Robert Reich divides the country into consumers and investors, which once prompted my father to ask, “what about the producers?” This is pretty scary. Calculated Risk is so far the only source I’ve seen covering the non-coverage of the holiday.
With the unemployment rate at 9.1% and almost 14 million Americans unemployed, with the alternate measure of unemployment (U-6) at 16.2%, with 6 million workers unemployed for more than 6 months, and with 6.9 million fewer payroll jobs than at the beginning of the 2007 recession, one might think every major publication would lead with a labor story on Labor Day. One would be wrong.
A quick glance shows zero labor stories on the front page on the NY Times – or on the Business page. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
LA Times? Same story – no stories.
The WSJ? One story, sort of.
Bleak.
Addendum: TPM brings up another story not being covered by the media – the fact that private sector employment actually continued to expand in August, but that the hemorrhaging is in the public sector. Obviously if the consumer base continues to deteriorate, the private sector can’t maintain its expansion. The media also won’t even interview economists, who are almost universally calling for more stimulus spending from government despite the deficits. But the message need not fall on deaf ears if it’s not even delivered.
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September 6, 2011 at 9:52 am
Bruce Ross
Well, the NYT had a long, chart-laden piece by your own Mr. Reich on Sunday: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/opinion/sunday/jobs-will-follow-a-strengthening-of-the-middle-class.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=robert%20reich&st=cse
September 6, 2011 at 10:24 am
tra
…which once prompted my father to ask, “what about the producers?”
Your father is a wise man.
I work hard, and produce a real product that is of real value to people, but I have never had (or wanted) one penny of “investment” from Wall Street, or from any bank, venture capilalist, or anything like that.
Consumers? Yup, I need ‘em. Can’t live without ‘em.
Investors? No thanks.
September 6, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Plain Jane
Paul Krugman has been hammering the same message. It’s not that they don’t know what needs to be done. They either can’t or don’t want to. President Obama seems to lack the interest, preferring to suck up to “independents” by parroting right wing economic talking points with diminishing approval ratings. It’s almost like they are following the script written in the 1930′s. Unfortunately, Obama’s opponent won’t be an FDR.
September 6, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Not A Native
Well, Eric, KEET-TV aired the documentary “Bloody Thurdsay” about the 1934 West Coast longshoreman’s strike, featuring actors reading the statements of Mayor Rossi, Harry Bridges, and others. I expected you were watching it wearing a watch cap with emblazened with union buttons, holding a docker’s hook, and waxing nostalgic about events you have no personal knowledge about.
September 6, 2011 at 7:45 pm
Eric Kirk
Bruce – not quite a labor story, but thanks for the link!
TRA – It all goes to the claim that more than half of Americans are investors in that they are “involved” in the stock market. I heard that once on CNN, and questioned it. I later learned that they were defining as “investors” anyone with an interest in a pension fund involving stocks. I think that’s a pretty big stretch of the definition.
PJ – the problems is that John Maynard Keynes lost the 2010 election.
September 6, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Eric Kirk
NAN – didn’t see that one, but I actually do have a considerable family involvement in labor unions, and was steeped in it from a very early age. I wish KEET would air Union Maid, which I consider the best of the union documentaries.
September 6, 2011 at 8:04 pm
tra
Eric,
Well I guess the argument is that all the people who have pension funds that are invested in stocks have a stake in the stock market doing well. And I suppose that’s true enough, as far as it goes.
But this business of only mentioning “consumers” and “investors” and ignoring the idea of “producers” entirely is really rather insidious, since it ignores entirely that for most people it is their primary role as “producers” — as workers, tradesmen, proprietors, entrepreneurs — that makes it possible for them to continue to be “consumers” and therefore to keep the whole economy rolling along. For most folks their role as “investors” is only a distant second.
September 6, 2011 at 9:03 pm
Sally
I have a terrible feeling that the same corporate interests, who have been fighting for decades to lower taxes, weaken government, and empower trans-national corporations, and “free trade”, are all too well aware that “producers” are an endangered species in the US, and that “consumers” are, as well… because of stagnant wages and unemployment…. Therefore, I also fear that these same corporate interests are poised to look towards China, India, etc. as the new “consumer” group, in order to guarantee continued profits, while selling to these new “consumers” a new car, a new TV, or the latest cell phone. As for us discarded “former consumers” in the US, the “disposable” income we used to spend on a new car, a new TV, or the latest cell phone, (income most of us no longer have) will now be sucked out of us automatically, to pay for privatized essentials, such as privatized postal service, privatized water, privatized toll roads, privatized schools, etc. If you think I’m being too pessimistic about this, let me know! I could use the cheering up!
September 7, 2011 at 4:09 am
Plain Jane
“Flat World” Friedman just wants the truth about how bad it really is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/opinion/friedman-the-whole-truth-and-nothing-but.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
And 6 economists on “Can the Middle Class be Rebuilt?”
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/09/06/can-the-middle-class-be-rebuilt
September 7, 2011 at 7:00 am
Bolithio
So at what point do we just say fuck it, grab a beer, and try to get some enjoyment out of this life? I mean, what can anyone do about this? You cant stop greed.
September 7, 2011 at 7:43 am
Anonymous
But you can make greed more expensive.
September 7, 2011 at 7:46 am
Plain Jane
But you can make greed more expensive.
September 7, 2011 at 8:04 am
tra
So at what point do we just say fuck it, grab a beer, and try to get some enjoyment out of this life?
It seems to me that far too many Americans have already been taking that approach for far too many years now — witness our embarrassingly low levels of voter turnout. Of course this kind of voluntary disengagement only further empowers those who are the most greedy for money and power.
So people can complain about how bad things are and how they can’t do anything about it so they might as well just kick back with a brewski and watch the world burn — but disengaging from the world of politics that way just adds a strong dose of self-fulfilling prophecy into an already tough situation.
Sooner or later these “disengagers” may be surprised to find out that as bad as they thought things were before, when you walk away and leave politics in the hands of only the most greedy, it turns out that things can still get a whole lot worse.
While even the poorest of the poor can usually scrape up enough cash to pick up a 40 ouncer of beer in an attempt to “get some enjoyment out of this life,” that enjoyment is significantly hampered when your unemployment benefits run out and there aren’t enough jobs to go around, when you’re evicted from your foreclosed home, etc..
September 7, 2011 at 8:24 am
Plain Jane
“Sooner or later these “disengagers” may be surprised to find out that as bad as they thought things were before, when you walk away and leave politics in the hands of only the most greedy, it turns out that things can still get a whole lot worse.”
If they don’t already realize it, they probably believe all our problems were caused by lazy libral parasites.
September 7, 2011 at 9:19 am
Bolithio
Who should I vote for again, and how will that help?
September 7, 2011 at 9:30 am
Eric Kirk
Well, if Obama loses your kids will lose Social Security. And please don’t tell me they’re going to lose it anyway. it’s actually not the case.
September 7, 2011 at 10:11 am
Bolithio
Vote for Obama, check. Phew, that was easy!
September 7, 2011 at 10:56 am
Eric Kirk
It really isn’t hard.
September 7, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Not A Native
Eric, a well researched answer to your father’s question about producers is described in the book “A Living Wage”, by an academic historian.
Essentially, he documents the details of how the postbellum US working class redefined producerist virtue as consumerist virtue to accomodate and prosper under a wage labor system newly dictated by 19th century industrial revolution.
The book is filled with quotes of early labor organizers, some of which are undoubtedly your heros. I think by reading it carefully, you’d gain a different perspective of things you believe you already understand. You can easily borrow a copy through the Garberville Library, interlibrary loan.
Here’s a very readable web review of the book.
September 8, 2011 at 8:43 am
Eric Kirk
I’ll have a look.
Of course, similar promises were made when several of my callers insisted that reading Crossing the Rubicon would change my perspective. It did, but not in the way they predicted.
September 10, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Not A Native
Well Eric,if one recommended book didn’t influence you as anticipated I guess it ‘makes sense’ that a different one also wouldn’t. You teach stuff like that to your children too? Or only when you party with other Republicans who share that line of reasoning?