benefits here, people will be forced to get off their lazy-duck behinds. That’s how I define turnaround.”

     “If I recall correctly, North Carolina has succeeded in becoming one of the nation’s highest unemployment states. You sure cutting benefits will solve that problem?”

     “Damn-straight it will. People are basically lazy. You have to motivate them. Give them a good crack with a whip tends to be a good motivator. He’s really doing them a favor.” He could see I want about to enter the pool. “You don’t seem to understand. Their governor is doing this for their own good. Cutting benefits should do wonders for their business economy.”

     That comment gave me pause. “There will never again be enough substantive jobs to go around. We have most likely passed the point of no return. That means that most people will never find meaning employment.”

     “That’s my point: We have to stop pandering to liberal, touchy feel-good thinking,” he wiggled his fingers as if sharpening Cheshire cat claws. “Besides, there is at all the wasted tax money we’ll save,” Rudy added with exuberant self-satisfaction.

     I wanted to reach over, grab him by the neck and strangle him. To do so, would have required dropping the swimming paraphilia. “Rudy, I won’t have time to get my laps in.” With that closing comment, I slipped into cooler water where smiling cats dare not tread.

     Our nation has long-term structural problems: Cutting unemployment benefits creates more problems than it solves. There are not enough decent paying jobs to go around, and there won’t be enough in the foreseeable future. At the national level, the decision not to modernize the nation’s infrastructure appears to be the current agenda—a decision we will come to regret.

     There is no point in continuing the pretext. We have digressed from being a progressive nation into the shadows of what we used to be. Have you learned the words to God Bless Corporate America?

Copyrighted © 2013 by Robert James

The Virtues of Higher Unemployment

On an annual visit, Rudy’s doctor half-heartedly quipped, “If all our patients were as healthy as you, we’d be unemployed.” Realizing his faux pas, he grabbed Rudy’s forearm and added in a sober tone, “Don’t repeat that to anyone around here.”

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Ever notice how mainstream broadcast media jumps on the bandwagon each time unemployment statistics get released? Not unlike a chronic illness, it never seems to go away. According to MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, “We know how to fix it. We've always known.”

Indulge me while I advocate the devil's position. No one running for public office openly embraces we promote lingering high unemployment. Many run on platforms boldly proclaiming "I've introduced new legislation to address this problem." Voilà!  Problem (almost) solved as if the solution was that simple, or perhaps even desired. 

In reality, no amount of legislation will fix high unemployment. The root problem is systemic. Oh sure, a major federal works program would provide transitory relief, but nothing long-term sustainable.

         Who among the employed wants to cure it? Surely not those benefiting from the misfortune of others. Furthermore, the unintended occupational consequences are mindboggling, should you care to ponder them.

Neither the government nor Corporate America wants the problem fixed. All that’s required is for the gullible to envision someone diligently working in a dark rabbit hole on a viable solution. After all, a major benefit of high unemployment is a higher crime rate!

The promise of low unemployment amounts to seductive rhetoric. It would cast a doomsday spell over expanding law enforcement, staffing for the various judicial systems, homeland security, private security firms, and social service agencies, to note the obvious.

The less obvious benefiters include trade schools, colleges, legal defense firms, mental health and healthcare facilities, bureaus of unemployment services, the NRA, weapons manufactures, many charitable foundations, publishers of self-help publications, HUD, libraries, relief agencies, as well as various public and private prison systems.

Lumped together, these entities represent a chunk of the nation’s economy. Removing those “we’re here to help you” jobs from the labor pool would only result in additional unemployment. Who in their right minds would want to undermine that reality in exchange for returning to an agrarian, go-it-alone, deal-with-it yourself society! Tea Party perhaps?

In the distant past, a declaration of war helped goose the economy by pressing the masses into military service. In turn, this helped modulate higher unemployment. With the end of compulsory draft and nine-year Vietnam War, that unemployment, quick-fix tool disappeared like Alice in Wonderland tumbling down the rabbit hole.

Welcome to the altered state of virtuous perception versus reality. Whatever you have come to believe about the evils of unemployment, it amounts to a utopian, idealistic mirage.

Copyrighted 2013 © by Robert James

The End Is Near

The Morning Joe broadcast had Kevin Williamson on who published a provocative book entitled The End is Near and it’s Going to be Awesome—presumably as in achieving nirvana. According to the interview, the nation is going broke—no surprise there. In turn, this will lead us into becoming a richer country.

Okay, I missed something. The connec­tion between going broke and ending up richer appears to jump the shark. At the very least, it requires a quantum leap in logic.

For those who missed the interview, the short version is that interest rates will rise. When they do, the government will spend its entire budget just to cover the interest on the debt, or it will be forced to change its wicked spending ways.

Without rendering an opinion, I brought this dichotomy to Rudy’s attention during our morning workout. (For those unfamiliar with my workout partner, Rudy is the epitome of ultraconservatism. He claims to be devoutly independent, but only votes for candidates who adhere to the doctrine of no restrictions on free enterprise.)

Not having read Williamson’s book, I was limited to what had aired. As I recapped what appeared be the book’s theme, Rudy seized the moment. He agreed with the author’s supposition that the nation is going bankrupt due to feel-good regulations.

“Take the Chinese: They got it right,” Rudy declared unapologetically. “Once we go belly up, we have a chance of becoming more like them.”

“How so?” I inquired.

"They don't worry about unions, OSHA and EPA regulations. They don't have them. Hell, they don't even worry about healthcare or none of that overregulated crap." Rudy paused before delivering his punch line: "They understand how business gets done. No government interference, plain and simple. If someone gets injured or sick, they just pull in the next warm body."

“Are you suggesting, the U.S. labor force become more like communists, pink-o socialists?” I fired back.

He returned a scowl. “You know what I meant. Only in terms of doing business.”

“And somehow, going broke will make us all happier?” I questioned. “I take it you agree with the author’s premise?”

“You’re damn right. Once we do away with regulations and restrictions, we’ll all be a whole lot happier. According Einstein —the simplest method is always the best method! It time to turn back the clock.”

Suddenly, it all became clearer as I envisioned America’s labor force gleefully toiling on the corporate plantations under the noonday sun, humming joyfully to our favorite Negro spirituals—all poorer but oh-so-much happier. Ain’t happening, I chuckled silently to myself.

While the nation’s debt problem is real —it is also a manufactured crisis. Looking forward to going broke amounts to lunacy. Pandering to the notion that being poorer can be awesome amounts to sheer nonsense.

Growing up, we lived a paycheck away from being on welfare. I can attest there is no direct link to awesomeness and being poor. Those having had a similar experience would agree.

Copyrighted © 2013 by Robert James