No Mobility? This Is News?

[marmar]

from the Working Life blog:



No Mobility? This Is News?

by Jonathan Tasini
Thursday 05 of January, 2012


So, The New York Times discovered this startling fact:

But many researchers have reached a conclusion that turns conventional wisdom on its head: Americans enjoy less economic mobility than their peers in Canada and much of Western Europe. The mobility gap has been widely discussed in academic circles, but a sour season of mass unemployment and street protests has moved the discussion toward center stage.

The truth has been out there for a very long time. It's simply that The Times has spent way too much time singing the praises of the "free market", "free trade" and the rest of the marketing phrases that have turned out to be phoney baloney, though those marketing phrases have been used very effectively to widen the gap between rich and poor and end mobility. What is not so surprising is that this article contains not one mea culpa--no "we were wrong and we apologize" for promoting the "free market".

And the complete blindness continues: by continuing to promote in its editorial and new pages the phony debt and deficit crisis--which calls for imposing austerity in the name of "fiscal soundness"--the Times continues, to this day, to cheer on policies that excerbate the social mobility crisis. Not that the august paper gets that.


http://www.workinglife.org/blogs/view_post.php?content_id=15356

[Louisiana1976]

1. The way things are, usually when there's mobility, it's downward mobility.

[Fumesucker]

2. They thought the Iraq war was a great idea too.. n/t

[getdown]

3. mobility

:kick:

[fujiyama]

4. The countries in Western Europe

have relatively free markets and trade as well. The problem is when trade ends up being about exploitation and absolute greed with total disregard for the rest of society.

The smarter countries in Europe also managed to keep relatively healthy fiscally by not being caught in nasty real estate bubbles and by being somewhat sane and responsible overall in spending. They also kept their production base in tact and are able to build and sell products world wide, which are usually sold at a premium price. They also have efficient workers and a well trained work force.

The real big difference is they demand those at the top to pay more in taxes and invest that money in their people. Universal health care isn't a hand out. It's an investment. People aren't bitter when a less fortunate neighbor has about the same access to health care. They're glad, because they know their taxes will help a friend or family member.

The mentality is different.