Then, in part III, I will take up the issue of how an ambitiously pro-active alternative plan can do much more than just rescue the domestic auto industry-it can help lay the foundation for an entirely new economy, not just technologically new, but new in its basic conception of how wealth is jointly created, husbanded, and expanded for future generations, not just here in the US, but on a world-wide basis that helps form the foundation for lasting global security as well. The point of this third part is quite deliberately the opposite of the reigning Versailles ideology of "pragmatism." It argues, in short, that we have reached a crisis point beyond which incrementalism and "practical" compromise are doomed. There is no longer anything practical about continuing along this failed pathway. The only practical path available to us involves a radical restructuring of how we put the pieces of our social, political, economic and technological world together.
This is a follow-up to my diary GOP vs. UAW, USA, in which I'll extend my argument that the GOP's refusal to support the auto bailout is demonstrative of their hatred of America. I will draw on three recent documents. First is a Washington Post Op-Ed by Harold Meyerson, "Destroying What the UAW Built", which reviews some of the ways in which the UAW has been crucial to building both the American middle class, and the broader range of progressive American politics. Second is a list of various public subsidies for foreign automakers over the past 28 years, totally over $3.5 billion dollars-nearly $4.7 billion, adjusted for inflation. Third is an interview on Democracy Now! from Friday with union activist and writer Gregg Shotwell, a thirty-year General Motors retiree, who gives fine-grained look at what's really going on with this mega-union-busting attempt.
Let us be clear: the Republican Senator's refusal to go along with a bailout of the Big 3, and their targeting of the UAW for destruction is the most blatant demonstration one could wish for that Republicans and conservatives hate America. It is perfectly predictable, really, since over the last 50 years or more their favorite propaganda line-or at least their bottom one-has been that liberals and Democrats hate America. And if there's one thing we've learned about conservatives and Republicans it's this: the easiest way to know what they're up to is listen to what they accuse others of.
The evidence, in this case, is utterly overwhelming. For the entire period of the Democratic-dominated Fifth Party (1933-1968), and a few years beyond (until roughly 1973), the average American worker saw their income rise on a relatively steady basis, broadly shared across all income levels. Since then, throughout the vast majority of the Sixth Party System (1968-2008), in which divided government prevailed, income gains have been sharply concentrated among the top 1%. (See chart on flip.) The dominant sector in the Fifth Party System was industry, and the dominant business sector was automobile manufacturing. The UAW, as the dominant labor union in the dominant sector of the dominant sector, was key to setting the pace for broadly-shared prosperity.
For some, thoughts of a massive financial bailout for the American Automobile industry strike chords of unease that some might say, reward the lack of innovation and enterprise that has been exhibited by some foreign auto manufacturing competitors. Futher, the auto industry, at least on the surface, has appeared to be in bed with 'big oil' by continuously producing oversized automobiles, ala SUV's and the like, cars that only encouraged a gluttonous collective consumption of oil, as if that fossil fuel were pouring from spigots of plenty throughout the world. And, to top things off, executives flew in private jets to plea with leaders in Washington, furthering the epidemic of anger at what many see as a nation where greed and excess rule the day. And, its easy to understand why people subscribe to that image, thus, for vast swaths of America, it's become increasing hard to have sympathy for the legends of American industry and capital.
But there is another side that must be addressed with some sort of legislative mandate because if the auto world of Detroit is allowed to fail and sink behind the veil of protection that bankruptcy provides, the potential for great human tragedy becomes increasingly real for large groups of vulnerable Americans unless laws protecting pensions are fully protected.
Last week, I entered had a conversation with a woman in Alabama, who's husband worked for many years in a union job at a public utility in that state. While she had misgivings about bailing a large industry like automakers, worrying that perhaps, it would lead to a rash of bailouts for other companies in trouble, or at least, calls for more, she also expressed deep worry about people in the same position she's in. She said, who's to say other companies might seek bankruptcy protection and legally do away with 'obligations' to its former employees.
Being the wife of a union retiree, she and her husband are able to survive in tough economic times thanks to a small pension and company healthcare benefits. This Alabama couple's drug costs would bankrupt many, and the struggle to pay bills, simply get by, is cushioned by the benefits negotiated and fought for years ago. Her husband and thousands of other's paid union dues, labor negotiations and more than a few days on picket lines which allowed them to earn a decent living and retire with a sense of security. While there's little chance a public utility will ever be in the same boat as automakers, there is still the fear among those people, those older union family Americans who thought contracts between the union and company was sacred and would always be there once they reached the golden years. The point is, in bankruptcy, the fear is that almost anything is possible, in this case, there is a chance that if the automakers of Detroit are allowed to fail, thousands, if not millions could see their pensions, health insurance and other benefits greatly diminished or simply go away because a judge or arbiter might rule the company can no longer afford to pay for them. That the company's survival is more important than the older people's benefits who are no longer producing product for profit.
It could be that this is the under-discussed potential tragedy of an auto-industry failure.
