Manifesto of the Poor, Ashley Jobson

Manifesto of the Poor

   

Throughout the history of time, in every part of the world, there have been two classes of those who hold power, and those who do not.  The former has always been in control of governments and economies.  This class has been in control over the production of goods, and they have also been in control over the circulation of money.  The powerless class, those less economically stable, have been under the regime of the elites for all time in history.  Their access to resources depended on what the elites determined it to be.  The availability of jobs, wages and the production of goods in a society were all regulated by the people with the most power.  However, as with all class changes in history, there will come a time when one class will lose its power, and the other will rise, holding more power than ever before.  This manifesto is my call to the rise of the poor and economically oppressed workers of America; for they will take back their power and control as one class of people, regardless of race, religion or creed, and this new class will put an end to the dominant elites.

The political elites are the large business and corporation owners, the corporate managers and the social upper-class members.  They maintain control over democracies and live off of their investments.  Their power gives them access to influence societies, and with this power they can also take away the influence governments have on societies.  The influence of elites gives them power to make public decisions on how work and production should be regulated.  Businesses must always be productive, because in any society, a large, productive corporation holds the most power, therefore giving power to business owners and managers.  Business is kept productive at any and all costs, to make certain that more money will flow to the economically elite and away from everyone else in a society.  Upper class members do not have high taxes compared to the amount of income they receive.  In 1957, the long-term capital gains for the wealthy was taxed at 25 percent, and of recent, this rate has declined to 15 percent.[1]  The less taxes they pay, the more their money will accumulate, further increasing their wealth.

Still, low taxes and productive businesses were not enough. The wealthy needed a way to bring in more money at less costs, and this idea was developed in the North American Free Trade Agreement, which passed in 1994.  This was an agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico to have free imports as well as exports between the three economies.  Its purpose was to create more jobs in each economy and eliminate immigration from Mexico.  It would also increase the productivity and exports of goods among the three economies.  NAFTA was created to help American workers move up the corporate ladder as more jobs became available, while Mexican workers replaced them at the bottom in service sector jobs.  This would mean greater efficiency among all workers.  NAFTA would be good for business, and what was good for business would also be good for workers.

On the contrary, what was good for business turned out to be even better for business owners; it did not benefit working class members the ways in which it was supposed to.  NAFTA did not eliminate immigration from Mexico.  The jobs it created there did not provide any economic advancement for workers, and they continued to seek jobs in America.  NAFTA also broke the power of labor unions in America by eliminating more jobs through the outsourcing of work.  Business owners outsourced jobs because laborers in other countries would work more efficiently for much lower wages.  Developing countries also used child and slave laborers, which was better for business owners because they could pay these laborers at even lower wages while getting more products at faster rates. 

On the other hand, workers in America need higher wages, and will refuse to produce at efficient rates without such wages.  Business owners do not see that American workers demand higher wages because they need to support the standard of living here in America.  They instead view demanding workers as a threat, and to eliminate a threat, you take away its control.  This is exactly what business owners and corporate managers seek to accomplish; they eliminate more positions so that American workers can no longer threaten inefficient production if they are paid low wages.  Immigrant workers, they feel, are not too proud to work for cheap.  What the business elites fail to understand is that immigrant workers accept cheaper wages because they do not have to live within the American economic standards.

For the past four years, America has experienced an economic expansion.  This would be recognized nationally, if 12.6 percent of the population were not living in poverty in 2005, up from 11.6 percent in 2001.  This percentage continues to increase because the income gap between the rich and poor continues to grow as well.  Therefore, our economic expansion is only experienced by those who control the American and global markets, the economic elites.  Incomes of most American workers remain unchanged, while taxes on their income steadily rise, and while the costs of products and goods also rise.  The wealth of businesses is not redistributed to communities or in salaries.  A third of our population, almost 90 million Americans, struggle to make ends meet on incomes that are less than twice the official poverty line.[2]  It is more difficult for workers to demand higher wages with the decline in labor union power.  Workers in America cannot compete with workers in developing countries who will provide cheap labor.  They cannot expect decent wages along with health and pension benefits since workers in developing countries do not require any of the latter two, thus saving more money for business owners.

Big businesses, such as Wal-Mart, sell almost every possible good and service, forcing smaller businesses to close.  Products are sold at cheap prices, but wages for workers are not increased much, if at all.  With big businesses taking over in communities, workers are left with very few choices of where to shop, and they end up putting their money back into these businesses, adding to the incomes of the business owners.  Although both income and wealth increase for business owners, they still refuse to provide more opportunities for their workers.  Instead of increasing wages, corporate managers rather lay-off experienced workers and train someone new at a lower wage.  Low wages paid to workers cause them to take second and third jobs to be able to live comfortably, but even with more than one job, living comfortably is still not attainable for some.

The income gap will continue to increase, keeping the economic elites richer and forcing the working class to remain economically unstable.  Competition for low wages in developing countries will continue to drive down wages for workers in America.  Now, business owners do not have increase the salaries of American workers, because they can pay for cheap labor in other countries.  More business owners will outsource positions, putting workers here out of a job, or causing them to have no choice but to accept lower wages.  NAFTA has not helped workers but it has helped business.  Its free trade agreement has become an unfair trade agreement for all workers alike.  It has created less job opportunities for workers, especially in the United States and in Mexico.  It has also driven down wages for workers, the opposite of what the economic elites said it would do.  NAFTA was created for the benefit of trading goods at no cost for elites to gain more money.

If trends in America continue in the same way, and if the income gap continues to widen, the American economy will be forced into an economic depression.  More of the population will fall under the poverty line because salaries will not increase, and products and goods will become more expensive.  If the wealth from businesses is not redistributed to the working class and to communities, all of America will suffer, and the economic expansion will soon become an economic decline.  We have already begun to enter into an economic depression; the number of poor people in America has increased by five million over the past six years.[3]  When this number reaches staggering amounts, it will gain the attention of oppressed workers everywhere in America, and they will decide to take a stand. 

To stand up against the economic elites and business owners, big business workers throughout America will collectively decide not to go to work on the same day.  They will also decide to not buy any products from these businesses.  All those who work for a big business will be in communication with each other, and they will call a nationwide big business strike, whether they are in a union or not.  They will remain on strike until their demands are met.  In history, unions have used strikes to bargain for fair labor practices from employers.  This nationwide strike against big businesses will make the same attempt; they will not work for or buy from these businesses until better labor standards are met.  It will be workers’ demands for a fair trade system, instead of a free trade system, where they will be paid decent wages, and work under better conditions.  The fair trade system will also allow for more unions to organize workers, and it will abolish child and slave labor. 

The nationwide strike will be successful.  It will be difficult for business owners to find replacements for every worker in one day, and even more difficult to replace them indefinitely.  When consumers stop going to big businesses for goods and products, business owners will begin to lose money; they will have imports of goods and no one to purchase them.  Consumers will instead go to smaller businesses for any necessary goods, further empowering their demands on big businesses and big business owners.   It will not take long for economic elites to meet all demands, in fear of losing more money.  This will thereby increase the power of working class members.  Elites will remain in their class as business owners, however wealth will be distributed to the working class in their salaries, as well as in their communities, and labor standards will be established and maintained.  As a result, there will be a greater equality among the elite and working class members.

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[1] Floyd Norris, “$350 Liquor? Just Spreading the Wealth”, NY Times, 5/11/07, p.1

[2] Bob Herbert, “The Millions Left Out”, NY Times, 5/12/07, p.1

[3] Herbert, NY Times, 5/12/07, p.1

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