If you think that things aren’t getting worse for average Americans, you haven’t been paying attention. As of this writing, banks are close to being deregulated again, needed environmental regulations are being removed so that companies can pollute our rivers with coal ash, rents are rising, wages have been stagnant since the 1970s, even though productivity and CEO pay has never been higher. Are you getting the picture? This is all bad, terrible stuff, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

So what’s my point? That we’re all fucked? No, it’s that we the people of this Democratic Republic are being totally and completely usurped by corporate power, and it has affected every nook and cranny of our lives. Jobs, wages, environmental protection, well funded public schools, affordable medical care, etc. have all been thrown aside to make way for the greater corporate greed.

Corporations are controlling the conversation when it comes to every important topic. We’ve already done a couple of pieces on major corporate malfeasance. This is not that. Instead, we present a clip from a movie, Network, that is 42 years old and prescient as fuck.

In the clip, a populist talk show host has rallied his viewers into democratically subverting an international corporate takeover of the network he works for. This democratic use of power by the people has not gone unnoticed by the head of the network. The host is called into the office to meet with the head of the network, and what follows is a powerful, truth telling speech that enlightens the talk show host about how the world of today works. It’s great stuff. Enjoy.

I’ve been underemployed for the better part of 25 years now, and I’ve often thought about the various forces that shaped me, moved me, and led me into a deeply unsatisfying job life. How did I become what I became? Why did I decide to pursue X and not Y? Why indeed.

I think many of us have had these thoughts about our lives. Our formative years behind us, we often don’t realize until much later that what we thought was “right” for us, was us actually following someone elses idea of “right” for us. Additionally, even though we may have thought we were on the road to “somewhere,” at some point, deep down, many of us had no idea where that road would lead or what that road even was.

I take responsibility for my lot in life, but I also recognize that we are not islands unto ourselves. Environment matters. Parenting matters. Teachers matter. Peers, society, etc. all matter. We don’t live in a vacuum, and as such I think it’s good to question your roots and your upbringing. Not for excuses, but for context.

John Lennon’s song, Working Class Hero, addresses the way our influences, both subtly and not so subtly, motivate our behavior. The song is also a sharp rebuke to the way we are shepherded through the first 17 to 18 years of our life, and how many of those years are simply in service to continuing a broken and often inhumane system. The song is about those subjects and much more, and like many of John Lennon’s songs, open to interpretation. Take a listen to Working Class Hero, and tell me what you think of it. I’m eager to hear your thoughts.

Image Credit – Liz West  License- CC BY 2.0

For the American working class, wage stagnation has been a nasty problem, running 40 years deep now. Different year, same pay. Year, after year, after year. Alternatively, productivity for American businesses has risen to epic levels the past 40 years. This quote from the Harvard Business Review sums it up: “though the economy has been growing, the primary way most people benefit from that growth has almost completely stalled.”

The wage gap in this country is another lingering problem affecting millions of working Americans. “The average CEO at one of the 350 largest companies takes home more than five times the annual earnings of the average 0.1 percenter.”

The wage gap and wage stagnation are interrelated problems. Understanding how they happened is the key to understanding how to fix them. Fortunately, we found a video that goes into great detail on the creation of the wage gap and wage stagnation. The video is hosted by Richard Wolff. Wolff is a renowned economist, and in the video we’re featuring, he delivers a fiery indictment of an economy that is out of whack, unjust, and on the brink of collapsing.

To be clear, the video is not an angry screed. Wolff is passionate, funny, entertaining, and most of all, on point, as he explains how our economy has slowly but steadily unraveled. We warn you, this video is going to make you mad. It’s going to make you mad because what Wolff says is true and getting worse every day.

Even the most ardent supporters of capitalism would have to admit it isn’t a perfect system. Inequality is built into it. In a capitalist system there are naturally going to be winners and losers. Not all winners won fairly, and not all losers lost because they didn’t play well enough.

The clip we chose for this week discusses possible ways capitalism as we know it may end or at least evolve. There are some solid points made in the video. It talks about wealth inequality, a move towards a digital economy, and advances in technology reducing the human labor pool. In the clip they theorize this could spring forth a slightly different type of capitalism. One far different than what we now have. We know not everyone will agree with the assertions found in the clip; we certainly don’t, but we think there are some interesting ideas in it worth sharing. Enjoy.