People are losing middle class jobs, like my friend had, left and right. His former company just bought a computer company in China and had one in India for years that was slowly siphoning off the company's U.S. jobs. That is what should be stopped. The incentives to take our GOOD jobs overseas, leaving people here with little prospect of finding work at middle age for more than minimum wage.
Our readers trash cops and I am embarrassed: "Oh, they are lazy, oh, they have it so good, etc." Why can't we instead be happy that someone is making a little money...a decent salary - that they might be making more than you or me. Unions have a place in our society and they should not be demonized even if the PBA has an asshole as their head -- John Rivera. And even if they continually support bad candidates -- Natacha Seijas. The unions assure us a middle class. We need a middle class.
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| Link to Jim Morin's Page |
We all clamor for decent jobs (that every politician promises and never delivers -- except low wage) and at the same time we shoot our fellow workers who have decent jobs in the foot. We are being manipulated to believe cops, teachers, and other union workers are pulling in huge salaries and pensions that they don't deserve. But it is peanuts if you look at the true villains in this jobs dance. The employers are greedy, or in the case of the county - inept, and the workforce is punished and we the citizens all cheer. What dopes we are, falling prey to a big fat lie.
18 comments:
As an older adult out of work, (one who has given up looking in spite of needing the income) I agree with you.
The police union head is a numbskull... He is an embarrassment and juvenile... However, Rivera is the only voice the police agencies have since the wacko public doesn't seem to realize that they are fueling higher crime rates by playing into the county officials political agenda. That is not a spew from a cop, that is a fact from a member of the community has been an experienced advocate for the neighborhoods.
Your friend has got to keep moving. He can't allow depression and hurt slow him down.
OMG! I was manipulated. I was one of those dissing the unions. I think the unions do a bad job of defending themselves, thanks for doing it better. I feel violated and manipulated into hurting my fellow workers by my words. Unions provide middle class status and salaries to blue collars. Why did I forget that? It has been so long.
The overseas job thing is absolutely real. I have a friend who is an engineer. He worked for a well-known company who did work for the state and county among other organizations. This firm started buying foreign companies and then they laid off the employees in Coral Gables due to duplication of services. This person is in their mid 60's and is barely financially solvent. He is doing piece mill projects.
His company in Coral Gables followed the Romeny Miami approach to business management, except his company is not out of business yet like Romeny's Miami business.
Yes, they have been chipping away at unions for a long time. Their repugnant choice of leadership doesn't help them. I was a Teamster in Puerto Rico. I got a free meal on my shift. That sounded good to everyone on the outside but it was goat meat mostly. Unions don't have it as good as it sounds.
The best thing the police could do is fire John Rivera he hurts their cause he is too abrasive.
Are you saying the billionaire Koch brothers have it wrong?
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE71P28W20110226?irpc=932
Glad to see someone else speaking for the PBA in the Herald letters section -- couldn't find it online. Andrew Axelrad said choices Mayor offered were all bad.
When jobs are lost during a recession, it hurts more because the rest of the economy can't pick up the laid off workers. That's why the country needs a more competitive tax structure, less regulation and more freedom. These things are all tied together and cannot be managed from Washington.
Spoken like a Republican. More freedom to bust unions and outsource. Sure that has been working fine.
Did you ever consider that your friend’s plight is part of Gods plan?
The eradication of the middle class is only the first step to the RAPTURE.
Even Jesus validated the separation of the classes:
"Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have,
even what he has will be taken from him." (Mark 4:24-25)
Your 59 year old friend should embrace Jesus and accept his poverty.
Very funny.
This post is on Reddit and someone left an interesting comment there:
[–]JeffBlock2012
"the right target"? It's not who or what you think it is, because it's computers/machines/robots. For the past 40 years our (USA) productivity has DOUBLED, yet we're not ALL working 20 hours per week or enjoying standards of living double what they were 40 years ago. In 1952 Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. wrote "Player Piano" about a society where machines do all the work. Einstein wrote of a future where machines replace most human efforts.
Up until now the view has been that computers are net-creators of jobs - sure, floor assembly workers are displaced, but look at all the jobs created in Silicon Valley. But now we're over the mountain top and computers (productivity and efficiency) are net-destroyers of jobs. Even WalMart has self checkout eliminating the need for a few employees. Here's the best $3.99 you can spend on the topic:
http://www.amazon.com/Race-Against-Machine-Accelerating-ebook/dp/B005WTR4ZI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327257536&sr=8-1
The BIG question nobody seems to be asking is "what if we simply don't need everyone to work to provide ALL the goods and services needed/wanted by our society?"
It's like weight control...calories in, calories out. The free market is revenue in, expenses out. Only the government can temporarily alter laws of physics. Artificially inflated wages are exactly that, artificial. Unfortunately, the capitalist are being demonized for doing what they must do...profit! Try it sometime, you'll understand very quickly. Short learning curve.
Gimenez have all the signs of a liar, don't look forward when talking, close the eyes to talk and when he say yes mean not, and when he say no mean yes. We may need the 120 days to recall him in the future. He want to destroy the safety and services that County provide to residents and keep his 5 friends making all together more than a milliom in salaries, plus benefits ( ? ). Have he showed how many Executives ( read $150,000.00 + salaries) are gone with his department reduction ? None. When the County residents take the choice to clean the County of the old politicians (clean the house) then we'll have a transparent government.
GEnius of despare i am off topic but i have to ask why has no moderator in the republican presidential debates mentioned anything about environmental conservation and i hope someone tells brian williams and others for the florida debates to ask and discuss EVERGLADES RESTORATION and how important it is for florida
Thank you for asking about the Everglades - except for some moderate republicans, they couldn't give a flying f--k for the environment. They apparently think God only cares about people. Selective belief.
Everyone here should join us on reddit at:
http://www.reddit.com/r/miami
it's a good community. We need more political discussion however.
Another good comment on Reddit:
]JeffBlock2012 1 point 1 hour ago
agreed, there are lots of factors. But answer the basic BIG question - what if we simply don't need everyone to work "40" hours to produce everything our society needs and wants? If you look at a simplistic commune model of shared work, if it were able to overproduce it's needs then for example, everyone could/would work less.
taking it into sci-fi, if you built a space habitat for 10,000 people, would somehow it work out that everybody would be busy 40 hours per week doing something needed to be done? Or because of super efficiency of machines, computers, robots would 10 hours per week be the standard?
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