Comments on: We Make It and They Take It http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/ Firedoglake weblog Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:25:02 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: alank http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-620352 alank Fri, 13 Apr 2007 03:11:35 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-620352 <p>The AFL-CIO interest in this legislation is indicator that it’s utterly worthless to the working person. Their role historically has been to short-circuit any genuine workers movement and thereby maintain the corporate status quo. It’s not enough to sit back and let a hierarchical so-called labor organization decide what’s best for the workers. Workers have to organize themselves into a genuine union, in the truest sense of the word, bereft of any hierarchy.</p> The AFL-CIO interest in this legislation is indicator that it’s utterly worthless to the working person. Their role historically has been to short-circuit any genuine workers movement and thereby maintain the corporate status quo. It’s not enough to sit back and let a hierarchical so-called labor organization decide what’s best for the workers. Workers have to organize themselves into a genuine union, in the truest sense of the word, bereft of any hierarchy.

]]> By: Pfusand http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619825 Pfusand Thu, 12 Apr 2007 23:45:34 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619825 <p>Well! So much for the Laffer curve.</p> Well! So much for the Laffer curve.

]]> By: Ian Welsh http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619741 Ian Welsh Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:55:22 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619741 <p>Good work Tula.</p> Good work Tula.

]]> By: Arnie http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619420 Arnie Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:19:11 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619420 <p>Oklahoma Kiddo @ 63</p> <p>;-D</p> <p>and I know there are class acts in OK too.</p> Oklahoma Kiddo @ 63

;-D

and I know there are class acts in OK too.

]]> By: Gort http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619390 Gort Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:02:51 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619390 <p>And we thought the looting in Iraq was bad!</p> And we thought the looting in Iraq was bad!

]]> By: radarlady http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619382 radarlady Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:00:22 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619382 <p>Has anyone else noticed the wages line on the graph goes flat right around 1980? Can we all remember who was elected that year? Hum, hum, hum….</p> Has anyone else noticed the wages line on the graph goes flat right around 1980? Can we all remember who was elected that year? Hum, hum, hum….

]]> By: kirk murphy http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619291 kirk murphy Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:21:36 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619291 <p>the “economy” is a human creation, not a natural being.</p> <p>Although natural beings must obey natural “laws” (physics, biology, chemistry…) beyond human appeal….</p> <p>Human beings create the laws and regulations and judicial systems that create oour “economy”</p> <p>The flow of information technology may be inexorable -</p> <p>but the legislation and regulation required for that technology to deplete our wealth is OUR creation.</p> <p>For the last thirty years, the megacorps wrote laws and regulations.</p> <p>Now it’s our turn to create an economy - one that works for us, not the plutocrats and megacorps.</p> <p><a href="#comment-619190"><em>noen @ 61</em></a></p> <blockquote><p><a href="#comment-619185"><em>Biodun @ 55</em></a></p> <blockquote><p>johnSwifty @ 44:</p> <p>Absolutely: A lot of this is already functional, or so to speak operational: technology made possible the fluidity of almost everything, and capital has made possible technology development and transfer, and so and so on. As I said, Janus with two heads.</p> <p>The world now works on speed: the extension of space and the duration of time have been erased. All the major stock exchanges (Dow-Jones; NASDAQ; Tokyo-Nikkei; HongKong’s Hang Seng index, London’s FTSE; Paris’s Clac, and Frankfurt’s Dax) will soon be collapsed into one global stock market. </p> <p>And the machines of Capital will work on forever, 24/7. God help us all.</p></blockquote> <p>So how do we fight that. I mean, it seems like it is such a powerful, almost a natural force. (Maybe elemental would be a better term)</p> <p>I just don’t know how you fight something like that.</p></blockquote> the “economy” is a human creation, not a natural being.

Although natural beings must obey natural “laws” (physics, biology, chemistry…) beyond human appeal….

Human beings create the laws and regulations and judicial systems that create oour “economy”

The flow of information technology may be inexorable -

but the legislation and regulation required for that technology to deplete our wealth is OUR creation.

For the last thirty years, the megacorps wrote laws and regulations.

Now it’s our turn to create an economy – one that works for us, not the plutocrats and megacorps.

noen @ 61

Biodun @ 55

johnSwifty @ 44:

Absolutely: A lot of this is already functional, or so to speak operational: technology made possible the fluidity of almost everything, and capital has made possible technology development and transfer, and so and so on. As I said, Janus with two heads.

The world now works on speed: the extension of space and the duration of time have been erased. All the major stock exchanges (Dow-Jones; NASDAQ; Tokyo-Nikkei; HongKong’s Hang Seng index, London’s FTSE; Paris’s Clac, and Frankfurt’s Dax) will soon be collapsed into one global stock market.

And the machines of Capital will work on forever, 24/7. God help us all.

So how do we fight that. I mean, it seems like it is such a powerful, almost a natural force. (Maybe elemental would be a better term)

I just don’t know how you fight something like that.

]]> By: LS http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619252 LS Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:02:14 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619252 <p><a href="#comment-619215"><em>cbl @ 81</em></a></p> <blockquote><p>LS,</p> <p>excellent find! I urge you to e mail that <b>immediately</b> to Paul Kiel/TPM & Marisa Taylor /McClatchy -</p> <p>You can write him at paul (at)<br /> talkingpointsmemo.com</p> <p>E-mail Marisa Taylor at <a href="mailto:mtaylor@mcclatchydc.com">mtaylor@mcclatchydc.com</a></p> <p>did I mention <b>immediately</b> ?!?!?</p></blockquote> <p>Done.</p> cbl @ 81

LS,

excellent find! I urge you to e mail that immediately to Paul Kiel/TPM & Marisa Taylor /McClatchy -

You can write him at paul (at)
talkingpointsmemo.com

E-mail Marisa Taylor at mtaylor@mcclatchydc.com

did I mention immediately ?!?!?

Done.

]]> By: neokneme http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619249 neokneme Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:01:45 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619249 <p>The productivity curve took flight in the mid 70’s. That corresponds to the introduction of eight bit microprocessors. That era gave rise to many of the things we take for granted now. The mid 80’s saw the transition to 16 bit processors as found in the early PC’s. The tick up shown in the nineties came from the migration to 32 bit architectures giving productivity another boost.</p> <p>The investment in human capital that brought about the ability of electronic tools to do so much extra work has been allowed to atrophy. Innovation and technological adventurism are held moribund ensconced in a zeitgeist of pell-mell outsourcing and corporate policy that eschews the “vision thing”. Screw the industry titans. They’ve gone senile.</p> <p>Biodun’s got it right…</p> <blockquote><p>Technology as we now know can be used to contest hegemony;</p></blockquote> The productivity curve took flight in the mid 70’s. That corresponds to the introduction of eight bit microprocessors. That era gave rise to many of the things we take for granted now. The mid 80’s saw the transition to 16 bit processors as found in the early PC’s. The tick up shown in the nineties came from the migration to 32 bit architectures giving productivity another boost.

The investment in human capital that brought about the ability of electronic tools to do so much extra work has been allowed to atrophy. Innovation and technological adventurism are held moribund ensconced in a zeitgeist of pell-mell outsourcing and corporate policy that eschews the “vision thing”. Screw the industry titans. They’ve gone senile.

Biodun’s got it right…

Technology as we now know can be used to contest hegemony;

]]> By: sonate http://firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619239 sonate Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:58:18 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/12/we-make-it-and-they-take-it/#comment-619239 <p>Nice post Tula. The graphic is striking. Although I’m not sure of the exact numbers, top management in the 1950s earned about 7 times more than the average line worker. By 2005 (?) top management earned about 83 times that of the average line worker.</p> Nice post Tula. The graphic is striking. Although I’m not sure of the exact numbers, top management in the 1950s earned about 7 times more than the average line worker. By 2005 (?) top management earned about 83 times that of the average line worker.

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