"Jeff, There are two arguments that mitigate against the Friedmann pov. One using 1970 economics and one using 2007 economics."
While we're talking about Robin Hoods: There's another kind of economics, too: 1929-1933 economics. Back then, in a laissez-faire environment, bankers and other corporate types at the top of the food chain were still doing pretty well, while ordinary folks--well, do I really have to describe the Great Depression and what ordinary folks went through? A lot of the capitalists were pleased that the rest of the economy was on a "bread-and-water diet" (exact quote) to get the excesses out of the system. Some big employers actually like a recession or two to "discipline labor" (as I heard when I was looking for a job during an economic downturn). So who did we get as Robin Hood then? FDR, of course. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a president from a wealthy old family, isn't a likely candidate for the part, but he's in large measure responsible for the New Deal, which meant that lots of people didn't starve then, thanks to New Deal programs; and a lot of old people aren't facing poverty on the street now, thanks to Social Security. (I know it isn't much, but just try to imagine what life without it would be like for seniors--and for their adult children, who would otherwise be responsible for supporting them.) Many years later, a wing of the Republican Party has been playing Sherriff of Nottingham to FDR's Robin Hood, by attempting to undo the New Deal, or as much of it as they can reach. Rather against their own long-term best interests, I think; the country was circling the drain in 1933, and there were lots of ideologues, demagogues, and parties that were poised to take advantage of the situation. I'll bet that Communism might look pretty good to a guy who has just been fired by a rich steel mill owner, foreclosed on by a rich banker, and refused food and medical help for his children because his money was lost when the local bank failed. A lot of people joined the Communist Party in those days, and it's not hard to see why. It's also not hard to imagine what would have happened to said rich bankers and steel mill owners if a radical government HAD taken over; we have the Soviet example for reference (hint: the LUCKY ones wound up in Siberia. Don't ask about the rest.) So why aren't we living in the People's Republic of America? I'll bet the New Deal (and similar measures) was a big part of it, AND I'LL BET FDR WAS WELL AWARE OF THIS. He acted in everyone's long-term best interest, and the rest is history. So what does this have to do with today? We're not in a Great Depression--yet. But there are a lot of stresses and strains, and the corporations are behaving like the capitalists of 1929: maximizing their own profits, and to hell with everybody else. I don't know what kind of ideologues and demagogues will crawl out from under the rocks this time, if things get really bad, but I guarantee they're there, just waiting for their big chance. I've often wondered what it would be like if I could travel back in time before the Great Depression, or the Russian Revolution, and warn the Powers That Be that something really bad was coming unless they made big changes, fast. If there are any corporate types reading this today: consider yourself warned. --Constance Warner ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************ * List archive from 1/1/2000 is on the MARC http://marc.info/?l=computerguys-l * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived ************************************************************************
