Anti Wage-Slavery Pro-Freedom Quotations Of The Week 1301-1303

SINTRA, Portugal—High and divergent unemployment rates in Europe pose a serious threat to the region’s long-term economic health, central bankers and economists warned during a weekend conference held by the European Central Bank.
Unemployment Is a Big Threat to Eurozone Economy, Officials Warn
By BRIAN BLACKSTONE
May 24, 2015
The Wall Street Journal

In developed countries like the United States, however, there are legitimate and growing doubts about the beneficence of the market and the ability of the system to distribute the rewards of growth to those who make growth possible.
America Out of Whack
Thomas B. Edsall
New York Times
SEPT. 23, 2014

The lazy people who refuse to work are, in reality, the tax avoiders who are getting $2.2 trillion without having to work for it.

The Safety Net costs us $370 Billion.

But Tax Avoidance costs us $2,200 Billion (tax expenditures, tax underpayments, tax havens, and corporate nonpayment). That’s $2.2 trillion, six times more than the safety net, most of it benefiting the wealthiest Americans.
WHY THE RICH DON’T CARE ABOUT JOBS FOR THE REST OF US
BY PAUL BUCHHEIT MAY 11,2015
Black Star News
[emphasis JS]

Anti Wage-Slavery Pro-Freedom Quotations Of The Week 1298-1300

Hillary Rodham Clinton calls them “everyday Americans.” Scott Walker prefers “hard-working taxpayers.” Rand Paul says he speaks for “people who work for the people who own businesses.” Bernie Sanders talks about “ordinary Americans.”

The once ubiquitous term “middle class” has gone conspicuously missing from the 2016 campaign trail, as candidates and their strategists grasp for new terms for an unsettled economic era. The phrase, long synonymous with the American dream, now evokes anxiety, an uncertain future and a lifestyle that is increasingly out of reach.

Middle Class Is Disappearing, at Least From Vocabulary of Possible 2016 Contenders
By AMY CHOZICKMAY 11, 2015
New York Times
[emphasis JS]

There should be no doubt that technology is advancing in the direction of full unemployment.
BARBARA EHRENREICH

Today's prevailing American political-economic ideology, largely shared by both parties, holds that getting money from corporations is honorable but getting money from governments is demeaning and lazy.

It turns out that who most aggressively hustle that ideology also secure huge sums of government money for corporations, whether in the form of tax breaks, grants, protection from competition, infrastructure construction - or, as this editorial points out, wage subsidies.

Our failing - "we" being the voters, the media, the politicians - has been to downplay the huge amounts of government assistance to corporations while accepting the demonization of low-earning individuals who receive comparatively trivial assistance from government
Comments
Ecce Homo Jackson Heights, NY

Anti Wage-Slavery Pro-Freedom Quotations Of The Week 1295-1297

Compulsory education remains the nursery of servile employment
Denis Pym

"The theory of Canada as a company town writ large," he (Peter C. Newman) replied. "Its citizens are a people always beholden to the company..."
Victoria Times-Colonist 27/11/85   B12

According to the IEA, the sun could be the world’s No. 1 source of energy by 2050.

Replacing fossil fuels with all that solar energy would avoid the release of 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide by mid-century. That’s nearly equivalent to the carbon emissions of all planes, trains, and automobiles worldwide, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a Washington, D.C.–based trade group.
...
Solar panel prices, for instance, have fallen 80 percent in recent years, and by 2050, the IEA predicts the retail cost of solar electricity will drop by 65 percent.
The International Energy Agency predicts solar power will supply nearly 30 percent of the world's electricity.
September 30, 2014 By Kristine Wong
Takepart
[emphasis JS]

Anti Wage-Slavery Pro-Freedom Quotations Of The Week 1292-1294

It is hard to overstate the extent to which work no longer results in a decent paycheck and a rising standard of living in this country. The portion of the economic pie that goes to working people is currently near the smallest on record...

...

...taxpayers are... providing a huge subsidy for employers by picking up the difference between what workers earn and what they need to meet basic living costs.        

Picking Up the Tab for Low Wages

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

New York Times

   MAY 1, 2015
    [emphasis JS]

Julie’s body was so badly damaged from blunt-force trauma to the head and face, and the subsequent fire, it took the B.C. Coroners Service almost a week to identify her, Tarpley was told.

Julie had talked with her sister and brother-in-law about leaving the abusive relationship, but didn’t want to leave their two dogs and didn’t have enough money to support herself, Tarpley said. “He beat her up so many times, I lost count,” he said.

Man killed wife, then set fire to Saanich home, family says

Katie DeRosa 

Victoria Times Colonist

April 29, 2015 

[emphasis JS]

...a social researcher named Sam Tsemberis stood to deliver what he framed as a surprisingly simple, cost-effective method of ending chronic homelessness.

Give homes to the homeless.

Tsemberis’ research, conducted here in the District and in New York City, showed this wouldn’t just dramatically cut the number of chronically homeless on the streets. It would also slash spending in the long run.

...

In all, before instituting Housing First, Utah was spending on average $20,000 on each chronically homeless person.

...

Walker says the state saves $8,000 per homeless person in annual expenses. “We’ve saved millions on this..."

The surprisingly simple way Utah solved chronichomelessness and saved millions

By Terrence McCoy April 17

    Washington Post

      [emphasis JS]