[img]583|left|Eric L. Wattree||no_popup[/img]The phrase “New World Order” says it all.
But in our blind naivete and the belief that it can't happen here, the vast majority of American people believe the phrase refers to the reshuffling, in terms of importance, of the various nations around the world.
We fail to understand that the change is much more profound.
The new world order not only applies to a geo-political reshuffling among nations, but the reshuffling of the internal economic structure within individual nations as well.
As the world moves from many separate national economies to one global economy, the class structure of the various nations must be adjusted to accommodate the new state of affairs.
In turn, the high standard of living enjoyed by the American middle class since World War II no longer can be sustained in an economy where many of America's competitors are paying their workers less per week than we spend on lunch per day.
That accounts for why American jobs are being outsourced to other countries.
Wal-Mart, one of the largest retail corporations in the world, has based its business model on purchasing most of its merchandise from China in order to undercut the price demands of its competitors.
Wal-Mart is a microcosm of the revised American business strategy under the new world order. One can look at Wal-Mart's business model and the socioeconomic profile of its employees to see exactly what direction American business, and our society, are headed.
Wal-Mart's business strategy is to hire easily replaceable and low skilled employees who are at, or very near, the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.
It takes advantage of their precarious economic condition to squeeze every dime of profit out of the company's operation . They aggressively fight organized labor to hold down employee wages and benefits,. They deny their employees anything approaching affordable health-care. That, essentially, is the American business model under the new world order.
Sharp Change in Behavior
Business no longer is a friend of the American people. Once our partner in a symbiotic relationship, business is a predator to consumers and employees alike. Our parents could pull into a gas station, a guy in a white shirt and bow tie would run out to check their oil and water, then put air in their tires as he pumped twenty-two cents a gallon gas into their tanks. I know gas no longeris that cheap. But what happened to the service?
Once it was considered unseemly for a woman to have to pump gas. I don't think my mother even knew how to operate a gas pump. Now it's so routine in our culture that if you're a passenger, it's no longer politically correct to even offer to pump the gas for a woman. (“What, you think because I'm a woman I don't have sense enough to squeeze a nozzle?”)
My mother now would not only have to pump her own gas, check her own oil and put air in her tires, they'd make her pay extra for the air. Think about that. They charge us for air.
The reason is greed. When the United States had a thriving industrial economy, one class complemented the other. Labor was well paid. Given the security of knowing they had a job for life, they had the confidence to purchase goods that the corporations produced. This allowed the companies that sold the goods to prosper, to the benefit of the investor class.
In a global market, though, in order to remain competitive with countries paying their workers just above slave wages, corporations have to squeeze every concession out of the labor class.
Accent on the Moneyed Classes
Since the heads of these corporations must make huge profits to justify their unconscionably oversized bonuses, they prey on their workers by undercutting their benefits and outsource the very jobs that the economy is dependent upon to sustain the corporation, and the nation. Since these corporate heads live from bonus to bonus and only think about themselves, they never stop to consider the negative impact of their irresponsible behavior.
When Wall Street or the Fed announces that the economy is thriving, they're not talking about the American economy. They are only talking about the monetary return of the investor class. A thriving economy means they're successfully squeezing the American worker to the limit, gouging the consumer of every penny he can afford to part with. It is that kind of greed and irresponsibility that led to last year's economic disaster. Nothing has changed.
In the global economy of the new world order, corporations no longer need the American worker to sustain profits. Now that they can outsource their labor, purchase and sell their goods overseas, the American worker is no longer a partner in the corporation's viability.
The worker has been relegated to the status of field hand. The only time they need us is when they want to tap the treasury for our tax dollars to pay off their gambling debts.
This is the same group Republicans and Liebercrats are trying to protect. This is the group that the wingnuts are fighting so hard to keep between them and their doctors. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the Republicans are protecting the same insurance industry that victimized us in Wall Street bailouts They took our money. Now they're using it to block affordable healthcare for the American people.
They were paid billions of dollars by large corporations to cover corporate gambling debts. AIG accepted corporate funds, knowing that they didn't have the resources to cover the debts if the corporations got into trouble. When the corporations rolled snake eyes, AIG simply turned to the American people and said, you've got to cover these debts or else. We and our clients are much too big to be allowed to fail.
An article in Wikipedia points out that “The AIG Financial Products Division, headed by Joseph Cassano in London, had entered into credit default swaps to insure $441 billion worth of securities originally rated AAA. Of those securities, $57.8 billion were structured debt securities backed by subprime loans.”
Not only did the American taxpayer pay off this insurance company's debt, we paid off a debt that originated in another country.
Now your money is being taken once again, but this time, they're taking your money, to pay your representative, to block an attempt by President Obama to stop them from cutting your throat in a time of crisis, just like they did the corporations on Wall Street.
One big difference: You and your family are not too big to fail.
Without the benefit of a robust healthcare reform, you're simply gonna bite the dust with the corrupt and able assistance of many of your own representatives.
I'm sure many are going to call me crazy socialist, and continue to tear up as Boehner, Lieberman and the other demagogues shuffle out and look into the camera with the solemnity of the pope. Remember when they tell you that they're fighting for truth, justice and the American way, the truth is so glaring that sometimes it slips through in some of the most unlikely places. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said the following:
“This may be an audacious suggestion, but I would suggest we put aside the healthcare debate until next year, the same way we put cap-and-trade and climate change aside so we can talk now about the essentials, the war and money.”
There you have it —”war and money.” That sums up your place in the new world order.
Mr. Wattree is a writer, musician and poet who may be contacted at wattree@verizon.net
You may learn more about Mr. Wattree at wattree.blogspot.com
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everybody who doesn't look, think and act like me. It's just that God does.
