Can we start the real revolution, NOW?
18
The vast majority of the GOP base are technically hypnotized by a few words thrown by the right wing media machine, (and surprisingly it includes professionals and college educated) by owning the conversation of "small government, low taxes, free enterprise, conservative, and government overreach" little do they realize they are being played like a fiddle.
24
Most working people only have education/training and experience for one career--the one they have, even if it is in retail or fast food. Changing careers means having a tougher time finding a job, taking a pay cut and starting over. Those facts should make non-compete clauses illegal except where an employer pays for legal representation for an employee signing a private contract to undertake work where access to sensitive intellectual property is involved. Applying such clauses to wage earners is criminal. The reporter rightly points out it doesn't have anything to do with protecting trade secrets; it's about dominating one's employees by denying them the right to seek better pay/conditions with another employer.
Weren't working people, including an increasingly large proportion of the middle class, already being left behind as the wealth of the nation is concentrated in the hands of a small minority? Bernie Sanders was railing about that thirty years ago and it has continued unabated. "Lives of quiet desperation" will subjugate an even greater proportion of society with this latest insult. It is time to see something done to give honest hardworking people hope and confidence rather than despair.
Weren't working people, including an increasingly large proportion of the middle class, already being left behind as the wealth of the nation is concentrated in the hands of a small minority? Bernie Sanders was railing about that thirty years ago and it has continued unabated. "Lives of quiet desperation" will subjugate an even greater proportion of society with this latest insult. It is time to see something done to give honest hardworking people hope and confidence rather than despair.
15
We really need to separate employment from health care. There's no logical reason for them to be joined. Employers need to be free of this burden. And citizens don't need to have that anchor lashing them to a particular job.
41
One of the objectives of POTUS L.B. JOHNSON'S Martial Law on the U.S. Judicial Branch, is to require ALL jurists preserve and protect individual inalienable rights above corporate and governmental authority, or be determined to be in violation of the FBI's Operations Greylord's Perpetual Judicial Probationary Agreement. A probation violation.
The Pro Se processing, enforcement and collections of Appeals #04-1639, is Martial Law. Any lawful U.S. Citizen, NOT a lawyer and/as/or a graduate of a law school, may file a "claim package" to become an individual Co-Appellant. All combined and consolidated Appeals already decided in favor of the INDIVIDUAL only.
No corporation or governmental entity may own patents or intellectual property, they may only purchase a license or lease intellectual property by paying the individual inventor or intellectual property owner cash money or rent.
Engineering and Manufacturing Processes are intellectual property.
See unenforceable contractual tenants and or false and spurious claims.
The Pro Se processing, enforcement and collections of Appeals #04-1639, is Martial Law. Any lawful U.S. Citizen, NOT a lawyer and/as/or a graduate of a law school, may file a "claim package" to become an individual Co-Appellant. All combined and consolidated Appeals already decided in favor of the INDIVIDUAL only.
No corporation or governmental entity may own patents or intellectual property, they may only purchase a license or lease intellectual property by paying the individual inventor or intellectual property owner cash money or rent.
Engineering and Manufacturing Processes are intellectual property.
See unenforceable contractual tenants and or false and spurious claims.
3
please add the financial chains of credit card debt, home mortgage/ownership myths, auto loans and the exorbitant costs of information that is imposef by media & internet providers. when everday transactions become instruments of financial gain, the everyday person is trapped. why is a plastic card required to by bread?
8
as someone who has been self-employed for 50 years, i can recognize these issues, but there's more enterprise in taking the chances.
1
How about on the other end of the income spectrum, people like Bill O'Reilly? One may ask, how come his contract apparently didn't contain a noncompete clause especially given his standing at Fox news?
I would love to see a piece on all the subsidies paid to corporations along with the types of preferential treatments already afforded to the super wealthy.
Let's balance the scales and look at how those at the very top benefit from government.
I would love to see a piece on all the subsidies paid to corporations along with the types of preferential treatments already afforded to the super wealthy.
Let's balance the scales and look at how those at the very top benefit from government.
15
Yes, these "non-compete agreements" are obviously designed to intimidate and "lock in" workers to their current employers; these are laws that MUST be eliminated ASAP, although we all know it will be a long struggle, like most socially beneficial initiatives.
We also need to get rid of contracts that almost all workers and consumers are forced to sign these days, stipulating that they MUST agree to settle any disputes out of the court system, utilizing a employer-paid "arbitrator" instead.
When did employers decide that they could vitiate our rights to file a claim in the courts against any other party when we believed we were treated in an illegal or unethical manner? When did private companies decide that we no longer had to right to settle our disputes before a judge or jury in a case where we were cheated, robbed, injured, or attacked?
It's time to fight back against ANY rules or regulations that impede our freedom to move from job to job at will and any pre-employment agreements that restrict our right to file a claim with the courts when a company does something to injure us.
We also need to get rid of contracts that almost all workers and consumers are forced to sign these days, stipulating that they MUST agree to settle any disputes out of the court system, utilizing a employer-paid "arbitrator" instead.
When did employers decide that they could vitiate our rights to file a claim in the courts against any other party when we believed we were treated in an illegal or unethical manner? When did private companies decide that we no longer had to right to settle our disputes before a judge or jury in a case where we were cheated, robbed, injured, or attacked?
It's time to fight back against ANY rules or regulations that impede our freedom to move from job to job at will and any pre-employment agreements that restrict our right to file a claim with the courts when a company does something to injure us.
25
I'm an employment discrimination attorney and have been for 35 years. I represent people who are fired when they contract cancer, develop heart disease, when their spouse or child has a chronic illness, when they pass a certain age (about age 52 for women and about 60 for men), and etc.
This has been happening for decades. We have laws prohibiting such firings, but those laws were passed back when we had bipartisan cooperation in Congress, we still had a few Democratic Governors, and our federal judges were not almost all assured of being beholden to big business.
We are seriously nearing a tipping point. The unbridled greed and transparent bias in all branches of government (bias in favor of big business), is destined to push against the American worker until he and she has nothing left to lose. (e.g., Citizens United.) And heaven help us all when that happens.
This has been happening for decades. We have laws prohibiting such firings, but those laws were passed back when we had bipartisan cooperation in Congress, we still had a few Democratic Governors, and our federal judges were not almost all assured of being beholden to big business.
We are seriously nearing a tipping point. The unbridled greed and transparent bias in all branches of government (bias in favor of big business), is destined to push against the American worker until he and she has nothing left to lose. (e.g., Citizens United.) And heaven help us all when that happens.
35
Obamacare came along just in time when the "gig" economy started and the freelance opportunities people had did not come with health insurance. Many major companies have outsourced their employment needs to contract agencies who may or may not have insurance. Obamacare was a boon to those employees which is becoming an ever increasing way people are employed! So that full time job with healthcare is a scarcity!
8
All wealth begins with labor and is sustained by labor. Henry Ford could never have become a billionaire without the dedication of his workers in Detroit. Ford obviously deserves credit just as his hard working labor force did.
12
Not only are American workers chained to their employers by Trump and Republicans sabotaging Obamacare + stealing our rights to universal healthcare and to free healthcare for all with preexisting conditions, but spouses with preexisting conditions who are insured through their working spouse's insurance who want/need a divorce are now forced to stay married to their working spouse just to stay healthy or alive. Exceptionally cruel and evil.
We are the wealthiest nation in the world, and we can certainly afford insurance for all if we just tax the wealthiest 1% of our nation, who own 43% of our nation's assets, a small % of their net worth.
To cut healthcare costs, we should focus on enforcing our other human rights: To do to our bodies as we wish w/or w/o the government's approval. This means doing away with drug prohibition + prescription, which not only raise the cost of drugs, but are the main cause of crime and murder in our nation and worldwide, especially south of our border, causing millions of refugees to flee here for their lives too. Yes, we must re-legalize all drugs, if not through legislation than by judges doing their jobs and standing up for our rights. Same goes for judges standing up f/ our human rights to suicide + assisted suicide, for any reason whatsoever. Allowing us to die with dignity, and not strapped to machines in hospitals against our will, will save millions from years of torture while dying slowly, but will also save trillions of dollars!
We are the wealthiest nation in the world, and we can certainly afford insurance for all if we just tax the wealthiest 1% of our nation, who own 43% of our nation's assets, a small % of their net worth.
To cut healthcare costs, we should focus on enforcing our other human rights: To do to our bodies as we wish w/or w/o the government's approval. This means doing away with drug prohibition + prescription, which not only raise the cost of drugs, but are the main cause of crime and murder in our nation and worldwide, especially south of our border, causing millions of refugees to flee here for their lives too. Yes, we must re-legalize all drugs, if not through legislation than by judges doing their jobs and standing up for our rights. Same goes for judges standing up f/ our human rights to suicide + assisted suicide, for any reason whatsoever. Allowing us to die with dignity, and not strapped to machines in hospitals against our will, will save millions from years of torture while dying slowly, but will also save trillions of dollars!
9
Perhaps we should similarly 'unfree' American businesses.
So that they have to build their own infrastructure.
Be subject to rapacious assault from Chinese companies without any protection.
Let them be sued with limitless liability.
Convenient to support the notion of 'small or no government', except when it hurts you.
So that they have to build their own infrastructure.
Be subject to rapacious assault from Chinese companies without any protection.
Let them be sued with limitless liability.
Convenient to support the notion of 'small or no government', except when it hurts you.
18
Let's not forget the lack of freedom for women in the workplace. Lack of paid leave. Continual chipping away at abortion rights.. Businesses being able to opt out of paying for their employees' birth control. Lack of affordable day care. The "Daughter caring for their parent or parent-in-law with dementia/other health issues" article I just read in the NYT: causing untold number of negative effects on untold numbers of women in the workplace.
17
A number of posters have mentioned the fact that PK doesn't talk about unions. To be fair, PK is talking about the problem, not the solution.
The solution is to convince American workers to once again band together in unions regardless of the laws written to prevent them. Until the Wagner Act, unions were persecuted using the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Grover Cleveland lost the nomination in 1896 because he used Federal troops to crush the Pullman Strike in Illinois, over the direct objections of Governor John Peter Altgeld. Altgeld paid Cleveland back by stymieing him at the 1896 Democratic Convention, held in....Chicago!
But unions have been the SOLE source of every advance for workers.
So why don't they form and join them?
Well, EXACTLY the people Trump appealed to have been saturated with propaganda from Fox Noise that unions are demonic, planned and run by Satan and flatly unAmerican.....and they BELIEVED it!
So how do you convince the willfully and stubbornly ignorant?
The solution is to convince American workers to once again band together in unions regardless of the laws written to prevent them. Until the Wagner Act, unions were persecuted using the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Grover Cleveland lost the nomination in 1896 because he used Federal troops to crush the Pullman Strike in Illinois, over the direct objections of Governor John Peter Altgeld. Altgeld paid Cleveland back by stymieing him at the 1896 Democratic Convention, held in....Chicago!
But unions have been the SOLE source of every advance for workers.
So why don't they form and join them?
Well, EXACTLY the people Trump appealed to have been saturated with propaganda from Fox Noise that unions are demonic, planned and run by Satan and flatly unAmerican.....and they BELIEVED it!
So how do you convince the willfully and stubbornly ignorant?
In the process of selling our house, we have been fixing the place up. Today, 3 guys came to put in new carpet. They were all in their early 50's to mid-60 years of age. They worked very hard, for 6 hours. They each got about $100 for their days work. And they were wearing Trump T-shirts. My wife works in an urgent care facility. They recently hired a new Dr, then he found out he had contracted to a non-compete clause and couldn't change jobs without moving 50 miles away. I've seen dance studios force their dancing instructors to sign non-compete clauses. We are not "free to choose." Our masters have enslaved us with their low wages, non-compete clauses and "fire at will" employment status in Florida. Best thing to do is get fired and then fight the non-compete because you were fired, rather then quit and find out you can't work in your community.
27
You paid those guys nearly $17/HR to lay carpet and call that low wages? Pay is supposed to reflect the educational cost of learning one's career. What's the going tuition to carpet classes?
Or it could be that not everyone is a CEO and still needs to live.
Maybe having a great country and culture over a "survival of the fittest - winner take all" competition.
Maybe having a great country and culture over a "survival of the fittest - winner take all" competition.
2
Install your own carpet then. A wage reflects a trade's value to whoever needs that service/trade. Education has nothing to do with it. I dont see society forking money over to anthropologist or historians or philosophers...but plumbers, yeah, they do OK. My friend is a carpet layer and he makes 3k a week and works 30 hours a week. He doesn't charge by the hour, he charges by the job. When you have people working in your house you don't want them to be destitute or to be in a position where they may be tempted to steal from you out of necessity. I order them pizza, pick up burgers, BBQ for lunch. I tip them if its near the holidays. I ensure they want to be at work on my project. When I need a contractor, they are tripping over themselves to get me on the schedule.
5
With the addition of Gorsuch to the SC the chances of forced contracts, including non compete as well as binding arbitration, will not be held as unlawful under anti-trust provisions. It was one of McConnell's main objectives.
Labor is screwed for the next few generations, at least.
Labor is screwed for the next few generations, at least.
Was it Samuel Johnson who said 170 or so years ago that the loudest cries of liberty come from the owners of slaves?
27
I am in Mexico right now. Life here is grimly hard for so many. I would give a lot to see Paul, Mitch and Mike work with the intensity and focus that a lot of people here throw into putting a meal on the table and buying toilet paper.
When they meet their maker and are asked "What did you do for your fellow man?" Paul Ryan can grin boyishly and say "I screwed a lot of poor people, took away school lunches and put children from poor families even further back from becoming middle class." ( It is the ultimate irony that someoneone as lacking in generosity as Mr. Ryan would be named after one of the most magnanimous figures in the New Testament). Mitch McConnel-- well the good ol' boy speaks for himself, "I'm the fella who speaks for business. Those poor folks---there ain't nothin' you can do for them so why try?" Now ol' Mike Pence, why he can cite chapter and verse while taking heath care and education from people who are really hurting and be oh so solemn because he does everything just short of saying, "Because Jesus wants us to help out corporations that sitick pipe under rivers that the rest of us drink from."
We have a Great America. Hanging on to it is just going to require clearer thought and leadership that is more dynamic than has been displayed so far.
When they meet their maker and are asked "What did you do for your fellow man?" Paul Ryan can grin boyishly and say "I screwed a lot of poor people, took away school lunches and put children from poor families even further back from becoming middle class." ( It is the ultimate irony that someoneone as lacking in generosity as Mr. Ryan would be named after one of the most magnanimous figures in the New Testament). Mitch McConnel-- well the good ol' boy speaks for himself, "I'm the fella who speaks for business. Those poor folks---there ain't nothin' you can do for them so why try?" Now ol' Mike Pence, why he can cite chapter and verse while taking heath care and education from people who are really hurting and be oh so solemn because he does everything just short of saying, "Because Jesus wants us to help out corporations that sitick pipe under rivers that the rest of us drink from."
We have a Great America. Hanging on to it is just going to require clearer thought and leadership that is more dynamic than has been displayed so far.
30
strong words, there, Bob, about American workers who live lives based on fear, desperation, and a very weak understanding of the real world.
but the mainly crappy products they produce - and some magnificent ones - are not determined by even the most reprehensible hourly guys, but by the firms they work for... the ones whose business model is based on finding cheats and dodges and shifting risk to workers while keeping profits for themselves and transitory and preditory shareholders.
all the dispensible despicables do is what they're told, kr they're out.
something is rotten, all right, and it isn't in Denmark.
but the mainly crappy products they produce - and some magnificent ones - are not determined by even the most reprehensible hourly guys, but by the firms they work for... the ones whose business model is based on finding cheats and dodges and shifting risk to workers while keeping profits for themselves and transitory and preditory shareholders.
all the dispensible despicables do is what they're told, kr they're out.
something is rotten, all right, and it isn't in Denmark.
13
While the American Dream ('because you have to be asleep to believe it') would suggest any hard worker can become a billionaire - comparisons with other countries have shown less upward mobility in the US than Europe - in other words, those damned communists can improve their lives more than y'all hard working 'muricans !
Y'know - 6 weeks paid holiday being the norm, free unlimited healthcare, cheap childcare - all that boring stuff that 'muricans don't seem to want, right ?
Y'know - 6 weeks paid holiday being the norm, free unlimited healthcare, cheap childcare - all that boring stuff that 'muricans don't seem to want, right ?
30
you've nailed it....europeans, aussies, kiwis, canadians are all workin' for the devil.
If my employer could do without me for six weeks out of the year, why does he need me the other forty six? We need to get over the communist agenda that our jobs exist to improve our lives. The fact is that paying people for the most part is a necessary evil.
2
The practice of employers providing health insurance for their employees was working extremely well for a large majority of Americans. It doesn't seem unreasonable for the employers to seek some benefit from the practice, nor is it unreasonable for the government to encourage the practice through tax policy.
I realize that Krugman believes that only the all knowing government can dictate how and what services are provided to American Citizens, but we seem to have done a good job for ourselves in the heathcare arena.
I realize that Krugman believes that only the all knowing government can dictate how and what services are provided to American Citizens, but we seem to have done a good job for ourselves in the heathcare arena.
3
Are we to assume that you're against Medicare? Even my right-wing pals who are on Medicare like the program. Medicare doesn't seem to limit my health-care options, and I'm not stressed about getting sick. Sure, I paid into Medicare. I believe in paying for what I get. But why is it better to pay a for-profit insurance company than to pay into a common pool run by the government? Do you think that the for-proft instance company is more concerned for my health? Do you think a for-profit company is more efficient? (Check out their top management salaries.)
And yet, everyone else in the world has been doing so much better! Sort of like getting a baloney sandwich on wonder-bread and telling yourself, I did extremely well, I didn't want all that barbeque chicken and potato salad and iced tea that all those other people have, I really like these two slices of baloney on white bread - no, I didn't want any mayo - no, no pie, I'm good...
10
I can give this advice to those given such contracts. Let them sit in your desk until they are demanded by the folks in HR. They might forget you didn't turn it in. Next if they call and demand, remember they won't neccessarily review it, so just turn it in unsigned. They usually just file it without looking at it, but if they call you just say "Oops! I forgot, silly me." Do this several times if necessary and at last if they are looking over your shoulder to collect the paperwork sign it with a quasi illegible script that bears no resemblance whatsoever to your actual signature. If it ever goes to court, you can then just truthfully say, "that's not my signature." In other words — RESIST. You have a right to leave your job and work wherever a better one is offered. This contracts are truncheons to strike fear in you. This is pretty old news. I have to say if it hadn't been for Bernie's run for President, news media wouldn't be covering this story at all. These non-compete contracts are anathema to any society that values freedom. Americans may value it, but the corporate world doesn't.
17
Anyone who believes that corporations are "pro-job" is a sucker. If they were, they wouldn't be so gung-ho to force employees to sign NDAs. Just yesterday there was an article where a business association was complaining about there being too many employed people. They were going to have to consider raising wages to attract workers - the horror!
The goal is a new serfdom where people are tied to their places of work, but without any opportunity to move upwards or elsewhere, and where they are left to grovel for whatever scraps their overlords toss their way. Hayak endlessly carped on about how the Soviet system was a form of serfdom because of its restrictions on workers' abilities to change jobs. NDAs are no different, and, in effect, create many new serfdoms at the firm level, all upheld by American courts.
Feudalism is back. The lords will talk endlessly about their love for markets and the like, all while they conspire to constrain the labor market to their benefit as much as they possibly can. What a joke.
The goal is a new serfdom where people are tied to their places of work, but without any opportunity to move upwards or elsewhere, and where they are left to grovel for whatever scraps their overlords toss their way. Hayak endlessly carped on about how the Soviet system was a form of serfdom because of its restrictions on workers' abilities to change jobs. NDAs are no different, and, in effect, create many new serfdoms at the firm level, all upheld by American courts.
Feudalism is back. The lords will talk endlessly about their love for markets and the like, all while they conspire to constrain the labor market to their benefit as much as they possibly can. What a joke.
14
Thank God for the CA Supreme Court, ruling in 2008 that non-compete clauses violated an individual's right to work. I get protecting trade secrets, but that can be covered in other ways.
17
I would be surprised if as many as one in a thousand workers presented with a non-compete agreement had an experience like the one I once had.
I challenged a non-compete agreement in a personal conversation with a potential employer, and it was waived. We went with an oral agreement not to hurt each other: I wouldn't hurt the company if we parted ways, and they wouldn't hurt me.
It's a bitter moment to read an agreement asking you to sign your career away for one job of uncertain duration. At the time, I was told that the onerous implications were unenforceable, but many people won't know that, and won't be told that. And if things continue the way they are going, that could change.
I challenged a non-compete agreement in a personal conversation with a potential employer, and it was waived. We went with an oral agreement not to hurt each other: I wouldn't hurt the company if we parted ways, and they wouldn't hurt me.
It's a bitter moment to read an agreement asking you to sign your career away for one job of uncertain duration. At the time, I was told that the onerous implications were unenforceable, but many people won't know that, and won't be told that. And if things continue the way they are going, that could change.
7
But employee turnover DOES hurt a company and any separation should be controlled by the employer. There should never be an amicable departure.
Just returned from Nicaragua. Doubtful they'll need non-compete clauses there in this century. Nicaragua is regarded as the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (second only to Haiti). Walmart, yes, they have one, is paying minimum wage I was told. That would be about $1.40 an hour. Which is a whole lot better than the Agricultural, Forestry and Fishing industries workers who are getting 78 cents an hour. I'm serious. Walmart's slogan is "Always Low Prices". How does even the Walmart employee shop at Walmart in Nicaragua? A colleague asked me, "Do they have 99 Cent Stores down there?" No but they do have Dollar Stores. But even a dollar is more than the hourly wage for a lot of people in Nicaragua. Imagine if your wage was so low that an hour of your labor couldn't buy you an item at the Dollar Store? Its unfathomable really but that's life everyday in Nicaragua.
4
i've seen many studies like the gallup world survey shown in dr krugman's column. results always seem to show the usa not scoring particularly well. it makes me wonder of there's another country that has myths so far from the reality of life than the usa.
13
This is so true. We the employed are utterly dependent on the goodwill of our employers to allow us provide for all the needs of ourselves and our families, because of the lack of government support for essentials like affordable housing, higher education, healthcare, support in old age, etc. It's not freedom of choice when one party holds all the cards, all the information, and all the power.
20
These non-compete agreements serve no legitimate purpose in the absence of the sale of a business. They are just a form of anti-competitive price-fixing both for an employee that can't go elsewhere, take it or leave it, and among businesses to prevent others from offering experienced employees more to switch employers. Any concerns about taking trade secrets are addressed by trade secret law. They are a blight on the free market and enslave employees for the right to work. California outlawed them decades ago with zero damage to businesses.
5
Contradictory terms abound, military intelligence, smart appliances, right to work. They are a dead giveaway, an easy piece of humor and very recognized as tongue in cheek. But it's never funny because people's lives and health hang in the balance. but making a good one liner out of somebodies misfortune some how, ho hum, that's life. We need to get back to a point where the societal norms are basic human dignity and respect, a place where the almighty dollar does not drive everything.
2
It's enough to make one think Freedom is slavery. We've already learned that ignorance is strength in Trump's America.
7
Every time I hear trump's poorly educated base of factory workers whining that the Democrats abandoned them, I am reminded of Monty Python's 'Life of Brian.'
When the People's Front of Judea, or was it the Judean People's Front, began forming their rebellion against the Romans they asked themselves "what have the Romans ever given us?"
Then, after a moment or two they began listing all the things the Romans have given them including the aqueduct, roads etc.
The trumpets would do well to remember that the Democrats fought for their Labor Union rights, got them Medicare, Medicaid, The ACA and Social Security because we like people who work for a living because we work for a living too.
Sadly the poorly educated trumpets decided to vote for a person who has never worked a day in his pampered orange tinted life and who has vowed to strip away the last rights the rubes have...all in the name of the Koch brothers.
Personally I hope they do lose what little rights they have left.
I have used up my last drop of compassion for these losers.
I hope trump turns them into the very slaves they seem to want to be.
When the People's Front of Judea, or was it the Judean People's Front, began forming their rebellion against the Romans they asked themselves "what have the Romans ever given us?"
Then, after a moment or two they began listing all the things the Romans have given them including the aqueduct, roads etc.
The trumpets would do well to remember that the Democrats fought for their Labor Union rights, got them Medicare, Medicaid, The ACA and Social Security because we like people who work for a living because we work for a living too.
Sadly the poorly educated trumpets decided to vote for a person who has never worked a day in his pampered orange tinted life and who has vowed to strip away the last rights the rubes have...all in the name of the Koch brothers.
Personally I hope they do lose what little rights they have left.
I have used up my last drop of compassion for these losers.
I hope trump turns them into the very slaves they seem to want to be.
26
Trumpet here.
Labor union rights? What good are labor union rights when the Democrats are all too happy to send your jobs overseas? Or when they want you to compete with illegal immigrant labor?
Medicare? Ah the payroll tax. Which is 1) regressive and 2) encourages businesses not to hire Americans.
Medicaid? Which is essentially welfare? And is rife with fraud. How does Medicaid help the "factory worker"? Before all of this nonsense, factory workers had fully paid for good insurance that they carried with them until they died.
ACA? Is a subsidy for those who don't work! Pushing the cost of insurance to 20% increases year after year. Insurance under ACA fails because
1) your doctor won't take it
2) the deductible is ridiculous
3) the copays are enormous
4) the premiums are onerous
but, on the bright side, it adds to the deficit and some guy who isn't working gets it for free
Social Security? Once again a payroll tax discourages employment, is regressive and if I had all the money that myself and my employer paid into Medicare and Social Security and invested it the way I invest my 401K/IRA I could've retired at 55. As it is the Social Security retirement age is 67, but they suggest you wait until 70 and it is going up and is becoming insolvent.
I think I have enough education to realize that the Democrats have been stealing from me. So stow the condescension in a shady spot
Labor union rights? What good are labor union rights when the Democrats are all too happy to send your jobs overseas? Or when they want you to compete with illegal immigrant labor?
Medicare? Ah the payroll tax. Which is 1) regressive and 2) encourages businesses not to hire Americans.
Medicaid? Which is essentially welfare? And is rife with fraud. How does Medicaid help the "factory worker"? Before all of this nonsense, factory workers had fully paid for good insurance that they carried with them until they died.
ACA? Is a subsidy for those who don't work! Pushing the cost of insurance to 20% increases year after year. Insurance under ACA fails because
1) your doctor won't take it
2) the deductible is ridiculous
3) the copays are enormous
4) the premiums are onerous
but, on the bright side, it adds to the deficit and some guy who isn't working gets it for free
Social Security? Once again a payroll tax discourages employment, is regressive and if I had all the money that myself and my employer paid into Medicare and Social Security and invested it the way I invest my 401K/IRA I could've retired at 55. As it is the Social Security retirement age is 67, but they suggest you wait until 70 and it is going up and is becoming insolvent.
I think I have enough education to realize that the Democrats have been stealing from me. So stow the condescension in a shady spot
all good points, but the reality that you used monty python--a british show made two generations ago--shows you are one of them there elitist 'folks' who have rooned 'merica. the brits are foreigners, ya know?
@James
Were you not alive or residing in the US prior to 2011? All of your complaints about the ACA (regardless of accuracy) make it still better than the insurance market--or the healthcare prospects for tens of millions of Americans--before the ACA. This is a 'debate' that's been going on for my entire adult life. The ACA, while not perfect (thanks to dozens of compromises with conservatives, who then decided not to vote for it) was definitely better than wanting healthcare, but being unable to afford it.
And yes, the ACA IS available to people - EVEN IF THEY DON'T WORK! I, and most Americans that understand the premise of cost-sharing and have no problem with that. It's often called 'paying forward', and one day you may need our help for you to afford care that keeps you alive. And since when is seeking medical expertise that will save my life--perhaps from an accident I had no control over--determined by my ability to pay a doctor? You're advocating a 'fee-for-life' system, which presumes that EVERYONE has an equal ability to access a paying job anywhere and everywhere Americans live (obviously not the case) and at a compensation level that is ALWAYS enough to cover needed services (also obviously not the case).
You are making judgments about other human beings, and whether they live or die, without knowing anything about them other than whether they can pay their way sufficiently. I sincerely hope you are never surprised by something beyond your ability to pay for it.
Were you not alive or residing in the US prior to 2011? All of your complaints about the ACA (regardless of accuracy) make it still better than the insurance market--or the healthcare prospects for tens of millions of Americans--before the ACA. This is a 'debate' that's been going on for my entire adult life. The ACA, while not perfect (thanks to dozens of compromises with conservatives, who then decided not to vote for it) was definitely better than wanting healthcare, but being unable to afford it.
And yes, the ACA IS available to people - EVEN IF THEY DON'T WORK! I, and most Americans that understand the premise of cost-sharing and have no problem with that. It's often called 'paying forward', and one day you may need our help for you to afford care that keeps you alive. And since when is seeking medical expertise that will save my life--perhaps from an accident I had no control over--determined by my ability to pay a doctor? You're advocating a 'fee-for-life' system, which presumes that EVERYONE has an equal ability to access a paying job anywhere and everywhere Americans live (obviously not the case) and at a compensation level that is ALWAYS enough to cover needed services (also obviously not the case).
You are making judgments about other human beings, and whether they live or die, without knowing anything about them other than whether they can pay their way sufficiently. I sincerely hope you are never surprised by something beyond your ability to pay for it.
3
And these ignorant rust belt workers expect me to buy products they built?
Fat chance.
I saw the American "workers" at mr. trump's many rallies giving the nazi salute, screaming the N-Word, and waving that foul confederate flag.
I wouldn't buy a bolagna and cheese sandwhich from those backward morons much less an air conditioner or car.
No thanks.
The America worker I see is an uneducaed, racist, sexist, homophobic throwback to the 50's and I would never risk my kid's life on something built by a rightist dolt who voted for yet another born to privilege draft dodging trust fund sissy.
Fat chance.
I saw the American "workers" at mr. trump's many rallies giving the nazi salute, screaming the N-Word, and waving that foul confederate flag.
I wouldn't buy a bolagna and cheese sandwhich from those backward morons much less an air conditioner or car.
No thanks.
The America worker I see is an uneducaed, racist, sexist, homophobic throwback to the 50's and I would never risk my kid's life on something built by a rightist dolt who voted for yet another born to privilege draft dodging trust fund sissy.
23
That's your "logic"? A Trump worker said the N-word and the Nazi salute?
And Trump supporters are uneducated?
If that is what you learned in school, you need to get a refund.
Seems like you have a bigoted attitude toward Americans.
If Donald Trump is a Nazi, then he is the sorriest excuse for one that I have ever seen!
If it weren't for the goofy nonsense that folks like you write, I believe Trump would never have been elected. When you cast blatantly false aspersions at people you propel them to act.
As for Mr. Trump's success? Aspiration is better than jealousy
And Trump supporters are uneducated?
If that is what you learned in school, you need to get a refund.
Seems like you have a bigoted attitude toward Americans.
If Donald Trump is a Nazi, then he is the sorriest excuse for one that I have ever seen!
If it weren't for the goofy nonsense that folks like you write, I believe Trump would never have been elected. When you cast blatantly false aspersions at people you propel them to act.
As for Mr. Trump's success? Aspiration is better than jealousy
Bob, your words resonate truth.
Wait a second: isn't Bob describing someone he actually SAW?
Unless he needs glasses, you can't exactly accuse him of writing "goofy nonsense".
Unless he needs glasses, you can't exactly accuse him of writing "goofy nonsense".
This went on in the textile industry here in PA back in the 80's also. Only instead of being in workers hiring agreements it was between HR's of various companies not to hire from one another's rosters. So as you can see there are ways of getting around this. Even the Chamber of Commerce was said to have a wage cap on industry so that lesser paying companies could find cheap labor without having to deal with turnover. The corruption is everywhere.
14
I am an American living in Australia. We also have non-compete clauses, but they have to be reasonable, in terms of time and area, and can't prevent someone from practicing his or her profession or trade. The sandwich one would not be legal here.
And, of course, we have universal health care, which does indeed free up the workforce. It also helps employers, who can hire people without worrying about that extra cost of providing health cover. Oh, and it costs less too, about 9% of Australia's GDP, as opposed to 17% in the US.
And, of course, we have universal health care, which does indeed free up the workforce. It also helps employers, who can hire people without worrying about that extra cost of providing health cover. Oh, and it costs less too, about 9% of Australia's GDP, as opposed to 17% in the US.
11
I agree with Krugman's concern about additional restrictions on workers. However, Krugman's claim that in the absence of non-compete clauses people are "free to make his or her own choices abut where to work and how to live." First, no one is doesn't own a business gets to choose where to work. We apply for jobs. Whether we get jobs is not our choice. It is the employers' choice. So, no free jobs (not to mention the need for skills, etc.). Second, we are not "free" to choose how to live. If we want goods or services, we must pay for them, if we can afford them. If we want a place to live, we must pay for it, if the owner will let us. We must live by laws, or pay the price of crime. Our choices are not "free" (unconstrained). Nothing is free.
3
Ummm yeah - you have to work for a living if you are able and abide by the laws of the land. What on earth is your point?
Wait, you have to pay to live somewhere? How long has that been going on? and, you have to apply for a job? Oh, man, nobody said!
Seriously, Jesse... I mean... come on...
Seriously, Jesse... I mean... come on...
I live in France and the rules are quite different:
If a non compete clause is included, it MUST involve a payment to be enforced. Most employers chose to stop paying quite fast so the issue is solving itself for the vast majority.
Macron also started a new law project that offers unemployment coverage even for those who decide to quit !
Come to France !
If a non compete clause is included, it MUST involve a payment to be enforced. Most employers chose to stop paying quite fast so the issue is solving itself for the vast majority.
Macron also started a new law project that offers unemployment coverage even for those who decide to quit !
Come to France !
15
I would be out of here in a hot minute if I could migrate to France...
3
Can capitalism work without exploitation? If we really want to install regulations that limit the ability of corporations to exploit human and natural resources, we'd better hurry.
3
It's called capitalism. Business owners leverage the labor of their employees in exchange for fair wages. Business owners also take enormous risks in starting businesses in the first place by putting capital at risk. Higher risk should lead to higher reward.
@Carol K
Absolutely. But it requires a belief in the state's ability to represent its citizens without undue influence from interested parties, in order to set down some ground rules for fair treatment for employees, and a reasonable regulatory framework to protect against the tendency for crowds (ie groups of individuals, aka corporations) to pursue lowest-common denominator solutions to problems.
Absolutely. But it requires a belief in the state's ability to represent its citizens without undue influence from interested parties, in order to set down some ground rules for fair treatment for employees, and a reasonable regulatory framework to protect against the tendency for crowds (ie groups of individuals, aka corporations) to pursue lowest-common denominator solutions to problems.
1
~
~~
The decline of the American working class is in direct proportion to the decline in workers union participation.
~~
The decline of the American working class is in direct proportion to the decline in workers union participation.
23
Nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) are perfectly reasonable. Noncompete agreements are not.
If noncompete agreements were perfectly reasonable, they would be recognized in California courts. And Silicon Valley has been doing just fine without them, thank you.
If noncompete agreements were perfectly reasonable, they would be recognized in California courts. And Silicon Valley has been doing just fine without them, thank you.
4
Since since the time of Ronald Reagan, the rich have moved more and more citizens toward a peasant existence with little push back from the American people.
It is obvious that these idle rich will not be happy until they destroy the American Dream.
It is obvious that these idle rich will not be happy until they destroy the American Dream.
8
Jimmy Johns the Sandwich maker is the perfect example of this . Preventing low wage employees from leaving because they may give away some Trade secrets in making a sandwich . The worst of is some judge ruled in favor of Jimmy Johns . Need less to say I refuse to eat there
the American People need to take Corporate America down a couple of notches
10
Watch the movie Norma Rae with Sally Fields.
"UNION" !!!!!
"UNION" !!!!!
16
Who said "Why are the cries for freedom loudest from the drivers of slaves?"
12
Paul Krugman doesn't care about abused workers. He is a member of the 1%.
Did Paul push for globalization and all its benefits? Yes. But, he also pushed for more abuse of workers around the globe. He praised Apple's sub-contractors. Yet, he says nothing about the need for suicide nets at these slave-labor camps.
Krugman does care about other 1%-ers. He likes protections for Doctors and Lawyers. ... no protections for nurses and caregivers.
Did Paul push for globalization and all its benefits? Yes. But, he also pushed for more abuse of workers around the globe. He praised Apple's sub-contractors. Yet, he says nothing about the need for suicide nets at these slave-labor camps.
Krugman does care about other 1%-ers. He likes protections for Doctors and Lawyers. ... no protections for nurses and caregivers.
3
Why exactly did he bother to write this article if he doesn't care?
And please provide the source in which he "pushed for abuse"? What is the EXACT QUOTE where we find him advocating on behalf of abusers?
And if you're so big on deregulation, it seems worth asking why YOU care about abused workers. What do you think gives businesses the ability to abuse them in the first place?
And please provide the source in which he "pushed for abuse"? What is the EXACT QUOTE where we find him advocating on behalf of abusers?
And if you're so big on deregulation, it seems worth asking why YOU care about abused workers. What do you think gives businesses the ability to abuse them in the first place?
8
The Open American Society.......well let's move further than the Atlantic and
the Pacific Oceans....past Hawaii and to all the global routes which erase
former avenues of inquiry....
We are global....and that is what the WAKE UP today call is....and we do not
know what to do....about cyberspace interconnections....and this unchartered
space map has left our interconnected societies in chaos....
I hope the Editors; this Professor will form a roundtable to discuss the
outcomes of our IRREVERSIBLE .....political/social/and economic connectivity
Professor Krugman.....the past is....not prescient.....and there will be no clear
future voyage into this grey space which is right at hand without a needed
renaissance of philosophic thinking....I believe you and Tom Friedman might
form a roundtable group...with someone like Bill Moyers to wade through
the bogs of discontent.
the Pacific Oceans....past Hawaii and to all the global routes which erase
former avenues of inquiry....
We are global....and that is what the WAKE UP today call is....and we do not
know what to do....about cyberspace interconnections....and this unchartered
space map has left our interconnected societies in chaos....
I hope the Editors; this Professor will form a roundtable to discuss the
outcomes of our IRREVERSIBLE .....political/social/and economic connectivity
Professor Krugman.....the past is....not prescient.....and there will be no clear
future voyage into this grey space which is right at hand without a needed
renaissance of philosophic thinking....I believe you and Tom Friedman might
form a roundtable group...with someone like Bill Moyers to wade through
the bogs of discontent.
1
I see the article today about the plight of the truck drivers. The Teamsters fought tooth and nail for better wages and conditions. And now, back to the old days. This country's voters will elect the Nazis when they promise them change.
8
I’ve had an entry level job since 1994.
Chances for promotion are as rare as dinosaur.
My benefits have dwindled to a Walgreen’s discount card
And a whistle that will summon up a saint bernard.
My pension has been gutted, and no union wants me in --
I can’t afford retirement without a Lotto win.
Work may be a blessing and a comfort, it is true --
But why then do I feel like I’m a stripped revolving screw?
Chances for promotion are as rare as dinosaur.
My benefits have dwindled to a Walgreen’s discount card
And a whistle that will summon up a saint bernard.
My pension has been gutted, and no union wants me in --
I can’t afford retirement without a Lotto win.
Work may be a blessing and a comfort, it is true --
But why then do I feel like I’m a stripped revolving screw?
11
It's very easy to dismiss Republicans as selfish, hypocritical, and disgusting.
(Were you expecting a "but" after that? Why?)
(Were you expecting a "but" after that? Why?)
The subject of labor unions is mentioned in these comments. But it has occurred to me that something very odd has happened to the American worker who voted for Donald Trump.
This worker is simply desperate for work -- rights and protections be damned. This worker trusts the oligarch class to take care of workers' best interests. How did this ignorance happen? Are these people willing to sell their health and rights merely to rid themselves of the loathsome "identity politics"?
When the Great Depression hit, the American worker was even more desperate for work. But we lucked out with a well-educated President who instituted worker protections while bringing back jobs. We are unlucky now -- and have been ever since Reagan.
99% of us is working class. The Trump voter has no idea what they really want. That's the biggest scandal of all.
This worker is simply desperate for work -- rights and protections be damned. This worker trusts the oligarch class to take care of workers' best interests. How did this ignorance happen? Are these people willing to sell their health and rights merely to rid themselves of the loathsome "identity politics"?
When the Great Depression hit, the American worker was even more desperate for work. But we lucked out with a well-educated President who instituted worker protections while bringing back jobs. We are unlucky now -- and have been ever since Reagan.
99% of us is working class. The Trump voter has no idea what they really want. That's the biggest scandal of all.
Another superb Krugman column.
This is not a surprise coming in the from a "businessman" who stiffs labor by hiring cheap foreign Polish scabs to construct Trump tower as documented by Wayne Barett, or who cheats engineering firms on this building by giving 2/3 contracted cost known all too well that a lawsuit in New York even if open and shut. Trump is a professional thief whose successfully has stayed out of jail and robbed directly and indirectly from the public in New York and elsewhere for years. As such "talent" is likely ungeneralizable its unlikely to benefit anyone else other than Trump and his family. The Trump motto is now "What is good for Trump is good for the USA". We would be better off with a truly competent Robber Baron like John D. Rockefeller Sr. or a mob boss like Al Capone as president. At least they would be likely to be competent at what they were doing. Trump unlike his father shows no sign of this at all.
The "Freedom Caucus" is the most Orwellian of titles.
"..the Trump administration is effectively sabotaging individual insurance markets..."
What else would you expect from a Traitor.
What else would you expect from a Traitor.
10
If corporations could, they would have slave labor
20
And they are inching closer every day.
9
No, then they'd have to support the slaves.
No, Paul, noncompete agreements (NCAs) aren't "perfectly reasonable." First of all, they're not "agreements"; one doesn't have the right to disagree with such agreements, they're non-negotiable. You either sign the form or quit engineering, the profession you may have spent four or more years preparing for. If what you learned on your job is so valuable to a competitor, it's also valuable to your present employer and he/she should give you " a piece of the action", i.e., some share of his/her gain.
Moreover, In some cases these agreements have stalled technological development and violating them has helped it. As in the famous case of the "traitorous eight", the engineers who violated their NCA by quitting one semiconductor company to join another where they developed the microchip, the essential component of every modern computer.
NCA'S "unfree" are most productive workers. They should be banned.
Moreover, In some cases these agreements have stalled technological development and violating them has helped it. As in the famous case of the "traitorous eight", the engineers who violated their NCA by quitting one semiconductor company to join another where they developed the microchip, the essential component of every modern computer.
NCA'S "unfree" are most productive workers. They should be banned.
1
Neoliberals have been shooting themselves in their feet for decades and no one has ever seemed to notice. the theoretical baloney on which they base their policies is taught in Economics 101: "free" markets are efficient and this (purely theoretical) efficiency requires the free movement of the factors of production: capital and labor. But while they open the flood gates to promote the free flow capital, they block the free movement of labor with policies such as those you point out.
To paraphrase Charlie Marx: the only thing a worker is left with is his own hide. And all that he can do with it is take it to the market and get it tanned. Marx's analysis applies just as much to present employment conditions in the US as it did to the situation during -and after - the transition from feudalism to capitalism.
To paraphrase Charlie Marx: the only thing a worker is left with is his own hide. And all that he can do with it is take it to the market and get it tanned. Marx's analysis applies just as much to present employment conditions in the US as it did to the situation during -and after - the transition from feudalism to capitalism.
Medicare for All would end so much misery. Crime would plummet and stress and anxiety would be reduced.
15
I always learn from my visits with my 30-year-old daughter, who lives in Hollywood and works in the entertainment industry. On her most recent visit, the word "agency" kept popping up in strange contexts. Being a lawyer, I understood the conventional meaning, but this was something different. Curious, I asked for her definition, and followed up with some internet research.
It appears that this new meaning has to do with one's ability to make favorable or beneficial decisions. The left and its social science enablers have now re-defined the concept of freedom. One is only free if one has the ability and circumstances (the agency) to do what one pleases. This follows on from the endless progressive prattle about "privilege." Bottom line: this new sociology preaches that only the rich and privileged are free. And it provides the under-pinning for progressive policies to manage and equalize social and economic outcomes. Progressives demand the power to manage the society to increase everyone's agency and thereby make them free.
Personally, I liked the old definition of freedom when it meant my personal right to chart my own course, good or bad, win or lose. I reject the view that freedom flows from government's ability to give me things, like healthcare subsidized by my neighbors, uni-gendered restrooms and compulsory multiculturalism.
It appears that this new meaning has to do with one's ability to make favorable or beneficial decisions. The left and its social science enablers have now re-defined the concept of freedom. One is only free if one has the ability and circumstances (the agency) to do what one pleases. This follows on from the endless progressive prattle about "privilege." Bottom line: this new sociology preaches that only the rich and privileged are free. And it provides the under-pinning for progressive policies to manage and equalize social and economic outcomes. Progressives demand the power to manage the society to increase everyone's agency and thereby make them free.
Personally, I liked the old definition of freedom when it meant my personal right to chart my own course, good or bad, win or lose. I reject the view that freedom flows from government's ability to give me things, like healthcare subsidized by my neighbors, uni-gendered restrooms and compulsory multiculturalism.
2
What an obtuse response to this piece. Employers are restricting the freedom of their employees to make choices regarding the supply of their own labor, but it's liberal multiculturalism that's at fault. I know Scottsdale--I don't think your houses stay clean without a lot of transactional multiculturalism.
2
Please, ignore the basic point here about non-compete clauses being unfair so you can return to yet another diatribe about how government is the REAL enemy.
And did you ever consider giving people with pre-existing conditions a right to health insurance might NOT be a mad socialist scheme to make everyone equal?
I consider myself a progressive and I do NOT equate freedom with wealth and privilege. I'd better hadn't, since my four jobs and lack of affordable health insurance does not give me a lot of either of them. But please, explain to us how people who are denied health insurance, an equal opportunity at education, and a safe place to live ARE free?
And one last thing: please provide evidence of just who these "social science enablers" are. Because I read this and other "liberal media" all of the time, and I wasn't aware that there was a leftwing conspiracy going on to redefine freedom beyond the definition FDR gave to it back in the 1940s. Please, enlighten us! Or else we might become suspicious that this is just another conservative straw man argument created to protect profitable business people from taxes and regulations.
And did you ever consider giving people with pre-existing conditions a right to health insurance might NOT be a mad socialist scheme to make everyone equal?
I consider myself a progressive and I do NOT equate freedom with wealth and privilege. I'd better hadn't, since my four jobs and lack of affordable health insurance does not give me a lot of either of them. But please, explain to us how people who are denied health insurance, an equal opportunity at education, and a safe place to live ARE free?
And one last thing: please provide evidence of just who these "social science enablers" are. Because I read this and other "liberal media" all of the time, and I wasn't aware that there was a leftwing conspiracy going on to redefine freedom beyond the definition FDR gave to it back in the 1940s. Please, enlighten us! Or else we might become suspicious that this is just another conservative straw man argument created to protect profitable business people from taxes and regulations.
4
"Agency" used as a definition of freedom has been in our dictionaries as long as we've had dictionaries. It seems that you have just had your vocabulary expanded. Congratulations.
Just go to any restaurant in the US. Apart from horrendous prices, the wait staff is dumped on the customers like in some Dickens novel. Why do I as a customer need to pay the wait staff? Because they get $2/hr? I rest my case.
3
What case? You make no case. Servers should be paid a living wage and then if the customer wants to add to it because of exceptional service they can. But we are not paid a living wage. And if you are so upset about tipping, although from your lack of clarity it is hard to tell, then you should support a living wage for all workers including servers. And if you don't like the prices or the service, eat at home.
3
The point is that the 'freedom' of the powerful to control the weak is the slavery of the latter. The Koch Brothers' 'liberty' to pollute is the subjugation of the rest of us. And hey, if we're all poisoned and sick, we won't have time to organize and bargain for annoying things like safe workplaces and higher wages.
Enough of this. All of us on the left, and for that matter the center, need to put aside - if only temporarily - our narrow partisanship, be it race, gender, regional accent or whatever else we use to separate ourselves from our fellow economic victims, join together and start calling things by their real name: the Domination Caucus, the Club for Monopoly, and so forth.
Fight on the framing, fight on the context, fight on the substance and fight on everything else. There will be time enough to argue with each other when we've defeated those mortal enemies who threaten us, our children and our children's children with disease, poverty and death.
(Not that race, gender and the like aren't important; they're just less important than the basic economic warfare being waged against us all.)
Enough of this. All of us on the left, and for that matter the center, need to put aside - if only temporarily - our narrow partisanship, be it race, gender, regional accent or whatever else we use to separate ourselves from our fellow economic victims, join together and start calling things by their real name: the Domination Caucus, the Club for Monopoly, and so forth.
Fight on the framing, fight on the context, fight on the substance and fight on everything else. There will be time enough to argue with each other when we've defeated those mortal enemies who threaten us, our children and our children's children with disease, poverty and death.
(Not that race, gender and the like aren't important; they're just less important than the basic economic warfare being waged against us all.)
Right to work for less; brought to you by the great state of Indiana and future President Mike Pence,
he of the talking point.
he of the talking point.
Embedded in this is a long overdue observation from Krugman, not necessarily followed to logical conclusions. Millions of Americans benefit from tax-sheltered health insurance from their (usually, larger and stodgier) employers, which simply means that millions of other Americans (self-employed, part-timers, gig-economy types) pay for those subsidies. Not only is this unfair on its face, it has devastating ancillary effects on the cost of medical care and the availability of private insurance. As Krugman did manage to point out, it also serves to handcuff a large segment of the labor force, who might otherwise be able to trade their skills to more efficient firms or industries, or to take entrepreneurial risks on their own. Obamacare did not solve this problem, because premiums paid by individuals on the exchanges were not tax deductible. The simple solution would be to end the deductibility of health care premiums for everyone, while at the same time reducing tax rates for everyone.
1
So you're saying the solution for some not having health insurance is to take it away from everyone.
6
I don't see where he's saying that at all. Ending deductability of premiums isn't ending the insurance itself.
The opposition of so many corporate executives to universal health care defies logic. Providing health care to workers is a major expense to shareholders, even with tax credits and continually-increasing employee "cost-sharing." It's also a burden competitors in other countries do not have.
One would therefore think executives, who have a sacred covenant with shareholders to do everything possible to create "shareholder value," would be pounding on the doors of the elected officials they've bought, demanding that they relieve their shareholders of that burden by implementing the sort of health care system that exists in every other "developed" country. But they don't.
I used to think conservative ideology drove the opposition: The ideological aversion to taxes and "Big Government" overrode even the sanctified Bottom Line. But now the reason for the opposition becomes clear. Tying health care to employment helps to ensure a docile, obedient workforce. Keeping workers in constant terror of losing their health care along with their income means they'll be cowed into uncomplainingly accepting wage theft, substandard work conditions, arbitrary "flexible" schedules, and whatever other exploitation employers dish out. The resulting savings from labor exploitation presumably outweigh the expense of providing health care. And of course, the Party of the Rich is always eager to help corporations create "shareholder value" at their workers' expense.
One would therefore think executives, who have a sacred covenant with shareholders to do everything possible to create "shareholder value," would be pounding on the doors of the elected officials they've bought, demanding that they relieve their shareholders of that burden by implementing the sort of health care system that exists in every other "developed" country. But they don't.
I used to think conservative ideology drove the opposition: The ideological aversion to taxes and "Big Government" overrode even the sanctified Bottom Line. But now the reason for the opposition becomes clear. Tying health care to employment helps to ensure a docile, obedient workforce. Keeping workers in constant terror of losing their health care along with their income means they'll be cowed into uncomplainingly accepting wage theft, substandard work conditions, arbitrary "flexible" schedules, and whatever other exploitation employers dish out. The resulting savings from labor exploitation presumably outweigh the expense of providing health care. And of course, the Party of the Rich is always eager to help corporations create "shareholder value" at their workers' expense.
4
As other commenters have noted, this piece is a great starting point for discussing the substantial negative impact of covenants not to compete ("CNCs") on economic mobility and opportunity.
It would be worthwhile to fully explore the disproportionately severe impact CNCs have on younger workers. Anyone who entered the workforce after 2008 has been faced with limited options. For example, many entry-level positions for less skilled workers have been phased out due to automation. Similarly, the more skilled workforce (i.e., recent graduates) has been plagued by the emergence of the attitude that an employer has no responsibility to train or develop its own workforce.
The result is that many younger workers have taken the best job available just so they can enter the workforce. More experienced workers might understand what a CNC is and hesitate to agree to employer-stipulated terms. This luxury is not available to someone in a position to "sign and work" or to remain unemployed.
With a CNC in place, an employer can prevent younger workers from pursuing other positions offering better pay or options for advancement. The employer will enjoy the benefit of having personnel with developed skill sets without having to pay a reasonable, fair wage for more advanced work. Thus, younger employees have been robbed of the opportunity to "vote with their feet" because of the risk of litigation from an unappreciative, spurned former employer.
It would be worthwhile to fully explore the disproportionately severe impact CNCs have on younger workers. Anyone who entered the workforce after 2008 has been faced with limited options. For example, many entry-level positions for less skilled workers have been phased out due to automation. Similarly, the more skilled workforce (i.e., recent graduates) has been plagued by the emergence of the attitude that an employer has no responsibility to train or develop its own workforce.
The result is that many younger workers have taken the best job available just so they can enter the workforce. More experienced workers might understand what a CNC is and hesitate to agree to employer-stipulated terms. This luxury is not available to someone in a position to "sign and work" or to remain unemployed.
With a CNC in place, an employer can prevent younger workers from pursuing other positions offering better pay or options for advancement. The employer will enjoy the benefit of having personnel with developed skill sets without having to pay a reasonable, fair wage for more advanced work. Thus, younger employees have been robbed of the opportunity to "vote with their feet" because of the risk of litigation from an unappreciative, spurned former employer.
1
I have been working as a freelance copywriter for the past 20 years. It has been common practice for the agencies I work with to sign a non-compete agreement saying that I will not attempt to work directly for their clients for a specific period of time. But those agreements have been getting broader and broader. For example: 20 years ago an agreement would have read that I promise not to work directly for the agencies client, "XYZ insurance." Today, some of my clients want me to sign a non-compete that says I promise not to work directly for "XYZ insurance" or any other insurance company.
Naturally, as a self-employed person, I would not sign anything this broad because I would quickly run out of industries in which I could work. Of course, by not signing I may soon run out of clients.
So it's not just employees whose freedom is being constrained.
Naturally, as a self-employed person, I would not sign anything this broad because I would quickly run out of industries in which I could work. Of course, by not signing I may soon run out of clients.
So it's not just employees whose freedom is being constrained.
1
The US has made it's top priority trying to please the rich over a functioning stable society that works for all.
To support this system it is necessary to exploit American workers to the fullest extent.
As soon as the rich have enough, I'm sure that they will let us know.
To support this system it is necessary to exploit American workers to the fullest extent.
As soon as the rich have enough, I'm sure that they will let us know.
7
Hold the phone, ese. Did you just compare American workers, some of the most prosperous in the world, to Russian serfs? Having read Jerome Blum's masterful "Lord and Peasant in Russia," twice, I can safely say that this is -- how to put it? -- rather preposterous. I think all intellectuals, left or right, want a functioning individual market. There were many conservative thinkers who opposed HIPPA because they thought it would freeze in place a dysfunctional employer-based health insurance market and prevent the reforms that were needed to have a healthy individual market.
I agree that NCCs require reform. What about the patent system's abuses? What about licensing requirements, some of which are ridiculous? There are indeed many things that government does to RESTRICT opportunity for Americans. It's not just that government can create conditions that allow markets to function better, which, not being a libertarian, I believe that they can, but that they also get in the way of well functioning markets and often distort them drastically -- as you know perfectly well.
What is it that progressives want? Do you really want America to look like France? Should that be the goal? Why would we even want this country, many of whose states are richer than all but the richest countries, to become Denmark? We should aim higher. We can do better. To claim that the sole purveyor of good ideas is the often insufferable American Left is nonsense.
I agree that NCCs require reform. What about the patent system's abuses? What about licensing requirements, some of which are ridiculous? There are indeed many things that government does to RESTRICT opportunity for Americans. It's not just that government can create conditions that allow markets to function better, which, not being a libertarian, I believe that they can, but that they also get in the way of well functioning markets and often distort them drastically -- as you know perfectly well.
What is it that progressives want? Do you really want America to look like France? Should that be the goal? Why would we even want this country, many of whose states are richer than all but the richest countries, to become Denmark? We should aim higher. We can do better. To claim that the sole purveyor of good ideas is the often insufferable American Left is nonsense.
1
Dr Krugman, All the kerfuffle around Trump's character, tweets and wily ways of business seem to distract many people from the ongoing policy and budget changes being made by the republicans and trump's team.
Healthcare is essential. Mixing the profit and non-profit structures can be done but it is always difficult. We know that most important healthcare decisions are not done on a market basis for individuals. When I ended up in 2 ERs I did not look through hospital market evaluations. The first ER was terrible and gave me a near death infection. The second ER was excellent and saved my life- working with the CDC- from the first ER. When I investigated the first hospital with a lawyer it turns out they were in the bottom 5% of hospitals for preventing infections. I should have known this, bought my health care wisely. But at 2 am with no choices what I really needed was a system optimized for wellness and health not for insurance savings. By the way, the lawyer said there were many similar cases like mine for that hospital that he directly knew about, but none were big enough for him to make enough money to take on the extraordinary costs of a suit. Hmm.
Secondly, with gout I could not get insurance. When I did costs was 1800 month. 22K$ a year to have healthcare without actual use.
So thank you fro the column. Let us keep the real game in sight. And realize the only solution is involvement. Win back the house and be active in your community at all levels.
Healthcare is essential. Mixing the profit and non-profit structures can be done but it is always difficult. We know that most important healthcare decisions are not done on a market basis for individuals. When I ended up in 2 ERs I did not look through hospital market evaluations. The first ER was terrible and gave me a near death infection. The second ER was excellent and saved my life- working with the CDC- from the first ER. When I investigated the first hospital with a lawyer it turns out they were in the bottom 5% of hospitals for preventing infections. I should have known this, bought my health care wisely. But at 2 am with no choices what I really needed was a system optimized for wellness and health not for insurance savings. By the way, the lawyer said there were many similar cases like mine for that hospital that he directly knew about, but none were big enough for him to make enough money to take on the extraordinary costs of a suit. Hmm.
Secondly, with gout I could not get insurance. When I did costs was 1800 month. 22K$ a year to have healthcare without actual use.
So thank you fro the column. Let us keep the real game in sight. And realize the only solution is involvement. Win back the house and be active in your community at all levels.
3
If you wanted to do something about this, publish a list of every state and what the status of their non compete contract law allows. There was a reason the Silicon Valley grew in California, there is a reason it is the richest state in the Union.
1
So-called Right to Work laws being passed in many states also deserve mention here. They take rights away from employees and strengthen the hand of employers, causing an extreme imbalance.
2
Road to serfdom? As Siri says, "You have arrived at your destination."
2
It doesn't matter to the billionaires how you become willing to work just to live (benefits and quality of life are not on offer), just so long as you don't make them share their money....they wouldn't be billionaires if they shared their money....
1
Suing people just to shake them down is an American industry.
2
Then there are those of us working as "contract workers" for on-line businesses. No bennies, no guarantees, in danger of being fired on someone else's whim. Why do I do it? I'm a professional writer. If I have to explain that, you aren't too savvy about contemporary publishing and on-line "written content production."
Free to be stupid about sums it up. We have to keep our sense of humor when something called the Freedom Caucus wants to regulate or dictate all manner of behaviors from DC while claiming otherwise. Until we clear out politicians willing to so blatantly lie, we'll be called the of the free in name only.
1
Silly me. I thought that indentured servitude has been illegal in the United States since the Thirteenth Amendment. Apparently, that vile practice is alive and well. Reports from the American workplace sound more and more like Vietnam or Bangladesh or similar paragons of worker's rights with every passing year.
3
Right now. Immediately. Congress must outlaw all non compete contracts. No exceptions.
In some ways, Trump's voters staged a revolution last November. They were angry with their own status quo, so they voted to change things up. Their reasoning was probably just as much to keep the "others" from getting more than a fair share--though who decided what was fair, nobody said.
Before too long, I believe another revolution will likely be coming. Folks from both parties will be angry enough with their very diminished circumstances that they'll rise up and demand certain things Mr. Krugman mentions in this article and other things suggested by his commenters--essentials like sensible, humane health care, jobs that pay decent wages, freedom to form or join a union, and public servants who actually want to serve the public.
Life here in America is not as good as it used to be. It is steadily becoming worse, and a reckoning is on the way.
Before too long, I believe another revolution will likely be coming. Folks from both parties will be angry enough with their very diminished circumstances that they'll rise up and demand certain things Mr. Krugman mentions in this article and other things suggested by his commenters--essentials like sensible, humane health care, jobs that pay decent wages, freedom to form or join a union, and public servants who actually want to serve the public.
Life here in America is not as good as it used to be. It is steadily becoming worse, and a reckoning is on the way.
4
I'm currently self studying Roman History. What I find is that 2300 years ago the most advanced civilization's course was controlled by billionaires of the time, the citizenry was made to worry 24/7 about getting basics, and most public cash went to war. So thanks for the update Paul.
5
Actually the contracts are all about worker intimidation. Nothing else.
4
Obama had eight years to address this problem but he didn't. You say something now. Where were you before? My dad got caught on one of these in the third generation computers. IBM in those days. But the contracts were deemed unconstitutional and unenforceable. By then my dad was a contractor. He was the guy who proposed writing programs that would store sequentially so that thetape reels would run one way rather than searching back and forth for every new piece of information. Small increments in logic built the computer industry. He also proposed that the marchers going to Selma carry flags because the police would hesitate to attack people carrying the flag. The march was something his prejudiced manager at IBM didn't like. When he first went contractor he couldn't propose new innovations in the industry. He went to smaller companies and overseas. Later he moved to the Silicon Valley. He made a lot of money in the next forty years and had a great set of coding tools he had developed to make his work easier. With ten kids he needed money. The contracts were called "yellow dog contacts" in the day.
5
non-compete agreements are just the quasi-legal part of the story. While they have been extended a mile past what is needed, even Krugman admits they make sense in a few cases.
However industry does much more than this. In late 2015 a number of top tech companies including Apple, Google, eBay, etc. settled a lawsuit in which they were accused of refusing to hire workers from each other. This, in all cases, is illegal. But just like the slap on the wrist fines paid by some Wall Street firms, this is just a cost of doing business and amounted to a fraction of 1% of the cash these companies have stashed overseas waiting for that tax holiday.
However industry does much more than this. In late 2015 a number of top tech companies including Apple, Google, eBay, etc. settled a lawsuit in which they were accused of refusing to hire workers from each other. This, in all cases, is illegal. But just like the slap on the wrist fines paid by some Wall Street firms, this is just a cost of doing business and amounted to a fraction of 1% of the cash these companies have stashed overseas waiting for that tax holiday.
4
Freedom in America has always depended on where one lives and the color of one's skin. Only the few who have enough wealth to live comfortably and pay for their own health insurance have been truly free. Now, with the attack on the ACA by Trump and his followers and the coming attack on Medicare and Medicaid, even fewer Americans will be free.
For years I was unable to return to the milder climate of the Southern state where I grew up and have family because I was disabled. I couldn't afford to live here. Only an inheritance, something one cannot count on, freed me to leave cold weather. My health has been better since I moved, just as I expected.
However, people tied to employers with noncompete agreements and insurance that covers pre-existing conditions won't have the freedom I finally got. The Trump administration and GOP Congress will continue to try to keep this status quo and probably make it worse.
For years I was unable to return to the milder climate of the Southern state where I grew up and have family because I was disabled. I couldn't afford to live here. Only an inheritance, something one cannot count on, freed me to leave cold weather. My health has been better since I moved, just as I expected.
However, people tied to employers with noncompete agreements and insurance that covers pre-existing conditions won't have the freedom I finally got. The Trump administration and GOP Congress will continue to try to keep this status quo and probably make it worse.
4
I'd add to Krugman's list all of the people who don't take jobs because they can't afford cars and the public transportation is insufficient to get them there. There are also those who don't change jobs because they are in rent controlled apartments. It seems like a deal for them, but really they're just trapped into working at whatever jobs are nearby, and the overall economy suffers.
5
Paul, my comment is a fan letter. I love your column-- for the words, message, writing style, observations. I also love your column for the fascinating comments you inspire from a wide variety of readers. I do not agree with all of them, but I appreciate the effort they make into presenting thoughtful ideas. I bet you are like this in the classroom too-- so, thank you for sharing your teaching abilities with we-- your loyal readers and posters. BRAVO.
9
As usual, reality lies in the middle. Use common sense - Using non compete to protect $100M investment is probably OK, using non complete to protect a receipt for Thai curry should be thrown out
And isn't it ironic that one of the intellectual founders of the movement that enabled this unfreeing was famous for writing a book called "The Road to Serfdom."
4
You can't seriously contend that the status quo is anything Fred Hayek would approve of. Government spending is nearly equal to the sum of all private wages and we've been at war for 16 straight years. If Switzerland and Singapore follow classical liberal ideas to serfdom then I'll take your point more seriously. Until then I will worry much more about the Democrats who worship Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.
This article is just liberal nonsense. When I worked as an IT consultant, I had to sign non-compete agreements. They're no big deal. The purpose of the agreement was to help ensure that I didn’t jump ship to work directly for the client I was contracted to serve. Non-compete agreements are broadly written to protect the company from the unforeseen. But, in order to enforce the agreement, the company has to sue the former worker for monetary damages, because you cannot sign away your right to get a job. I’ve never seen this happen. The idea that Jimmy John’s might sue a former sandwich maker for getting a job at say, Subway, is just preposterous. That's never going to happen. That said, if you’re not comfortable signing the agreement, then don’t do it. You are free not to sign the agreement. Go start your own company.
7
Mark, you need to work on your reading comprehension. The first thing to note is that whether or not noncompetes are enforceable depends on the state in which you work. For example, in California (thanks to the liberals you decry, nocompetes are nonenforceable). The point of the article was that while noncompetes started out as being reasonable (for example, I own a small company--my employee signed a noncompete not to steal my clients)--but they have grown to become ridiculous--you state that the Jimmy John's example is never going to happen--the point is that it shouldn't happen. And, while some of us have enough leverage to not sign such agreements, not everyone does (one of the reasons mentioned in the article is that if healthcare laws change, then people with previously existing conditions will not be able to just start their own companies if they want to maintain healthcare).
"The idea that Jimmy John’s might sue a former sandwich maker for getting a job at say, Subway, is just preposterous. That's never going to happen"...
You might want to come out from under your rock more often, because that's exactly what IS happening.
You might want to come out from under your rock more often, because that's exactly what IS happening.
Mark,
Starting your own company requires capital. Not everyone has access to capital, whether it comes from a bank, relatives, or friends. And you have to survive while you're trying to find capital. At the very least, starting your own business requires a social network that many people simply don't have.
If you're hungry enough, you'll sign anything. And I think that's the whole point of this article. Workers have less and less leverage and less true freedom to make the choice not to sign.
Starting your own company requires capital. Not everyone has access to capital, whether it comes from a bank, relatives, or friends. And you have to survive while you're trying to find capital. At the very least, starting your own business requires a social network that many people simply don't have.
If you're hungry enough, you'll sign anything. And I think that's the whole point of this article. Workers have less and less leverage and less true freedom to make the choice not to sign.
2
American conservatives have done very well at expanding freedom in America for America's capitalists. However much freedom has expanded for those in the owner-investor class, it hss not expanded much for workers white or blue collar. Lowered taxes, reduced regulation, limited worker organizing (a 'privilege' - not a 'right') make this clear. Expanded use of 'non-compete' clauses is just another aspect of this. Now is a very very good time to be a part of the wealthy investor class - the long-term project to control the levers of government, and use those levers to best advantage, is paying off. The next round of "tax reform" will make even more clear how the benefits of American capitalism are being distributed. What is missing in all this expanding freedom is any expansion of workers ability to organize, any expanded ability of workers to freely change jobs. Laws protecting worker's organizing ability are being steadily eroded. 'Right to work' means right to stay stuck in the job, scraping by. Workers are tied to their companies just as strongly by the lack of portable health care coverage as sharecroppers were tied to their land by endless usurious debt. Workers are distracted by politician's rhetorical sleight-of-hand to stay focused on the daily scandals of the other party, missing the big picture of how they are being sold out to the wealthy, the political donor class, by the politicians of both parties.
6
A vote for Republicans is a vote for desperation motivation.
3
Abraham Lincoln referred to 'Freedom Shriekers' or 'Freedom Screechers'
1
Paul,
The idea that workers have the right to the fruits of their labors is a principle that liberals and conservatives both agree on. The conservative drive against redistribution of wealth, and the liberal drive to hold corporations accountable to their workers both come from this principle.
Solving problems is not a team sport. The best solution to any given problems employs the better virtues of both liberalism and conservatism.
For intellectual property, this solution is to give the inventors the same rights of "personhood" we give to corporations.
Non-compete clauses should be banned. The inventors of any IP should have as many rights to use the IP to start a new company or work for a competitor.
The inventors should also have equal claim to profits from licensing. If a company chooses to license their patents to other parties, half of the licensing profits should go to the company, and half should be split between the individuals named on the patent.
That would strengthen the marketplace by putting the power into the hands of the individuals, while still giving the company enough rights and profit motive to continue promoting the acquisition of IP.
Best regards,
The idea that workers have the right to the fruits of their labors is a principle that liberals and conservatives both agree on. The conservative drive against redistribution of wealth, and the liberal drive to hold corporations accountable to their workers both come from this principle.
Solving problems is not a team sport. The best solution to any given problems employs the better virtues of both liberalism and conservatism.
For intellectual property, this solution is to give the inventors the same rights of "personhood" we give to corporations.
Non-compete clauses should be banned. The inventors of any IP should have as many rights to use the IP to start a new company or work for a competitor.
The inventors should also have equal claim to profits from licensing. If a company chooses to license their patents to other parties, half of the licensing profits should go to the company, and half should be split between the individuals named on the patent.
That would strengthen the marketplace by putting the power into the hands of the individuals, while still giving the company enough rights and profit motive to continue promoting the acquisition of IP.
Best regards,
1
Patents are nothing more than possible causes of actions to sue. In US courts, the wealthier litigant usually wins. They are a waste of money for individual inventors.
2
1960's $1/hr minimum wage (in effect since 1956) would put you in the top HALF of earners (if you could find the 2,000 of work at that wage.) That same wage would need to have grown to $33/hr in order to keep pace with the growth of the overall economy as measured by our GDP. Today's average wage - around $28/hr is below that! In a very real sense - how much of the economy's goods and service can you demand when you trade your time for wages - has fallen below that of a 1960-era minimum wage worker. I'd love to see the good reason for that but all I find is our politics enabling greed of some Americans over others Americans. "Home of the free" has become "McMansions of the greedy."
5
I am among those dismayed by lack of union representation in this column. But unions need to become relevant again and tackle issues such as non-competes and health coverage. Union leaderships need to ensure that they are not unduly enriching themselves on the backs of members.
Many times, I have heard younger people moan about paying union dues and getting nothing for it. I have to remind them that previous generations sacrificed so they could receive the level of pay and benefits they get today. If they hope to get more, then they need to embrace union representation, not shun it.
The time for unions is coming around again, but only if organized labor and its members focus on key issues such as those raised by Dr. Krugman.
Many times, I have heard younger people moan about paying union dues and getting nothing for it. I have to remind them that previous generations sacrificed so they could receive the level of pay and benefits they get today. If they hope to get more, then they need to embrace union representation, not shun it.
The time for unions is coming around again, but only if organized labor and its members focus on key issues such as those raised by Dr. Krugman.
8
I had a similar realization about the lack of freedom in America when I backpacked through Europe after college in 2004. Almost all of us Canadians were on the road for a full year, while the Aussies often has 2 year trips planned. Germans also routinely travel for a full year. However most of the American backpackers I met were only on a 2 month trip - their reasons invariably related to the need to get back for employment, since their medical insurance under their parents' plans was set to expire and employment was the only way to ensure adequate health insurance. For one after the other there was a direct link between freedom to travel and lack of access to health care.
"The Nordic Theory of Everything" by Anu Partanen apparently explores and expands on many of Krugman's points here (though I've not read it yet)- the basic argument is that average Americans are far less free than citizens in other OECD countries - they are more likely to live with their parents during and after college due to crushing post-secondary tuition costs/debt, and are more likely to be stuck in jobs they dislike for precisely the reasons Krugman elucidates.
"The Nordic Theory of Everything" by Anu Partanen apparently explores and expands on many of Krugman's points here (though I've not read it yet)- the basic argument is that average Americans are far less free than citizens in other OECD countries - they are more likely to live with their parents during and after college due to crushing post-secondary tuition costs/debt, and are more likely to be stuck in jobs they dislike for precisely the reasons Krugman elucidates.
7
Paul, please, America from the beginning has been all about making it easy for the ELITE to be "free." Specifically, land owners and capital owners. Now corporations are even considered "people" on the US, uniquely among nations!! In the US companies and corporations can form "trade groups" to lobby for their desire to limit oversight and to make more money (tax breaks) and eliminate their need to compete in a "free market." But normal people are discouraged, sometimes violently, from forming "unions" to do the same. What is the difference? Money. Corporations have more so are able to buy more from Congress (yes, they buy the laws that they want).
Non-compete agreements (no employee really "agrees" with these, but are forced to just to get that one job they were offered) are just the latest in a long line of anti-worker "agreements" forced on employees, much like "arbitration" that lets corporations do whatever they want to employees without fear of being sued for incompetence or criminal behavior; "free to work" states - which means corporations can pay people far less than their work is worth because the state will not allow union organizing. and on and on.
Non-compete agreements (no employee really "agrees" with these, but are forced to just to get that one job they were offered) are just the latest in a long line of anti-worker "agreements" forced on employees, much like "arbitration" that lets corporations do whatever they want to employees without fear of being sued for incompetence or criminal behavior; "free to work" states - which means corporations can pay people far less than their work is worth because the state will not allow union organizing. and on and on.
7
I seriously can't grasp the reality that America among developed countries still suffering from the endless, hard-to-fathom bafflement which is "Health care." I have been multiple times on American soil and it seems to me the Land of Free is next-to-utopia nation. but, I remember one day when I was sitting with a friend whose job is associate professor. He was coughing from the day I met him until it developed in the next day. I said "Hey, please go to hospital. you need to see a doctor and get a quick treatment" and what he said completely shocked me. He said "I will be waiting for 5 to 9 hours in emergency room," I was like stunned and after that I realized how awkwardness, intolerance American health care system can be . I'm not politically savvy, however, how can from this point define and shape the ultimate meaning of democracy? I do like America from the bottom of my heart -- my living style -- but as the nation speaks constantly about itself as a heaven on the earth, the sole democracy, the health care became the a perennially chasing dream. In Saudi Arabia, admittedly, I don't have the very least right to vote, I'm living in autocratic theocracy, but I do have the health care from the day I was born, I have the right to get free education. Why do Americans elect the evil and the scarily nightmare, the one who fails to stay on the campaign-line, to put America first? Where is the Supreme Court and Congress? Health care is essential right for any living being on earth.
26
Hassan, best comment of the day, and I am just getting started reading them.
6
Dear Hassan: Thanks for your kind words.
When I did volunteer social work in Atlanta last year, I began carrying gauze, tape, antibiotic ointment and over-the-counter pain pills. Many of the fast food workers I met were suffering from untreated 2nd degree grease burns on their arms and hands.
Since they could not afford an ER visit as they would lose a day's work--- and be unable to afford the prescribed antibiotic pills anyway--, they did without. Their workplaces have little-to-no first-aid supplies according to numerous personal accounts that I heard.
Next time you visit the US, slip a little cash to each fast food worker you meet, if you want to do a good deed. Don't be surprised if you get a big thank-you hug from a grateful worker!
When I did volunteer social work in Atlanta last year, I began carrying gauze, tape, antibiotic ointment and over-the-counter pain pills. Many of the fast food workers I met were suffering from untreated 2nd degree grease burns on their arms and hands.
Since they could not afford an ER visit as they would lose a day's work--- and be unable to afford the prescribed antibiotic pills anyway--, they did without. Their workplaces have little-to-no first-aid supplies according to numerous personal accounts that I heard.
Next time you visit the US, slip a little cash to each fast food worker you meet, if you want to do a good deed. Don't be surprised if you get a big thank-you hug from a grateful worker!
1
Thank you Karen.
When I decided to go into business for myself 4 years ago, it was with the belief that ObamaCare would allow me to purchase reasonably priced health insurance even though I have a serious pre-existing condition. To date, the ACA has worked like a charm for me. I have a total of 35 employees who are all insured thanks to the ACA.
The Drumpf Care legislation will destroy everything I and my employees have worked for. Not only do I stand to lose access to the expensive (5K/Mo) therapy that keeps me alive, but my employees will lose their coverage as well. The prospect of this fills me with dread day and night. I can now see that the much vaunted GOP support for small business is not nothing but a lie. Maybe if a few thousand people like myself show up outside the Whitehouse with "torches and pitchforks" in hand, our leaders will realize that this is a serious matter to those of us who depend on ObamaCare for our very lives, as well as our livelihood.
The Drumpf Care legislation will destroy everything I and my employees have worked for. Not only do I stand to lose access to the expensive (5K/Mo) therapy that keeps me alive, but my employees will lose their coverage as well. The prospect of this fills me with dread day and night. I can now see that the much vaunted GOP support for small business is not nothing but a lie. Maybe if a few thousand people like myself show up outside the Whitehouse with "torches and pitchforks" in hand, our leaders will realize that this is a serious matter to those of us who depend on ObamaCare for our very lives, as well as our livelihood.
22
We need to stop the madness. When Trumpcare passed the House, Warren Buffet shared on CNBC that he was approximately $700,000 richer because of the tax breaks. Today the House is negotiating $700+ billion dollars of Medicaid dollars to prepare the way for their tax cuts. This is at the cost of millions of American. Tom Friedman is on target. Call your Legislators and tell them to Stop this Bill. Call the White House and hold Trump accountable for what he said while campaigning..."That he would not touch Medicare/Medicaid." When will Congress put ON THE LOCKBOX. LOCK IT and THROW AWAY THE KEY?
8
Remember, the lock box was Al Gore's plan. Think where we would be today if our antiquated electoral college and a corrupt SCOTUS had not conspired to get Bush annoited. Even Obama threatened SS! Many dems call it an entitlement and look to means testing as a way to rein it in. Stop the madness indeed.
5
Democrats must find a way to adequately satisfy the workers thrown out in the cold when a company moves it operations to a cheaper climate. Owners of the company should ave the "freedom" to relocate but part of their profits must compensate the workers who suddenly find the self w/o a job, income or company pension. Capitalism needs a softer landing or Trump is just the beginning of a downward spiral. Not sure republicans even matter in this conversation.
3
Although I am not an historian, I have strong memories of the many stories (The Jungle, The Octopus, more) of the difficult lives of simple unskilled workers 100-150 years ago, before unions gained legal and cultural legitimacy. And I remember Tuchman's discussion in The Proud Tower of the fall of clear class distinctions in Europe in the wake of WWI where men of all classes shared the trenches. I never expected, in my own lifetime no less, to see the nouveau riche and business gentry of Western world work so hard to re-establish the very class distinctions that our forebears so wisely dismantled after a long struggle. Do these privileged individuals really believe that they have the right to create these barriers to living wages and full freedom in the workplace? Do they really believe that the vast labor force they wish to disenfranchise will stand by peacefully forever? As there was violence in the past, when people were finally fed up, I am deeply afraid there will be violence in the future, unless our 'leaders' understand that they lead only with the permission and support of our full societies.
8
The astronomic proliferation of noncompete clauses, the near total dissolution of unions, and the replacement of taking misbehaving companies to court with arbitration are three of the biggest internal threats to the American economy. These forces are working together to attack the relative negotiating position of labor income in relation to capital in economic decision making. If workers have no profit motive enouraging them to perform better, then the economy will stagnate and then collapse. And if there's no recourse or alternatives to working in a job that underpays, then people won't care if their employer goes under (and may root for it if that means the employer is no longer able to enforce a noncompete clause).
3
I strongly agree with all the other posts asking why the GOP animosity toward unions (which I credit to Reagan's legacy) is not part of the conversation. I have read that the loss of the middle class correlates more closely with loss of union membership than any other factor.
7
I must make a second comment. The enforcement of "agreements" between employer and employee on post-employment non-compete provisions rests upon an absurd legal fiction that every judge and attorney who handles these sorts of matters knows to be false in 99% of the cases. The fiction is this: The agreement was reached by parties with, if not equal bargaining power, at least some. In fact, in many cases, the only option to accepting whatever the employer requires is unemployment. The worker has no power at all; the employer - relative to its employees - has all the power. But the courts, as they do in the pre-dispute arbitration context, ignore the reality and grant these anticompetitive, wage suppression devices the force of real contracts between parties who have some choice in the matter. Anyone, including Professor Krugman, should consider pointing a finger at our judges. Employers, after all, will get away with whatever the courts let them get away with. The pernicious fiction that a worker (particularly in today's non-union reality) can negotiate terms with his or her employer is a major contributing factor to the refeudalization of our country.
3
We have not had a true secretary of labor since robert reich in the clinton years. we have had people holding the position.That is a long tome for We the People to have no voice in any administration.
No, a sandwich maker at Jimmy John's probably cannot negotiate terms with his employer. He does, however, have at least two options.
First, he can go down the street to Subway and get a job there. They may not pay as much, but that is the tradeoff for not having to sign a non-compete clause.
Second, and this is the way the system should work, he can take the time he is not working making sandwiches and educate himself to be able to get a better job rather than going home, lighting up, and playing X-Box. Jobs like this were never meant to be a permanant career, but something to get by while advancing into one.
First, he can go down the street to Subway and get a job there. They may not pay as much, but that is the tradeoff for not having to sign a non-compete clause.
Second, and this is the way the system should work, he can take the time he is not working making sandwiches and educate himself to be able to get a better job rather than going home, lighting up, and playing X-Box. Jobs like this were never meant to be a permanant career, but something to get by while advancing into one.
The unfreeing of American workers has a long history, perhaps the non-compete clauses and healthcare tethers are new, but the fencing of these workers was installed right about the time when the term "wage slave" was coined in the 19th century.
Workers are rented for 8 hours per day, and at earlier times for longer and under worse conditions. They are let in and let out of the 'workspace' like clockwork and are told exactly what to do during that time with no freedom outside of the boxes in which they are told to think and act. This is not hyperbole, it is the law.
Of course the corporations see their workers as natural resources, human resources. As Utah Phillips said, "Have you seen what they do to valuable natural resources?!...They're going to strip mine your soul. They're going to clear cut your best thoughts for the sake of profit..." American workers have never been free, they must give up 5 days of their week for 40 years just to get a chance to buy back all the things they made while at work: they may have built it all, but they never owned it until they went shopping from the same places they worked.
American workers have really one job: build the wealth of the owners of the corporations and other businesses they do not own or share ownership in. Freedom is for the entrepreneurs, shareholders and owners: freedom isn't free, only the wealthy can afford it.
Workers are rented for 8 hours per day, and at earlier times for longer and under worse conditions. They are let in and let out of the 'workspace' like clockwork and are told exactly what to do during that time with no freedom outside of the boxes in which they are told to think and act. This is not hyperbole, it is the law.
Of course the corporations see their workers as natural resources, human resources. As Utah Phillips said, "Have you seen what they do to valuable natural resources?!...They're going to strip mine your soul. They're going to clear cut your best thoughts for the sake of profit..." American workers have never been free, they must give up 5 days of their week for 40 years just to get a chance to buy back all the things they made while at work: they may have built it all, but they never owned it until they went shopping from the same places they worked.
American workers have really one job: build the wealth of the owners of the corporations and other businesses they do not own or share ownership in. Freedom is for the entrepreneurs, shareholders and owners: freedom isn't free, only the wealthy can afford it.
5
As Kris Kristofferson sang in "me and Bobby McGee": freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
What Milton Freedman or Ayn Rand mean by freedom, is that we are free to buy any product we choose.
What Milton Freedman or Ayn Rand mean by freedom, is that we are free to buy any product we choose.
3
One needs to mark up the non compete language just as executives do at hiring. Insert for every week that I can not work at competing employer per the noncompete I will be paid x ( 2 to 3 times base weekly pay minimum plus benefit continued) in the form of a golden parachute to sit out of the market place.
4
Oh sure, simple. And then you never get that job, and in some cases, the employer who you spurned will get you black balled in your field or industry.
I'm an employment lawyer in California. As Mr. Krugman and the Times' recent article note, California's position on post-employment non-compete covenants has contributed greatly to the tech innovation - and new business - explosion over the last twenty years. In California, it is our state antitrust laws that make such restrictions illegal. We regard contracts that preclude competition for labor no different from other proscribed anticompetitive contracts. The notion that such contracts are necessary to protect trade secret misappropriation is counter to California's law and experience. Theft of trade secrets - if it can be proved in court of law - is just as illegal here as elsewhere. And if a former employer can prove that a former employee is using its trade secrets for a competitor that use can be enjoined and damages can be awarded. See the current Waymo/Uber litigation, for example. Employers can and do protect real, provable, trade secrets in California without suppressing wages and destroying opportunities for skilled or specialized workers. If other states cared more about promoting new industry and less about protecting the shareholders of existing companies, they would adopt California's approach.
9
Great post Lawyer Richard! I once left a company where I had been forced to sign a non-compete 2 months after I joined them. I would never have joined the company had I known this was a requirement. (entrapment!) When I left that company-- after contributing mightily for 6 years-- I took a piece of business with me. As suspected, they came after me. My brilliant employment lawyer wrote hands down the best letter ever, and they changed their mind! Non-competes are not enforceable in CA as you point out. Funny our great state takes heat for being too regulatory, and yet we are the 5th largest economy in the world. Proving that regulation (and employee rights by extension) is GOOD for an economy.
3
In the past corporations went abroad to exploit labor and lax environmental laws, it was referred to colonization in certain parts of the world. Then they realized they did not have to go far to colonize a state, that it could be done right here at home. The US is simply becoming colonized. We and our workers are treated as such.
9
The solution to affordable healthcare is to respect the economic law of supply and demand.
Million dollar vouchers for every citizen would only increase demand, and cause the cost to skyrocket (look at the cost of college today). It may change which people are seen and which are not, but it will not increase the number of people being seen because there are only so many doctors and hospital beds.
Stop paying for worthless degrees and start paying for med school for our brightest students.
Today, it's more profitable to be a lawyer in our society than a doctor. Change that, and more intelligent people will become doctors.
Many of our regulatory protections are necessary, but they also make it harder for innovators to break into the medical industry. Either waive some of these regulations for new competitors, or provide help for small business to navigate these regulatory structures. Subsidize the new blood to innovate instead of subsidizing the old blood to stagnate.
I'm a conservative, and these are conservative solutions that use the best virtues of free markets to solve economic problems. Strong government is needed to make good rules that keep choice and competition robust, but we should be setting up our marketplace to allow us to succeed as individuals, not setting up the government to let large corporations make all the decisions on our behalf.
Million dollar vouchers for every citizen would only increase demand, and cause the cost to skyrocket (look at the cost of college today). It may change which people are seen and which are not, but it will not increase the number of people being seen because there are only so many doctors and hospital beds.
Stop paying for worthless degrees and start paying for med school for our brightest students.
Today, it's more profitable to be a lawyer in our society than a doctor. Change that, and more intelligent people will become doctors.
Many of our regulatory protections are necessary, but they also make it harder for innovators to break into the medical industry. Either waive some of these regulations for new competitors, or provide help for small business to navigate these regulatory structures. Subsidize the new blood to innovate instead of subsidizing the old blood to stagnate.
I'm a conservative, and these are conservative solutions that use the best virtues of free markets to solve economic problems. Strong government is needed to make good rules that keep choice and competition robust, but we should be setting up our marketplace to allow us to succeed as individuals, not setting up the government to let large corporations make all the decisions on our behalf.
1
I was once asked to sign a noncompete contract for what was a one day gig. The contract would have prevented me from working for the client for two years. Given that 'the client' was a US Govt agency I asked for a more specific definition of who exactly the client was. As the contractor refused to reveal that, and I refused to sign a contract that possibly prevented me from working for anyone in the US Govt, I of course refused.
I'm glad I even bothered to fully read the contract and understand a little of tort law. We are constantly being asked to give up our privacy, the value of what we produce (i.e. we produce data of value and yet we agree to give up all ownership of it), our creative products (youtube owns any video you post - bet you didn't know that). Other than the super rich we are becoming serfs.
I'm glad I even bothered to fully read the contract and understand a little of tort law. We are constantly being asked to give up our privacy, the value of what we produce (i.e. we produce data of value and yet we agree to give up all ownership of it), our creative products (youtube owns any video you post - bet you didn't know that). Other than the super rich we are becoming serfs.
6
With only a bit of hyperbole, to use Krugman Paul's own words, he still doesn't have a clue when it comes to the sad state of "health care" in this country.
The ACA was not about health care. It was about health insurance. The former is not assured by the latter. In fact, many people who wound up with health insurance dictated by the ACA could not afford to actually seek health care because of astronomical deductibles and co-pays. Then, there was the penalty enforced by the IRS on those who did not succumb to the dictates of the federal government.
The health industrial complex is a $2.6Trillion national disgrace. Instead of making sophomoric references to Hayek, Krugman might use his alleged economic brainpower to offer solutions that would actually benefit those who need respite from a failed system.
The ACA was not about health care. It was about health insurance. The former is not assured by the latter. In fact, many people who wound up with health insurance dictated by the ACA could not afford to actually seek health care because of astronomical deductibles and co-pays. Then, there was the penalty enforced by the IRS on those who did not succumb to the dictates of the federal government.
The health industrial complex is a $2.6Trillion national disgrace. Instead of making sophomoric references to Hayek, Krugman might use his alleged economic brainpower to offer solutions that would actually benefit those who need respite from a failed system.
3
There are numerous and varied solutions. Try France, Switzerland, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Taiwan......
3
In the Trump/Pence/Ryan/ Mcconnell world, "Freedom" is just another word for nothing left to steal from the working class.
13
We need to reframe the health care, parental leave, and child care debates for conservatives around two related economic concepts: increasing labor market liquidity, and increasing talent access for small businesses. Talented people in their 30s and 40s are disincented from making innovation-driving career moves because the loss of benefits becomes increasingly risky as they gain dependents. I have faced this issue several times in my career - twice turning down job offers because I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't be pregnant in less than a year. I had to choose between delaying building a family, limiting pregnancy recovery time and newborn care to less than 12 weeks, and career/income growth. That's an unfair choice from a human and economic standpoint, and in aggregate it stunts the drivers of economic growth and innovation: small businesses and young talent.
9
There is a lot more of us than there is of them. A lot more. As long as you don't take into account stupidity.
Because they won't find the terms to engage these people and probably, deep down do not want to, I fault liberal progressives. Limousine liberals is an apt epithet.
It is always good to be reminded that wonderful Bill Clinton signed Criminal Reform legislation that denied felons the right to live in public housing. Therefore kids busted by the war on drugs probably couldn't go home ever again.
The one thing that can be said for liberal progressives is that they may be conflicted but at least they have a conscience.
Because they won't find the terms to engage these people and probably, deep down do not want to, I fault liberal progressives. Limousine liberals is an apt epithet.
It is always good to be reminded that wonderful Bill Clinton signed Criminal Reform legislation that denied felons the right to live in public housing. Therefore kids busted by the war on drugs probably couldn't go home ever again.
The one thing that can be said for liberal progressives is that they may be conflicted but at least they have a conscience.
This is exactly what the promoters of that empty suit Ronald Reagan had in mind. I have watched our government transform from the 1960's and walking on the moon, the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights era, from leading the free world in science and technology, to become a garbage dump for anyone not associated with the "upper class"- the monied who pay for and write laws exempting themselves from taxation and equal participation- gated communities, fomenting hatred of "others" by immigrants themselves- dog whistles for the filth of racists left in the South. All led by the Republican party, purported citizens who put allegiance to party and money above American interests.
11
so much is owed to the unions and nobody seems to remember and the unions keep loosing members. Even if you are in "management" your benefits (vacation, insurance, sick leave etc.) are there because the unions faught for them, let's not forget that.
17
How about including in the disucssion the ultimate noncompete clause of all time... THE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT. You want to talk about serfdom?
The wealthy in America are attempting to create the land of the unfree in marriage as well as employment. (Both are economic relationships.)
During the debate over gay marriage, I found it amazing that Republicans and conservatives kept saying that "gay marriage threatens the sanctity of the institution of marriage." Of course, that was complete bunk. BUT if there is something threatening the sanctity of marriage it is the prenuptial agreement.
Similar to a noncompete clause, the prenuptial agreement most often locks one spouse into a lopsided arrangement. (In my family we have witnessed it act as a license for adultery.) Why is there no discussion of this erosion of the sanctity of marriage? It is an erosion, if not total eradication, of the implicit economic pact that spouses make in forming a marriage.
(Aside Warning: During the presidential campaign I watched Anderson Cooper's softball interview of the future first lady. I was hoping that he might ask about the existence of a prenuptial agreement with her serial divorcing billionaire husband. (Actually, I was hoping that he might ask anything above a sixth grade level). If nothing else, it is a cultural signpost that the First Couple are the first to ever have such an arrangement in the White House.)
The wealthy in America are attempting to create the land of the unfree in marriage as well as employment. (Both are economic relationships.)
During the debate over gay marriage, I found it amazing that Republicans and conservatives kept saying that "gay marriage threatens the sanctity of the institution of marriage." Of course, that was complete bunk. BUT if there is something threatening the sanctity of marriage it is the prenuptial agreement.
Similar to a noncompete clause, the prenuptial agreement most often locks one spouse into a lopsided arrangement. (In my family we have witnessed it act as a license for adultery.) Why is there no discussion of this erosion of the sanctity of marriage? It is an erosion, if not total eradication, of the implicit economic pact that spouses make in forming a marriage.
(Aside Warning: During the presidential campaign I watched Anderson Cooper's softball interview of the future first lady. I was hoping that he might ask about the existence of a prenuptial agreement with her serial divorcing billionaire husband. (Actually, I was hoping that he might ask anything above a sixth grade level). If nothing else, it is a cultural signpost that the First Couple are the first to ever have such an arrangement in the White House.)
3
The non-compete is nothing compared to the bondage of emoloyer covered "health-care".
Want real freedom? Remove the option of employers offering healthcare. This will liberate employees, create a robust health-care market and enable companies to hite more people.
Want real freedom? Remove the option of employers offering healthcare. This will liberate employees, create a robust health-care market and enable companies to hite more people.
5
I think many companies know that the only way they can keep talent nowadays is thorough the golden handcuffs of healthcare benefits. That is why they do not wish to see our current system end. They do not want liberated employees. At the ever escalating cost of healthcare, many of us are a step above indentured servitude. And that's the way the corportoracy likes it.
3
I continue to rail at corporate American for failing to acknowledge one simple fact: healthy people are productive people. Universal healthcare takes the cost of care off the employer while ensuring that people can get the care they need in order to keep coming to work and being productive. But it goes hand in hand with other workplace issues, including sick time and leave policies, which may undermine
In addition, companies found during the recession that they could do just as much with fewer people, and so most people are now doing their own jobs plus the work that's left from not hiring adequate staff. Add to that the fact that opportunities in this country - jobs, healthcare, education, affordable housing - are often closely tied to where one lives, given the economic resources, and, in some cases, restrictive policies and poor management at the state level. And, of course, the restrictions placed on forming and joining unions, which are the last safeguard for workers to negotiate with employers.
Lastly, let's stop pretending that huge corporations and businesses are benign entities whose profits universally benefit workers and communities. The free market is not our savior, since it is infested with dubious money, few ethics, and historical failures to produce equality. The Freedom Caucus and their ilk simply cement the GOP's reputation as the Greed Over People party, and their proposed legislation fails to hide their contempt for the poor and less fortunate.
In addition, companies found during the recession that they could do just as much with fewer people, and so most people are now doing their own jobs plus the work that's left from not hiring adequate staff. Add to that the fact that opportunities in this country - jobs, healthcare, education, affordable housing - are often closely tied to where one lives, given the economic resources, and, in some cases, restrictive policies and poor management at the state level. And, of course, the restrictions placed on forming and joining unions, which are the last safeguard for workers to negotiate with employers.
Lastly, let's stop pretending that huge corporations and businesses are benign entities whose profits universally benefit workers and communities. The free market is not our savior, since it is infested with dubious money, few ethics, and historical failures to produce equality. The Freedom Caucus and their ilk simply cement the GOP's reputation as the Greed Over People party, and their proposed legislation fails to hide their contempt for the poor and less fortunate.
13
I'm still confused as to why there hasn't been a more aggressive attack against income from trusts - especially trust income to those under age (say) 35. Trust income creates the opposite of indenture - it creates an artificial freedom from obligation, artificially raises rents, reduces incentive to productive work, and in some cases - removes a productive employee from the workforce al together.
Until the policy wonks tackle these issues from both ends of the spectrum (both policies as outlined by Krugman and those that artificially buoy the privileged) the issues outlined in Krugman's piece will persist.
Until the policy wonks tackle these issues from both ends of the spectrum (both policies as outlined by Krugman and those that artificially buoy the privileged) the issues outlined in Krugman's piece will persist.
4
Pretend I'm a student as I raise hand, and ask:
Sir, I am unfamiliar with the employment laws/customs of Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Holland and actually all others: Do other nations prohibit or allow American like non compete employment contracts?
Is there perhaps a win-win model for us to emulate?
Sir, I am unfamiliar with the employment laws/customs of Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Holland and actually all others: Do other nations prohibit or allow American like non compete employment contracts?
Is there perhaps a win-win model for us to emulate?
2
Why are some right wing workers opposed to Unions.?
I have worked both with and without a union, and having the Union was so much better for the workers. It certainly was better for me, both financially and psychologically. (less stress)
I do not understand right wing opposed to the Freedom that Unions give to workers. It is so simple.
I have worked both with and without a union, and having the Union was so much better for the workers. It certainly was better for me, both financially and psychologically. (less stress)
I do not understand right wing opposed to the Freedom that Unions give to workers. It is so simple.
More than what corporations or Republicans will do, American workers will become unfree mostly by their own ignorance.
If the American workers, who are also voters, are better informed, think for themselves and vet the information given to them, we would not have the kind of elected officials in Congress or White House.
If the American workers themselves are not selfish and reactionary, but pause to think about others' well being, they might not have voted for policies that they think hurt only the colored and the minorities, only to find that the same policies actually ended up hurting themselves.
How can we have a people's government when the "people," are absent?
I had asked a friend why millions of 99% cannot defeat the the few of the 1%? She said, "Because it is easier to unite one million dollars than to unite one million people."
Forget ISIS or Al Qeada. WE are our worst enemy -- Trump, Republicans, and yes, we the 99%.
If the American workers, who are also voters, are better informed, think for themselves and vet the information given to them, we would not have the kind of elected officials in Congress or White House.
If the American workers themselves are not selfish and reactionary, but pause to think about others' well being, they might not have voted for policies that they think hurt only the colored and the minorities, only to find that the same policies actually ended up hurting themselves.
How can we have a people's government when the "people," are absent?
I had asked a friend why millions of 99% cannot defeat the the few of the 1%? She said, "Because it is easier to unite one million dollars than to unite one million people."
Forget ISIS or Al Qeada. WE are our worst enemy -- Trump, Republicans, and yes, we the 99%.
I probably won't ever again sign a non-compete agreement. An incredibly vague non-compete at a biotech startup straight out of college could have completely derailed my career if it was enforced. Held to the letter, it would have been nearly impossible to get a new position in my skill set that didn't violate the agreement. Fortunately, I had a good relationship with the CEO and we worked it out amicably allowing me to move onto the bigger and better, but it could have been ugly. Lesson learned.
8
What really caught my attention in Krugman's article was the reference to workers being characterized as serfs in Russia's Noble days. I agree with the article but make one further point. The great disparity with which the America treats almost 40% of its residents. That is the divide between homeowners and tenants. Renters have with the exception of a few isolated areas are treated like serfs under the legal system. Though the laws on their face may appear neutral in some cases, the legal system effectively treats them as serfs in practice. Health care is a basic human right along with the right to remain in one's home and the right to food. Homeownership should not be required to have a stable home, but a stable living environment should be considered an American priority. In Arizona, by statistics alone every tenant is evicted every 4 years according eviction court filings (80,000 court filings in greater Phoenix out of 350,000 rental units). How can that be create a stable living condition for children and families? This does not take into account where tenants do not get their share of the bargain from their landlord such as fixing air conditioning, etc and there is no practical or affordable legal remedy . So overall tenants are not free and for those 40% until the judicial system treats them equally to the their landlords, they are also part of the unfree.
3
While I’ve been aware of this and all it implies for over 30 years, it’s refreshing to know there are more and more folk out there who have long thought on the subject and/or are beginning to see its ramifications, in all their glory. Now that it’s taking hold in our collective consciousness, I’m heartened because of the good news it portends for at least the future of the young people and children in this nation. With one great-grandchild and another on the way, I desperately needed the reassurance. As awareness of this situation, shall we say, “trickles down,” into the minds of more and more citizens, like slowly dripping water on a mountain it will serve to eventually wear down the near-unassailable present day obstacles to a resolution. In the here and now, we are experiencing wage slavery on the biggest plantation in history and we will need to be our own Abolitionists.
3
Is it any surprise that workers are less free after the immense growth of government? Big government regulatory capture along with a glut of government subsidized degrees have taken away a worker's bargaining power and a ratio of 56,000 dollars of government spending relative to each private worker means they can't afford purchase their necessities after they pay taxes and tax related price increases. The fall of private wages relative to GDP is almost perfectly correlated to the rise of government / GDP.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=dDVV
(With wages inverted)
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=dP0v
I know some of you are going to claim that all that money went to corporate profits so here's a chart that includes them:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=dP0z
It sure looks to me like Elizabeth Warren is fibbing again.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=dDVV
(With wages inverted)
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=dP0v
I know some of you are going to claim that all that money went to corporate profits so here's a chart that includes them:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=dP0z
It sure looks to me like Elizabeth Warren is fibbing again.
1
Oh Freddy, such an apologist for the GOP dressed in wonk clothing. You are saying that correlation IS causation, and as any student of any logic class knows, this is not a proven truth. Nice try though!
1
Karen, I'm not a Republican. I didn't say that correlation is causation. Strawmen are not good logic, either. A good correlation is something one with a scientific mind would be interested in investigating rather than covering their ears, shutting their eyes, and saying na-na-na-na, however, and it seems that the sin of claiming correlation is causation is a lesser sin than the Democrats' claims of causation WITHOUT any correlation!
Paul, as a moderate conservative, I'd like to present my own ideas to supplement the good principles you put forth here.
Non-compete clauses: The solution is, if we are going to give "personhood" to corporations, individual inventors should have at least the same status and rights. The individuals responsible for the invention should have shared rights over their patents with their companies, and non-compete clauses should be illegal. The inventor should have just as many licensing rights to his inventions as his company, and he should be able to take his skills and his inventions to The competition as long as The company he worked for retains their own right to produce. The interstate commerce clause clearly puts this type of legislation within the federal purview.
For health care, Congress should be passing laws that put the power of choice back in the hands of the consumer, not taking that power from the employer to make the decisions directly.
But all of our social safety nets should be funded and administrated from the state and local level, to provide individuals and communities and states more direct control over the outcomes. Unlike the common defense, federal adminiatration is neither constitutionally appropriate, nor necessary (or even helpful) to accomplishing the stated goals of our social services.
Non-compete clauses: The solution is, if we are going to give "personhood" to corporations, individual inventors should have at least the same status and rights. The individuals responsible for the invention should have shared rights over their patents with their companies, and non-compete clauses should be illegal. The inventor should have just as many licensing rights to his inventions as his company, and he should be able to take his skills and his inventions to The competition as long as The company he worked for retains their own right to produce. The interstate commerce clause clearly puts this type of legislation within the federal purview.
For health care, Congress should be passing laws that put the power of choice back in the hands of the consumer, not taking that power from the employer to make the decisions directly.
But all of our social safety nets should be funded and administrated from the state and local level, to provide individuals and communities and states more direct control over the outcomes. Unlike the common defense, federal adminiatration is neither constitutionally appropriate, nor necessary (or even helpful) to accomplishing the stated goals of our social services.
I spent most of the preceding hour listing to an NPR interview with Joan
Williams explaining why the "elite"--I qualify as a member by her definition--had to listen to the white working class in order to change politics in this country. I know she is right (I ordered her book), but I can't get over my gut reaction that most American voters are just dumb. The lack of freedom for many American workers described by Professor Krugman could be fixed in one, maybe two, election cycles if people simply voted their self interest, but that is not likely to happen. With a few odd exceptions--the age of Jackson, and the post Depression era--American politics have been dominated by the party representing the interests of the rich. After decades of tax cuts for the rich and running the economy off the rails in 2007, Republican took back the House in 2010 and control all branches of government today. Why would anyone think that working Americans were likely to vote their way out of their oppression?
Williams explaining why the "elite"--I qualify as a member by her definition--had to listen to the white working class in order to change politics in this country. I know she is right (I ordered her book), but I can't get over my gut reaction that most American voters are just dumb. The lack of freedom for many American workers described by Professor Krugman could be fixed in one, maybe two, election cycles if people simply voted their self interest, but that is not likely to happen. With a few odd exceptions--the age of Jackson, and the post Depression era--American politics have been dominated by the party representing the interests of the rich. After decades of tax cuts for the rich and running the economy off the rails in 2007, Republican took back the House in 2010 and control all branches of government today. Why would anyone think that working Americans were likely to vote their way out of their oppression?
6
Consider this a "fait accompli" for Donald Trump.
A self-promoting big businessman always on the look out for the next deal, cheap labor, and the best way to avoid paying for anyhing.
But it doesn't start there. Trump's (s)election is systemic of a far great problem affecting American workers; namely, the demise of the Trade Unions.
This has been a major problem for decades, as this country morphed from a manufacturing powerhouse to a lazy consumer of outsourced cheap goods.
As the wages declined or remained stagnant, companies, refusing tp pay more, started looking for ways out of the loop which more often than not, resulted in a move offshore.
Americans who bought into Trump's campaign promise of bringing the jobs back, and making America great again have been sold a cheap bill of goods, made all the more heinous by the fact now, they even stand to lose not only their health coverage -- but possibly even, their Social Security.
And for one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, this is not only a shame, it's a crime.
A self-promoting big businessman always on the look out for the next deal, cheap labor, and the best way to avoid paying for anyhing.
But it doesn't start there. Trump's (s)election is systemic of a far great problem affecting American workers; namely, the demise of the Trade Unions.
This has been a major problem for decades, as this country morphed from a manufacturing powerhouse to a lazy consumer of outsourced cheap goods.
As the wages declined or remained stagnant, companies, refusing tp pay more, started looking for ways out of the loop which more often than not, resulted in a move offshore.
Americans who bought into Trump's campaign promise of bringing the jobs back, and making America great again have been sold a cheap bill of goods, made all the more heinous by the fact now, they even stand to lose not only their health coverage -- but possibly even, their Social Security.
And for one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, this is not only a shame, it's a crime.
5
Democrats need to come up with a real, twenty first century workers bill of rights. These rights need to be comprehensive, while remaining economically affordable and achievable. Supporting legislation must enshrine core values that fit within the confines of a few crisp campaign one liners. Authors must innovate, going beyond typical minimum wage arguments and outdated union constructs. In the end, any legislation must give individuals legal and financial power that far more equitably matches that of employers. If companies can fire or outsource at will, workers also need to be able to leave at the time of their choosing, still retaining retirement benefits, healthcare and right to use learned skills. Taking advantage of this legislation needs to be simple and automatic. Exercising it's benefits must not require a Harvard MBA for the average person to understand and navigate. I don't yet know the precise form this new set of employment rights needs to take, I just know it needs to be done.
7
This is an excellent point! Thanks for making it.
I do see two challenges: like the GOP, the Democrats have focused on the middle class, and deleted language about the working class from the party platform. Thats important as most in the middle-class work but not all workers (as we too well know) are middle-class. Our faux classlessness in America is built on these kinds of elisions.
Second, the Democratic leadership has spent so very long becoming a version of Republican-lite that I am less than hopeful of any sudden change re championing the rights of workers.
I do see two challenges: like the GOP, the Democrats have focused on the middle class, and deleted language about the working class from the party platform. Thats important as most in the middle-class work but not all workers (as we too well know) are middle-class. Our faux classlessness in America is built on these kinds of elisions.
Second, the Democratic leadership has spent so very long becoming a version of Republican-lite that I am less than hopeful of any sudden change re championing the rights of workers.
3
Don't mean to sound impertinent; but I made this same point in the 1980's.
I landed my first full time job after college. Then it occurred to me...
"I'm stuck here for the insurance."
It seemed so ironic that rugged individualism didn't make sense with a family and pre-existing conditions. Not unless you were a fool, and didn't mind not having access while seeing others well-off enough to take advantage of modern medicine and keep their families healthy.
Liberty exists only in universal health-care.
I landed my first full time job after college. Then it occurred to me...
"I'm stuck here for the insurance."
It seemed so ironic that rugged individualism didn't make sense with a family and pre-existing conditions. Not unless you were a fool, and didn't mind not having access while seeing others well-off enough to take advantage of modern medicine and keep their families healthy.
Liberty exists only in universal health-care.
6
Some readers of PK's excellent article remind us of the value of work since unions were made legal. For all of those fans of union-busting, they shoud be reminded again and again of the work benefits and overall quality-of-life improvements brought about by the formation of the unions and the power of collective bargaining.
For instance, organized labor established the 8-hour work day, the 5-day work week, the elimination of child labor, safer working conditions with liveable wages. These are benefits taken for granted by today's worker bees who voted for Trump and other Republican candidates eager to dismantle trade unions and the rights of workers while genuflecting to the corporate greedlings who pray to their Goddess of Self, Ayn Rand, the pitiful emigree from the Soviet Union who assailed the concepts of compasson and empathy for fellow human beings. It was her book, "Atlas Shrugged" that filled young minds with the corrosive power of libertarianism. They became the self-absorbed titans of Wall Street and the lobbyists on K Street. Nothing is more important to this group than shareholder value at the expense of hard-working Americans.
So, when the EPA's Scott Pruitt dismantles the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, while unloadeing 30 percent of the climate scientists, and while Education Secretary Betsy DeVos works to privatize public education to benefit her family's investments in for-profit schools, the loss of healthcare for all is not far behind. Freedom? No.
For instance, organized labor established the 8-hour work day, the 5-day work week, the elimination of child labor, safer working conditions with liveable wages. These are benefits taken for granted by today's worker bees who voted for Trump and other Republican candidates eager to dismantle trade unions and the rights of workers while genuflecting to the corporate greedlings who pray to their Goddess of Self, Ayn Rand, the pitiful emigree from the Soviet Union who assailed the concepts of compasson and empathy for fellow human beings. It was her book, "Atlas Shrugged" that filled young minds with the corrosive power of libertarianism. They became the self-absorbed titans of Wall Street and the lobbyists on K Street. Nothing is more important to this group than shareholder value at the expense of hard-working Americans.
So, when the EPA's Scott Pruitt dismantles the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, while unloadeing 30 percent of the climate scientists, and while Education Secretary Betsy DeVos works to privatize public education to benefit her family's investments in for-profit schools, the loss of healthcare for all is not far behind. Freedom? No.
Lots of discussion here about unions. Everyone loves unions when they talk because it means high wages, pensions, low cost or free healthcare, and permanent job security.
But, why did unions start to decline? The UAW demanded unsustainable increases, free healthcare, and incredible retirement options. Not as good as many public sector unions, but generous beyond belief when you consider the responsibilities and skill set needed. That led to off-shoring, increased competition, and ultimately, bankruptcy. Except the auto industry didn't go bankrupt as the government intervened.
Then, let's consider public service unions. Check into the number of individuals collecting 2 or 3 pensions!! The private sector has no pensions and those till in place provide a fraction of one's salary (<30%) on retirement. Yet, the public sector insists on a lucrative pension, raises not seen in the private sector, and worse - insists that one hired, can't be fired, even with cause (NYC schools?).
The US has not been a free market in over 30 years. The government picks winners and losers (take a look at the unions exempted from the ACA).
Unions are not the answer; they are the downfall these days as they can require much more than economics allow. The real answer for American workers is to look at the future and become skilled in those new jobs. $90,000 for working the line isn't coming back.
But, why did unions start to decline? The UAW demanded unsustainable increases, free healthcare, and incredible retirement options. Not as good as many public sector unions, but generous beyond belief when you consider the responsibilities and skill set needed. That led to off-shoring, increased competition, and ultimately, bankruptcy. Except the auto industry didn't go bankrupt as the government intervened.
Then, let's consider public service unions. Check into the number of individuals collecting 2 or 3 pensions!! The private sector has no pensions and those till in place provide a fraction of one's salary (<30%) on retirement. Yet, the public sector insists on a lucrative pension, raises not seen in the private sector, and worse - insists that one hired, can't be fired, even with cause (NYC schools?).
The US has not been a free market in over 30 years. The government picks winners and losers (take a look at the unions exempted from the ACA).
Unions are not the answer; they are the downfall these days as they can require much more than economics allow. The real answer for American workers is to look at the future and become skilled in those new jobs. $90,000 for working the line isn't coming back.
1
Flip your script and tell us about the untenable, massive, obscene profits American businesses have hauled in under the last couple of decades--while worker wages have stagnated in non-unionized markets, benefits have shifted (if they exist) to the pockets of the workers.
This isnt to say that all unions are wonderful or every member an angel. It is to say that business looks out for itself. And workers need to look out for themselves, too.
This isnt to say that all unions are wonderful or every member an angel. It is to say that business looks out for itself. And workers need to look out for themselves, too.
3
With the near death of private industry unions, we should be living in an economic paradise, shouldn't we ?
2
Angela, what is an "obscene" profit? Is it 50%? 10%? Anything positive? And please remember that absolute dollar figures make for stimulating rhetoric, but with the size of major businesses, company can show billions in profit that are still single digits in terms of percent.
You are correct Paul: most American Workers don't feel free . . .they feel entitled and privilege; not humbled by the gift of their own humanity to empathize with the reality that their is an entire world out their that they've benefited from as a result of the dehumanization of workers throughout the world. American Workers are already free, free-er than the vast majority of labors in the entire world.
1
I've often thought about how liberating European health care is. If an English person wants to start a business from home or take up roof thatching as a profession, he or she just does it. An American in the same situation could not - because of concerns about health care. And we are the ones who supposedly champion risk taking and small business.
10
The loss of freedom in nearly every sphere of life has hurt all Americans, and this goes back to the Reagan administration. Take the hollowing out of the Freedom of Information Act, corporate policies that deny jobs to people in debt, and government surveillance of library withdrawals, which are just a few examples, not to mention the destruction of effective trade unions. I feel bad for the young people who have never had the choices I had as a young man. It seems that the present administration is determined to oppress us even further. God help us all.
4
Of course, you're right, again. Millions of middle-class workers face job restrictions, diminished heath care, unpaid overtime, and now the Rs will lavish yuge tax cuts on the rich, and deny road construction as a budget buster. Same old, same old. NYT readers have plenty to scream about.
OK, now what? The problem isn't us. The problem is the uninformed masses. They cheer Trump's and the R's rhetoric having mostly no idea that they're being conned at every turn.
So what's a plan to inform our public so that they will begin to put pressure on the Rs to do the right thing? Seriously, we can grouse all we want, but change requires waking up Kansas before they will wake up the Rs. That's our biggest mission. How are we going to do that?
OK, now what? The problem isn't us. The problem is the uninformed masses. They cheer Trump's and the R's rhetoric having mostly no idea that they're being conned at every turn.
So what's a plan to inform our public so that they will begin to put pressure on the Rs to do the right thing? Seriously, we can grouse all we want, but change requires waking up Kansas before they will wake up the Rs. That's our biggest mission. How are we going to do that?
In corporate America, management follows best practices as taught at the Harvard Business School, to "maximize shareholder value." This contrasts with Europe or Japan, where managers may consider the interests of other stakeholders, including employees.
My suggestion for workers at public companies, is to buy stock in the company you work for. All shareholders are entitled to attend annual meetings. If you don't like the way you're being treated, go to the annual meeting and make your voices heard.
Shareholders have rights. Workers don't. So become shareholders!
My suggestion for workers at public companies, is to buy stock in the company you work for. All shareholders are entitled to attend annual meetings. If you don't like the way you're being treated, go to the annual meeting and make your voices heard.
Shareholders have rights. Workers don't. So become shareholders!
5
To the many commentators who recognized it unions are of course the answer for millions and we can repeat that long a bloody climb to get to where we were at the end of ww2. Yet a single Supreme Court decision holding that except for a few exceptions non-compete agreements are contracts of adhesion and are unenforceable as a matter of law and public policy and a state and federal statutes so providing would be faster while the union movement can remind the courts that the Wagner Act is still on the books.
2
Employers can afford to cover workers with pre-existing conditions because nearly everyone else in their pools are, by and large, free of health problems. Obamacare puts insured with expensive pre-existing conditions in pools that are outside the corporate world, hitting people in these other pools with sky high premiums to pay for the high-risk insured.
Elections have consequences. Regular people who voted for Trump have no skin in this game. Just look at Trump's first budget proposal with draconian cuts to Medicaid that many of them rely on. As Peter, Paul, and Mary sang: "When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?" Probably never. And their blind allegiance, not Trump, is the greatest threat to our republic. As Orwell wrote in 1984: Ignorance is strength.
7
Some American business wants the security of the noncompete clause without offering a quid pro quo. They dislike the notion of bargaining with employees and would rather dictate to them. This feeds into their greed paradigm., not caring about anything else.
3
If just a little more market power is transferred from labor to capital, the wonderful trickle down will begin. Just a little more.
4
Thank you for this great column, Dr.Krugman.
The people who cry “freedom” while pushing workers down the road to serfdom are well compensated for their hard work. Just look at Republicans in Congress.
They are radical corporatists. Their “conservatism” is just toxic smoke screen for the masses accompanied by noisy dog whistles.
The people who cry “freedom” while pushing workers down the road to serfdom are well compensated for their hard work. Just look at Republicans in Congress.
They are radical corporatists. Their “conservatism” is just toxic smoke screen for the masses accompanied by noisy dog whistles.
7
And what about all the people hired as "private contractors" who are forced to buy their own supplies, use their own transportation,and be where they are told when they are told in order to even have a low paying job with, of course, no benefits.
8
Yes. Indentured servitude is alive and well and living in the United States.
President Reagan started the antilabor, "greed is good policies" so lovingly
embraced by the GOP since the eighties. What to do with this two-faced
choir of freedom songsters? Free, free, set them free. In 2018.
President Reagan started the antilabor, "greed is good policies" so lovingly
embraced by the GOP since the eighties. What to do with this two-faced
choir of freedom songsters? Free, free, set them free. In 2018.
4
This is not only like serfdom but like Soviet era Communism.
3
The people get what they vote for, and the people deserve all of it.
4
I read the Times article referenced and find it amazing that a worker can be laid off.....and then the former employer enforces the non-compete agreement! How can that be legal?
4
Workers more and more at the mercy of their bosses and managers, due to Obamacare repeal and noncompete agreements designed to stop you from getting another job. And probably the most wageless economic recovery in U.S. history, the past 5 years. This is starting to look just a little too much like a book written 150 years ago, by a radically controversial German philosopher-turned-economist.
The question is: if "he" didn't have the proper solution to the systemic problem, who does???
The question is: if "he" didn't have the proper solution to the systemic problem, who does???
"And the people pushing them down that road are the very people who cry “freedom” the loudest." -- Hallelujah!
Oh, yeah. They shout that out too despite their non-christian caring for their fellow Americans.
Oh, yeah. They shout that out too despite their non-christian caring for their fellow Americans.
3
Feudalism. King Donald. Earls, barons, etc. Serfdom. Absolute control.
4
Ed. Correction: Anti-American Health Care Act
Indentured servitude was the basis of the early colonies economy. We're just going back a few hundred years to when workers knew their place! Now if we can only get them into company hovels and shopping in the company store...
I understand where Republicans "leaders" are coming from. Those who have good fortune deserve it. Those who failed to achieve a fortune clearly don't deserve so much as a crumb off the banquet table. What I don't understand is the legions of workers who vote Republican time after time; as if in doing so it prevents those welfare folks from getting a penny of their hard earned pay. Most of them are a step away from food stamps themselves. Freedom as defined by the Freedom Caucus means freedom from having to care about anyone but yourself. You know, the Christian thing to do... At least NJ got rid of that buzzard Garret. Now we have to ditch MacArthur. The rest of the states should do their duty and give the heave ho to the rest of "Freedom" crowd.
I understand where Republicans "leaders" are coming from. Those who have good fortune deserve it. Those who failed to achieve a fortune clearly don't deserve so much as a crumb off the banquet table. What I don't understand is the legions of workers who vote Republican time after time; as if in doing so it prevents those welfare folks from getting a penny of their hard earned pay. Most of them are a step away from food stamps themselves. Freedom as defined by the Freedom Caucus means freedom from having to care about anyone but yourself. You know, the Christian thing to do... At least NJ got rid of that buzzard Garret. Now we have to ditch MacArthur. The rest of the states should do their duty and give the heave ho to the rest of "Freedom" crowd.
8
Now come on Mr Krugman, be fair, you know very well that all American workers are perfectly free to go to business school in their spare time and study hard so that they too can become corporate employers who have workers "yoked to" them "the way Russian peasants were once tied to their master's land." Perfectly free! Your anti-capitalist propaganda is appalling sir, and will fool no freedom-loving, God-fearing American.
2
I know as a person of color I always felt free: free to stay in my side of town (God forbid I cross into the white townships in NJ!), free to choose between unhealthy bodega food or the slightly stale food in the only subpar super market in my area, free to choose from the least horrible public schools in my county, etc. Its funny how white men scream about something they have more than anyone else: FREEDOM.
11
"Then Obamacare went into effect, guaranteeing affordable care even to those with pre-existing medical conditions. This was a hugely liberating change for millions."
I wholeheartedly agree. However, even though 20-perent of our economy goes to healthcare, our new government is not committed to find a way to maintain a liberating change for people battling health issues daily. I can't wait until we elect new leaders, so we can hop over all of the low bars of "terrific". Trump supporters were suckers to believe that they were going to get anything but the corporate agenda. Dear 60 million suckers, get out or own it.
I wholeheartedly agree. However, even though 20-perent of our economy goes to healthcare, our new government is not committed to find a way to maintain a liberating change for people battling health issues daily. I can't wait until we elect new leaders, so we can hop over all of the low bars of "terrific". Trump supporters were suckers to believe that they were going to get anything but the corporate agenda. Dear 60 million suckers, get out or own it.
13
I don't get your “only a bit of hyperbole”, Dr. Krugman, or your use of the word "creeping" (towards serfdom). Nor does the tense feel right. The creeping has been going on for a very long time. It has crept, and arrived.
I’ll be called a Commie—yet does not what's grown up in America echo Soviet practices tying workers to their place of residence, their factory or collective farm? And millions to the Gulag?
Medieval feudalism involved relationships and some reciprocity. Plantation slavery? Slaves were fed, clothed, housed, like precious cattle… Today, great swathes of the underclass don't even have peon status. No protection, no healthcare, death at the hands of those paid to protect, easy to find bed and board in the US Gulag (or Corplag). Which must be kept restocked.
The new feudalism applies market rules to all things of this life. Mammon’s displacing God. Yet… so many who call themselves believers faithfully accept: hell on earth for the underclass, purgatory for the middle class and a short-lived paradise for the self-Elect.
And how about Unions and free association? Plenty to protect the interests of the uber-rich, while an individual employee hasn’t a hope in hell when it comes to protecting his interests.
I once saw America as the Reign of the Possible… FOR THE 100%.
I’ll be called a Commie—yet does not what's grown up in America echo Soviet practices tying workers to their place of residence, their factory or collective farm? And millions to the Gulag?
Medieval feudalism involved relationships and some reciprocity. Plantation slavery? Slaves were fed, clothed, housed, like precious cattle… Today, great swathes of the underclass don't even have peon status. No protection, no healthcare, death at the hands of those paid to protect, easy to find bed and board in the US Gulag (or Corplag). Which must be kept restocked.
The new feudalism applies market rules to all things of this life. Mammon’s displacing God. Yet… so many who call themselves believers faithfully accept: hell on earth for the underclass, purgatory for the middle class and a short-lived paradise for the self-Elect.
And how about Unions and free association? Plenty to protect the interests of the uber-rich, while an individual employee hasn’t a hope in hell when it comes to protecting his interests.
I once saw America as the Reign of the Possible… FOR THE 100%.
14
Adam Smith, in 1776, thought that, in a free market economy, labor would have no reason to organize because labor had one great advantage over capital: Labor was portable. If a worker thought that he was being underpaid or badly treated at one mill, he could just get a job at another mill a couple of miles downstream.
Capital, on the other hand, had to own the land, build the mill with bricks and mortar, and could not easily relocate.
Modern conservatives have made Smith's thinking a joke. Capital can be moved from one contract manufacturer to another, from one country to another, with a keystroke on a computer. Labor, by contrast, in addition to being constrained by non-compete clauses that keep Jimmy Johns from having to compete with McDonald's for counter help (not just franchisees), is kept in place for various reasons, including mortgages on which they are under water. Workers can't move if they can't sell their homes.
So, in today's business world, we have socialism for corporations and unregulated control of workers, preventing them from enjoying the fruits of competition for their labor.
Capital, on the other hand, had to own the land, build the mill with bricks and mortar, and could not easily relocate.
Modern conservatives have made Smith's thinking a joke. Capital can be moved from one contract manufacturer to another, from one country to another, with a keystroke on a computer. Labor, by contrast, in addition to being constrained by non-compete clauses that keep Jimmy Johns from having to compete with McDonald's for counter help (not just franchisees), is kept in place for various reasons, including mortgages on which they are under water. Workers can't move if they can't sell their homes.
So, in today's business world, we have socialism for corporations and unregulated control of workers, preventing them from enjoying the fruits of competition for their labor.
30
Don't buy this stuff, Trump and Republican supporters. Everyone knows only Black Americans are slaves, right? Keep repeating that to yourselves.
Just like Dorothy: "There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home . . ." That's all you have to do. And you'll wake up in your own dream.
Just like Dorothy: "There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home . . ." That's all you have to do. And you'll wake up in your own dream.
4
Obamacare in reality is modeled after the Federal Employee Health Benefits Insurance Plan. As is the Massachusetts health plan.
All federal employees are required to enroll or show proof of other insurance coverage. Members of Congress and their staffs are treated like the other million and a half federal employees.
The rates and coverages are good, so why not fix Obamacare to look like the FEP? After all, it’s good enough for Congress.
All federal employees are required to enroll or show proof of other insurance coverage. Members of Congress and their staffs are treated like the other million and a half federal employees.
The rates and coverages are good, so why not fix Obamacare to look like the FEP? After all, it’s good enough for Congress.
7
The widespread use of noncompete clauses is a by-product of the recession when good jobs were hard to find allowing employers to force workers in to contracts of adhesion. The law has traditionally viewed these contracts with antipathy because of the unequal bargaing power between the parties. However, as our judiciary becomes more conservative it is likely that the attitude will be that these clauses will be upheld under the theory of freedom of contract disregarding the power imbalance. Poorly regulated capitalism caused the recession and should not be allowed to chain working Americans to a single employer.
The problems of choice and time described decades earlier in Linder's Harried Leisure Class and the cognitive challenges associated with information technology also suggest how the conservative embrace of choice is in no way liberating.
Sorry Dr. Krugman, but the only way workers have ever gotten anywhere is through unions or by the threat of unionization. Even white collar workers, even you, would not have healthcare, paid vacations, sick time, etc., if it hadn't been for the labor movement in the US. You suggest workers should just sit around until companies or the government throws some crumbs there way?
Just because Sanders was much more pro-union than your candidate is now no reason to pretend that unionization is no longer workers' best hope.
Just because Sanders was much more pro-union than your candidate is now no reason to pretend that unionization is no longer workers' best hope.
21
What makes you think he's against unions?
Professor Krugman, to many of us who came to the US from other countries, other realities, it has always been clear that, in the US, "the land of the free" is mostly an illusion. However, it did use to be a land of opportunity for almost everyone, but now probably only for the 1%. Sadly, the US is looking more and more like Venezuela, these days.
6
Perhaps we should impose a similar caveat on Congress, you cannot go to work for any concern which has business with the government, further you cannot consult with any such businesses.
8
And let us not forget this Administration's stated intention to remove as many benefits and wages from Civil Service employees as they can. So far, they're stripping retirement benefits, health care and wages - because 'they're not necessary.' Bless their hearts.
8
I think that if Jean-Jacques Rousseau were alive today and surveying the plight of American workers trapped in the Trumpian oligarchy, for all the reasons Dr. Krugman mentions here, might be tempted to requote himself and say:
"American workers were born free, but everywhere they are in chains."
"American workers were born free, but everywhere they are in chains."
6
The republican successful attack on Unions also sold as to free workers from union membership dues. The result is easy to see when you see the income level in states that protect union membership vs. those that don't.
Oh, but republicans are free also to choose their facts.
Oh, but republicans are free also to choose their facts.
9
This is why I think my idea for the country is so good: setting up a national job market matching job seekers and employers nationwide. It would free up anyone to market their skills anywhere. This flips the power formula. With the NJM (notice it has an acronym now), the employed could simultaneously be marketing themselves. Scenario: "Bob, I'm getting offers from all over the country now. I'd like to stay here if XYZ co. matches the offer." See? And it could be never ending, and you would not need to be "executive search" or 'techie' material to play the game.
Dr. Krugman,
Another area worth exploring is the education market. Recall that Charter Schools (the free-market savior of K-12 education) were going to inject accountability into the system. Though almost 40% of these schools are providing worse results than traditional public schools, only 2% have been closed. Sounds like a double standard to me and one that is particularly expensive. Betsey DeVos promises to make the problem substantially worse.
And then of course Republicans refuse to allow the free market to work its magic in prescription drug pricing. States want to use their positions as large purchasers to negotiate price reductions. Republicans are against that of course.
And that is what makes the modern GOP so horrible for America: where conservative principles of government would yield better outcomes for Americans, the GOP eschews their own ideology.
The GOP is more of a religion than a political party. Their is only one tenet in this faith - TAX CUTS for THE WEALTHIEST 1% of Americans.
Another area worth exploring is the education market. Recall that Charter Schools (the free-market savior of K-12 education) were going to inject accountability into the system. Though almost 40% of these schools are providing worse results than traditional public schools, only 2% have been closed. Sounds like a double standard to me and one that is particularly expensive. Betsey DeVos promises to make the problem substantially worse.
And then of course Republicans refuse to allow the free market to work its magic in prescription drug pricing. States want to use their positions as large purchasers to negotiate price reductions. Republicans are against that of course.
And that is what makes the modern GOP so horrible for America: where conservative principles of government would yield better outcomes for Americans, the GOP eschews their own ideology.
The GOP is more of a religion than a political party. Their is only one tenet in this faith - TAX CUTS for THE WEALTHIEST 1% of Americans.
11
The U.S. expression of capitalism has always been based on serf labor. That is the unholy irony of the country. It came upon its own sense of "freedom" too early and never knew how to really create it.
Firstly, it was slave-owning, and it knew its aggressive money culture needed slavery. It still does. The only kind of freedom Americans are good at creating is ideas and images of it in its equally aggressive cultural expression.
The truth is we are wage slaves unless we've inherited wealth, been the lucky few who has invented something significant, or worked our tails to the bone to own property. But we will persist in seeing ourselves as free. Because we have said we are for two hundred-some years, through hellacious cyclical booms and busts and the oppression of robber barons.
The world consumes our cultural expressions, but we are the best buyer of our biggest illusion.
Firstly, it was slave-owning, and it knew its aggressive money culture needed slavery. It still does. The only kind of freedom Americans are good at creating is ideas and images of it in its equally aggressive cultural expression.
The truth is we are wage slaves unless we've inherited wealth, been the lucky few who has invented something significant, or worked our tails to the bone to own property. But we will persist in seeing ourselves as free. Because we have said we are for two hundred-some years, through hellacious cyclical booms and busts and the oppression of robber barons.
The world consumes our cultural expressions, but we are the best buyer of our biggest illusion.
14
Ronald Reagan. The Gipp that keeps on Gyping (American workers).
16
Consider how the balance of power and opportunity between employer and employee could be fairly adjusted by 1) requiring all boards of directors to have 50% of their seats filled by non-managerial employees elected by their peers, and 2) requiring all employers of multiple workers (including not just full-timers, but part-timers and "gig" free-lancers) to engage in collective bargaining with the elected representatives of their employees. Without these measures, prohibiting non-compete agreements and introducing Medicare for all would still leave in place a fundamental subservience to employer power.
7
Man, you hit a lot of good points in a short article. Obamacare was liberating. You didn't have to stay tied to a job just for health insurance. Almost everyone in my baby boomer age bracket talks about the need to keep working just for health insurance, no matter how bad the job. Productive lives are being wasted economically and morally. Of course health insurance wouldn't be such an issue if health care costs were subject to free market competition and thus far lower. Non compete agreements are used to deny folks there livelihood. Company A is happy to get rid of an employee in sales for a small severance, but the employee can't go to a competitor Company B in case the employee takes A's customers to B. But if Company A were so concerned about that, why get rid of the employee who generated those customers? They must have added value or else Company A wouldn't or shouldn't care if they go to Company B. This is so-called "free will" employment? Free will for Company A to do what it wants. All the economic power is with the employer. As someone else commented: the missing word is union. Collective bargaining benefited all employees, not just the rank and file.
113
"Creeping" down the road to serfdom? More like galloping.
10
Since Republicans and Democrats seem to be both involved in currying favor with the wealthy and the corporatocracy while ignoring the 99% of us, it seems we need an alternative to our broken down two party system. Or the Democratic party needs to get back to it's roots and represent all of us, rather than narrowly defined special "groups".
6
Freedom !!
Freedom for the richest people in the country to exploit their fellow citizens.
We have chosen to be a country that has as it's primary goal, trying to make the richest people in happy, which, by the way, is impossible.
We have rejected the idea of a country that works for all of it's citizens - a country with a stable society and culture.
It is unlikely that our Oligarchs will change their ways anytime soon.
Freedom for the richest people in the country to exploit their fellow citizens.
We have chosen to be a country that has as it's primary goal, trying to make the richest people in happy, which, by the way, is impossible.
We have rejected the idea of a country that works for all of it's citizens - a country with a stable society and culture.
It is unlikely that our Oligarchs will change their ways anytime soon.
The first principle of American capitalism is to limit competition in any way possible, so the increase in non-compete restrictions on employees and onerous arbitration clauses imposed on customers is no surprise.
7
"Greed Is Good!", said GOP poster boy Gorden Gekko.
The day Trump goes to jail will be the day I start believing in this country again. Until then, I would say the country is essentially lost to the 1%.
The day Trump goes to jail will be the day I start believing in this country again. Until then, I would say the country is essentially lost to the 1%.
14
Being an engineer with a dozen patents designing the proverbial "better mouse trap", a non-compete is a choice. I have turned down job offers where their terms were too limiting, and I modified the non-compete contract with one start-up company I did go to work for to cover the existing conflicts I had.
I do think it is ridiculous to apply non-compete contracts to minimum wage hair-dressers (my friend's wife got caught up in one of those), jimmy john's workers, or camp counselors, but rather than asking the government to fix these issues, we need our high-schools to educate people about legal agreements such as non-competes.
1) Don't sign anything you don't understand.
2) Nothing is too important that it must be signed now, today.
3) Everything is negotiable, and you can cross out specific sentences.
4) You can always walk away. In-fact, it is your free market duty to walk away.
Many people may be caught up in legal agreements because they made an un-informed choice. A functioning free market depends on well informed market participants. Is our education system preparing our students to be informed market participants?
I do think it is ridiculous to apply non-compete contracts to minimum wage hair-dressers (my friend's wife got caught up in one of those), jimmy john's workers, or camp counselors, but rather than asking the government to fix these issues, we need our high-schools to educate people about legal agreements such as non-competes.
1) Don't sign anything you don't understand.
2) Nothing is too important that it must be signed now, today.
3) Everything is negotiable, and you can cross out specific sentences.
4) You can always walk away. In-fact, it is your free market duty to walk away.
Many people may be caught up in legal agreements because they made an un-informed choice. A functioning free market depends on well informed market participants. Is our education system preparing our students to be informed market participants?
95
You're right about your four points, but most contracts are written to be non- comprehensible to the average person and a lot of people are desperate for a job, any job, to feed their families. Someone applying for a job at a fast food restaurant isn't going to have the leverage that a qualified engineer like you will have, and if they start crossing out clauses in an employment agreement they are likely to be ushered out the door quickly. There needs to be national legislation to take care of this, and an effective enforcement system so that low wage workers don't have to spend thousands of dollars on a lawyer.
4
No, no, no. Your position is very different from the one faced by the average hourly paid worker. The burden belongs on the employer or the government, not the average Joe just trying to get by.
4
You're fortunate to be in a position to have a choice when it comes to non-competes. But what about the people who AREN'T in that position? Like the mid-50s guy who's been out of work for two years and finally, finally has a shot at a job, but faces a non-compete if he signs on. How much freedom does he have to walk away, in practical terms? Not much, if he wants to continue to eat and live indoors.
8
When unions were strong -- and top marginal tax rates were high -- America enjoyed a booming economy and a growing middle class that could buy a house and send the kids to college on one income.
Union busting borrowed from the white supremacist movement -- do you want to call a black man brother? -- and it thrived under corporate sponsorship in legislatures.
Since then, federal policy has transferred wealth from the working people to the very rich. and working people keep electing Republicans. go figure.
Union busting borrowed from the white supremacist movement -- do you want to call a black man brother? -- and it thrived under corporate sponsorship in legislatures.
Since then, federal policy has transferred wealth from the working people to the very rich. and working people keep electing Republicans. go figure.
13
The only institution proven to give "common folks" any effective defense against the bullying plutocracy is the Labor Union! Demonized and belittled by the monied elite who think workers mustn't get uppity and ask for the share of the wealth they create, unions are the victims of crushing propaganda, extravagantly financed by rightwing corporatists. Unions arise!
17
Oh yeah, unions for sure, but worker cooperative ownership too!
http://seniorjunior.blogspot.com/search?q=cooperatives
http://seniorjunior.blogspot.com/search?q=cooperatives
1
Ah, the ultimate plan of the repulsives is to create workers who will be "swept along the road to serfdom, yoked to corporate employers". Serfdom. This is exactly what they want and we, the workers are allowing all of this.
This is simply freedom of one kind: freedom of CEO's not to be encumbered by expensive rules and regulations that diminish company profits, shareholders value, and their own yearned bonuses. Anything else is just whitewash.
12
Professor Krugman should consider devoting a future article to how the freedom to resolve disputes with businesses in Court has been broadly removed from American workers and consumers by arbitration clauses which literally deny those with bank and brokerage accounts, credit cards, insurance and warranty coverages, and, workers, sometimes the right to contract. Denying the option for judicial resolution not an arbitrator's, includes denying rights to initiate or even join a class action seeking to resolve a dispute.
Until the Times published a series of articles about this in the past year, the only ones who paid any attention were those with grievances and their lawyers. I have noticed this pernicious trend over the last 35 years, but note that it is now in full flower. Coupled with right to amend contract terms without notice or mutual agreement, Corporations have been able to erode and rescind serious legal rights.
It should be noted, too, that all States now have laws barring workers from exposing trade secrets (Uniform Trade Secrets Acts) which permit businesses to obtain injunctions, receive damages and attorneys fees, and costs of litigation, so that using a noncompetition agreement only for that purpose is superfluous.
Ordinary consumers of financial and other services seem unable to stymie this trend for lack of attention, organizing against this it and the cost of fighting it, but important legal rights have been eroded almost without notice.
Until the Times published a series of articles about this in the past year, the only ones who paid any attention were those with grievances and their lawyers. I have noticed this pernicious trend over the last 35 years, but note that it is now in full flower. Coupled with right to amend contract terms without notice or mutual agreement, Corporations have been able to erode and rescind serious legal rights.
It should be noted, too, that all States now have laws barring workers from exposing trade secrets (Uniform Trade Secrets Acts) which permit businesses to obtain injunctions, receive damages and attorneys fees, and costs of litigation, so that using a noncompetition agreement only for that purpose is superfluous.
Ordinary consumers of financial and other services seem unable to stymie this trend for lack of attention, organizing against this it and the cost of fighting it, but important legal rights have been eroded almost without notice.
8
While we're at it, let's talk about another massive roadblock to self-employment forcing people down the "road to serfdom," courtesy of Ronald Reagan and Alan Greenspan: the requirement that self-employed Americans pay *double* the Social Security tax paid by those who work for an employer. Reagan used the added revenue to finance his deficit spending on tax cuts for the wealthy. Those of us who create our *own* jobs are still paying the price.
13
This is a huge problem in Tech. Even with California law prohibiting non-compete clauses, engineers get "locked in". Tech companies file patents on everything they work on. Our company has patent attorneys trolling through the engineering floor in part to make sure that any IP (intellectual property) an engineer comes up with is documented and owned by the company.
The dilemma for an engineer that comes up with an original idea, that doesn't come directly out of assigned work, is whether to leave (to a startup, or competitor) or stay and leverage his employer to get it built. In the later case you might get a $5k "inventors award" but the company owns the patent; your original idea, and potentially your life's work.
Existing IP law comes from a period when companies were more "loyal" to their employees. Now IP law is another way to create Microserfs (as Douglas Coupland coined the term).
The dilemma for an engineer that comes up with an original idea, that doesn't come directly out of assigned work, is whether to leave (to a startup, or competitor) or stay and leverage his employer to get it built. In the later case you might get a $5k "inventors award" but the company owns the patent; your original idea, and potentially your life's work.
Existing IP law comes from a period when companies were more "loyal" to their employees. Now IP law is another way to create Microserfs (as Douglas Coupland coined the term).
11
"Freedom USA" has degenerated into a high--the feeling of a mysterious elixir--or worse, an empty slogan and a faded memory--what was it?
Originally--"free-from" the British--independence--thus "free-to" be autonomous (self-rule).
But "free country" can also mean citizens are free-from irrational regulation--as in Britain's rigid class system--bribery and supplication to one's "betters"as the means to social mobility--if not survival.
Britain was a free/autonomous country; but commoners were not;. Irrational regulation is a constraint. So to with corrupt post colonial countries--degenerating into tribalisms.
Always ask--Whose freedom? From what? To do what? Otherwise it's an elixir, a high or a slogan. Bush's second inaugural totally gutted the word--40+ times.
"Liberty (from what?) or death;" "Live free (from what) or die?"--that's a threat--so an auto-absurdity.
Indoctrination beginning in school forces hyper-charitable (dogmatic) interpretation--there must be sense to it!
But no--it's as bad as "Thou shall not kill"--taught to people on antibiotics--who oppose abortion but not capital punishment.
Free from foreign government morphed into "free from government"--free to drive on whichever side of the road you like--let alone free-from civil engineering and services.
Government is bad; obedience-supplication- to employers is freedom--as in "free marketing" and "free enterprise". Corporate lords have replaced land-lords. Neo-feudalism and serfdom reigns.
Originally--"free-from" the British--independence--thus "free-to" be autonomous (self-rule).
But "free country" can also mean citizens are free-from irrational regulation--as in Britain's rigid class system--bribery and supplication to one's "betters"as the means to social mobility--if not survival.
Britain was a free/autonomous country; but commoners were not;. Irrational regulation is a constraint. So to with corrupt post colonial countries--degenerating into tribalisms.
Always ask--Whose freedom? From what? To do what? Otherwise it's an elixir, a high or a slogan. Bush's second inaugural totally gutted the word--40+ times.
"Liberty (from what?) or death;" "Live free (from what) or die?"--that's a threat--so an auto-absurdity.
Indoctrination beginning in school forces hyper-charitable (dogmatic) interpretation--there must be sense to it!
But no--it's as bad as "Thou shall not kill"--taught to people on antibiotics--who oppose abortion but not capital punishment.
Free from foreign government morphed into "free from government"--free to drive on whichever side of the road you like--let alone free-from civil engineering and services.
Government is bad; obedience-supplication- to employers is freedom--as in "free marketing" and "free enterprise". Corporate lords have replaced land-lords. Neo-feudalism and serfdom reigns.
4
When Reagan fired the striking air traffic controllers, he fired the first shots in the latest war on working people, ending almost 80 years of progress in worker's pay, benefits, and working conditions, leading to the growth of the largest middle class in history. Since Reagan we have seen wages, and benefits diminish, and jobs disappear, while companies and investors have reaped huge gains, and the middle class shrink. But here's the real news: Democrats played right along.
Oh, at first they put up a token fight, but as they saw the writing on the wall, they capitulated, and abandoned the working and middle class who couldn't possibly fill their coffers as deeply as the 1% and Corporate America could. They folded like cheap lawn chairs in the face of the money.
And Mr. Krugman, despite your complaints now, you led the cheers for Hillary, even knowing that she was simply another in the decades-long line of Republicans-In-Dem-Clothing, as was her husband. You turned your back on on the one candidate who actually would've fought to undo the rigged system erected to support "trickle own" that is still firmly in place. And because of this betrayal, I find it hard to take anything you write seriously.
Oh, at first they put up a token fight, but as they saw the writing on the wall, they capitulated, and abandoned the working and middle class who couldn't possibly fill their coffers as deeply as the 1% and Corporate America could. They folded like cheap lawn chairs in the face of the money.
And Mr. Krugman, despite your complaints now, you led the cheers for Hillary, even knowing that she was simply another in the decades-long line of Republicans-In-Dem-Clothing, as was her husband. You turned your back on on the one candidate who actually would've fought to undo the rigged system erected to support "trickle own" that is still firmly in place. And because of this betrayal, I find it hard to take anything you write seriously.
18
Hear, hear!
3
Eloquent and to the point.
1
I'm glad to see the issue of non-competes finally getting the attention it deserves. I recently had to hire a lawyer to defend against one. Companies in my field (healthcare communications) tie them to your bonus and raises -- no non-compete, no bonus. As Dr Krugman points out, they are ridiculously broadly defined; I was essentially barred from working at any company in the healthcare field anywhere in the world for one year. Just the threat of litigation from a previous employer is often enough to make a prospective employer pass you over. They should be illegal, period, except in very restricted circumstances. But I'm not holding my breath.
11
Dr. Krugman's important piece implicitly raises another issue involving our country's broken court system. Nationwide, state courts have long disfavored non-compete restrictions, reading them narrowly to protect a person's right to make a living. Non-compete restrictions must be reasonable in terms of length, scope, and geography. More burdens attach to non-disclosure agreements. Sadly, in today's overly expensive court system, employers are often the only party that can afford a lawsuit regarding their employment agreements; workers are stuck with otherwise unenforceable agreements simply because they cannot afford the fight to protect themselves from abusive employment agreements. As a lawyer of many years, I have seen many indefensible non-compete and non-disclosure agreements. Our country's need for a comprehensive overhaul of its judicial system is not limited to criminal justice. It extends to many areas of the civil justice system that significantly affect people's everyday lives. One suggestion: because company lawyers draft non-compete provisions with little or no opportunity for workers to change them, employers need an incentive to draft them properly and use them wisely. If they lose a lawsuit involving these agreements, they should pay the worker's attorney fees. If the employer wins, they get to enforce agreement--but no award of their fees. Do it right or do not do it at all.
4
Workers need good paying jobs, single payer health care, unions. Sadly, both political parties are not on board on this issue. This is the problem with our oligarchy. Things will not get better until the oligarchy is removed and democracy restored.
13
thank you about time you noticed that we have been living through a second gilded age, when big businesses turned into ruthless monopolies.
6
"Noncompete agreements..." In the 18th and 19th centuries that was called indentured servitude. This is the anti-American Republican's 21st century version. Free to die a horrible death, free to breathe unclean air and drink polluted water. Tell me, what do Republicans get out of this besides the obvious ability to make the rich, richer by stealing from us? I wonder how many of Congressional Republicans, besides the "Freedom Caucus" would be happy to see millions of Americans begging on the streets and dying in the gutters, but wait, the 18th and 19th century remedy was debtor's prisons. Wait for it, or at least the Republican suggestion of it.
8
Background checks, credit scores, noncompete clauses, welcome to America the corporation.
8
The right uses a moralized definition of freedom to mean private property duly acquired. In their view, non-competes protect that property and so preserve freedom. Obamacare conversely unjustly takes from those who've earned their property to give to those who haven't. So if pushed, they would agree there are massive limits on individual freedom imposed by the private property system. But they would say those now unfree had their fair chance and have no right to be bailed out of their self-imposed situation at the expense of others. Liberals would disagree, because they have a different idea about fairness. They see more situations as consitituting circumstances beyond people's control (like pre-existing conditions) that should be compensated for to ensure everyone is treated with equal consideration. And they believe that others (the rich) have a responsibility to help because their wealth derives not from them alone but partly from individual good fortune and from common resources.
First, we busted the unions..............
7
Then we started making ridiculous Hitler analogies.
3
My husband's former employer, a law firm, doesn't even offer family insurance plans any longer for anyone except partners and the salaries the support staff get are appalling. Are children expected to work now for the increasingly futile hope of health insurance?
4
This is a partial overestimation of the actual effectiveness of health insurance purchased through the exchanges created by the ACA.
In Pennsylvania, the plans are extremely expensive & basically provide no coverage for procedures under catastrophic health events.
I know multiple people that are self-employed & basically got screwed by the ACA, because the pre-ACA insurance they had was literally no longer available, & now have to purchase expensive, high-deductible plans.
In Pennsylvania, the plans are extremely expensive & basically provide no coverage for procedures under catastrophic health events.
I know multiple people that are self-employed & basically got screwed by the ACA, because the pre-ACA insurance they had was literally no longer available, & now have to purchase expensive, high-deductible plans.
3
High deductibles render ACA policies a joke. The ACA only "works" because it put 13 MILLION Americans onto 100% FREE Medicaid welfare!
Who wouldn't want health coverage FOR FREE? including dental and vision care! for your whole family!
Who would ever give that up? No job would ever give you FREE insurance with no premium, deductibles or copays!
I am stuck with a lousy policy I had to buy on the exchanges, on threat of fines. My policy is $315 a month, with a $7400 deductible for ONE PERSON!!! ONE!!!!
That means, in two years, I have not gotten one cent of assistance with any medical bills -- besides my "free" flu shot ($17 at Walgreens). NOTHING! Zero! Zip! Nada!
I have had to pay 100% (except that flu shot) OUT OF POCKET, on top of the premiums.
I am worse off, by every metric, than BEFORE the ACA ... when I would have had $315 a month to pay my medical bills....now I have NOTHING!!!!
Who wouldn't want health coverage FOR FREE? including dental and vision care! for your whole family!
Who would ever give that up? No job would ever give you FREE insurance with no premium, deductibles or copays!
I am stuck with a lousy policy I had to buy on the exchanges, on threat of fines. My policy is $315 a month, with a $7400 deductible for ONE PERSON!!! ONE!!!!
That means, in two years, I have not gotten one cent of assistance with any medical bills -- besides my "free" flu shot ($17 at Walgreens). NOTHING! Zero! Zip! Nada!
I have had to pay 100% (except that flu shot) OUT OF POCKET, on top of the premiums.
I am worse off, by every metric, than BEFORE the ACA ... when I would have had $315 a month to pay my medical bills....now I have NOTHING!!!!
If Jean-Jacques Rousseau were alive today and surveying the current situation for American workers, for all the reasons Dr. Krugman points out, he really might "requote" himself for our growing Trumpian oligarchy -
"American workers are born free, but everywhere they are in chains."
"American workers are born free, but everywhere they are in chains."
My husband and I are in our mid to late fifties. We have both worked and saved all of our lives. We were hoping to semi-retire and start a home based business doing something we both enjoy in the next couple of years. If we can't get somewhat affordable insurance this dream may not come true. It makes no sense that health insurance is so intertwined with full time employment. We don't lose any other insurance coverage simply by leaving our jobs, this "system" is hideously inflexible and simply does not work for the way people work today.
20
It's great to see Dr. Krugman using Republican language to make the argument. Republicans outside of Washington D.C. often unknowingly argue for even more aggressive upward redistribution and shifting more power to corporations, reducing their own freedom.
Obamacare is a great example of a policy that raised taxes on the rich and transferred $40 billion each year to the working class, giving about 20 million people more freedom. No wonder Republicans don't want to let it stand.
Obamacare is a great example of a policy that raised taxes on the rich and transferred $40 billion each year to the working class, giving about 20 million people more freedom. No wonder Republicans don't want to let it stand.
15
"You might say, with only a bit of hyperbole, that workers in America, supposedly the land of the free, are actually creeping along the road to serfdom, yoked to corporate employers the way Russian peasants were once tied to their masters’ land. And the people pushing them down that road are the very people who cry “freedom” the loudest."
Why? The problem is us. As George Carlin said:
“Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.”
Why? The problem is us. As George Carlin said:
“Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.”
18
The full name is "Business Freedom Caucus". The first word is hidden for obvious reasons.
12
Your last line reminds me of Dr. Johnson's depiction of our Founders. "How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?" Any relation to the "Freedom" Caucus?
9
And isn't it sad that the democrats cannot get that message out? Isn't it sad that the corporate media never talks about how policies affect us ordinary people/workers? Now sad it is that corporate media does not come out daily and tell the people that trickle down (voodoo) economics does not work? Why does not the dem get on Sunday shows? Et All!
It is very curious how this all came to be under the nose of the DNC? Are they stupid or just greedy for riches and power?
It is very curious how this all came to be under the nose of the DNC? Are they stupid or just greedy for riches and power?
7
Mr. Krugman didn't seem too concerned when Obamacare resulted in workers moving from full time to part time work, effectively kicking them off of employer sponsored healthcare plans. Not only did they lose their healthcare, they lost their livelihood. Where do you all think the term "side hustle" came from? It's amazing how obtuse the view from the left really is.
6
Except that didn't happen--that is what Republicans said would happen, but it did not in any significant numbers.
2
Well, anecdotally, I know that it happened. To people I know.
1
I personally know people who had their hours cut to 30 from 40 a week, to ensure they would not be eligible for Obamacare.
I wonder how it affected Walmart, McD, Target -- anyone even KNOW? they have millions of part timers.
I think this has vastly been under-reported, to suit the memes of the left.
I wonder how it affected Walmart, McD, Target -- anyone even KNOW? they have millions of part timers.
I think this has vastly been under-reported, to suit the memes of the left.
The Russians are helping the GOP take away our freedoms and make us all into serfs & peasants.
5
Yes, we are free to choose! As a Vietnam Veteran, I could go to the VA for my healthcare; however, when I saw the number of young men and women coming back from the two unnecessary wars in the Middle East, which are still without end, I decided to continue to use my company plan, and am now on Medicare. I can handle the payments; but, what about the people who cannot?
Approximately one-in-five Seniors on Medicare, need Medicaid to pay their Medicare premiums. Convoluted, huh? But, as the Freedom Caucus--or "We got ours, You get yours" Group sees it--we've got to kiss-up to the Multi-Billionaire "Dark Money" Conservatives; because, they run the government through Citizens United. And, they'll contribute to the Congressional campaigns! Wink, Wink
And when the Trump Republicans suggest giving more freedom to the states, through Block Grant's--that's out-and-out bovine excrement. Louisiana, for instant turned-down the Fiscal Stimulus--Louisiana's own money beng returned to the state--because it was "Government Spending".
If one of the poorest states would turn-back a return of their own money, duresst the bleakest recession in 80 years, you sure cannot expect them to provide health care through block grants They'll just find "other uses" for it!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
Approximately one-in-five Seniors on Medicare, need Medicaid to pay their Medicare premiums. Convoluted, huh? But, as the Freedom Caucus--or "We got ours, You get yours" Group sees it--we've got to kiss-up to the Multi-Billionaire "Dark Money" Conservatives; because, they run the government through Citizens United. And, they'll contribute to the Congressional campaigns! Wink, Wink
And when the Trump Republicans suggest giving more freedom to the states, through Block Grant's--that's out-and-out bovine excrement. Louisiana, for instant turned-down the Fiscal Stimulus--Louisiana's own money beng returned to the state--because it was "Government Spending".
If one of the poorest states would turn-back a return of their own money, duresst the bleakest recession in 80 years, you sure cannot expect them to provide health care through block grants They'll just find "other uses" for it!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
Didn't someone once write, "Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!" That was in 1848. Maybe not bad advice for twenty-first century American workers from a leftist liberal German fellow with a beard.
8
There are several serious barriers to Innovation and entrepreneurship in America today. Lack of affordable healthcare is one of them even with ACA. Many forego opportunities to take an idea to scale, create businesses and jobs because of the costs of healthcare for families. With ACA in jeaopardy, this situation will only get worse. The other barriers are software patents (get rid of those), sweeping non-competes, and of course, lack of highly skilled workers, which US Govt can solve for through paid training and job placements, instead of wasting money on walls and tax cuts for the super rich.
2
Restraint of trade only applies in this country to enterprises. The right to trade one's expertise and labor is entirely subject to the whims of employers. This is especially true in red states like Missouri which just passed so called right to work--the next phase of which is repeal of prevailing wage legislation for public projects. The aim of the Republicans, of course, is to beggar the unions. Unfortunately they're also keen on depriving funds to public education, especially higher education. So if they're interested in attracting progressive industries that rely on an educated, competitive work force, they're killing Missouri's chances to compete. U of MO used to be a first rate state university on a par with Illinois and Iowa. Another year of inadequate funding and they're going slip out of contention. They're already losing students. How do we fix stupid in America?
7
For any American working person to have ever thought for one moment this president would look out for their interests is just insane. For the sake of argument, even if everything that Trump said ails America was true, in no universe would Donald Trump be the solution.
This was known well before 11/8. It's not something learned after 11/8. Every week of the primary and general campaigns he said or did several things that disqualified him from office and showed how unfit he was to lead the nation and the world.
Now we are in it good, and we won't get out unscathed.
This was known well before 11/8. It's not something learned after 11/8. Every week of the primary and general campaigns he said or did several things that disqualified him from office and showed how unfit he was to lead the nation and the world.
Now we are in it good, and we won't get out unscathed.
7
It's for reasons like what Krugman describes in this piece that make me frustrated when I hear him, and many others, say Republicans are all about tax cuts for the wealthy. It's not about "tax cuts," or not only about them. It's about aristocracy. Tax cuts are an important part of that, but it encompasses much more besides.
7
If there is one thing we know about the Republican Party and especially Donald Trump, the more they say one thing the more we know the opposite is true. The more they talk about freedom the more we know what they really mean is the "freedom to exploit others"; the more they wrap themselves in the flag of patriotism the more we know they are out to destroy the Union; he more they talk about religious freedom the more we know they are more interested in imposing their religion on others; the more they talk about cutting taxes the more we know they are only interested in cutting taxes for the very wealthy; and the more they talk about healthcare they more we know they only care about it for themselves.
8
What about Unions? The republicans have broken our system that allowed for workers to have rights.
Remember workers' rights? I barely do and I am old. I feel sorrow for my country - a country that is turning its' back on the common man and has lost respect for a day's hard work. By respect I mean paying a living wage and giving a 2 day a week weekend to the worker.
What do we want?
40 Hour Jobs !
5 Days a Week !
Remember workers' rights? I barely do and I am old. I feel sorrow for my country - a country that is turning its' back on the common man and has lost respect for a day's hard work. By respect I mean paying a living wage and giving a 2 day a week weekend to the worker.
What do we want?
40 Hour Jobs !
5 Days a Week !
4
The Republican concept of freedom is derived from the logic behind supply side economics. The thought is that if you optimize the profits and eliminate impediments to business for the rich business owner, it will automatically spin off into benefits for the worker. Logically it seems possible, but it bears no resemblance to reality.
Freedom is provided to businesses so that they can be profitable by doing whatever they want to employees without government interference (non-compete clauses). They have the freedom to pollute whatever they want without oversight. People have the freedom to move away if there is lead or chromium VI in the water. People have the freedom not to work at the only business in town. There is virtually no limit on mergers and acquisitions so big companies can lay off excess workers and provide fewer services to customers. All this as a free service supported by the government.
Similar logic applies to healthcare. Healthcare cuts are ONLY about reducing taxes for the rich, nothing else. Republicans would love to eliminate Obamacare, Medicare and Social Security and lower taxes for the rich. People have the freedom to go out and search the market for the "best" health insurance and the freedom to provide for their own retirement. NYT won't print what I think about that reasoning or about the people behind it.
Freedom is provided to businesses so that they can be profitable by doing whatever they want to employees without government interference (non-compete clauses). They have the freedom to pollute whatever they want without oversight. People have the freedom to move away if there is lead or chromium VI in the water. People have the freedom not to work at the only business in town. There is virtually no limit on mergers and acquisitions so big companies can lay off excess workers and provide fewer services to customers. All this as a free service supported by the government.
Similar logic applies to healthcare. Healthcare cuts are ONLY about reducing taxes for the rich, nothing else. Republicans would love to eliminate Obamacare, Medicare and Social Security and lower taxes for the rich. People have the freedom to go out and search the market for the "best" health insurance and the freedom to provide for their own retirement. NYT won't print what I think about that reasoning or about the people behind it.
Since other commenters have shared their biased perspectives of "freedom", I want to offer my own.
We can describe at least two fundamental types of freedoms, "freedom of" and "freedom from". Most traditional and conservative thinkers embrace ideals around freedoms of independence and autonomy, most famously, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Freedom of derives from and supports the liberty of the individual--but also needs to recognize the associated risks.
Freedom from, perhaps first promoted on the national political stage by FDR, seeks to protect people from harm and trouble. Delivering freedom from can indeed help people to live more secure lives, but can also inhibit their autonomy. Krugman's desire for universal health care is obviously a desire to deliver a freedom from.
These types of freedoms clash. A system based on freedoms of would not impose on individuals to support the collective efforts necessary to deliver freedoms from. And a system dedicated to freedoms from would have to impose so many limits on freedoms of that most citizens would be equally unhappy.
Perhaps beyond partisanship (!) we could discuss how to balance these types of freedoms. We could start by not assuming one type is right and the other wrong.
We can describe at least two fundamental types of freedoms, "freedom of" and "freedom from". Most traditional and conservative thinkers embrace ideals around freedoms of independence and autonomy, most famously, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Freedom of derives from and supports the liberty of the individual--but also needs to recognize the associated risks.
Freedom from, perhaps first promoted on the national political stage by FDR, seeks to protect people from harm and trouble. Delivering freedom from can indeed help people to live more secure lives, but can also inhibit their autonomy. Krugman's desire for universal health care is obviously a desire to deliver a freedom from.
These types of freedoms clash. A system based on freedoms of would not impose on individuals to support the collective efforts necessary to deliver freedoms from. And a system dedicated to freedoms from would have to impose so many limits on freedoms of that most citizens would be equally unhappy.
Perhaps beyond partisanship (!) we could discuss how to balance these types of freedoms. We could start by not assuming one type is right and the other wrong.
All those red state voters sure like their "freedom FROM" programs like SS and Medicare. In fact their survival depends upon them. No philosophical conflict there, Bob Kranz?
2
Except that we have good data that people in societies where they have strong "freedom from" systems (in Western Europe) are considerably happier and feel (because they are) much more free. You conservatives just cannot deal with reality, ever,
2
There's enough to criticize about the American Health Care Act ("Trumpcare") without overstating its effects on pre-existing conditions. Krugman writes, "...the 52 million Americans with pre-existing conditions who will be effectively unable to buy individual health insurance, and hence stuck with their current employers...", but this is not accurate. Trumpcare only potentially limits coverage for pre-existing conditions for people who let their health insurance lapse for more than 2 months. For those who maintain their health insurance, no pre-existing conditions should keep them locked to their current jobs or cause them to have to pay more for health insurance.
I've been waiting for opinion writers and politicians to make this point since the beginning of the healthcare debate under Obama. It's obvious that economic freedom, arguably the most important form of freedom, has been greatly curtailed by our employer-based healthcare system, and that unlinking these things would in fact be a far better stimulus to small businesses, existing or would-be entrepreneurs, or in fact just about everybody who isn't an insurance company or a large corporation eager to keep a workforce tied to them by health hostage-taking and non-competes. The Freedom Caucus is nothing more than the Corporation Caucus and freedom to them is nothing more than wildly extravagant windfalls to a very few, some of which is funneled, in secret, back to the Congressional bootlicks. It's all so painfully obvious and blatant that if this cannot be seen for what it is, I wonder if there's much hope for our future.
4
Let's thank Uncle Ronnie - to whom we can trace many of todays most perplexing problems - who went to war on unions. Unions were the working persons only means to effectively bargain with employers. The GOP and Uncle Ronnie convince Americans that having some power at work was a bad thing.
After the unions were weakened to the point of ineffectiveness, The GOP started rewarding off shoring jobs.
In Europe employees are compensated for signing a non-compete. That compensation is there because there is an understanding that non-competes limit the employees earning potential.
We have been Headed this way since 1981, with americans supporting it every step of the way. Now, faced with a grim future, Americans choose a daddy figure that is more child than man
After the unions were weakened to the point of ineffectiveness, The GOP started rewarding off shoring jobs.
In Europe employees are compensated for signing a non-compete. That compensation is there because there is an understanding that non-competes limit the employees earning potential.
We have been Headed this way since 1981, with americans supporting it every step of the way. Now, faced with a grim future, Americans choose a daddy figure that is more child than man
3
The key to understanding Paul's thesis is to recognize that nothing will stop the forward momentum of aggressive capitalism once it has achieved the economic upper hand over its workers.
The force and sheer bullying power of the world's oligarchs has been building since before the industrial revolution began. The only difference is their total wealth compared to their serf's total buying power which has steadily diminished.
Once this aggressive devouring purchasing of the "others" reaches a tipping point there is little left of the economy for 90 % of the developed world ND we all hit a brick wall of economic crisis.
With nothing to back up the value of this accumulated wealth, nothing can stop the collapse of the world economy and things get desperate. This may be why Peter Thiel bought citizenship recently in New Zealand as a place to escape when America becomes to dangerous for the "haves".
Unless someone comes along with many helpers to assist in recalbirating the entire market economy there will be little left to share.
Paul's prognosis is far better than it should be, as are most economists. Perhaps this pending debacle is why Paul decided to switch from being an economist to a political scientist in his column!
The force and sheer bullying power of the world's oligarchs has been building since before the industrial revolution began. The only difference is their total wealth compared to their serf's total buying power which has steadily diminished.
Once this aggressive devouring purchasing of the "others" reaches a tipping point there is little left of the economy for 90 % of the developed world ND we all hit a brick wall of economic crisis.
With nothing to back up the value of this accumulated wealth, nothing can stop the collapse of the world economy and things get desperate. This may be why Peter Thiel bought citizenship recently in New Zealand as a place to escape when America becomes to dangerous for the "haves".
Unless someone comes along with many helpers to assist in recalbirating the entire market economy there will be little left to share.
Paul's prognosis is far better than it should be, as are most economists. Perhaps this pending debacle is why Paul decided to switch from being an economist to a political scientist in his column!
2
Great comment M Kittle. To me the saddest element of Obama's presidency was that he-- a fairly smart guy-- never focused on "the vision thing." We could have spent the two years of Dem dominance after the collapse of the economy (thanks unfettered capitalism) and after the spill of excessive blood and treasure in the Middle East (thanks bushies!) actually talking about big picture stuff. Like for instance, how do we grab enough of an arrogant jerk like Thiel's money from him, before he simply exits stage left for NZ, leaving a potential disaster behind?
3
Mainstream Republicans are only interested in one thing. They simply believe that by virtue of their wealth they should run the country and that they should not have to answer to anyone. And, they believe that they are in an ongoing power struggle with a Democratic Government that grew more powerful with FDR’s New Deal. They preferred the weak ineffective government that predated the New Deal. A time when plutocrats called the shots and a subservient government danced to their tune, hanging activists and standing by as private militias killed strikers. You can only imagine how they must feel having to answer to OSHA and the EPA and abide by regulations designed to protect the general public from their excesses.
Everything else in their repertoire is a collection of pandering points designed to sway a gullible electorate into supporting their desire to return to their rightful place - ruling the country. The magic of free markets is one of those pandering points. Noncompete agreements would seem to be “in restraint of trade” and obvious violations of anti-trust laws. But, the free in free-markets, just like other freedoms they like to profess, only apply to themselves. Our would-be plutocrats want to be free of a government that restricts their freedom to reign over the rest of us.
Everything else in their repertoire is a collection of pandering points designed to sway a gullible electorate into supporting their desire to return to their rightful place - ruling the country. The magic of free markets is one of those pandering points. Noncompete agreements would seem to be “in restraint of trade” and obvious violations of anti-trust laws. But, the free in free-markets, just like other freedoms they like to profess, only apply to themselves. Our would-be plutocrats want to be free of a government that restricts their freedom to reign over the rest of us.
3
Now States such as Wisconsin have taken away the rights of public employees. Surprise! There is a teacher shortage. Instead of uniting to improve everyone's opportunities, some voters are envious of others with better security and benefits. There are constant efforts to remove teacher tenure and make it easier to fire all public employees some of whom need their health insurance; therefore are stuck. America,it has become a lose,lose situation for workers.
3
One of my experiences working in an innovative urban public school was investing in bright young teachers by training them for specials skills only to have them leave for better paying suburban schools as math or reading specialists...taking with them the time and money invested in them. But...what about the kids they were specially trained to teach, Dr. Krugman?
I guess you could hire experienced teachers who cost more instead of hiring kids just out of school and paying them peanuts? Or you could offer better pay or better working conditions to entice people to stay?
You want it both ways. You want to pay people dirt to work like a dog at a bad job, AND you want them bound to you for life in return for the favor.
You want it both ways. You want to pay people dirt to work like a dog at a bad job, AND you want them bound to you for life in return for the favor.
1
Like other progressives, Paul Krugman confuses freedom with free lunches and entitlements.
Freedom does not mean being free from burdensome debts or obligations. It means the right to incur those debts in the first place.
Take marriage. No one would say that a man who gets married has been deprived of his freedom because he is not free to fool around anymore. Pardon the oxymoron, but freedom consists in the right to choose how, and on what terms, to surrender our freedom.
Noncompete clauses are freely chosen by employees. In exchange, employees get jobs they might not have otherwise and/or they got better compensation packages. They are PAID for the noncompete clauses. As the job market tightens, they may come to regret their decisions, but that is the price of freedom. (If the clauses are hidden in verbiage, then our courts won't enforce them).
And if employees with pre-existing conditions are not free to quit their current employers, that that is the result of a monstrously stupid decision by our government to force employers (like widget manufacturers) to provide for Americans' health insurance -- at a monstrous cost to taxpayers. Let's have catastrophic health insurance and return tax dollars to taxpayers to fund their own health insurance. Now that would be freedom!
Finally, if you are burdened by student loans and other debts, that is not an infringement on your freedom. It is the result of your EXERCISE of your freedom.
Freedom does not mean being free from burdensome debts or obligations. It means the right to incur those debts in the first place.
Take marriage. No one would say that a man who gets married has been deprived of his freedom because he is not free to fool around anymore. Pardon the oxymoron, but freedom consists in the right to choose how, and on what terms, to surrender our freedom.
Noncompete clauses are freely chosen by employees. In exchange, employees get jobs they might not have otherwise and/or they got better compensation packages. They are PAID for the noncompete clauses. As the job market tightens, they may come to regret their decisions, but that is the price of freedom. (If the clauses are hidden in verbiage, then our courts won't enforce them).
And if employees with pre-existing conditions are not free to quit their current employers, that that is the result of a monstrously stupid decision by our government to force employers (like widget manufacturers) to provide for Americans' health insurance -- at a monstrous cost to taxpayers. Let's have catastrophic health insurance and return tax dollars to taxpayers to fund their own health insurance. Now that would be freedom!
Finally, if you are burdened by student loans and other debts, that is not an infringement on your freedom. It is the result of your EXERCISE of your freedom.
3
One cannot be free if he is dependent on employers for health care, one cannot be free if she can't afford good advanced education, one can't be free if he has been schooled in failed and failing schools, one can't be free if dependent on a spouse's or partner's income, a parent(s) can’t be free to have and raise a family when there is no affordable/good child care available, one cannot be free if the anxiety of not being able to afford to retire and survive dogs them day and night, one cannot be free if her creed, sex, race, origin, religion, atheism or agnosticism is disallowed, one cannot be free in a country whose citizens fear to tell and to demand that THEIR country do for them, not do to them by coddling the rich. Demand that your country do for you so that you gain the opportunity to be truly free and independent. DEMAND what your country can do for you, not what you must do for it and its elites. One can’t be free if one must live in a country whose citizens refuse to grow up or choose to be exploited to death.
2
According to you I can't be free. In a way you are right. I am dependent on my husbands earnings. I'm disabled & live with constant moderate to severe pain. It's my choice to not take addicting drugs, I live with the result of that choice. It means both my husband & I are less than perfectly free. We did what we could. We didn't have children as I could not have taken care of them. Which leaves us with no one to take us in when he can no longer work. He works hard. He has RhA, Osteo Arthritis, & asthma. We look ahead, hoping we get to 72 at least before he can't work anymore. I am looking in to starting SS on my 67th birthday (if it still exists), we can either sock it away or live on it, while a comparable amount is taken from his paycheck into his sad looking 401k (company didn't start those until about 10 years ago). We are not ignoring life now. My Mom & Dad did. They had all these plans to travel, they got to FL once to see Mom's sister. Mom told me when we got back from our honeymoon she had a diagnosis of Chronic Leukemia, forecast, 10 years. She did live that long, mostly so sick they couldn't go out, let alone travel. So, we will not put everything off. If it means we starve, so be it. My mobility is limited, but, we are grabbing it & doing what we want, now, before it gets worse, which it will. If SS & Medicare disappear, then there is no reason to be a good little girl. I will do my best to take out those responsible for my coming death. Ryan first.
Between arbitration clauses, noncompete clauses and part-times workers being forced into "on-call" situations where they must be available at all times and are frequently sent home only a few hours into their shifts, yes, we are all on our way to being virtual slaves. We have mostly Republican politicians to thank for that. There is no reason our government should be allowing American consumers and workers to be treated this way.
My husband had to nearly beg the company which had laid him off to allow him out of his noncompete clause so that he could accept another job. Yes, even companies which no longer want to employ you are enforcing noncompete clauses. If a company knows you're covered by one of these clauses, they will not hire you. They don't want to wind up in court. How is this not slavery, when corporations control your very ability to accept a job?
My husband had to nearly beg the company which had laid him off to allow him out of his noncompete clause so that he could accept another job. Yes, even companies which no longer want to employ you are enforcing noncompete clauses. If a company knows you're covered by one of these clauses, they will not hire you. They don't want to wind up in court. How is this not slavery, when corporations control your very ability to accept a job?
Mr Trump may be the most incompetent man in the room, but this is not "Trumpcare" anymore than it is "Obamacare". It is rather the health care that our Congress will allow to pass which is to say it is "Congresscare" with emphasis on the last syllable
As noted this formula amounts to as little as their private for profit bosses who dole out campaign checks will allow.
Mr Trump and Mr Pence along with his less than stellar cast on stage for what has thus far been a less than stellar production are the same actors performing the same tricks.
If reason ruled, with rare exception the present House and Senate seats would all be replaced.
As noted this formula amounts to as little as their private for profit bosses who dole out campaign checks will allow.
Mr Trump and Mr Pence along with his less than stellar cast on stage for what has thus far been a less than stellar production are the same actors performing the same tricks.
If reason ruled, with rare exception the present House and Senate seats would all be replaced.
3
And the current regime & most of congress would hang, in public, with large crowds applauding.
How you ask? The Citizens' Army. The one the Founding Fathers said was our Obligation to organize, march armed on DC & take out those who want full control of us & this country. Someone, or someones would be our dictator (singular or by committee). That is the Freedom that those sickening but t wipes want for us. Oh who are they? The Freedom caucus, all members of congress who have been embezzling from the SS & Medicare Trust Funds since they started $3 trillion so far. Those who didn't actively embezzle know/knew about it, & so are complicit in the thefts. All assets liquid & real will be taken from them, their estates (the embezzlement started when SS did, in the mid 30's, so some are dead), from their descendants. Whether still in congress, retired, or not reelected. The real assets will be sold & all put in the 2 trust funds. They owe us $3 trillion PLUS INTEREST. The highest interest rates since the 30's. Only fair. You youngin's better be careful. Enough Baby Boomers around to take congress & pass a law that all Boomers get optimum SS & Medicare. The rest of you get some if there is any left over. Keep paying. Keep your congresspeople at work & getting richer. Maybe you'll get 1 cent on the dollar. Better start saving 85% of your gross income now, so you can afford to retire when you are at the retirement age that will be enforce when you get old. Say 95. Till then, work hard
How you ask? The Citizens' Army. The one the Founding Fathers said was our Obligation to organize, march armed on DC & take out those who want full control of us & this country. Someone, or someones would be our dictator (singular or by committee). That is the Freedom that those sickening but t wipes want for us. Oh who are they? The Freedom caucus, all members of congress who have been embezzling from the SS & Medicare Trust Funds since they started $3 trillion so far. Those who didn't actively embezzle know/knew about it, & so are complicit in the thefts. All assets liquid & real will be taken from them, their estates (the embezzlement started when SS did, in the mid 30's, so some are dead), from their descendants. Whether still in congress, retired, or not reelected. The real assets will be sold & all put in the 2 trust funds. They owe us $3 trillion PLUS INTEREST. The highest interest rates since the 30's. Only fair. You youngin's better be careful. Enough Baby Boomers around to take congress & pass a law that all Boomers get optimum SS & Medicare. The rest of you get some if there is any left over. Keep paying. Keep your congresspeople at work & getting richer. Maybe you'll get 1 cent on the dollar. Better start saving 85% of your gross income now, so you can afford to retire when you are at the retirement age that will be enforce when you get old. Say 95. Till then, work hard
The land of Push 1, Push 2 …Push X is not the land of freedom.People who work at a computer never smile and that is not the land three. There are fewer and fewer who march to their own drummer.
Just like Trump and his ilk can't handle the truth, free market capitalists and their large companies can't handle the competition - which is why they merge to get rid of competition and buy out small companies with great ideas to "disappear" them.
The company that enforces a non-compete should be forced to continue paying the salary with benefits of the former employee until the non-compete clause is no longer in effect. Non-compete = a slave-market.
Indeed, debt is the new slavery (serfdom).
The company that enforces a non-compete should be forced to continue paying the salary with benefits of the former employee until the non-compete clause is no longer in effect. Non-compete = a slave-market.
Indeed, debt is the new slavery (serfdom).
4
The most freeing policy change for most workers would be nationalized health care.
6
The article forgot the bypassing of the fundamental right to sue when cheated, by the massive proliferation of mandatory arbitration agreements.
3
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Corporations of America, and to the economy for which they stand, one company, under management, with liberty and justice for those who can afford it.
5
'Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?'
Well-known quote from Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'.
Also the title of a forthcoming position paper from the Trump Labour Department.
Well-known quote from Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'.
Also the title of a forthcoming position paper from the Trump Labour Department.
3
There are still work farms in rural areas. I know of one in NH. It's changed a bit. Now, to get in (it calls it'self assisted living now), you must sign over all property, bank accounts, SS & Medicare. For that you get a bed, 3 meals a day, & some health care. At least through last year they still farmed some of the land. Corn. Maybe just to keep people from seeing into the land, or to make some money. They may even make those even remotely able bodied work on 'the farm'. Not much data out there that is trustable.
It's the modern equivalent now of a poor farm. Though they make you begger yourself before you move in. It's not for the real poor. Just those they can make poor, who have no one else.
It's the modern equivalent now of a poor farm. Though they make you begger yourself before you move in. It's not for the real poor. Just those they can make poor, who have no one else.
1
"Russian peasants were once tied to their masters’ land. And the people pushing them down that road are the very people who cry “freedom” the loudest."
Well said.
The difference is that the masters "land" is now the Masters corporations and the masters bought and paid for members of the senate, congress, and executive branches of our government, and let us not forget their most recent purchase, Neil Gorsuch,.
These folks have stolen democracy from the sleeping, uninvolved, comfortable, individuals who were to busy to pay attention enough to even vote.
Trump is the traditional wake up call provided by the forces of evolution whenever the people get too satisfied to be conscious of what it takes to have a democracy or freedom and liberty for all.
We need a rebellion and an evolution. Forget about revolutions all they do is change the names of the rulers. Humanity needs to become conscious of its interrelated reality. Liberty for all, means Liberty for everyone. If it is Good it is Good for everyone. Some are NOT more equal than others. When people are dying because they cannot get health care, We are dying. The little child lying dead on the beach was our child....
Competitive Capitalism is a killer of billions. It is the height of absurdity to think that a person can own the Planet's oil or gold or anything else. The Planet has been here for uncountable billions of years. How can anyone own even a grain of sand.
Well said.
The difference is that the masters "land" is now the Masters corporations and the masters bought and paid for members of the senate, congress, and executive branches of our government, and let us not forget their most recent purchase, Neil Gorsuch,.
These folks have stolen democracy from the sleeping, uninvolved, comfortable, individuals who were to busy to pay attention enough to even vote.
Trump is the traditional wake up call provided by the forces of evolution whenever the people get too satisfied to be conscious of what it takes to have a democracy or freedom and liberty for all.
We need a rebellion and an evolution. Forget about revolutions all they do is change the names of the rulers. Humanity needs to become conscious of its interrelated reality. Liberty for all, means Liberty for everyone. If it is Good it is Good for everyone. Some are NOT more equal than others. When people are dying because they cannot get health care, We are dying. The little child lying dead on the beach was our child....
Competitive Capitalism is a killer of billions. It is the height of absurdity to think that a person can own the Planet's oil or gold or anything else. The Planet has been here for uncountable billions of years. How can anyone own even a grain of sand.
2
As a senior who has spent a career in the turbulence of book and magazine publishing, I've always had to try to hang on to a job with benefits, having had a "pre-existing condition" since doctors damaged my kidneys when I was a child. I had a friend whose diabetes and other congenital health problems made it difficult to hold a job, and he married a friend whose company benefits would cover him, though the prospect of her finding a real fiancé was a worry. It's always seemed a bit pathetic to me that America, which is supposed to be such a paragon among nations, falls so far behind the rest of the world in giving its citizens the simple and vital health coverage--and freedom--that other countries manage to deliver to theirs. Obamacare was a wonderful step in the right direction--so of course, the Republicans have been tearing it down from the start, and are well on the way to throwing millions back into the unhealthy dark ages of capitalist greed.
2
Freedom for one tends to be burdening another. One person's absolute freedom becomes that person's abuse of others.
We are a land of that abusive absolute freedom for those with serious money.
We are a land of that abusive absolute freedom for those with serious money.
6
For 30 years I have been complaining about the problems of depending on employers for health and retirement benefits. Now economists finally seemed to have figured this out. When are economists going to look forward instead of backwards?
9
We've elected politicians from both parties who support the anti-union, "free market," neoliberal ideology, which badly harms workers and enriches corporations and billionaires.
We've told ourselves--as the recent Miss America reiterated--that the bootstrap mythology is reality, and that basic things like health care are not a right, but a privilege.
We idealize "businessmen," and have now elected two (George W. Bush--anyone remember how his "business" experience was going to be great after Bill Clinton's very successful but flawed tenure?), the most recent, Donald J. Trump, proving to be a total disaster and even worse for the 99%.
Our Congress and our media, including you, Professor Krugman, have mostly looked the other way when it comes to H1B visa abuse, non-compete clauses, untrammeled immigration violations, and other awful moves global businesses have used to their advantage and the disadvantage of US workers. Maybe one of these days you'll talk about neoliberalism, fake "reform," etc. We're still waiting.
And on and on it goes. Maybe we voters will wake up because very few politicians (save Bernie Sanders) of either major party, not just the GOP, seem capable of doing so, especially given how much money the wealthy and powerful pour into their pockets.
We've told ourselves--as the recent Miss America reiterated--that the bootstrap mythology is reality, and that basic things like health care are not a right, but a privilege.
We idealize "businessmen," and have now elected two (George W. Bush--anyone remember how his "business" experience was going to be great after Bill Clinton's very successful but flawed tenure?), the most recent, Donald J. Trump, proving to be a total disaster and even worse for the 99%.
Our Congress and our media, including you, Professor Krugman, have mostly looked the other way when it comes to H1B visa abuse, non-compete clauses, untrammeled immigration violations, and other awful moves global businesses have used to their advantage and the disadvantage of US workers. Maybe one of these days you'll talk about neoliberalism, fake "reform," etc. We're still waiting.
And on and on it goes. Maybe we voters will wake up because very few politicians (save Bernie Sanders) of either major party, not just the GOP, seem capable of doing so, especially given how much money the wealthy and powerful pour into their pockets.
4
Our most important "infrastructure" is a well qualified, healthy and secure labor force. Universal health care would contribute mightily to the "healthy-secure" part, freeing workers from the overwhelming fear of health collapse or medical bankruptcy. For-profit health insurance and its co-dependence with big corporations are counter-productive for everyone else, suppressing actually free enterprize.
6
Why does Krugman assume mousetrap engineers are female? Politically correct language constraints are yet another reason Americans are less free.
1
Making the engineer male is just a different, more traditional, form of political correctness.
This is another example of the dopey double-bind. If the article referenced male mousetrap engineers, you'd claim sexism and gender bias. Highlighting a rhetorical device to discredit a cogent argument does no credit either to the argument or to the complainer.
2
It is telling that this is your biggest concern after reading this editorial. I could well ask you the same question - why in the world did you stop in your tracks at the notion that the engineer might possibly be female?
Checkers or chess? If the electorate continues to make 'checkers' decisions with their choices then we will continue to have these same old discussions. Maybe high school students should be required to take a chess class before they graduate. Somehow the very people that need to be thinking like a chess player insist on making the checkers moves. Ughhhh.
3
"noncompete clauses are in many cases less about protecting trade secrets than they are about tying workers to their current employers, unable to bargain for better wages or quit to take better jobs."
Another reason for noncompete clauses is that the big corporation may not wish to pursue a proposal by some employees for a proposed venture. The noncompete clause is used to prevent these folks from forming their own start-up. The reasons may be many, but as the history of the semiconductor industry shows, the primary reason is that the big company CEOs have no understanding of the proposal, but don't want their valuable employees to leave. Time and again innovation was obstructed and only released after legal suits were settled between the big players and small start-ups.
Another reason for noncompete clauses is that the big corporation may not wish to pursue a proposal by some employees for a proposed venture. The noncompete clause is used to prevent these folks from forming their own start-up. The reasons may be many, but as the history of the semiconductor industry shows, the primary reason is that the big company CEOs have no understanding of the proposal, but don't want their valuable employees to leave. Time and again innovation was obstructed and only released after legal suits were settled between the big players and small start-ups.
5
The only "freedom" conservatives truly believe in is the freedom of the wealthy from taxes.
7
What does American "freedom" cost, not just in dollars, but also in daily anxiety?
Imagine for a moment that you lived in a country like Finland. Republicans warn you that you wouldn't be free. But you wouldn't have to worry about finding good schooling for your children. Imagine, no matter where you moved, your neighborhood school would be excellent - not just good, excellent.
Nor would you have to worry about having excellent health care available to you and your family, because it's everywhere. Would you feel bad not being tied to your job because of the health benefits it comports? Probably not.
Oh, and how about childcare? In Finland you'd be truly free - to forget about spending hours and hours finding care for your children, because in countries like Finland, it's always there.
Same for elder care. "Luckily" for Americans, we can be "free" to spend a lot of our time finding suitable care for our aged relatives. Poor Finns, they have to put up with readily accessible, high quality facilities.
When you consider how much time and anxiety Americans invest just in navigating the barebones patchwork of basic human services that our "free" enterprise system supplies, is it a fair trade-off? Personally, I don't think so.
Imagine for a moment that you lived in a country like Finland. Republicans warn you that you wouldn't be free. But you wouldn't have to worry about finding good schooling for your children. Imagine, no matter where you moved, your neighborhood school would be excellent - not just good, excellent.
Nor would you have to worry about having excellent health care available to you and your family, because it's everywhere. Would you feel bad not being tied to your job because of the health benefits it comports? Probably not.
Oh, and how about childcare? In Finland you'd be truly free - to forget about spending hours and hours finding care for your children, because in countries like Finland, it's always there.
Same for elder care. "Luckily" for Americans, we can be "free" to spend a lot of our time finding suitable care for our aged relatives. Poor Finns, they have to put up with readily accessible, high quality facilities.
When you consider how much time and anxiety Americans invest just in navigating the barebones patchwork of basic human services that our "free" enterprise system supplies, is it a fair trade-off? Personally, I don't think so.
11
But liberals also don't like Finland. They want it to be more like Africa, South and Central America, Middle East, and Asia.
Maybe liberals just like to complain.
Maybe liberals just like to complain.
Friedman's "free to choose" translated: free to work for a pittance and be poor, hungry and sick, or to be a beggar on the street.
"Road to serfdom" is ridiculous hyperbole. Our workers have more rights than any time in history and their compensation is four times greater than Chinese and nine times greater than India.
Still, many readers blast Krugman for not being radical leftist enough.
No wonder people just elected a real nut case like Trump with so many pushing a distorted reality.
Still, many readers blast Krugman for not being radical leftist enough.
No wonder people just elected a real nut case like Trump with so many pushing a distorted reality.
1
larryo, when was the last time you complained about a serious violation at work? Rest assured that your complaint would be written down and you would be told it would be looked into. Then, if you company decides to downsize, you will be among the chosen who are asked to leave.
American workers have rights on paper. As soon as we walk into the workplace we have no rights but what our employers "grant" us. And in some cases our employers reach into our personal lives and govern them as well. While we may be well compensated in comparison to India and China, we are not well compensated in comparison to Europe. Our social safety net has so many holes in it that the best that can be said for it is that it exists in name but not in practice. The real winners in America, thanks to our elected officials in Congress (which is where the power to legislate resides), are not Americans. Corporations, the economic elites; they are the winners. They get government handouts and welfare while we're told that we don't deserve it.
American workers have rights on paper. As soon as we walk into the workplace we have no rights but what our employers "grant" us. And in some cases our employers reach into our personal lives and govern them as well. While we may be well compensated in comparison to India and China, we are not well compensated in comparison to Europe. Our social safety net has so many holes in it that the best that can be said for it is that it exists in name but not in practice. The real winners in America, thanks to our elected officials in Congress (which is where the power to legislate resides), are not Americans. Corporations, the economic elites; they are the winners. They get government handouts and welfare while we're told that we don't deserve it.
7
You mean rights like " right to work"
laws? Where any power the worker has to go on strike
is decimated,?
The right to have unaffordable healthcare ,
the right to have your pension taken away and have your job outsourced , the right to lack of decent
minimum wage, sick days, maternity leave ?
All those rights are what American workers have
and we are so free!
laws? Where any power the worker has to go on strike
is decimated,?
The right to have unaffordable healthcare ,
the right to have your pension taken away and have your job outsourced , the right to lack of decent
minimum wage, sick days, maternity leave ?
All those rights are what American workers have
and we are so free!
3
Why compare to India and China when it should be apples to apples aka European workers. Perhaps because that comparison would then prove Krugman's point?
3
The appropriate descriptive moniker for the Republican repeal and replace is TrumpNOcare.
4
As Janis Joplin told us... "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose." In that case, American workers are probably more free than they have ever been.
8
We don't have to worry as much about "Big Brother" as we have to worry about big corporations. We are becoming oppressed by corporate America. You can be sued in some states by saying bad things about beef. I think Oprah was sued for that.
It's corporations that are gathering immense databases of information about all of us, not the government. They can pinpoint exactly who you are based on what you buy and where you buy it. Collectively this data gives them information about your income, voting habits, etc. And they sell it to any other corporation that wants it.
It's corporations that are gathering immense databases of information about all of us, not the government. They can pinpoint exactly who you are based on what you buy and where you buy it. Collectively this data gives them information about your income, voting habits, etc. And they sell it to any other corporation that wants it.
7
It's also commonly called Fascism.
The nub of the problem is that the workers do not know who to blame. Given the last election, they found Hillary culpable even though Republican mercantilism seeks to protect businesses over workers.
The Utopian Socialists see no difference between the parties even though Obama tried to enhance worker protections. See Cornell West rail against Hillary on Bill Mahar's show last Friday night.
We have a large segment of our population which is easily distracted by bright shiny objects as they cannot make more than superficial distinctions. They are useful to the dominate Republican ideology which is to pay the workers as little as they can.
Those emails, that is what was important.
The Utopian Socialists see no difference between the parties even though Obama tried to enhance worker protections. See Cornell West rail against Hillary on Bill Mahar's show last Friday night.
We have a large segment of our population which is easily distracted by bright shiny objects as they cannot make more than superficial distinctions. They are useful to the dominate Republican ideology which is to pay the workers as little as they can.
Those emails, that is what was important.
7
Obama tried to enhance worker protections? With what?
Worse are the mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts which say you can't take your employer to court, you can only use an arbitrator selected by the employer to settle a dispute. If an employee steals from the company, the employee goes to court; if the company steals from the employee, the company goes to an arbitrator which they and other companies use over and over again. The employer deducts taxes from the employee's wages which go in part to support the court system, but if you want the job, you have to sign away your right to access the courts..
7
The scariest thing for those with pre existing conditions is trying to keep a job when the employer finds out about their health issue. Since the insurance companies can raise the rates for a business if they have too large a percentage of workers with pre existing conditions, the employer can find any nit-picky reason to fire them, especially just before the cutoff when they would qualify for unemployment insurance. Then their work records look funny because they change jobs too often and have gaps in their work experience. My eight year old granddaughter has a preexisting condition: her mother's MS even though it is not considered genetic. So she is on Medicaid for as long as it lasts and my daughter will be applying for Medicaid as well as she has had only seasonal employment as a ski instructor and then a counselor for emotionally disturbed children when school is in session.
6
There's a reason that Silicon Valley is in our fair little corner of the globe, and it has nothing to do with the weather.
Imperfectly protected secrets do leak, much to every individual employer's dismay, but to the benefit of the system as a whole. And the free flow of genius serves both the pace of innovation and the interests of workers in being paid what they're worth.
It matters a great deal - witness Steve Jobs, American hero, who enforced a blatantly illegal conspiracy with other pliant tech titans, to not hire each other's highly-valued engineers. Their shameful attempt to circumvent Business & Professions Code 16600, which voids non-compete clauses in employment contracts, is ample evidence of its value to workers.
Imperfectly protected secrets do leak, much to every individual employer's dismay, but to the benefit of the system as a whole. And the free flow of genius serves both the pace of innovation and the interests of workers in being paid what they're worth.
It matters a great deal - witness Steve Jobs, American hero, who enforced a blatantly illegal conspiracy with other pliant tech titans, to not hire each other's highly-valued engineers. Their shameful attempt to circumvent Business & Professions Code 16600, which voids non-compete clauses in employment contracts, is ample evidence of its value to workers.
3
When ObamaCare was passed, in 2010, 59% of the population, workers plus their families, were covered by employer health insurance. That was a year after the Bush recession had ended. In 2016, that percentage was down to 49%. There were 40 million uninsured, and now there are 30 million uninsured. ObamaCare made things worse for most people. Although it is true that some people felt trapped in jobs because they needed health insurance for their sick family members, before ObamaCare, there were more jobs out there with coverage. ObamaCare has reduced the probability that someone can get a new job with a new employer that provides health insurance.
Under the proposed Republican plan, premiums for young working families will be much lower than under ObamaCare. People who are continuously insured for 12 months are entitled to community rating regardless of health condition. The only people who would be in trouble are those who wait until they get sick to buy health insurance. Guess what, if you have a pre-existing condition, keep your insurance current.
Under the proposed Republican plan, premiums for young working families will be much lower than under ObamaCare. People who are continuously insured for 12 months are entitled to community rating regardless of health condition. The only people who would be in trouble are those who wait until they get sick to buy health insurance. Guess what, if you have a pre-existing condition, keep your insurance current.
3
You blame Obamacare for the decline, but the decline is comparable to what was happening before Obamacare. Going back another ten years, 69% were covered by employers in 2000 (compared to 59% in 2010). The primary cause of the drop in the decade before Obamacare was that employer health insurance costs doubled between 2000 and 2010. It's hard for me to imagine that this may surprise some people, but health care costs had been rising sharply for a long while before Obamacare took effect. While that trend has continued, Obamacare softens the blow for some people by providing subsidies and expanding Medicaid.
1
Sharecropper America. We are all indebted to the company store; it trains us and owns us. Our government won't provide money to educate or train us, so we rely increasingly on employers, unless we are college material, and then that debt defines our future. As long as money = speech and voters are dumbed down, this won't get better. We've been groomed for a Trump by Corporate Media and now we've got him.
Anyone of you folks writing for the NYT ever sit around and ask yourself where the editorial decision to cover Trump but not Bernie got you?
Anyone of you folks writing for the NYT ever sit around and ask yourself where the editorial decision to cover Trump but not Bernie got you?
9
One of the main problems in this nation is a lack of knowledge of history. It turns out that the Nazis based their "racial policies" on Jim Crow, and that Americans still can be bamboozled into backing some sort of wage slavery instead of a prosperous, productive working class. The only time this doesn't seem to be the case is when the entire nation is threatened, as in World War II, when people of all wealth levels appeared to pitch in.
Perhaps we should consider what happened with this election as a de facto occupation by an oligarchic Russia. Putin & Co. were successful in "buying" the English "United Kingdom Independence Party," as a way to neutralize England (by having its parts vote to separate, and to separate from the EU), as well as purchasing Le Pen (whose trip to Moscow before the election reeked of collaboration), not to mention TeamTrump. Big business (and that includes INTERNATIONAL big business) made out very well with Hitler. Indeed, a wonderful novel by Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow," makes World War II appear to be a form of intramural sport by the corporate world which played both sides.
Why is it that novelists (and, especially, science-fiction novelists) view the world and its problems more correctly than either the media or the voters?
Perhaps we should consider what happened with this election as a de facto occupation by an oligarchic Russia. Putin & Co. were successful in "buying" the English "United Kingdom Independence Party," as a way to neutralize England (by having its parts vote to separate, and to separate from the EU), as well as purchasing Le Pen (whose trip to Moscow before the election reeked of collaboration), not to mention TeamTrump. Big business (and that includes INTERNATIONAL big business) made out very well with Hitler. Indeed, a wonderful novel by Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow," makes World War II appear to be a form of intramural sport by the corporate world which played both sides.
Why is it that novelists (and, especially, science-fiction novelists) view the world and its problems more correctly than either the media or the voters?
5
And how do you fool most of the Americans much of the time so they abandon their own best interests for false promises?
Partly it's the conditioning of the American mind through advertising We had colleagues from other countries stay with us years ago, and several of them marveled at how saturated our culture was with advertising. They would say that people in their country would not put up with this--billboards along the highway, interrupted dramas on television, and lots of over-the-top lying about products and promises.
And the conditioning starts young. I remember when Sesame Street first started on TV and became so popular. Joan Cooney, a founder of the show, said the show got children to pay attention and learn by using basic principles of advertising. And now we have Fox News based on the same principles. Watch both shows and see.
The Republican Party, by the way, had been masterful at using principles of advertising, propaganda, & sound bites to advertise its way to power. Some say it started with Nixon's campaign, documented in the best-selling book "The Selling of the President." But the master was Ronald Reagan, who could sell anything, and much of what he sold the American people was the very opposite of what he claimed: trickle-down economics, government is the problem, etc.
So now Big Brother is Business, and "Freedom is slavery." Brought to us by the Republican Party and sponsored by Big Corporate and the mighty 1%.
Quite simple really, and so are we
Partly it's the conditioning of the American mind through advertising We had colleagues from other countries stay with us years ago, and several of them marveled at how saturated our culture was with advertising. They would say that people in their country would not put up with this--billboards along the highway, interrupted dramas on television, and lots of over-the-top lying about products and promises.
And the conditioning starts young. I remember when Sesame Street first started on TV and became so popular. Joan Cooney, a founder of the show, said the show got children to pay attention and learn by using basic principles of advertising. And now we have Fox News based on the same principles. Watch both shows and see.
The Republican Party, by the way, had been masterful at using principles of advertising, propaganda, & sound bites to advertise its way to power. Some say it started with Nixon's campaign, documented in the best-selling book "The Selling of the President." But the master was Ronald Reagan, who could sell anything, and much of what he sold the American people was the very opposite of what he claimed: trickle-down economics, government is the problem, etc.
So now Big Brother is Business, and "Freedom is slavery." Brought to us by the Republican Party and sponsored by Big Corporate and the mighty 1%.
Quite simple really, and so are we
Dr. K.: You're omitting the largest vehicle in our capitalist system that encourages a twenty first century version of serfdom, credit. The extension of credit has allowed banks, even retail to thrive on their ability to tietth the masses through exorbitant interest charges, even Macys derived forty percent of its income from its ability to charge extortion levels of interest to its least well off customers and banks all seem to know where the pot of gold lies as they fight for your credit card business, even Goldman Sachs got in on the retail side of banking having more to do with the ability to issue credit cards I suspect than, perish the thought, offer savings accounts that paid an amount reflecting the actual rate of inflation. We now have, as a nation, the unenviable position of deriving seventy percent of our G.D.P. (actually dependent on this proclivity)from the ability of people to purchase goods they can't afford and don't need while the financial services industry, this would include insurance as well as banking cartels, constitute a large portion of the rest of what passes for productivity in America. We have even done this as a nation, borrowing to fund wars or tax cuts for the rich, we now find ourselves in the same position as the wage slave who barely makes their interest charges each month, the difference being sums as China finances our trillion dollar wars, The Saudis appear to be financing our infrastructure, and we lurch from one bubble to the next.
5
But, Ted, all you will do about it is vote (maybe) every 2 years, often without researching the candidates beyond what your favorite TV station says. Then if it turns out wrong, you whimper, saying, why didn't everyone vote like 'I' did. Then everything would be fine. Except it wouldn't be. You just sit & decide that elections are our only way to go. Never look into anything else. Just sit rocking on your front porch, saying 'woe is me, why doesn't someone DO something'. Well you are a someone, get off your duff, decide what you will do, so millions won't be at risk of dying because congress wants us dead (waste of space, & older people are apt to be more frugal than the young, so when they live with their descendants they sometimes put a stop to reckless spending, that must STOP). Spend, spend, spend. To top it off, middle aged & younger say, 'it's just politics as usual. What's to fight over, next election things will probably flip.' Lets have another beer with a shot, or 6.
1
Non-compete clauses are probably more common in the tech industry, for the exact reason that Paul talks about, IP. Not sure if they are really that much of a concern for other industries where the rate of "innovation" is not as rapid as in tech/software/computers.
I see comments below about union busting etc. It seems to me that Americans themselves are ambivalent on the unioin's role. At any rate, automation is relentlessly going to cut down the ability of humans to negotiate and demand. Only when there is another "French Revoluion-esque" situation happens will the social compact change.
I see comments below about union busting etc. It seems to me that Americans themselves are ambivalent on the unioin's role. At any rate, automation is relentlessly going to cut down the ability of humans to negotiate and demand. Only when there is another "French Revoluion-esque" situation happens will the social compact change.
1
I have said this for a long time. Many people are stuck in miserable jobs because they are not sure what kind of health insurance they can get. That includes people without pre-existing conditions.
3
"We forget that past gains in workers rights were not handed out generously by companies or government."
The only right the worker has is to sell his or her her time and skills. There is no right or promise that our choices will lead to an income and benefits that will sustain our family much less our selves. With these legal shackles, what may have been a good choice when made is now a form of bondage. The real "rule" is that only some few people are actually free, those who can afford it.
The only right the worker has is to sell his or her her time and skills. There is no right or promise that our choices will lead to an income and benefits that will sustain our family much less our selves. With these legal shackles, what may have been a good choice when made is now a form of bondage. The real "rule" is that only some few people are actually free, those who can afford it.
Dr Krugman - additional front: the "Freedom (for big business) Caucas" is pushing to allow employer-provided-insurance discrimination, under the "employee wellness" programs. If you don't get the DNA test for the program, your premiums go way up.
Ever wonder why big employers don't support single-player or Obamacare? You would think getting rid of those employee benefit programs, distractions & costs would be hugely attractive. Dr Krugman nails it: serfdom!
Ever wonder why big employers don't support single-player or Obamacare? You would think getting rid of those employee benefit programs, distractions & costs would be hugely attractive. Dr Krugman nails it: serfdom!
3
>30 million workers now covered by noncompete agreements, who may find themselves all but unemployable if they quit their current jobs; the 52 million Americans with pre-existing conditions who will be effectively unable to buy individual health insurance, and hence stuck with their current employers, if the Freedom Caucus gets its way; and the millions of Americans burdened down by heavy student and other debt.
Abolish the laws, in our decreasingly free society, which caused these situations. Abolish a century of Regressive, anti-individual rights govt economic controls. Free businessmen from govt chains, as was done in the most economically productive era in history, the late 19th century, the Inventive Age. Free man's independent mind from slavery to the dependent minds of Leftists and conservatives.
Abolish the laws, in our decreasingly free society, which caused these situations. Abolish a century of Regressive, anti-individual rights govt economic controls. Free businessmen from govt chains, as was done in the most economically productive era in history, the late 19th century, the Inventive Age. Free man's independent mind from slavery to the dependent minds of Leftists and conservatives.
In all most every discussion of healthcare issues, there is a reference to the origin of the problem being the coverage provided to some employees being not taxable to the recipient, yet few articles address correcting this "tax loop hole".
Depending on applicable state law, a non-compete agreement could be unenforceable as contrary to public policy -- the right to work where and for whom one chooses. But to assert that right usually requires the employee to hire a lawyer, and the cost can be prohibitive. To avoid court litigation, many employers include mandatory arbitration provisions along with non-competes. In addition, employers are typically permitted to deprive a departing employee of benefits like deferred compensation and contractual bonuses. So the odds are stacked against most employees, and the likelihood of that changing is nil. It's even difficult for an employee to find an employer willing to hire her because prospective employers typically ask applicants to disclose their current employment agreements, and employers don't want to get dragged into litigation with the current employer on the basis of alleged "interference" with the current contract.
117
The continuing and aggressive onslaught of attacks on the quality of life in the U.S. by the “Freedom Caucus” Tea Party Republican fanatics and Christian Fascist extremists whether it is healthcare, LGBT issues, public education, student debt, women’s health and right to choose, contraception availability, equal pay, minimum wage, unions, right to vote, child support, etc. is unending and unprecedented with Trumpism both at the federal and state level. It is an ongoing downward spiral of a national nightmare!
4
So, Ken, what have Americans done is situations like this before? WE FIGHT. I don't mean sit around crying 'unfair' 'unfair' until the next election. I mean organize, buy a gun if you don't have one, & march, both on DC & the necessary state capitals. Either these unAmerican corporate 'individuals' (no such thing, but, some think they are) start behaving like decent people, or they will be hung themselves. Upper management will hang (as any person who has committed treason should), middle management will spend many years in solitary, the buildings emptied,& the corporate buildings executed by explosives. No more corporation. After the first few, corporations will give up the idiocy that a corporation is a person. People can be executed. I've just described how corporations can be too.
The Founding Fathers gave us a way to keep this country free. It takes courage, but, the Obligation is in the Declaration of Independence, the means in the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution: A non governmental Militia. We can arm ourselves, march to DC, arrest, convict, sentence, & hang the regime & most of congress. All assets of the convicted & their families will go to replenish the SS & Medicare Trust Funds they have been embezzling from since day one. $3 trillion so far. All who don't hang will spend along time in prison, in solitary, all assets also sold & put in those Funds. All assets former members of congress have or their descendants have, the estates have, all to those funds.
The Founding Fathers gave us a way to keep this country free. It takes courage, but, the Obligation is in the Declaration of Independence, the means in the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution: A non governmental Militia. We can arm ourselves, march to DC, arrest, convict, sentence, & hang the regime & most of congress. All assets of the convicted & their families will go to replenish the SS & Medicare Trust Funds they have been embezzling from since day one. $3 trillion so far. All who don't hang will spend along time in prison, in solitary, all assets also sold & put in those Funds. All assets former members of congress have or their descendants have, the estates have, all to those funds.
So many mainstream U.S. economists are cheerleaders for the status quo. They are very comfortable staring into the rear-view mirror. Scanning the forward horizon is not their forte.
Rose Friedman, Milton Friedman's wife, herself completed an ABD in Economics and held a bachelors degree in philosophy from Reed College. Her comments with respect to economists and economic theories are particularly instructive:
"I have always been impressed by the ability to predict an economist's positive (meaning economically scientific ) view from my knowledge of his political orientation, and I have never been able to persuade myself that the political orientation was the consequence of the positive views. My husband continues to resist this conclusion, no doubt because of his unwillingness to believe that his own positive views can be so explained . . . ." From: Milton and Rose Friedman, "Two Lucky People" (University of Chicago Press, 1998) pp. 217-218.
Ideological blinkers inhibit foresight.
Rose Friedman, Milton Friedman's wife, herself completed an ABD in Economics and held a bachelors degree in philosophy from Reed College. Her comments with respect to economists and economic theories are particularly instructive:
"I have always been impressed by the ability to predict an economist's positive (meaning economically scientific ) view from my knowledge of his political orientation, and I have never been able to persuade myself that the political orientation was the consequence of the positive views. My husband continues to resist this conclusion, no doubt because of his unwillingness to believe that his own positive views can be so explained . . . ." From: Milton and Rose Friedman, "Two Lucky People" (University of Chicago Press, 1998) pp. 217-218.
Ideological blinkers inhibit foresight.
2
From the perspective of my country, freedom is freedom to DO things, not freedom FROM something. In that sense Danes are a lot freer than most Americans, because our society actually does something for its members - in return for the contributions to the society which we all make.
7
I love Denmark for many reasons but I'm fed up with smug comparisons by Danes, Swedes and Norwegians to the US. Denmark has, give or take, 5 million fairly homogeneous citizens. We have cities with more people than that. California alone has three cities with more than 1 million people. Apples to oranges...
2
Denmark doesn't have the Ayn Randian capitalism-on-steroids true believers and evangelicals who want to put us all in our places-- under their control-- that we do.
1
It depends on if you define "freedom" as a "bunch of freebies from the government" (that you pay for in taxes).
The Danes pay 61% income tax and a 25% VAT on every single purchase -- but 180% excise tax on any foreign cars (and they don't make any cars there, so that's basically ALL cars).
Is that freedom? is a heavy tax burden "freedom" now?
Also: Denmark is a nearly all-white, ethnically homogenous nation of 4.5 million people -- or half the size of New York City by itself.
The US is 330 million, very diverse people and a huge underclass of poor minorities (30%). We have a very different problem, in size, scale and scope than you Danes have.
The Danes pay 61% income tax and a 25% VAT on every single purchase -- but 180% excise tax on any foreign cars (and they don't make any cars there, so that's basically ALL cars).
Is that freedom? is a heavy tax burden "freedom" now?
Also: Denmark is a nearly all-white, ethnically homogenous nation of 4.5 million people -- or half the size of New York City by itself.
The US is 330 million, very diverse people and a huge underclass of poor minorities (30%). We have a very different problem, in size, scale and scope than you Danes have.
Nothing panics members of the Freedom Caucus more than the idea of freedom --- freedom to register and vote, freedom to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy, freedom to change jobs without suffering a health insurance calamity --- especially as practiced by those in the margins of society.
7
While Republicans obsess with Freedom, Democrats carry on the never ending quest for Justice.
3
So, define justice and how you will achieve (or impose) it.
1
One of my favorite topics -- the conservative perception of "freedom". After many attempts to discuss the subject, I've come to the conclusion that, collectively, most conservatives have given the subject little thought, preferring instead to live in a world of assorted shibboleths. Sorting it out, they seem to say that "freedom" is something like doing whatever one wants, for as long as one can get away with it, and irrespective of the effect on others, including society at large. It's roughly a law-of-the-jungle concept in which the strong prevail, and all others, well, don't much matter. Any lack of wealth, health, or some other form of success is seen as personal failure. And, of course, all this translates into disdain for social programs, which are seen as the province of "takers", diminished moral fibre, and a broad usurpation of the "freedom" of others, namely, namely that of the "makers".
In short, "freedom" is for "winners" -- others, not so much.
In short, "freedom" is for "winners" -- others, not so much.
5
Agreed, Stan. Very well-stated.
Scientific findings do not back up their view of human nature. They've given it plenty of thought though. "When they use Orwellian language, note where it is because it is a guide to where they are vulnerable" (George Lakoff, Don't think of an Elephant!). I urge everyone to read or reread this valuable resource for progressives/liberals.
American materialism results in a skewed value system. It teaches us to always value money and things more than time, leisure and authentic communication. Individualistic accumulation of material goods is always superior to the satisfactions associated with community life. The arts, the quest for ethical and religious integrity, and dedication to the advancement of knowledge are dismissed as mere distractions from this central materialistic goal.
Within our capitalist system, we are conditioned to believe that the best things in life--the satisfactions associated with imagination, communication and reflection--ARE NEVER AND SHOULD NEVER BE FREE. Their value, like the value of all else, is to be solely determined within the context of "free"-market exchanges.
If something cannot be commodified, it is to be dismissed as a deviant distraction from the true business of America.
Within our capitalist system, we are conditioned to believe that the best things in life--the satisfactions associated with imagination, communication and reflection--ARE NEVER AND SHOULD NEVER BE FREE. Their value, like the value of all else, is to be solely determined within the context of "free"-market exchanges.
If something cannot be commodified, it is to be dismissed as a deviant distraction from the true business of America.
5
I've know this for years. People who flip out about the big bad government and black helicopters are willing to hand themselves over, body and soul, to a corporation.
I listen to conservatives a lot. They believe that the CEO and the business owner are guys just like them who worked hard and made good. They are part of the same tribe, is the thinking, and will do right by their own. White, anglo, native-born, Christian males are on the same team.
Lawyers, professors, creatives or politicians, though? They are an un-American, diabolical "elite." Yes, it's partly anti-intellectualism, but if you ask a bit more and probe a bit deeper, you also will hear that "those people are mostly Jews."
I'm fine with people who want to be serfs becoming serfs. But sadly, the Republican army holds the strategic high ground in over-represented exurban areas. The rest of us can object to serfdom all we want, but your company's board just has to pay the right people, and they will muster the Fox News army to make it happen.
Of course, they think the same thing about us. That we control the big bad government via armies of illegally-voting black and brown people who we buy off with welfare. (There are no working black people, in their worldview.)
Sorry for saying this out loud. I know we are supposed to pretend that right-wing Americans are worried about the economy and not a bunch of easily-manipulated idiots who shoot us all in the foot through their ignorance, tribalism, and bigotry.
I listen to conservatives a lot. They believe that the CEO and the business owner are guys just like them who worked hard and made good. They are part of the same tribe, is the thinking, and will do right by their own. White, anglo, native-born, Christian males are on the same team.
Lawyers, professors, creatives or politicians, though? They are an un-American, diabolical "elite." Yes, it's partly anti-intellectualism, but if you ask a bit more and probe a bit deeper, you also will hear that "those people are mostly Jews."
I'm fine with people who want to be serfs becoming serfs. But sadly, the Republican army holds the strategic high ground in over-represented exurban areas. The rest of us can object to serfdom all we want, but your company's board just has to pay the right people, and they will muster the Fox News army to make it happen.
Of course, they think the same thing about us. That we control the big bad government via armies of illegally-voting black and brown people who we buy off with welfare. (There are no working black people, in their worldview.)
Sorry for saying this out loud. I know we are supposed to pretend that right-wing Americans are worried about the economy and not a bunch of easily-manipulated idiots who shoot us all in the foot through their ignorance, tribalism, and bigotry.
11
In MA, workers now remember (as Texans yell 'Remember the Alamo') a couple years ago, when the words were REMEMBER MARKETBASKET! A supermarket chain whose owners (family business) were at war with each other & took it out on the workers. So, they struck. They worked out a system where there were a few people in each store. To help customers, keeping the stores open for them. Not long after the strike started the customers came out on the workers side. Oh, the comments on local newspaper & TV stations. 'Don't like the way things are run, find another job, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO STRIKE.' It went on a long time. Finally the side of the family who wanted to pay the least possible, make everyone part time so they wouldn't have to offer health insurance, make schedules horrendously complicated & different every week, etc, then sell the whole thing for a mint, gave up. Since then they have been building new locations, with the same basic ideas (sell low, to many, makes big bucks). The workers are family (often in truth, mom, dad, Jr. work there, then Jr goes to college (on MarketBasket scholarships), works on breaks). It can work. If you are willing to fight for what's right. Like any fight, it is risky. But, for some, the risk is worth it. VIVA LA MARKETBASKET! Where people & a corporation came together & it worked!
2
Thank you for saying it out loud. Who knows--the truth might actually set us free, eventually. :)
All politicians are Jewish? Who on earth believes that?
Double speak, definition reversal, neurolinguistic programming... oh the modern plutocracy has it all. "Lying" no longer properly defines all the tools of repression holding America's workers to the whims of huge business. As actual freedom is sacrificed to non-competes and mandatory arbitration, the Trump administration is starting to ape the Trump business plan - screw the little guys, all while cock-a-doodle-doing "freedom! liberty!" Hypocrisy uber alles. Good shot, Dr. Krugman. Now talk about how the antidote is the return of effective unions!
7
We all need to remember that the Republican party is the party of greed. The whole purpose of this party is to acquire money and power and to do it at the expense of everyone outside the party and to keep those outside of the party from getting opportunity or education. They want control, total and complete, and they will lie, cheat, steal, break any law or tradition and do whatever it takes no matter how heinous in order to do it, including total control of where people work and what they get for it. It's that simple.
Don't believe this? Keep in mind this is the party that is so racist with their hatred that they tried to kill the Affordable Care Act by voting to destroy it 60 times during Obama's presidency, Obama of course being the reason for this vehement hatred because he's black you know, and he wasn't born in this country, and he hates America, and he barbecues little babies in his back yard, etc. etc Then with Trump they tried to replace people's healthcare with pretty much nothing and taking the money that funded it to give hundreds of millions of dollars of it to billionaires and millionaires in the form of tax breaks. However it didn't pass because their bill actually left a few people with healthcare and that angered the more greedy members of the party who wanted ALL the money from healthcare given to the rich, not just most of it.
If you don't make $250,000 a year or more, and you vote Republican, you're an idiot.
Don't believe this? Keep in mind this is the party that is so racist with their hatred that they tried to kill the Affordable Care Act by voting to destroy it 60 times during Obama's presidency, Obama of course being the reason for this vehement hatred because he's black you know, and he wasn't born in this country, and he hates America, and he barbecues little babies in his back yard, etc. etc Then with Trump they tried to replace people's healthcare with pretty much nothing and taking the money that funded it to give hundreds of millions of dollars of it to billionaires and millionaires in the form of tax breaks. However it didn't pass because their bill actually left a few people with healthcare and that angered the more greedy members of the party who wanted ALL the money from healthcare given to the rich, not just most of it.
If you don't make $250,000 a year or more, and you vote Republican, you're an idiot.
4
Land of the thief, home of the slave. DuBois.
The United States of Central North America. Bullying and threatening the workers and planet. No shame. Anything for a buck. Screw the workers that provide the productivity for the courtiers to skim off the top. Sleaze. No wonder the Bid'ness man has a place of honour in America not accorded to humans.
If you set yourself up as exceptional, it's a long way down and like an alcoholic staggering around knocking over the family treasures you will hit bottom. The question is will there be anything left.
The United States of Central North America. Bullying and threatening the workers and planet. No shame. Anything for a buck. Screw the workers that provide the productivity for the courtiers to skim off the top. Sleaze. No wonder the Bid'ness man has a place of honour in America not accorded to humans.
If you set yourself up as exceptional, it's a long way down and like an alcoholic staggering around knocking over the family treasures you will hit bottom. The question is will there be anything left.
3
The Republican definition of freedom is simple. To them "freedom" is about businesses, corporations or the very wealthy to be "free" to pollute, exploit, abuse and earn obscene profits while remaining "free" to ignore their responsibilities as a part of the community. Republican "freedom" has nothing to do with individual rights.
363
> responsibilities as a part of the community. Republican "freedom" has nothing to do with individual rights
Responsibility to oneself as individual, contra slavery to the community. Republican freedom is a ritual sound to evade the hatred of individual rights that they share w/Leftists.
Responsibility to oneself as individual, contra slavery to the community. Republican freedom is a ritual sound to evade the hatred of individual rights that they share w/Leftists.
Republican freedom is the freedom to do whatever you wish with the private property you own:
freedom not to surrender some of your cash to the government in the form of taxes, freedom to move your assets to a tax-sheltered Caribbean isle, freedom to wage capital strike and not reinvest in your company or workers, freedom to treat your workers like serfs.
Workers have the freedom to: take a job under all circumstances imposed by those who own the property, up to and including unsafe employment conditions. (Only after you've suffered from the hazard are you then free under our laws to try and correct the situation - that is, if you aren't dead...)
freedom not to surrender some of your cash to the government in the form of taxes, freedom to move your assets to a tax-sheltered Caribbean isle, freedom to wage capital strike and not reinvest in your company or workers, freedom to treat your workers like serfs.
Workers have the freedom to: take a job under all circumstances imposed by those who own the property, up to and including unsafe employment conditions. (Only after you've suffered from the hazard are you then free under our laws to try and correct the situation - that is, if you aren't dead...)
Yes, this is an era of authoritarian control. No "for the general welfare of the people."
GOP " Freedom" : Free to get sick, without healthcare, suffer and die. Quickly. After all, the Rich NEED more tax " relief ". PEROID.
5
Healthcare tied to employment stifles progress and the freedom to quit one's job to start a new venture or whatever one chooses to do in life.
The reins of corporate entities are directly attached to employees this way.
Corporations love this policy of health insurance related to employment. Guarantees their wage slaves. It's a form of blackmail. We ARE the USSA.
The reins of corporate entities are directly attached to employees this way.
Corporations love this policy of health insurance related to employment. Guarantees their wage slaves. It's a form of blackmail. We ARE the USSA.
4
The Freedom Caucus, The Patriot Act, The Freedom Act..................
We sure are dumb, aren't we?
We sure are dumb, aren't we?
5
Regarding noncompetes, if the majority of a group of two or more non-supervisory employees with a "community of interest" signs a petition to vote to form an association to renegotiate their noncompete, the employer may prefer eliminating the noncompete to facing a vote. The employees are protected by the NLRA from negative consequences in forming an association.
More info is in https://nyti.ms/2pLe6K3, at noncompetes.org, and in “Eliminating Noncompetes One Employer at a Time Through Single-Issue Labor Organizing Campaigns” at onlabor.org/2016/06/09/guest-post-eliminating-noncompetes-one-employer-a... .
More info is in https://nyti.ms/2pLe6K3, at noncompetes.org, and in “Eliminating Noncompetes One Employer at a Time Through Single-Issue Labor Organizing Campaigns” at onlabor.org/2016/06/09/guest-post-eliminating-noncompetes-one-employer-a... .
1
Good article.
1
Conservatives have a different take on the meaning and spelling of the word freedom - 'freedumb' is what they mean and it's what they're pushing.
Americans are not free from those who would shackle them to any insurance company. Americans are less free than any nation that provides universal healthcare to it's citizens because Democrats like Dr. K and all Republicans think that insurance companies will provide for the healthcare of enough people instead of deManding Medicare for all.
Dr. K is wrong. All political leaders are wrong. We do not want to allow profit and the bottom line to determine the who can get healthcare. Americans know that only government of, by, and for the people can pdivide insurance for all.
To hell with insurance companies determining what is covered. The people must control coverage. We trust the people not greedy corporations.
Dr. K is wrong. All political leaders are wrong. We do not want to allow profit and the bottom line to determine the who can get healthcare. Americans know that only government of, by, and for the people can pdivide insurance for all.
To hell with insurance companies determining what is covered. The people must control coverage. We trust the people not greedy corporations.
4
Hillary said -- very clearly, directly and unambiguously -- that we would never, ever EVER have single payer health care.
She is on record with this.
Her big "plan" was to further entrench the ACA, with more fines & penalties, and higher deductibles. She would have rehired Jonathan Gruer to lie to us.
She is on record with this.
Her big "plan" was to further entrench the ACA, with more fines & penalties, and higher deductibles. She would have rehired Jonathan Gruer to lie to us.
'Slavery' is in the G.O.P.'s genetic makeup.... the dog whistles got the dogs' attention, now they'll discover that they've been lured into a trap...
2
Republicans screwing over the public for the last 45 years and we see the results, lower pay, laws passed such as right to work (for less) and working to crush the ACA.
2
A minimum of 45 hours of work per week to qualify for full time benefits if you are lucky enough to have a full-time job and to get benefits, a basic 2 weeks of holiday a year, weak if any union organizations, limited sick and maternity/paternity leave, a pathetic minimum wage, and unaffordable access to education to better your future, and now back to unaffordable health insurance so you have to either spend your retirement savings of mortgage your home to get care. freedom? Indentured servitude.
261
40 hours a week is, by law, the maximum work week without overtime (*unless you are "exempt" as a manager or supervisor).
There is no requirement for 45 hours weekly in the way you describe.
I think you meant "35 hours".
Anyways: boy do you have it wrong! I have a full time, 40 hours a week job and there is NO HEALTH INSURANCE OF ANY KIND....there is no paid vacation of any kind (even after 7 years!).....there is no sick leave of any kind. I came back to work the day after surgery, looped on pain meds. I had no choice.
You can take off, of course -- with no pay for the days off.
And when we have an opening....we get 300 applications for every job here. So my employer has no incentive whatsoever to improve anything.
This is far more typical than you realize.
There is no requirement for 45 hours weekly in the way you describe.
I think you meant "35 hours".
Anyways: boy do you have it wrong! I have a full time, 40 hours a week job and there is NO HEALTH INSURANCE OF ANY KIND....there is no paid vacation of any kind (even after 7 years!).....there is no sick leave of any kind. I came back to work the day after surgery, looped on pain meds. I had no choice.
You can take off, of course -- with no pay for the days off.
And when we have an opening....we get 300 applications for every job here. So my employer has no incentive whatsoever to improve anything.
This is far more typical than you realize.
I recall Sarah Palin once talking about avoiding being a debt slave, and left lost it's marbles claiming no such concept existed. Here, we have a similar comment about the same thing, yet it is Times Pick.
I don't disagree with the comment as much as I prefer the messenger in the comment over Palin.
I don't disagree with the comment as much as I prefer the messenger in the comment over Palin.
1
This is capitalism slavery.
This is the same wage slavery in a new form that the southerner plantation owners talked about in the northern mills and factories with 12 hour work days six and a half days a week.
Virtual chains to your desk and work station on the assembly line.
No it is not the same as the slavery of the plantation owners who owned humans, chain, whipped and rated them.
This is why unions were formed.
The southern plantation owners ie The Republican Party, now has enacted "right to work" laws.
You don't need unions until you need unions.
Like right now!
This is the same wage slavery in a new form that the southerner plantation owners talked about in the northern mills and factories with 12 hour work days six and a half days a week.
Virtual chains to your desk and work station on the assembly line.
No it is not the same as the slavery of the plantation owners who owned humans, chain, whipped and rated them.
This is why unions were formed.
The southern plantation owners ie The Republican Party, now has enacted "right to work" laws.
You don't need unions until you need unions.
Like right now!
300
Michael, we are in another Gilded Age, the same situation that Teddy Roosevelt crushed. It rises again and again in one form or another and we are in it now BIG TIME. With corporate business leaders and investors taking over the government, it is going to be a belts-and-suspenders ride for at least another generation. Gird your loins. This is going to get rough, especially if we shouldn't drink the water or breathe the air.
92% of Americans have no union. Only 7% do, and more than half of those are government employees.
So how do you explain that, since "unions are so wonderful and the solution to every problem"?
So how do you explain that, since "unions are so wonderful and the solution to every problem"?
President Trump is fond of Andrew Jackson. Way back when, someone interviewed some of Jackson's slaves. One of them was a very old man, and the interviewer praised him for living so long and that it showed how well he was taken care of by Jackson. To which the slave replied, "but I'm not free." It turns out that slaves did on average live longer than free whites doing the same sort of manual labor. The modern republicans, it seems, don't even value the people of America to the same extent as Jackson valued his slaves.
2
Well, I won't eat at Jimmy John's EVER because:
1) The owner is a disgusting big game hunter. Google it. He's reprehensible.
2) Making minimum wage workers sign non-competes. Also reprehensible.
I suggest a nationwide boycott of Jimmy John's.
1) The owner is a disgusting big game hunter. Google it. He's reprehensible.
2) Making minimum wage workers sign non-competes. Also reprehensible.
I suggest a nationwide boycott of Jimmy John's.
11
Those policies may be why I have never heard of Jimmy Johns. Using only slaves to do the work, you don't prosper enough to expand. Often these idiots have no clue as to why.
1
And if we had Medicare for all we would free thousands of personnel workers from the annual burden of requesting and accepting bids for their companies health insurance contracts. Just use the worker's SSN to send in the premium along with the withheld taxes. That would eliminate the need for health company CEOs with million dollar compensation packages. They would be replaced by Civil Servants who max out around $200K. The SS system would have an increased need for claims examiners and these jobs could employ many of the disemployed lower level workers of the private health insurance companies. But CEOs, COOs, and corporate VPs...not so much.
6
When you are writing this law for Medicare for all you better add 2 things. 1. An independent yearly audit of the Trust Fund.
2. To be like Medicare, no one will be able to collect any benefit for a minimum of 25 years. You should have started it 25 years ago.
The audit is so congress can't embezzle from it as it embezzles from both the SS & Medicare Trust Funds.
It's nice you call what is taken from our pay, premiums. Because that is what they are, both Medicare & SS. Not taxes. They aren't entitlements. Which are benefits you pay nothing for, it's just given you. They are both premium based, health & retirement plans. Not everyone qualifies for them. Fed employees don't. So, those premiums are not taken from their pay. They have health & retirement plans & premiums for those are taken out of their pay. They keep paying for the health plan long after they retire.
Oh, that's another thing you should take into account. In Medicare once you enroll, if still working, the weekly premiums continue, & there is a monthly fee, paid quarterly that must be paid. When you retire, that fee is taken out of your SS check. Don't know if there are any fees with SS, yet. Only 66 (retirement age right now is 67).
2. To be like Medicare, no one will be able to collect any benefit for a minimum of 25 years. You should have started it 25 years ago.
The audit is so congress can't embezzle from it as it embezzles from both the SS & Medicare Trust Funds.
It's nice you call what is taken from our pay, premiums. Because that is what they are, both Medicare & SS. Not taxes. They aren't entitlements. Which are benefits you pay nothing for, it's just given you. They are both premium based, health & retirement plans. Not everyone qualifies for them. Fed employees don't. So, those premiums are not taken from their pay. They have health & retirement plans & premiums for those are taken out of their pay. They keep paying for the health plan long after they retire.
Oh, that's another thing you should take into account. In Medicare once you enroll, if still working, the weekly premiums continue, & there is a monthly fee, paid quarterly that must be paid. When you retire, that fee is taken out of your SS check. Don't know if there are any fees with SS, yet. Only 66 (retirement age right now is 67).
"You might say, with only a bit of hyperbole, that workers in America, supposedly the land of the free, are actually creeping along the road to serfdom,..."
Serfdom is the natural end point of an economic system that is not expanding. Power and influence accumulate in the hands of successful people and organizations, and success builds on success until a few winners are in control. This is inevitable unless one of two things happens: either you have an upheaval such as a revolution or a collapse, or you plan very carefully to keep power and influence decentralized and balanced through countervailing forces.
Which is it going to be? Serfdom, upheaval, or decentralization with balanced countervailing forces? Pick one.
Serfdom is the natural end point of an economic system that is not expanding. Power and influence accumulate in the hands of successful people and organizations, and success builds on success until a few winners are in control. This is inevitable unless one of two things happens: either you have an upheaval such as a revolution or a collapse, or you plan very carefully to keep power and influence decentralized and balanced through countervailing forces.
Which is it going to be? Serfdom, upheaval, or decentralization with balanced countervailing forces? Pick one.
3
No hyperbole when it comes to adjuncts.
I agree with Doctor Krugman with most of this article. However, I would add that even the lowliest employee in a company that relies on trade secrets may unwittingly use one or more of the trade secrets in his or her tasks at work. If he or she goes to a competitor, he or she could unwittingly tell the competitor how the tasks were performed thus giving the secret away.
'I unwittingly told my new employer that we use macs at my former job, that's why I'm unfamiliar with the PC keyboard'...
Doesn't sound as dangerous as the former employer would have you believe, does it? Knowing, for example, how to access the freight elevator is just not worth protecting, much as you might stretch it...
Doesn't sound as dangerous as the former employer would have you believe, does it? Knowing, for example, how to access the freight elevator is just not worth protecting, much as you might stretch it...
1
Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about. Mark Twain
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain.html
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain.html
3
So we're finally figuring it out. Now, what do we do about it?
2
Write your congresspeople, and vote Republicans out, and speak out against reflexive rollbacks of President Obama's protective regulations! You're welcome.
When you have so many workers voting against their own family's interest, poorly funded public schools, and for profit college indebted students/indentured servants, health care for profit being the norm, hard to have a lot of optimism for our future in the US. So many people are so busy and angry, that they don't have time to really know what's going on. Fox News simple approach, black and white good and evil, couches things in simple term and plays on these folks lack of knowledge. By playing to their fears and prejudices manipulate them into government haters, basically GOP voters. And, ironically these angry voters become their own worst enemy.
4
Freedom from government buys slavery to business.
5
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose ... And nothin' left was all [they] left to [us]
2
Freedom? Under a Republican administration? What bumpf!
What you get under Republicans is corporate tyranny, pure and simple.
But that's because of the typical Republican voter, who is also pure and simple.
Well, now they run everything, and will reap what they will sow.
Can't wait for the midterms.
What you get under Republicans is corporate tyranny, pure and simple.
But that's because of the typical Republican voter, who is also pure and simple.
Well, now they run everything, and will reap what they will sow.
Can't wait for the midterms.
3
Thanks so much for keeping us informed about vital issues.
3
Thanks for this nonsensical article.
I guess you are trying to get people who otherwise respect your towering intellect to lose it and stop taking you seriously. My questions: (a) so what, (b) why should I further enable the people you are talking about, and save them from the consequences of their actions?
What actions and consequences? Despite thirty years of evidence that globalization is here, knowledge economy is here, that America is skill deprived (note that we import labor to pick fruit, and labor to run hospitals and science labs), one too many American refused to adapt, learn, grow, improvise. Not all people you are talking about are like this; but too many are.
Too many Americans: (a) shot themselves in the foot, and (b) repeatedly voted for a party that promises to shoot them in the other foot, and people they don't like in the head (blacks, browns, Muslims, Jews, Mexicans, vegetarians) and destroy everything they need and rely on (safety net, access to healthcare, laws to ensure a level playing field).
Pardon me if I don't give a whit about such people who want the likes of me deported (immigrants who pay top dollar in taxes, raise highly educated kids, commit no crimes, live within our means, hate debt, expect or ask for no accommodation).
Hear this clearly Dr. Krugman, if you want to be the frog who takes the scorpion across the flood, and expect the scorpion to not sting, you should return that Nobel prize you got.
Kalidan
I guess you are trying to get people who otherwise respect your towering intellect to lose it and stop taking you seriously. My questions: (a) so what, (b) why should I further enable the people you are talking about, and save them from the consequences of their actions?
What actions and consequences? Despite thirty years of evidence that globalization is here, knowledge economy is here, that America is skill deprived (note that we import labor to pick fruit, and labor to run hospitals and science labs), one too many American refused to adapt, learn, grow, improvise. Not all people you are talking about are like this; but too many are.
Too many Americans: (a) shot themselves in the foot, and (b) repeatedly voted for a party that promises to shoot them in the other foot, and people they don't like in the head (blacks, browns, Muslims, Jews, Mexicans, vegetarians) and destroy everything they need and rely on (safety net, access to healthcare, laws to ensure a level playing field).
Pardon me if I don't give a whit about such people who want the likes of me deported (immigrants who pay top dollar in taxes, raise highly educated kids, commit no crimes, live within our means, hate debt, expect or ask for no accommodation).
Hear this clearly Dr. Krugman, if you want to be the frog who takes the scorpion across the flood, and expect the scorpion to not sting, you should return that Nobel prize you got.
Kalidan
Then have the workers visit Cuba or Venezuela.
Or, Jan, have the workers visit Finland or Norway, huh? Funny how you point to some pretty extreme examples of economic hardship. Why do you hold your country to such a low standard? Many systems work better than the dollar-uber-alles American approach, and you will not adapt anything from them.
In Cuba, there is no homelessness. Health care is available for all.
As more Americans are unable to afford housing or health care, more Americans might think Cuba has some answers.
As more Americans are unable to afford housing or health care, more Americans might think Cuba has some answers.
2
Well said.
Freedom, according to all too many in Congress:
My wealth gives me the freedom to turn the screws on you who lack it. You, in turn, are free to make me even richer...
My wealth gives me the freedom to turn the screws on you who lack it. You, in turn, are free to make me even richer...
2
It was just last year the legislature in the Lie Free or Die state outlawed non compete clauses in doctors' contracts which forced most doctors to move out of town or out of state if they left their employer, usually a national firm like Hospital Corporation of America or a hospital network. The number is shaky, but likely over 90% of practicing doctors across the USA are now employees not self employeed, working for either hospital groups, commercial outfits like HCA or big group practices. The firm argues it spends money to get a practice up and running and should control the benefits from that practice. The truth is, the doctor gets the practice up and running and if he decides to leave because the firm cuts his salary, which is the usual tactic, and it is his patients who suffer. And the doctor has to uproot his family to leave town. But doctors do leave town because they discover their first salary is the highest salary they'll get at that job and it will be gradually reduced every year. This is one of the many great untold stories which shape our medical landscape in this country of which government and the media are only dimly aware.
5
We've identified the problem. What are we going to do about it? Analyzing what's wrong with America without taking action is useless.
5
"the U.S. doesn’t come out looking too good, especially compared with the high freedom grades of European nations with strong social safety nets."
Thank you for this and the rest of your analysis. I have always said that the primary benefit to a society of safety nets is that they dramatically change the way people in that society behave. People feel freer to take risks, change jobs, move, fund their children's education etc. This all has a direct, measurable benefit to society and the economy. The problem with the Republican view of the world is that it is based in what is best for the individual person or corporation, and not what is best for society. Hence you get this obsession with tax cuts, instead of a real discussion about what taxes can do to benefit everyone. Every policy should be considered in the light of its impact on society as a whole, as well as how it solves a particular problem.
Thank you for this and the rest of your analysis. I have always said that the primary benefit to a society of safety nets is that they dramatically change the way people in that society behave. People feel freer to take risks, change jobs, move, fund their children's education etc. This all has a direct, measurable benefit to society and the economy. The problem with the Republican view of the world is that it is based in what is best for the individual person or corporation, and not what is best for society. Hence you get this obsession with tax cuts, instead of a real discussion about what taxes can do to benefit everyone. Every policy should be considered in the light of its impact on society as a whole, as well as how it solves a particular problem.
4
MJ: Taxes do not benefit anyone. Public expenditures based on taxation provide the benefits. Clarity is helpful because benefits are conveyed to beneficiaries who primarily are individuals, although they might be aggregated into larger groups, e.g., those that benefit from Medicare. Similarly, a case can be made that the primary beneficiaries from defense spending are the shareholders and workers in companies that produce military equipment, although it might be argued that the country collectively derives a safety benefit. The mismatch between taxes and benefits, as felt by individuals, is the issue that begs resolution.
Yes, of course it is public expenditures that are beneficial. As taxes are raised for public spending, I thought that was implied by my statement on taxes.
My comment seeks to go further than just whether defense spending creates a job, or Medicare spending helps an older person with healthcare costs so that they don't end up rifling through the garbage for their food. My point is that when people in a society have confidence that there is a safety net that will ensure that they can eat, have shelter and not die from preventable causes, people then don't have to make life decisions largely focused on income. They are free then to take more chances in life and I believe that benefits society as a whole.
My comment seeks to go further than just whether defense spending creates a job, or Medicare spending helps an older person with healthcare costs so that they don't end up rifling through the garbage for their food. My point is that when people in a society have confidence that there is a safety net that will ensure that they can eat, have shelter and not die from preventable causes, people then don't have to make life decisions largely focused on income. They are free then to take more chances in life and I believe that benefits society as a whole.
For Milton Friedman and current Republican devotees of the laissez faire capitalist market, there are no rights other than the right to utilize one's "freedom"--one's natural endowments, negotiating skills and present socio-economic power--within the context of the "free"-market. "Freedom" is the opportunity to have "access" to the markets. "Freedom" is all about access and has nothing to do with one's actual ability to advance one's own interest within that "free"-market context.
Unless one is a winner in the genetic lottery and/or, due to the birth lottery, one is a child of wealthy and economically savvy parents, in America one is less and less likely to enjoy the fruits of this increasingly heartless and anti-communal "freedom."
Hence, many Americans feel isolated, stuck within their present jobs, immobilized, resentful and anxious.
They have "freely" entered America's highly congested super-highway to serfdom.
Unless one is a winner in the genetic lottery and/or, due to the birth lottery, one is a child of wealthy and economically savvy parents, in America one is less and less likely to enjoy the fruits of this increasingly heartless and anti-communal "freedom."
Hence, many Americans feel isolated, stuck within their present jobs, immobilized, resentful and anxious.
They have "freely" entered America's highly congested super-highway to serfdom.
5
AGB, SR.: Friedman and Co. present the false picture of free competition which does not longer exists. Free markets and private markets should bot be confused. Competition is the enemy of capitalism, whose entire purpose is to drive competitors out of business and increase market share.
For a tenured, i.e., a holder of a position for which no one can compete, academic to talk about free competition is a joke.
For a tenured, i.e., a holder of a position for which no one can compete, academic to talk about free competition is a joke.
As one who stayed with my job partly because of healthcare, I sympathize with the statements of Prof. Krugman. I was fortunate to have a reasonably enlightened employer that offered post-employment coverage, but the cost was so high for spousal coverage that it would have been difficult to afford. Thankfully, I enjoyed my employment and my supervisors were flexible about when I wanted time off. But I was still leashed to the employer until my spouse qualified for Medicare. A national healthcare system would resolve many of these problems.
3
Freedom to wander chained to the capitalistic corporate regulations. The Freedom Caucus wants us to be free from government regulations, but corporations are allowed to be the true modern slave holders.
7
Would a sandwich company take a former employee to court to prevent him from working at a rival sandwich company? Would it even know that he had taken a job with a rival? It seems to me that in many cases these non-compete clauses can't be enforced.
2
In W.E.B. DuBois's phrase, this is freedom to destroy freedom.
3
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose".
The basis of American prosperity has always been slavery and serfdom, aka cheap labor, pronouncements of freedom notwithstanding. Why change now? Better to keep the people stupid, feed them meaningless promises, while stripping them of dignity. That's the GOP - the Regressive party.
3
Name a "free enterprise" contribution you would like to return and a government one to end. Also name a government social program initiated by Republicans.
Lists are not complete.
Unregulated “free enterprise” did provide
Slavery
Child labor
Madoff
Great Depression and Great Recession
Student debt
Water and air pollution
Wars for oil
Land grab from and genocide of American Indians
Tobacco use is healthy
Climate change doesn’t exist
Robber barons, monopolies, cartels
Unsafe (no seat belts, air bags) autos
Government ,not “free enterprise," did provide”
Bill of Rights
OSHA, workplace safety
Workers’ Comp
Free public education
FDA, protection from being poisoned
SEC, protection from fraud
FEMA, emergency relief
EPA, clean air and water
Social Security, reduce elderly poverty
Medicare, provide health insurance to the elderly
Medicaid, provide health services to the poor
GI Bill and almost free college education at one time
Auto safety legislation
Infrastructure; roads, bridges, courts
Voters’ Rights
Public health programs
The Internet from DARPA
Lists are not complete.
Unregulated “free enterprise” did provide
Slavery
Child labor
Madoff
Great Depression and Great Recession
Student debt
Water and air pollution
Wars for oil
Land grab from and genocide of American Indians
Tobacco use is healthy
Climate change doesn’t exist
Robber barons, monopolies, cartels
Unsafe (no seat belts, air bags) autos
Government ,not “free enterprise," did provide”
Bill of Rights
OSHA, workplace safety
Workers’ Comp
Free public education
FDA, protection from being poisoned
SEC, protection from fraud
FEMA, emergency relief
EPA, clean air and water
Social Security, reduce elderly poverty
Medicare, provide health insurance to the elderly
Medicaid, provide health services to the poor
GI Bill and almost free college education at one time
Auto safety legislation
Infrastructure; roads, bridges, courts
Voters’ Rights
Public health programs
The Internet from DARPA
6
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose.."
And don't you forget it.
And don't you forget it.
Every time I hear Republicans use the word 'freedom,' I know they are up to no good.
5
Or to put it another way; according to the Freedom Caucus
Slavery is Freedom.
Oh...that doesn't make sense? Well then, Freedom is what we say it is....and you are free to disagree, but we wouldn't recommend it.
Slavery is Freedom.
Oh...that doesn't make sense? Well then, Freedom is what we say it is....and you are free to disagree, but we wouldn't recommend it.
It is now beyond obvious that either Trump colluded, or the Russians have him by the neck through kompromat. Or both.
What I simply cannot believe is that the free (for now) press doesn't rake Trump over the coals for inviting Russian spies into the Oval Office. Where is the OUTRAGE? The U.S. media was barred, Trump trash talked Comey, and, most importantly, said NOTHING to the Russians about the election interference.
Please people, connect the dots and realize that Republican leadership is so involved in this disgusting mess that they will be of no help here. Only hindrance.
I think that the actions of fake President Thug (I mean Trump) on that day - May 10, 2017 - sums up everything quite accurately.
What I simply cannot believe is that the free (for now) press doesn't rake Trump over the coals for inviting Russian spies into the Oval Office. Where is the OUTRAGE? The U.S. media was barred, Trump trash talked Comey, and, most importantly, said NOTHING to the Russians about the election interference.
Please people, connect the dots and realize that Republican leadership is so involved in this disgusting mess that they will be of no help here. Only hindrance.
I think that the actions of fake President Thug (I mean Trump) on that day - May 10, 2017 - sums up everything quite accurately.
1
People understand the concept of having their own auto insurance and property owner's insurance but continue to see individual health insurance as something alien and "socialist". What a nation of ignorant folks.
5
Health care needs to be divorced from employment!
5
"a rising bureaucracy, a receding initiative, a
freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity"
- Isaac Asimov ("Foundation")
freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity"
- Isaac Asimov ("Foundation")
Democrats solve, Republicans dissolve.
2
Universal Healthcare for all. Americans need to demand it. We have earned it. Democrats need to unite and expose GOP hypocracy toward the working class. Wake up Red State workers. Your party has forsaken you.
1
In reality, Obamacare does not exist any longer. It's been crippled by Trump and the GOP so let's call it what it really is - Trumpcare!
1
Can there ever really be any true "freedom" in a world governed by the laws (both de facto and de jure), rules, regulations, and social norms, which are created by a small, but dominant and privileged class and forced upon the majority who lack the means and power to manipulate the system?
Many Americans, even those who hate ACA, want a single payer system or medicare for all. But both dominant political parties refuse to even consider the option because the insurance companies and large hospital conglomerates have enough money to fund lobbyists, buy politicians, and even have commercials with multiple celebrities.
When so-called conservatives start talking about "freedom", what they mean is every man, woman, and child for themselves if it's going to cost them anything, all the while still constrained by laws to ensure those at the top reap the majority of benefits from the system at large.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." Ronald Reagan
Ironic coming from the man who greatly undermined unions as POTUS. And yet, Reagan seemed to believe in the right of private sector workers to unionize and even lead the Screen Actor's Guild as president during a strike.
Many Americans, even those who hate ACA, want a single payer system or medicare for all. But both dominant political parties refuse to even consider the option because the insurance companies and large hospital conglomerates have enough money to fund lobbyists, buy politicians, and even have commercials with multiple celebrities.
When so-called conservatives start talking about "freedom", what they mean is every man, woman, and child for themselves if it's going to cost them anything, all the while still constrained by laws to ensure those at the top reap the majority of benefits from the system at large.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." Ronald Reagan
Ironic coming from the man who greatly undermined unions as POTUS. And yet, Reagan seemed to believe in the right of private sector workers to unionize and even lead the Screen Actor's Guild as president during a strike.
1
it seems to depend on how one describes being free. if the safety net is too strong dew if any who can gey it will work long and hard for the same quality of life. even as it is how many americans are picking crops or working as health care or child care aids compared to immigrants. they can live 5 or mor eto a room and send back money home. on th eother hand it doesmn't seem right not to have single payer med ins for all. same with a decent minimum wage and free child care for working parents. don't give cash or food stamps. free food at soup kitchens and some staples for those who want to eat at home. there is work for most all who want it but it's often hard and lousy pay sp if can have same lifestyle at gov't expense many will choose it so need to avoid that.
No there is not work for all who want it. Every time McDonalds or another fast food enterprise announces a few job openings, at minimum wage, the lines form around the block and beyond.
And, btw, the lines at soup kitchens are also around the block. Food often runs out. I've seen this with my own eyes, and I was shocked.
The "lifestyle" of those receiving meager government aid is not enviable, as you seem to think.
And, btw, the lines at soup kitchens are also around the block. Food often runs out. I've seen this with my own eyes, and I was shocked.
The "lifestyle" of those receiving meager government aid is not enviable, as you seem to think.
2
If any of this screed is true then blame Obama and the democrats. After all they did it to the workers for the past 8 years. Don't blame Trump or the Republicans. Only 4 months have passed since the correction has been made.
Point the finger in the right direction. Now you know!
Point the finger in the right direction. Now you know!
For most of us living in free market capitalist America, Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose.
3
I think the student loans aspect of this article is also part of the "serfdom," you write about Prof. Krugman. One of Betsy Devos' plans is to get rid of the student loan forgiveness programs that allow those of us who have public service jobs to rid their loans. There are many of my generation with tens of thousands of dollars in student debt that choose jobs in teaching, non-profits or social work both because we want to help people but also because that program made it seem like we wouldn't be saddled with that debt for our whole lives. Without the loan forgiveness, I know many will choose "corporate serfdom," as it would be the only way to be able to pay off their massive debts.
3
Julio, I believe that the government should do everything it can to help people afford college and advanced degrees. If I understand you correctly, you are saying that the government used taxpayer money to loan students the money, and then this taxpayer money should be "forgiven" (i.e. not paid back)?
Freedom for *them* - not for you.
Remember, the "Founding Fathers" were by and large quite wealthy in their day. They were "free". Their slaves, of course, were not. Women? Not so free. White males who didn't own property? No vote for you. Money = Power = "Freedom". Sound familiar?
By the way, here in CA noncompete agreements are almost always thrown out in court. And, I'd argue, Silicon Valley has as a whole thrived as a result. It would be interesting follow-up.
Remember, the "Founding Fathers" were by and large quite wealthy in their day. They were "free". Their slaves, of course, were not. Women? Not so free. White males who didn't own property? No vote for you. Money = Power = "Freedom". Sound familiar?
By the way, here in CA noncompete agreements are almost always thrown out in court. And, I'd argue, Silicon Valley has as a whole thrived as a result. It would be interesting follow-up.
5
Add to this arbitration agreements in employment agreements that limit legal recourse and the continuing erosion of class action lawsuits making the assertion of rights unaffordable. The House has already passed a bill to limit class action suits even further (HR985).
4
There should be a national law restricting the use of noncompete clauses to the protection of trade secrets only. Employees should not be subject to these otherwise. The current state laws often are only protections for incompetent companies who are afraid of their own employees' abilities, keeping them locked up and bored.
2
Krugman is swallowing a camel and choking on a gnat, but to address the main problem, he would have to admit Democratic complicity. The main problem is a financial sector that is eating this country alive. It bashed the public in 2008, and if you have any doubt about its power, note that under a Democratic administration, no one was prosecuted - it lavishly sponsors both parties. You may also note that one of its Wall Street capos is always standing next to any President when he’s giving a speech on the economy. If you want to talk about a drag on worker mobility, try underwater houses.
I suggest a read of Michael Hudson’s *Killing the Host* for an alternate view than the party establishments’. He paints a picture more chilling than Taibbi’s Vampire Squid.
I suggest a read of Michael Hudson’s *Killing the Host* for an alternate view than the party establishments’. He paints a picture more chilling than Taibbi’s Vampire Squid.
The "freedom" in Freedom Caucus is "freedom for plutocrats." The rest of us are serfs as far as the right is concerned.
The fact of the matter is capitalism has failed a significant minority if not the majority of Americans because of one of the two major political parties. A steady diet of Fox poisons the mind.
2
There is a curious understanding of "liberty" among many US citizens, to them it means exclusively to be free of government intervention. Similarly, "power" is reduced to the power of government. That way, they avoid confronting the unpleasant truth that you might need regulation to prevent abuse of power by private actors. Thus, you get to the ─ in our non pertinent European eyes ─ absurd situation where Volkswagen management did not oppose and even saw with some favor unionization at their Chattanooga plant ─ only to have their employees rejecting it. (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/05/business/in-bid-for-revote-union-clai... Ironically, if we are to believe the United Automobile Workers it was the Tennessee government that was frightening workers into reject uinionization efforts.
To this day, I can't really grasp this understanding of "liberty" but then, I should hasten to confess that I have been a union member all my professional life ─ an no, there was no closed shop.
To this day, I can't really grasp this understanding of "liberty" but then, I should hasten to confess that I have been a union member all my professional life ─ an no, there was no closed shop.
Freedom in a democracy means many things. We have the 'freedom' to make laws through our elected representatives. We can impose restriction, taxes and whatever we wish so long as those laws meet Constitutional requirements.
Freedom does not equate anarchy.
Freedom does not equate anarchy.
Two of the biggest economic headwinds facing the country are slow growth due to low productivity and the widening wage gap. The issues that are dealt with in this piece are major contributors to this problem. If people new they would get healthcare (as in universal like Singapore, Switzerland, France) they would be free to go from job to job creating greater demand for their labor (thus increasing wages). Obviously, the non completes are a direct correlation to this too. In addition, with 18% of the economy's resources being devoted to healthcare, this deprives capital from innovation in other areas creating a drag on productivity. The pro and con arguments taking place on healthcare, exclude half the picture. If it's about economic growth and thus narrowing the wage gap, we need to have universal system that isn't employer based so that people have greater agency over their economic lives. To Paul's point, that's freedom.
2
How do you write an entire column about the degradation of American workers without mentioning the effects of mass unfettered illegal immigration on low skill and trade jobs or the abuse of the H1B visa system on skilled workers?
Until Democrats get behind reasonable immigration reform and law enforcement including punishing employers who hire illegally , they have no credibility in speaking for American workers.
Until Democrats get behind reasonable immigration reform and law enforcement including punishing employers who hire illegally , they have no credibility in speaking for American workers.
1
Strong safety net
Affordable healthcare
Vocational and educational funding
Energy innovation investment
SAVE U.S. - rebuild the middle class with secure and sustainable goals. Leave the corporate and political dinosaurs in the dust.
Affordable healthcare
Vocational and educational funding
Energy innovation investment
SAVE U.S. - rebuild the middle class with secure and sustainable goals. Leave the corporate and political dinosaurs in the dust.
GOP use of language is downright Orwellian: freedom of faith unless Muslim; freedom to choose health care unless female; freedom from political corruption unless the corruption is Republican; right to work but not to bargain among peers; freedom to enter the USA unless from an arbitrary list of nations; freedom to love unless somebody objects on a warped interpretation of "faith."
The depth of hypocrisy is mind-boggling. Yet we drink the GOP Kool-Aid, willingly ceding our cherished freedoms to angry retrogrades.
The depth of hypocrisy is mind-boggling. Yet we drink the GOP Kool-Aid, willingly ceding our cherished freedoms to angry retrogrades.
3
What is in question here is not our freedom to choose or any direct threat to that inalienable right, but how businesses and government make the choices we make more or less risky. In many States general non-compete provisions are illegal. If an employee is sued it is because he or she took and used trade secrets from the former company to their advantage. This is a emerging issue of our times given that these types of restrictive agreements, which were once exclusively reserved for senior executives and employees involved in sensitive research, are now more universally applied to other job situations. Ultimately the judicial balance between protecting the legitimate intellectual property of a business and the employee's right to work for a competitor will be defined in the courts rather than in Congress. Congress does however have an important role to play with regards to healthcare and how pre-existing conditions are covered. There is no constitutionally guaranteed right to healthcare, only a moral imperative to be compassionate for those that are suffering. How we resolved this issue will ultimately define what American virtue really is.
"Employment-At-Will Doctrine: The presumption that employment is for an indefinite period of time and may be terminated either by employer or employee."
Many states (DE) are E-A-W states. As the quote shows, this is seen as a reciprocal relationship: You can fire me 'without cause', but in return I can quit likewise. In such states a non-compete agreement is a really one-sided distortion of this reciprocity: You can quit, but you cannot then do work except work I permit you to do.
If a non-compete banned all work of any kind for a year or more, that would effectively mean the ex-employee was paying a penalty for quitting of that many months income. Instead banning any work of certain types, and placing other restrictions such as no sales to or recruitment from, etc. means the ex-employee must suffer reduced market value and the risk of threats to the new employer.
So, in E-A-W states the non-compete-bound worker cannot freely quit a job, but the employer can fire at will. This is indentured servitude, and should be illegal. Non-competes are a form of government-enforced restrictive regulation of free trade, and violate both conservative and liberal ideals of fairness.
Many states (DE) are E-A-W states. As the quote shows, this is seen as a reciprocal relationship: You can fire me 'without cause', but in return I can quit likewise. In such states a non-compete agreement is a really one-sided distortion of this reciprocity: You can quit, but you cannot then do work except work I permit you to do.
If a non-compete banned all work of any kind for a year or more, that would effectively mean the ex-employee was paying a penalty for quitting of that many months income. Instead banning any work of certain types, and placing other restrictions such as no sales to or recruitment from, etc. means the ex-employee must suffer reduced market value and the risk of threats to the new employer.
So, in E-A-W states the non-compete-bound worker cannot freely quit a job, but the employer can fire at will. This is indentured servitude, and should be illegal. Non-competes are a form of government-enforced restrictive regulation of free trade, and violate both conservative and liberal ideals of fairness.
2
I have been dating for many years that our lack of single payer healthcare stymies entrepreneurship. I can only work contract because we are covered through my wife's employer. While she is currently between jobs we are on COBRA, with the onerous premiums that go along with it. If America is so exceptional, why can't we figure this out as other nations have done?
1
Paul, seriously I never ever thought I'd see the day you likened Americas' workers to the serfs of feudal times.
I know you know, in your heart of hearts, that generally speaking, in this nation, except for our elite masters, 90% of the people are living hand to mouth, just making it, in fact juggling to keep up with the Jones.
And within that 90%, there are the nearly invisible family members, no longer employed, living back with parents and relatives, and still millions upon millions of others, and I know many, who are working shorter hours, for less pay, and forced in fear to be as equally productive as the 40 hour worker, with countless numerous forced into part-time work so the employer avoids paying medical and other benefits.
And the abuse escalates, and goes on, and on, as corporate America has successfully co-opted all of government, including all its agencies, making the rules, and placing in power it's own employees, to insure the corporate diktat is adhered to.
And you Paul, a Nobel prize wining economist, rarely addresses any of it, choosing along with your mainstream media associates, to ignore what truly must be done, in favor of maintaining the status quo, and the incrementalism, which together became the engine used to accomplish the drive to economic slavery and penury, for the masses.
Ah, the power of the pen, especially when the masters of mankind (Noam Chomsky, wield it, to manage the perception of the billions of unwitting.
I know you know, in your heart of hearts, that generally speaking, in this nation, except for our elite masters, 90% of the people are living hand to mouth, just making it, in fact juggling to keep up with the Jones.
And within that 90%, there are the nearly invisible family members, no longer employed, living back with parents and relatives, and still millions upon millions of others, and I know many, who are working shorter hours, for less pay, and forced in fear to be as equally productive as the 40 hour worker, with countless numerous forced into part-time work so the employer avoids paying medical and other benefits.
And the abuse escalates, and goes on, and on, as corporate America has successfully co-opted all of government, including all its agencies, making the rules, and placing in power it's own employees, to insure the corporate diktat is adhered to.
And you Paul, a Nobel prize wining economist, rarely addresses any of it, choosing along with your mainstream media associates, to ignore what truly must be done, in favor of maintaining the status quo, and the incrementalism, which together became the engine used to accomplish the drive to economic slavery and penury, for the masses.
Ah, the power of the pen, especially when the masters of mankind (Noam Chomsky, wield it, to manage the perception of the billions of unwitting.
2
Professor Krugman, you have nailed the core issues for the little man in America. They are slaves to employers. Corporations have stunning power, and riches in America. They are free to exploit land and labor in Communities. Then, when their gluttonous appetites have been temporarily sated - they move and leave the mess to the communities that supported them. Then soulless conservative republicans condemn the people left behind as lazy and unworthy of help. "If J.D. Vance, of Hillbilly Elegy fame, can pull himself up by the bootstraps, why can't you?"
It's the corporations and their republican enablers.
Vietnam, 70. Yes, I'm an old white guy - no longer tied to Corporations and loving every minute of it. What freedom!
It's the corporations and their republican enablers.
Vietnam, 70. Yes, I'm an old white guy - no longer tied to Corporations and loving every minute of it. What freedom!
1
What we need is a second American Revolution.
Or maybe a redo on the French Revolution. Tear it all down to the ground and start over.
Or maybe a redo on the French Revolution. Tear it all down to the ground and start over.
1
The way that labor is traded now on the "open market" by middle(wo)men requires reference to the "s" word. I know from experience how it ruins careers.
Who is the most self centered narcissistic human being imaginable? Donald J. Trump, the President of the United Stated, he is who we are. Whether you love him or hate him , he represents the 'every man" of our country. We have become a very self centered, narcissistic, and extremely stupid country. Anything complicated like healthcare or democracy is beyond our ability right now and as long as the Republicans control our government it is just going to get worse. There is nothing new about what is happening, just go back 10 years if you want to see the future.
That exactly what liberals sound like too. They are so selfish and self centered that they must shout down anyone that disagree with them.
All is bad, right? I pity those poor workers who must come home to a flat screen tv and not even have the option to purchase an even larger tv. I feel for those poor souls stuck with a Galaxy instead of an IPhone. I weep every night at the plight of those who must drive to their slave jobs in their new cars.
Dan are you one of those? because I know I can't even afford a car.
5
How about pitying those who, even though they have decent jobs can't afford a decent place to live? What about the fact that so many people haven't received raises commensurate with the cost of living in years? That means that a good many of us cannot save, cannot hope to get ahead, cannot even begin to approach our parents standard of living and I'm not talking about those in their 30s or younger. I'm talking about the latter end of the baby boom generation. We graduated in the late 70s and 80s. It was at that point that Americans started to develop their selfish tendencies thanks to the GOPs lies on taxes, welfare, and social policies.
Try saving when you're constantly downsized or underpaid. Try buying a decent used car when you need to but you're afraid to take out a loan because you don't know when you'll be out of a job. Try finding decent affordable housing near your job when all that's being built or rented or sold is too expensive. Try finding a job that pays well and where the pay keeps pace with the cost of living when employers pay their CEOs thousands of times more than they pay regular employees. We are nation that is losing its working class because companies have more rights than employees and citizens do to a decent life.
The only thing you can afford is a smartphone and a flat screen TV. They last longer than many jobs do.
Try saving when you're constantly downsized or underpaid. Try buying a decent used car when you need to but you're afraid to take out a loan because you don't know when you'll be out of a job. Try finding decent affordable housing near your job when all that's being built or rented or sold is too expensive. Try finding a job that pays well and where the pay keeps pace with the cost of living when employers pay their CEOs thousands of times more than they pay regular employees. We are nation that is losing its working class because companies have more rights than employees and citizens do to a decent life.
The only thing you can afford is a smartphone and a flat screen TV. They last longer than many jobs do.
1
I know someone who can only afford the gas to get him to his job. I know a family who lost their home and filed for bankruptcy. Both work full-time employees. I know a guy who has worked nearly 35 years and will not likely ever own a home. The list is endless, especially after the Recession brought on by the kind of deregulation conservatives lust after. Now Trump has taken away the regulation required of financial advisors, which would require that they work for their clients instead of against them. Our ignorant electorate has killed the American dream in just a few decades.
3
Ah, but it depends upon whose freedom is being discussed, and that has always been the case in America. Read the words of the leaders of the Antebellum South, who were outraged that their freedom to own other human beings might be infringed. Then there was the freedom of the White settlers of the West to take whatever land they wanted from the Native Americans. Still later factory owners were incensed when reformers attempted to limit their freedom to impose whatever conditions they wanted on their workers. Sure there might be a tragedy at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, but do you know how much fire escapes cost? Why it's far more economical to just hire more teenage girls to continue the work. The road to serfdom is indeed long and tortuous. Those who embrace Hayek's theories, however, have never really been opposed to serfdom. Rather, they seek to ensure that in any present and future society they will be the Lords. The problem, from their point of view, is that modern liberal democracies give the serfs a say in their governments. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people has done much to promote the general welfare in the past and it can do so again.
1
Republicans have tried to have the USA be as close to a feudal system as possible for decades.
An excellent piece and many excellent comments. But as clearly as they lay out in detail what is happening and why, the writers are reluctant to label the real threat. It is as if somehow reason and logic and polite language will protect us from the GOP-led slide into autocracy/fascism that is enveloping America. We comment on things in a business-as-usual manner without pointing out the threat to our democracy when we should be crying "foul" at the top of our lungs. Timothy Snyder ("On Tyranny") describes a state of mind called "the politics of inevitability" in which the German state engaged as Hitler led them into a Nazi dictatorship. Believing naively that nothing bad could happen because they were too strong - or, as in America, that God is on our side so we are destined to succeed - they blindly went about their business until it was too late to save their government. Writers like Krugman can only point out what is going on. The public must wake up to the real threat if our democracy is to be salvaged. Business-as-usual won't do it!
1
Has EVERYONE forgotten the adverb?
As in: "The U.S. doesn't come out looking too good." OK, I can tolerate it from people educated in our under-funded public schools. But can we no longer count on an ivy-league professor to be grammatically correct?
As in: "The U.S. doesn't come out looking too good." OK, I can tolerate it from people educated in our under-funded public schools. But can we no longer count on an ivy-league professor to be grammatically correct?
Indentured servitude. Seen this movie before.
In propagandized America "unions bad," "freedom good." "Government involvement in healthcare bad," "private sector good."
It would be laughable what the .1%ers and their political hacks have successfully sold Americans, except that so many suffer as a result.
Fact is that propaganda works. It's why channels like Fox exist. Folks lap it up.
The sad irony is that Trump's base thought they were actually voting for a real populist. Someone who was going to help the little guy and bring back the first order of business - jobs!
Turns out of course that Trump the Grifter is only about one thing - his family business. He couldn't be bothered with such an annoying thing as legislation. He's OK with signing Executive Orders in the Oval as long as Bannon writes them up and he doesn't actually have to read them. But beyond that, uh uh. He wants to go back to the residence and watch more Fox!
His supporters? They still love him!
Honest to God, you can't make this stuff up.
It would be laughable what the .1%ers and their political hacks have successfully sold Americans, except that so many suffer as a result.
Fact is that propaganda works. It's why channels like Fox exist. Folks lap it up.
The sad irony is that Trump's base thought they were actually voting for a real populist. Someone who was going to help the little guy and bring back the first order of business - jobs!
Turns out of course that Trump the Grifter is only about one thing - his family business. He couldn't be bothered with such an annoying thing as legislation. He's OK with signing Executive Orders in the Oval as long as Bannon writes them up and he doesn't actually have to read them. But beyond that, uh uh. He wants to go back to the residence and watch more Fox!
His supporters? They still love him!
Honest to God, you can't make this stuff up.
2
Why has the democratic party not been able to win the argument that the so called fruit loopy progressive left leaning states have much higher levels of income across the board. It's true.
How did unions allow themselves to get blamed for poor management decisions that wrecked car and other companies?
Have the messages been delivered that poorly, or are we that stupid?
How did unions allow themselves to get blamed for poor management decisions that wrecked car and other companies?
Have the messages been delivered that poorly, or are we that stupid?
1
The blue states also have higher levels of inequality too. Look it up.
Time to revive a classic song, first written for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, updated for today's serfs:
"Look for the union label
when you are buying that software or mouse.
Remember somewhere unions are growing,
our wages going to feed the kids, and run the house.
We work hard, but who's complaining?
Thanks to our unions we're paying our way!
So always look for the union label,
it says we're able to make it in the U.S.A.!"
(Original song by Paula Green, music by Malcolm Dodds; available on YouTube)
"Look for the union label
when you are buying that software or mouse.
Remember somewhere unions are growing,
our wages going to feed the kids, and run the house.
We work hard, but who's complaining?
Thanks to our unions we're paying our way!
So always look for the union label,
it says we're able to make it in the U.S.A.!"
(Original song by Paula Green, music by Malcolm Dodds; available on YouTube)
1
So, republicans have their businessmen running the government, and although it's early yet, when do you think the winning is going to happen? And who exactly is expected to win? Surely it won't be regular people, they are losing their healthcare. Nor will poor kids be running around yelling "winning"! they won't have a prosperous public school to go to b/c the Sec of Ed. thinks everyone should pay way more than they now do to educate their kids. And for all those young men who can't find a decent job, well Jeff Sessions has a nice cozy spot for them, at our expense.
Running the government like a business with Trump at the helm, has been all about how much profit can be rung from the taxpayers. Our government is now in league with those who run the corporations, their former employees running it all and distributing the riches. So I guess some are winning, it's simply not we little people.
Running the government like a business with Trump at the helm, has been all about how much profit can be rung from the taxpayers. Our government is now in league with those who run the corporations, their former employees running it all and distributing the riches. So I guess some are winning, it's simply not we little people.
204
> So I guess some are winning, it's simply not we little people.
This is the terror of man's independent mind that caused Marxism and Nazism.
This is the terror of man's independent mind that caused Marxism and Nazism.
In flush times there were some reasons to think employers should provide health and retirement benefits. But it is now obvious that this mechanism has failed. It is complicated and unfair, and it increases the employer's power over the employee.
2
We had a child with spina bifida. We stopped counting the number of surgeries when we got into the high 30s. The spinal defect finally got him at age 33. Throughout I lived in fear of losing my job, and our health insurance with it. I suspect my employer did not receive the full potential of what I had to offer because I was so careful not to do anything stupid.
8
It is disheartening to speak with workers who deride unions. I understand why. Unions have been villainized and scapegoated by corporate America over the past half century. For their part, Democrats have been feckless advocates for unions. And unions themselves seem to have forgotten their larger mission: they feel their should only advocate for their own members, rather than for workers everywhere. Also, social movements in America have been Balkanized by identity politics, pitting one social grievance against another.
Mr. Krugman's focus on non-compete agreements is all very well, but it's symptomatic of the failure of America's worker movement that's contributing to declining standards. American's don't need another "protest march". America needs full-scale worker strike, when every worker in America--unionized or not--walks off the job for a day. It's time American workers banded together to demand basic social rights: healthcare, a living wage, an opportunity for education, decent housing.
Mr. Krugman's focus on non-compete agreements is all very well, but it's symptomatic of the failure of America's worker movement that's contributing to declining standards. American's don't need another "protest march". America needs full-scale worker strike, when every worker in America--unionized or not--walks off the job for a day. It's time American workers banded together to demand basic social rights: healthcare, a living wage, an opportunity for education, decent housing.
11
You have to look at the big picture here. The taffy pull that is labor-management relations has gone on for centuries. Employers take advantage, employees fight for respect and their rights. Labor unions formed and advantage went to workers. Now unions have been vilified and management is back in control. Both sides wish to minimize the impact of the other. And now, unions are , for the most part, powerless or non existent. The impact on the employer of organized resistance has been eliminated. But of course the employer doesn't see the relationship as a partnership. They want total control so the employees can't rearm and fight back. Like the unions they have taken it beyond the middle ground. This will go on, not until government intervenes, but when workers have had enough. Apparently, so far, low pay, poor benefits, unsafe conditions, and restrictions on being able to market yourself to other employers aren't enough to do it. But eventually the workers will come to realize this has gone too far and fight back. And they won't have second thoughts because of the pros they can point to as reasons to be quiet. But we haven't reached that point yet. But we will. And like the Republican party in the current morass in Washington, employers will only have themselves to blame. Because they haven't learned from their past sins.
4
We're not getting our money's worth from the government that takes so much of it from us. Rich people don't like paying high taxes? Well, pretty soon they're gonna find out the meaning of a general strike. The roads and bridges need repair, you can't get sick and come out of it financially healthy, education is too expensive and none of the big corporations that seem to run everything else give one hoot about their customers--we're just fodder for their algorithms and surveys. We've got to stop putting up with this bad service and don't let them take any more of it away.
6
What irony for Conservatives . . . On the one hand they continuously talk about the free market while on the other hand in some states they can't hire enough workers because some of those workers are undocumented and fear being deported, others are trapped in distant states unable to sell their homes but also unable to pay for mortgages and tied to the area just like serfs because of "contracts" with their present underpaying employers.
Bottom line: If you want an ethical and moral marketplace you have to have laws that define what is allowable and ethical. If not, you get organophosphates in your food that destroy your children's brain development, bridges that have inadequate cement etc., or workers who are tied to the corporate lord as tightly as any medieval serf. No free lunch and no free market. Conservatives understand that but apparently some people in Labor insist on allowing slogans to pass for ethical law and charlatans to pass for legislators.
Bottom line: If you want an ethical and moral marketplace you have to have laws that define what is allowable and ethical. If not, you get organophosphates in your food that destroy your children's brain development, bridges that have inadequate cement etc., or workers who are tied to the corporate lord as tightly as any medieval serf. No free lunch and no free market. Conservatives understand that but apparently some people in Labor insist on allowing slogans to pass for ethical law and charlatans to pass for legislators.
5
The US is the ONLY country among the developed and newly developed countries where worker's rights are increasingly limited and narrowed by a hostile environment of state laws and regulations aimed at limiting unionization and where health care is tied to being employed. It is breathtakingly remarkable that an overwhelming majority of Americans silently living under and accommodating with this oppressing system. How could this be in a country that enshrines individual rights in the Bill of Rights, proudly points to its values as being superior, and insists on labor rights to be included in its trade agreements? Given the reality of the plight of the American workers, it is obvious that the American system of capitalist economy has become to resemble what Marx had predicted about capitalism, that the American workers have become slaves to their corporate masters as Krugman has concluded.
11
It's only "freedom" for a corporation to have what amounts to "indentured servitude." You're my slave and you can't be anyone else's slave! Sounds like Dred Scott for today's American worker.This is why we need major labor reform to allow workers the true freedom to organize and bargain collectively and even leave their jobs with no constraints. The Civil War may be long over, but the propensity of to enslave others seems to be alive and well in corporate America. And yes, we need workers to have complete portability not only of their retirement accounts, as is common in the academic world, but also with their health care. COBRA is a joke in that it costs a small fortune and is only a short-term bridge until a new job with health insurance is found. We need universal health care perhaps starting with a limited package of catastrophic and preventive care, including two wellness visits/year and all vaccinations, insurance for all with additional packages that cost the same for everyone (that is, pre-existing conditions do not cost more). It is time for the big, true blue states like California and New York to step forward and announce that they will guarantee such health care before the Obamacare market collapses. These two states alone account for over 20 percent of the population and have the power, especially if they work together, to form a viable Trans-American Health Care market.
3
YES! This is the work in MSM we need. Focus on the problem with the system, not get lost in the weeds of those Great Man theories. Forget Russia, aim at our own oligarchs. Back to the 1%!
A far as non compete, seems to me large corps are begging for 'bad will' inducing class action suits. A gold mine for reportage. And since "restraint of trade" and just common sense about paying the bills exists, juries might well provide effective remedy.
( and though, unlike so many in the media, I never see sports referenced here by this writer - we may in the NBA playoffs get a test of group action vs the essential man. Call it T. Wrecks v The Borg...)
A far as non compete, seems to me large corps are begging for 'bad will' inducing class action suits. A gold mine for reportage. And since "restraint of trade" and just common sense about paying the bills exists, juries might well provide effective remedy.
( and though, unlike so many in the media, I never see sports referenced here by this writer - we may in the NBA playoffs get a test of group action vs the essential man. Call it T. Wrecks v The Borg...)
2
Contracts often contain restrictions that can't be enforced because of reasons cited here. If one incorporates as a business, then they can deduct health insurance as an expense of the business and not income to the individual. Sure the IRS code is stupid, Congress should change it; they don't so incorporate, a minor expense and can easily be done and is worth it for health insurance deduction alone.
As to student debt, why not pay it.
So for the big one's Professor, they just don't hold a lot of water. All can be overcome. Employers like power, but it can't be excessive. Employers probably don't mind the insurance deductions, it helps them. But individuals can overcome it. And lenders like repayment and too many would love a free ride. But in life nothing is free, face it, deal with it and move on.
As to student debt, why not pay it.
So for the big one's Professor, they just don't hold a lot of water. All can be overcome. Employers like power, but it can't be excessive. Employers probably don't mind the insurance deductions, it helps them. But individuals can overcome it. And lenders like repayment and too many would love a free ride. But in life nothing is free, face it, deal with it and move on.
This is where the Democrats need to design their new (old) platform. There should be plenty of smart people out there (krugman, too) to "sell" this to the working class. Come on Dems, get to work.
5
Krugman couldn't say enough bad things about Bernie Sanders, the only Democrat who spoke for the people.
Recently read an article that said credit card debt is once again climbing. Yet another way that working Americans are subjected to economic serfdom. It's easy to see the working class rage that led to a Trump presidency: the desire to tear down the existing order for something more fair. It ain't happening. The republican congress is going to make it worse with tax reforms that favor the rich and corporations, and President Trimp is turning out to bejJust another rich guy who doesn't really care.
5
Fourty years of union busting beginning with Ronald Reagan, the former head of a union (talking about Republican hypocrisy) have consequences. The most serious being that incomes have not kept up with productivity improvements. The rest, serious as they may be, pale in comparison. To paraphrase Anatole France the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the bosses as well as the employees to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.
3
This is the true "Road to Serfdom".
This is also only one of the many consequences of brutal wealth inequality which implacably seeks to protect itself by further disadvantaging everyone else.
This is also only one of the many consequences of brutal wealth inequality which implacably seeks to protect itself by further disadvantaging everyone else.
3
The return to feudalism and serfdom has been the guiding principle of the Republican Party since after Ford, when the Rockefeller wing of the party was decimated.
Look at every proposal, from ALEC promoted state laws to deregulation, and you'll see this pattern.
So far, we have had more help from the incompetence of the Republicans than any organized effort to fight this attempt to overthrow our democracy. I worry that the resistance movement will run out of steam once Trump is gone. He is a problem but not the main one. Ryan, McConnell and nutcase state legislators are as a group more dangerous.
The Democrats are the only group equipped to fight back. But the leader hasn't emerged yet. We can only hope one comes out soon.
Look at every proposal, from ALEC promoted state laws to deregulation, and you'll see this pattern.
So far, we have had more help from the incompetence of the Republicans than any organized effort to fight this attempt to overthrow our democracy. I worry that the resistance movement will run out of steam once Trump is gone. He is a problem but not the main one. Ryan, McConnell and nutcase state legislators are as a group more dangerous.
The Democrats are the only group equipped to fight back. But the leader hasn't emerged yet. We can only hope one comes out soon.
3
The DNC rejected Bernie Sanders. Progressives are marginalized in the Democratic Party. Establishment Democrats are neoliberals, catering to Wall Street and 1%, just like the Republicans, only Democrats know enough to throw a few crumbs to the masses.
And when that leader is identified, the GOP will smear, insult, propagandize, and use any other means at its disposal to destroy him or her. Better later than sooner.
All these inequalities and serf-like trends are manifested in the obscene transfer of wealth to a select few. Capitalism has been corrupted. Special Interests run the government. Mainly GOP legislators are essentially bought and sold. Too many Democrats sit on their hands. My message to a progressive 2018 Congressional candidate: "Go Left young man, Go Left."
2
With unemployment at a low 4 percent, isn't everything chugging along well for all Americans.... or isn't it ? What about the adjunct professor with advanced degrees working as 'contract' worker for a state university who can only teach three classes due to Obamacare (or so they claim), works two other (menial) jobs and still can't afford to replace her missing teeth ? Or the middle-aged sales clerk working at a high end department store for a low hourly wage to assure healthcare for her seriously ill husband ? And now let's talk about 'free' college for all. What happened to opportunity for those who are well-educated and hardworking ? Is opportunity only available to the wealthy and their offspring ? Unless, we even out the socio economic playing field, this country is doomed.
5
The point here, I think, is that non-competes shackle highly paid workers - tech, engineers, sales people etc. This of course is another Republican/corporate shill. Look at California, where non-competes are illegal and tech is thriving (at least until the Republicans shut the door to immigrants). The outlawing of non-competes have not driven tech companies out of the State, in fact the wealth of smart and creative workers has let us thrive. And we tax rich people too!
Non-competes don't generally affect less skilled, more easily replaced workers. Those jobs have been, to a large extent, outsourced to overseas locations or, increasingly, to labor contractors, and now are being performed by robots. The less skilled are the workers which unions have traditionally protected. There used to be union contracts with no subcontracting and no off-shoring clauses. No more, look at what is happening at Ford, Carrier and other large manufacturers. Beginning with Reagan, the Republicans have protected corporate America at the expense of American labor. These are the workers, too, who have no health care if they lose their jobs, and before the ACA had healthcare often had lifetime coverage caps and no coverage for pre-existing conditions. The only solution readily available to this segment of the population is to vote Democrats into office. Again, look to California to see what a government of all the people can accomplish.
Non-competes don't generally affect less skilled, more easily replaced workers. Those jobs have been, to a large extent, outsourced to overseas locations or, increasingly, to labor contractors, and now are being performed by robots. The less skilled are the workers which unions have traditionally protected. There used to be union contracts with no subcontracting and no off-shoring clauses. No more, look at what is happening at Ford, Carrier and other large manufacturers. Beginning with Reagan, the Republicans have protected corporate America at the expense of American labor. These are the workers, too, who have no health care if they lose their jobs, and before the ACA had healthcare often had lifetime coverage caps and no coverage for pre-existing conditions. The only solution readily available to this segment of the population is to vote Democrats into office. Again, look to California to see what a government of all the people can accomplish.
4
If you notice, those rich guys talking about "freedom", it's usually about something that benefits them and only them. The rest of us? Not so much. Pretty much the opposite.
3
You are so right. We fall way behind other First World nations in the freedom index because Republican lawmakers have corrupted the very word "freedom." Besides non-compete clauses Republicans have "freed" workers from paying union dues, thus taking away their right to negotiate better wages and working conditions; they have enacted "at-will" employment laws, giving employers the freedom to fire workers without cause whenever they choose; and they want to give Americans the "freedom" to buy a health plan of their "choice," but only if they can afford to pay for it. If they can't, they are of course not free to choose, but heck, they probably have not been leading "good lives" anyway and probably spent too much on an iPhone.
3
The GOP says freedom when they want to sell the opposite. The general public is waking up to the fact that they no longer own their government. The GOP is clueless about what it takes to live if you are not in the top 10%, and don’t care. They have rejected all notion of honor and fairness. They are addicted to power and to keep it they will even tolerate treason. .
Once most jobs requiring physical labor with little skill and low wages were based on an at will oral contract, terminable at will supported by a promise: work in exchange for pay. Now we have written contracts. But there is no consideration to support any collateral agreements, the sole considerations being work and pay. These contracts should be unenforceable unless supported by a valuable consideration and a contract is not its own consideration. For these jobs there is no separate consideration to support a non-compete.
This is an abuse of economic power especially, when workers are fired without cause or notice. That should be a termination of contract by breach. Neither should we tolerate involuntary servitude by non-compete.
It is different for employees receiving a signing bonus or workers with unique and special skills who are paid a large salary or bonuses, such as with entertainers, sports figures, inventors, etc. These are the exceptions. Otherwise non-compete contracts are an abomination and should be un-enforceable as being against public policy. The Ds must campaign on this..
Once most jobs requiring physical labor with little skill and low wages were based on an at will oral contract, terminable at will supported by a promise: work in exchange for pay. Now we have written contracts. But there is no consideration to support any collateral agreements, the sole considerations being work and pay. These contracts should be unenforceable unless supported by a valuable consideration and a contract is not its own consideration. For these jobs there is no separate consideration to support a non-compete.
This is an abuse of economic power especially, when workers are fired without cause or notice. That should be a termination of contract by breach. Neither should we tolerate involuntary servitude by non-compete.
It is different for employees receiving a signing bonus or workers with unique and special skills who are paid a large salary or bonuses, such as with entertainers, sports figures, inventors, etc. These are the exceptions. Otherwise non-compete contracts are an abomination and should be un-enforceable as being against public policy. The Ds must campaign on this..
1
What I see in my industry and I assume many others, is people that want or need to retire or get another job that cannot due to inability to obtain reasonable health care. This creates a log jam at the bottom as an entry level employee isn't hired and through the rest of the promotional chain.
3
Anyone who screeches that the free market is the answer to everything should prepare themselves to, on a daily basis, step over the dead bodies of the men, women, children, babies, and infants who don't make it.
Besides, why is the free market always, but ALWAYS, the lectured solution for the non-wealthy, but never for heavily-subsidized corporations and CEOs?
Why does the single mother working two jobs get harangued for temporarily using public assistance, but not the billionaire who contributes nothing and who lobbies the tax code to ensure never-ending subsidies?
"Free market." Laughable.
Besides, why is the free market always, but ALWAYS, the lectured solution for the non-wealthy, but never for heavily-subsidized corporations and CEOs?
Why does the single mother working two jobs get harangued for temporarily using public assistance, but not the billionaire who contributes nothing and who lobbies the tax code to ensure never-ending subsidies?
"Free market." Laughable.
5
Yes, and our "system" always is the cruelest to those who are the most vulnerable -- young women with children, the elderly, the sick.
3
Thank you, Mr Krugman. I, too, can barely stomach to hear Republicans utter "freedom" because I know it translates to shackles and chains for workers and a downward spiral for Americans' quality and meaning of living. I hope you will expand upon this topic in future columns to expose the depth of this wicked and rapidly expanding invasive species, which is not only spreading through corporate America and the media but also taking hold and choking out "fettered capitalism" philosophy (I.e., the true costs of capitalism and market failures and government's vital role in maintaining balance) in higher education. Universities, the nurturers of future government and business leaders, are now infested with Koch-funded "Freedom Institutes" that have hiring, firing, and curricula authority to indoctrinate young minds in the greedy Libertarian "freedom" principles. THAT should frighten all of us. Please use your pulpit to shine a light on these Koolaid-drinking universities and commend those students and other leaders who are bravely fighting this hostile takeover via unkochmyuniversity.com. Once Koch, Paul Ryan, and friends spread their "freedom lies" through Tea Party politics, right-wing media, churches (by eliminating the Johnson Amendment), and universities, what's left? A final dose of poison in our Flint water?!
Trump budget called for huge cuts to Medicaid. His supporters remain blissfully ignorant to his hypocrisy toward his campaign promises. Right wing radio and cable news continue their relentless drive to deceive their audience, while furthering the interests of corporate America. In the case of Fox News, the owners, the Murdocks are foreigners wielding powerful influence in American politics. Without Fox News and conservative talk radio hosts, there would be no Trump Presidency. When will the American working class wake up to what they are being fed. Tune out now.
4
I despair! There are quite a number of my friends and family who have been pointing out to our conservative friends and family just exactly this sad and continuing situation for the American Joe Six-pack. It always falls on deaf ears.
I pointed out to a relative, who works for the state, that the GOP has consistently worked against her best interests. Why then does she consistently vote for them? "Because, well, because they are conservative." There you are my friends!!!
I pointed out to a relative, who works for the state, that the GOP has consistently worked against her best interests. Why then does she consistently vote for them? "Because, well, because they are conservative." There you are my friends!!!
2
I stopped arguing, and almost have stopped speaking, to my brick-in-the-head relatives. They do not want to understand. They will gladly suffer low wages, no health care, polluted air and water -- because they are "conservatives."
If I recall correctly, I think it was Sanders who championed these issues in the primaries, and lots of people were energized to finally have a candidate who talked the Krugman talk and walked the Krugman walk. And yet, Mr. Krugman paid no mind. What was that about?
3
How angry and distraught I get when I think about these issues. When I was young my mother had two back operations and spent a month in a Boston hospital. It was a pre-existing condition not covered by my father's insurance and the bill landed on their doorstep. You can imagine what it did to my family's financial security. This mega bill did not allow them to save for retirement. When my father retired at 68 because of a stroke they had saved $10K. If there wasn't Social Security and the reality of senior subsidized housing what would have happened to them? I shudder to think. Ironically dad was a conservative Republican who was against FDR's policies including Social Security (my mother secretly voted for FDR). Even after all that befell them he remained true to these awful conservative principals, but what my brother and I went through bred 2 bleeding heart liberals. His parents immigrated from Sweden; they should have stayed there.
My representative is Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus. His brand of freedom is the freedom to be takers without thought of giving anything back. And even though I am better off than my parents ever were, I am stuck in place due to the policies of the retched conservative Republicans. Dad, how you could continue to think they way you did dumbfounds me still. Some people just hold on to their views and no matter what they keep voting against their self-interests.
My representative is Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus. His brand of freedom is the freedom to be takers without thought of giving anything back. And even though I am better off than my parents ever were, I am stuck in place due to the policies of the retched conservative Republicans. Dad, how you could continue to think they way you did dumbfounds me still. Some people just hold on to their views and no matter what they keep voting against their self-interests.
2
And when the corporate elite no longer want that employee tied to them they often resort to unethical methods to off load that employee. But that's ok if the employer is not doing something provable to be illegal. The unethical treatment rarely comes to light because the employee is coerced into signing a gag order in order to not have their severance or unemployment insurance in jeapardy.
Unions, when properly operated, were a primary support for upward mobility in the last century.
Under the current GOP the definition of freedom is slavery. Hmmmm where have I heard that phrase before.
Unions, when properly operated, were a primary support for upward mobility in the last century.
Under the current GOP the definition of freedom is slavery. Hmmmm where have I heard that phrase before.
1
In theory, America is an open society, in which everyone is free to make his or her own choice about where to work and how to live, but in reality it does not work that way. Your job (if you have one), your income, your health, your family, your education and skills, plus many other things, all confine and contribute to your lack of mobility. You have a job you don't like, but because of salary, health insurance, a mortgage, a child with cancer you cannot afford to even consider moving. That is reality and you deal with it to get on with life.
Noncompete agreement are the modern day equivalent of indentured servitude. Many of them are not worth the paper they are written on and their have been court cases in which they have been ruled null and void. I know, as the VP of Human Resources of a large national firm we were able, on several occasions to hire professional and managerial staff away from other companies. It always took lawyers and money to prevail. Unfortunately, the average person does not have the knowledge of employment laws, lawyers at their disposal, a company willing to fight for them and the money required to do what is necessary to move on with their life.
Lastly, in the current political environment, companies that feel like they can operate like it's the 1700's or 1800's, without fear of government intervention, are more likely to expand this repressive practice.
Noncompete agreement are the modern day equivalent of indentured servitude. Many of them are not worth the paper they are written on and their have been court cases in which they have been ruled null and void. I know, as the VP of Human Resources of a large national firm we were able, on several occasions to hire professional and managerial staff away from other companies. It always took lawyers and money to prevail. Unfortunately, the average person does not have the knowledge of employment laws, lawyers at their disposal, a company willing to fight for them and the money required to do what is necessary to move on with their life.
Lastly, in the current political environment, companies that feel like they can operate like it's the 1700's or 1800's, without fear of government intervention, are more likely to expand this repressive practice.
2
It's called wage slavery. It is a tool of class warfare. These things were commonplace in political discourse until the postwar corporate propaganda assault on unions turned talk of class into a taboo.
We teachers are particularly aware of this trend. It's hard not to notice when both political parties are actively trying to turn you into indentured servants to venture capitalists masquerading as education reformers. The Democrats and The Times alike have hung us out to dry, as they have in each successive generation of assaults against organized labor, by adopting the radical right's framing of "school choice". And let's not even get into Obama and Clinton.
The GOP's success has a common thread in recent decades, culminating in Trump. It is the relentless, Orwellian assault on the civic vocabulary. Liberal became a pejorative. Class a taboo. Invasions became boots on the ground. Dissent became disloyalty. Union busting is right-to-work. Teachers' union busting is school choice. All of this happened with full media complicity, which continues today.
How, then, can we be surprised that Freedom is Slavery?
We teachers are particularly aware of this trend. It's hard not to notice when both political parties are actively trying to turn you into indentured servants to venture capitalists masquerading as education reformers. The Democrats and The Times alike have hung us out to dry, as they have in each successive generation of assaults against organized labor, by adopting the radical right's framing of "school choice". And let's not even get into Obama and Clinton.
The GOP's success has a common thread in recent decades, culminating in Trump. It is the relentless, Orwellian assault on the civic vocabulary. Liberal became a pejorative. Class a taboo. Invasions became boots on the ground. Dissent became disloyalty. Union busting is right-to-work. Teachers' union busting is school choice. All of this happened with full media complicity, which continues today.
How, then, can we be surprised that Freedom is Slavery?
1
As Janis Joplin said, freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. If the current administration succeeds we'll all be free by this definition.
1
The U.S. is winning the race to the bottom with Free-Dumb Capitalism.
This article and many comments categorize the ways F-DC relentlessly takes more-and-more from workers to transform the fruits of labor into profits for shareholders. Middle managers are serfs elevated to squirrel cages and must keep the capital wheel spinning at maximum speed less they be put to pasture without benefits and little prospect of re-employment. And senior management can only stay in their gilded cages as long as they follow the incentives to pump stock prices via short-term profits, stock buy backs and acquisitions.
With their armies of attorneys, accountants, and MBAs, our large corporations started the enslavement of workers. Most are oligopolies today and it is worse than ironic that rely upon the lack of competition to cut production costs, to increase profits, to grow, to undercut unions, to pressure suppliers to cut production costs, to outsource to low wage areas - and to buy legislators who pass legislation and administrations that minimize regulations that allow them to do this.
The last is what voters can still reverse but the time is getting late
This article and many comments categorize the ways F-DC relentlessly takes more-and-more from workers to transform the fruits of labor into profits for shareholders. Middle managers are serfs elevated to squirrel cages and must keep the capital wheel spinning at maximum speed less they be put to pasture without benefits and little prospect of re-employment. And senior management can only stay in their gilded cages as long as they follow the incentives to pump stock prices via short-term profits, stock buy backs and acquisitions.
With their armies of attorneys, accountants, and MBAs, our large corporations started the enslavement of workers. Most are oligopolies today and it is worse than ironic that rely upon the lack of competition to cut production costs, to increase profits, to grow, to undercut unions, to pressure suppliers to cut production costs, to outsource to low wage areas - and to buy legislators who pass legislation and administrations that minimize regulations that allow them to do this.
The last is what voters can still reverse but the time is getting late
2
Serfdom is exactly the word to describe what is happening. It's why Republicans have worked so hard to associate serfdom with government that actually serves people. Instead they want people to serve them. Simple world view: rule or be ruled.
If you look at the classic Four Freedoms portrayed by Norman Rockwell, the GOP version is a horrible parody.
Freedom from want? Drug-testing, means testing, junk food instead of healthy, vouchers that don't go far enough, lifetime benefit caps, privatizing the safety net...
Freedom of speech? Fine if you have your own media outlet with the 'right' slant, not "fake news". Not so good with Jeff Sessions telling the police to do what they need to do to 'control' protests.
Freedom of religion? Fine if that means freedom to make others bow to your beliefs, mandatory pregnancy, tearing down the wall between church and state. As long as it's the 'right' faith.
Freedom from fear? Give me a break. Total fear 24/7, more defense spending, more prisons, tougher police, guns everywhere.... and don't forget the Wall.
Neo-fascism is as good a word as any for this. An unholy blend of church, state, and corporations - of, by, and for the rich.
If you look at the classic Four Freedoms portrayed by Norman Rockwell, the GOP version is a horrible parody.
Freedom from want? Drug-testing, means testing, junk food instead of healthy, vouchers that don't go far enough, lifetime benefit caps, privatizing the safety net...
Freedom of speech? Fine if you have your own media outlet with the 'right' slant, not "fake news". Not so good with Jeff Sessions telling the police to do what they need to do to 'control' protests.
Freedom of religion? Fine if that means freedom to make others bow to your beliefs, mandatory pregnancy, tearing down the wall between church and state. As long as it's the 'right' faith.
Freedom from fear? Give me a break. Total fear 24/7, more defense spending, more prisons, tougher police, guns everywhere.... and don't forget the Wall.
Neo-fascism is as good a word as any for this. An unholy blend of church, state, and corporations - of, by, and for the rich.
1
Well, perhaps one day we will see the meritocracy in the streets, because now the great unwinding has come to them. It matters not how many degrees you earned or what your pay level is. All Republicans care about is reducing taxes on the one percent and putting everyone else to work for them.
1
Awful predicament, that of workers tied up to their current employer, however mean, so they wouldn't lose their healthcare coverage. Could 'wild' capitalism 'a la Milton Friedman' be deleterious to your health? It sure looks that way. The 'non-compete agreements' simulate a form of slavery, with a master in control; and no freedom to choose. I may be a dreamer, but some day, we may become enlightened, through all our prostituted politicians out, and start anew, by offering the only way out, Universal Health Care. And, of course, getting rid of the non-compete clause.
You have got to give the Republicans credit. They have managed to persuade those with the least to gain to bow before them and willingly accept the yoke of serfdom. Ultimately voters get the government they deserve. Sadly it appears to have arrived.
1
So even "independent contractors" are sometimes required to sign non-compete agreements. If courts & government are controlled by Republicans the pronouncement will be.. 'Corporate necessity demands that we drink the "secret sauce" & there is no incompatibility or resistance when it comes to corporate demands. Agree or perish. Work will set you free.'
Slavery is what they used to call it. The more genteel name was indentured servants. Cicero's reliably literate companion was also his slave barely known.
The feudal system had its origins in the Byzantine Empire amid the scarcity of labor from disease, wars and nobility as a form of taxation. So too is the non-compete, which channels wealth upward. Extorted labor for lords, masters and Neo-Capitalists who extort modern labor.
The lavish palaces and lifestyles of clergy and nobility for centuries was slavery in the name of feudalism. Nicholas Fouquet, Louis XIV's Finance minister, destroyed 40 villages to build his palatial chateau.
Too much American wealth came on the backs of black slavery and indentured white servants.
Hawaii's ethnic diversity is the product of destruction of indigenous people and the indentured labor from many lands for service to the six families, thiefs whole stole native lands from the Hawaiians. Uncle Sam as enforcer of heriditary thievery.
Our tax system already redistributes wealth upwards from the backs of many. Now Republicans plan to borrow 1/20th of our national GDP year after year, taxes for the many, more stolen wealthy.
Non-competes are simply another form of indentures and taxation on the many to benefit the few. The Walton Heirs share in the destruction of small business people that continues.
The GOP tax cuts will come from federal debt that burdens the middle class, the modestly affluent and the poor.
The feudal system had its origins in the Byzantine Empire amid the scarcity of labor from disease, wars and nobility as a form of taxation. So too is the non-compete, which channels wealth upward. Extorted labor for lords, masters and Neo-Capitalists who extort modern labor.
The lavish palaces and lifestyles of clergy and nobility for centuries was slavery in the name of feudalism. Nicholas Fouquet, Louis XIV's Finance minister, destroyed 40 villages to build his palatial chateau.
Too much American wealth came on the backs of black slavery and indentured white servants.
Hawaii's ethnic diversity is the product of destruction of indigenous people and the indentured labor from many lands for service to the six families, thiefs whole stole native lands from the Hawaiians. Uncle Sam as enforcer of heriditary thievery.
Our tax system already redistributes wealth upwards from the backs of many. Now Republicans plan to borrow 1/20th of our national GDP year after year, taxes for the many, more stolen wealthy.
Non-competes are simply another form of indentures and taxation on the many to benefit the few. The Walton Heirs share in the destruction of small business people that continues.
The GOP tax cuts will come from federal debt that burdens the middle class, the modestly affluent and the poor.
1
What else do you expect of a country where legal persons are treated as natural persons when it comes to freedom of speech. The US is reverting back to the nightmare of the Gilded Age, and Europe reclaiming its place as the most decent place in the West.
1
Republicans believe in freedom for those who can afford to take advantage of it. For everyone else, it's just an empty slogan.
1
I think what the oligarchs ultimately want is for the rest of us to do the modern equivalent of bowing and saying yes mi lord. They are solidifying a class system based on wealth that results from non-progressive income taxes, our absurd system of financing health care, our eroding educational system, out of control corporate and private election financing, and now employment shackles. Jimmy John thinks a sandwich recipe is proprietary? Wow.....design of computer chips are proprietary, imaging algorithms are proprietary.....sandwiches?
3
Trumpcare has precious little to do with health care, and all to do with a skintillion dollar tax cut for the very rich. Freedom from taxation for the ultra-wealthy.
No surprise from Republicans here. They count on their "base" being willfully ignorant. This way they need only use one or two word sound bites whenever they speak about policy. Indeed they know full well that all loyal Republicans never peer behind the veneer of lies that their leaders are peddling. Indeed, one need look no further at their overwhelming success in which they convinced their true believers that "Obamacare" was not the Affordable Care Act. Mission accomplished!
As a boy I lived with relatives sometimes in SC. Close by there was what I called a 'mill hill' (mill was actually on a hill) with workers who were tied to the mill as virtual slaves. Housing was provided but rent was charged to the employees. They were paid but had to shop at the company store for food and other essentials. The mill owners had manged to get the politicians to create "right to work' laws that made unions obsolete. Serfs, slaves, machts nicht.
Given the truth in this column, have we actually made any progress? Or, are we sinking back into that horrible morass?
Given the truth in this column, have we actually made any progress? Or, are we sinking back into that horrible morass?
1
Non-competes are becoming an issue even for salaried jobs. I used to work in FCA through a contractor due to FCA's unwillingness to hire foreign workers, my H1B renewal always took longer than direct hires.
This made it difficult for me to switch jobs - the non-compete forced me to turn down some potential offers, and the immigration process scared off potential employers.
Staffing companies use this 1-2 punch to suppress wages and make it difficult for their workers to switch jobs. OEM's like FCA are ignorant, all they want is a young and disposable workforce.
This, after I did my MS in the US, paid up full out of state tuition, and had to bear a 20% fee hike in 2008, just 2 months after I landed in the US.
This made it difficult for me to switch jobs - the non-compete forced me to turn down some potential offers, and the immigration process scared off potential employers.
Staffing companies use this 1-2 punch to suppress wages and make it difficult for their workers to switch jobs. OEM's like FCA are ignorant, all they want is a young and disposable workforce.
This, after I did my MS in the US, paid up full out of state tuition, and had to bear a 20% fee hike in 2008, just 2 months after I landed in the US.
It always struck me how libertarians are so blind to the dangers of the centralization of power in corporate hands.
2
But Freedom is Slavery, isn't it? Just as Ignorance is Strength and War is Peace? It only make sense, even as it's surreal that the US is actually putting those Orwellian faux truisms into operating practice under the Republicans. Frankly, they're adding a few more -- Lying is Truth, Fantasy is Fact, etc.
1
'Conservatism' was destroyed by Fox, Rush, etc. Reagan began this decline with, in part, his war on unions. Unions historically countered the corporate malignant, greedy, grasping idea that "whatever is good for GM (fortune 500), is good for the country".
In the public's mind unions became the devil, run by thugs who were simply bullies with no imagination. A labor econ Prof of mine once, in the mid-sixties, said that the only union leader with an imagination was Cesar Chavez. This has not changed much and unions continue to lose ground.
The Democratic party must lead America out of this trap that the GOP has, with the help of Mr Murdoch, created to further the interests and wealth of the 1%. Religion has helped perpetuate the movement to virtually enslaving American workers. When something bad happens it is "God's plan" - we can do nothing about it. "The freedom to believe that Jesus Christ lived with the dinosaurs, that the Earth is just a few thousand years old, that tax cuts increase tax revenues and that the 'Lord will provide'." (thank you Socrates).
This is not a screed against religion as faith comforts many and some religious orders do enormous good throughout the world. The point is that, here in America, we have become enslaved by the many voters who buy into and support supply side economic theory, government is bad and intrusive, the wealth know best (e.g. Trump), unions are bad, the NRA knows best, Health care is not a 'right', and more. Greed wins.
In the public's mind unions became the devil, run by thugs who were simply bullies with no imagination. A labor econ Prof of mine once, in the mid-sixties, said that the only union leader with an imagination was Cesar Chavez. This has not changed much and unions continue to lose ground.
The Democratic party must lead America out of this trap that the GOP has, with the help of Mr Murdoch, created to further the interests and wealth of the 1%. Religion has helped perpetuate the movement to virtually enslaving American workers. When something bad happens it is "God's plan" - we can do nothing about it. "The freedom to believe that Jesus Christ lived with the dinosaurs, that the Earth is just a few thousand years old, that tax cuts increase tax revenues and that the 'Lord will provide'." (thank you Socrates).
This is not a screed against religion as faith comforts many and some religious orders do enormous good throughout the world. The point is that, here in America, we have become enslaved by the many voters who buy into and support supply side economic theory, government is bad and intrusive, the wealth know best (e.g. Trump), unions are bad, the NRA knows best, Health care is not a 'right', and more. Greed wins.
You work hard. You put enough away. You're ready to enjoy the fruits of that labor and to retire ... but no: healthcare costs force you back. America don't look so pretty no more, here, at the end of days.
307
No, Gerard, it doesn't look even remotely pretty; in fact it's looking downright ugly.
And believe me, I know, after working and contributing for over 50 years, now near 70, and simply horrified at what we have lost.
I blame myself, and the tens of millions of us, who looked the other way as the rape and pillage persisted, and finally became constant.
And believe me, I know, after working and contributing for over 50 years, now near 70, and simply horrified at what we have lost.
I blame myself, and the tens of millions of us, who looked the other way as the rape and pillage persisted, and finally became constant.
2
I'm 58. Like many born after 1955 I will never be able to retire. Why? Not because I didn't start an IRA, didn't work hard, didn't try to save, didn't live under my means.
I was traded in for cheaper models, not once but multiple times as I gained enough experience to be expensive. I had to start at the bottom of the salary scale at least twice. As a woman I was discriminated against for being in my reproductive years and again for being older. As a person over the age of 45 I'm considered incapable of learning, set in my ways, stupid, or too expensive, or all of the above.
Employers no longer invest in their employees. They do invest in their CEOs to the point where those salaries and perks deprive us of decent pay. Companies don't give back to the community in a meaningful way any longer but they complain if the roads aren't decent, the utilities aren't dependable and the workers aren't educated. If you don't want to have these problems stop asking for tax breaks. If Americans want America to be a good place to live, stop voting in people who cut taxes and then cut the programs that keep our infrastructure in decent shape.
GOP does not equal Grand Old Party any longer. It's closer to Greedy Old Parasites (who drain the life out of us to keep themselves in power).
I was traded in for cheaper models, not once but multiple times as I gained enough experience to be expensive. I had to start at the bottom of the salary scale at least twice. As a woman I was discriminated against for being in my reproductive years and again for being older. As a person over the age of 45 I'm considered incapable of learning, set in my ways, stupid, or too expensive, or all of the above.
Employers no longer invest in their employees. They do invest in their CEOs to the point where those salaries and perks deprive us of decent pay. Companies don't give back to the community in a meaningful way any longer but they complain if the roads aren't decent, the utilities aren't dependable and the workers aren't educated. If you don't want to have these problems stop asking for tax breaks. If Americans want America to be a good place to live, stop voting in people who cut taxes and then cut the programs that keep our infrastructure in decent shape.
GOP does not equal Grand Old Party any longer. It's closer to Greedy Old Parasites (who drain the life out of us to keep themselves in power).
1
We would prefer you self-terminate when no longer able to work for stagnant wages. Thank You, Your GOP
1
Brilliant analysis. Completely right, both on the meaning of freedom, and these particular cases.
8
A relative recently refused to sign a revised 'Employee Handbook' that included a 'revision' of the contract he had signed more than 5 years before. He was let go as a result from a high-paying tech job. He had signed a fairly standard non-compete when hired, including a clause forbidding employment in the same type of work for a year, and giving the company rights to any intellectual property he developed while employed by them. Then he saw the revision.
The revision claimed that not only could he not compete for a year, but that the company he left was to own ANY intellectual property (IP) he developed during that next year. They would own any book, article, art, photo, presentation, patent, trademark, social media posting, or copyright he came up with, without any compensation beyond what they had paid while he was an active employee. Any IP, whether or not it related to work he had done for them was included. He regularly gives presentations to trade associations on topics well beyond the work he did for them.
We talked in detail about this because he knows I hold patents (assigned), copyrights, etc. and worked >25 years under 'normal' non-competes which prevented my actually competing for a year after employment.
Non-competes strangle innovation, as Krugman points out. CA's ban drives Silicone Valley. But claiming uncompensated work such as post-employment IP is a form of vengeance serfdom that violates any fair sense of work for fair pay.
The revision claimed that not only could he not compete for a year, but that the company he left was to own ANY intellectual property (IP) he developed during that next year. They would own any book, article, art, photo, presentation, patent, trademark, social media posting, or copyright he came up with, without any compensation beyond what they had paid while he was an active employee. Any IP, whether or not it related to work he had done for them was included. He regularly gives presentations to trade associations on topics well beyond the work he did for them.
We talked in detail about this because he knows I hold patents (assigned), copyrights, etc. and worked >25 years under 'normal' non-competes which prevented my actually competing for a year after employment.
Non-competes strangle innovation, as Krugman points out. CA's ban drives Silicone Valley. But claiming uncompensated work such as post-employment IP is a form of vengeance serfdom that violates any fair sense of work for fair pay.
29
There’s yet a third factor which will likely deter people from relocating in search of better job opportunities over the coming decades. People who took advantage of super-low mortgage rates over the past five years to buy or refinance their homes will not want to move if interest rates rise to their normal historical levels. This “mortgage lock-in effect” was, I’m sure, well known to the policymakers at the Fed, which began buying up mortgage-backed securities in 2008 in an effort to push rates down, but they had no choice—the economy was reeling from the financial crisis of 2007.
3
Thank you PK. Excellent analysis of structural barriers in our economy working to benefit capitalists and stymie those who'd like to join the club.
7
One legal doctrine that seemed more vibrant four decades ago was the idea that in deciding whether to refuse to enforce a provision in a contract for reasons of public policy, it was relevant to think deeply about and give weight to the relative bargaining positions of the parties to the contract.
We talked about "contracts of adhesion."
Freedom of contract is an important bedrock legal idea that shapes how we live our day to day lives, but hopefully all Americans today would agree that as a society we're not about enforcing a contract for something like indentured servitude.
It's worthwhile nowadays to contemplate the idea that courts of law and enforcing contracts and setting the rules for when a contract is enforceable and the rule of law generally are matters that we come together to accomplish as a society.
Setting and enforcing the rules and mechanisms by which we protect private freedom is enormously important, but paradoxically it's something we come together to do in the public sphere. We even agree to tax ourselves to do it.
We talked about "contracts of adhesion."
Freedom of contract is an important bedrock legal idea that shapes how we live our day to day lives, but hopefully all Americans today would agree that as a society we're not about enforcing a contract for something like indentured servitude.
It's worthwhile nowadays to contemplate the idea that courts of law and enforcing contracts and setting the rules for when a contract is enforceable and the rule of law generally are matters that we come together to accomplish as a society.
Setting and enforcing the rules and mechanisms by which we protect private freedom is enormously important, but paradoxically it's something we come together to do in the public sphere. We even agree to tax ourselves to do it.
4
Even smaller businesses have created contracts, where their part-time employees cannot work in the same field outside that job in order to gain more hours. The part-time employees must then find other work, which doesn't require their specific skill-set, experience and education, resulting in low paying filler work.
7
My wife and I stayed on in our careers longer than we wanted because we needed employer-provided health insurance. We would have liked to have retired earlier and begun second careers that were more socially useful and spiritually rewarding. Because we stayed, younger employees didn't move up. I don't think that benefited our employers either.
13
Thanks for this info. I had never heard of non-compete clauses.
The first I heard of them was about 20 years ago. The man I hired to do lawn mowing and other yard work for me was actually a carpenter, unable to begin his own carpentry business for the next several years because of a noncompete clause in the contract he had signed with the building contractor for whom he had previously worked.
At the time, I thought it was a ridiculous idea. I still do.
At the time, I thought it was a ridiculous idea. I still do.
1
There is extensive case law re the enforceability of non-compete clauses. Remember, just because you signed a piece of paper that has a non-compete clause in it does not necessarily mean that the restriction would be enforceable in a court of law. Courts balance the rights of the individual employee against the business interests of the employer. I suspect that many of these agreements purportedly restricting low level peoplepeople fro
3
Who is selecting the judges? What are their philosophical leanings?
1
Which is very nice. It's always nice when employers do something unethical & you can pay 1 million dollars to lawyers to get out anyway. But, most people can't afford even a small percentage of that amount. The employers essentially can keep using their non-compete clauses because they are willing (or at least make you believe they are willing) to take you to court over it. So, these legal ways to slavery get written into more & more contracts. Normal people cannot afford the lawyer fees & court fees to fight them.
2
Ran out of ink looks like... we'll send you the bill for the legal fees.
The reality is that Americans do not live as well as Western Europeans. My husband is from there and we visit his family occasionally. One thing I've noted is that the average person in Europe lives better than the average person in the U.S. I attribute it to the deteriorating conditions for workers that started in the 1980's. The loss of Union membership is a big factor. Good luck with the GOP, they not only don't care, they are the ones who caused it.
25
Freedom isn't free, and without all of us paying for each others' healthcare in proportion to ability to pay, workers will never be free. Will only be indentured servants stuck to whoever will cover healthcare prices to some extent.
7
Mr. Krugman, have you read Naomi Klein's 2007 book, "The Shock Doctrine"? It feels like the Republicans are really just picking up where they left off at the end of the Bush Administration. And in Trump they have a virtual shock machine.
I'm sure they are readying themselves for the next place they can institute their Milton Friedman principles in distressed areas--programs that always turn out to be disasters.
I'm sure they are readying themselves for the next place they can institute their Milton Friedman principles in distressed areas--programs that always turn out to be disasters.
8
Rent seeking is how business is done in laissez-faire capitalism. Non-competes, patent laws, DMCA, name it and business will attempt to capitalize to ensure rents to the wealthy.
6
Freedom is a very loaded word in the United States.
1/EMPLOYERS are free to prohibit and limit former employees from earning a meaningful wage elsewhere by exploiting previous work experience, no matter how menial ;
2/EMPLOYERS are free to abstain from providing their employees with health insurance if such coverage is not in the boss's interest.
The conclusion : free enterprise only applies to business owners, the rest of payroll can just take it or leave it as is.
1/EMPLOYERS are free to prohibit and limit former employees from earning a meaningful wage elsewhere by exploiting previous work experience, no matter how menial ;
2/EMPLOYERS are free to abstain from providing their employees with health insurance if such coverage is not in the boss's interest.
The conclusion : free enterprise only applies to business owners, the rest of payroll can just take it or leave it as is.
8
What about the home ownership trap? People are encouraged to buy houses. Then when the local economy declines, people who might otherwise go elsewhere for jobs find themselves tied to houses that are devalued or even underwater. We need to neutralize the choice between buying and renting, to make people freer to move.
In the 1980s, corporate America was increasingly concerned about foreign competition created by globalism. So they lobbied Congress to strengthen the patent laws thereby securing at least markets in the US.
By the 2000s, disruptors were increasingly concerned with being disrupted made possible in part by the strengthened patent laws. Also, the patent laws were viewed by some in corporate America as no longer necessary due to the reemergence of monopolies and government's disinterest with enforcing antitrust laws. The corporate giants have spent the twelve years weakening the US patent system in favor of trade secret laws.
Recently implemented trade secret laws permit employers to obtain ex parte seizures and other forms of enforcement. This means that a court may issue an order permitting an employer to seize computers and other information from an employee’s home if required to protect an employer’s trade secrets. Unfortunately, constraints on this new system depend on the integrity of our courts. If judges are political hacks, corporate stooges or worse, then the trade secret laws provide just one more vehicle for oppressing workers. This may explain why Republicans blocked Obama's federal court appointments.
The rise of Trump, the agendas of the Republican Party, and the slow collapse of our democracy suggest that trade secrets will play a major role in further depressing the economic value of workers in an economy built by and for the billionaire class.
By the 2000s, disruptors were increasingly concerned with being disrupted made possible in part by the strengthened patent laws. Also, the patent laws were viewed by some in corporate America as no longer necessary due to the reemergence of monopolies and government's disinterest with enforcing antitrust laws. The corporate giants have spent the twelve years weakening the US patent system in favor of trade secret laws.
Recently implemented trade secret laws permit employers to obtain ex parte seizures and other forms of enforcement. This means that a court may issue an order permitting an employer to seize computers and other information from an employee’s home if required to protect an employer’s trade secrets. Unfortunately, constraints on this new system depend on the integrity of our courts. If judges are political hacks, corporate stooges or worse, then the trade secret laws provide just one more vehicle for oppressing workers. This may explain why Republicans blocked Obama's federal court appointments.
The rise of Trump, the agendas of the Republican Party, and the slow collapse of our democracy suggest that trade secrets will play a major role in further depressing the economic value of workers in an economy built by and for the billionaire class.
4
Another category of shackled workers on the low end of the wage scale - temp gig workers. Who tend to be barred from seeking employment at any of the companies they're for, even if they only worked for a day. Unless the prospective employer is willing to pay a hefty fee, which they're generally not. What started as protection for the temp agancies, who may have invested a lot of time in training the employee for a longish-term position, morphed into protection for the agency who hasn't invested a dime in training the employee, but gets their pound of flesh on their labor.
5
"...the U.S. doesn’t come out looking too good, especially compared with the high freedom grades of European nations with strong social safety nets."
With the threat of a Sanders presidency gone, Krugman can now speak the truth about social democracies generally, but he has to tiptoe - and bend the truth -around certain issues, such as health care.
"Then Obamacare went into effect, guaranteeing affordable care even to those with pre-existing medical conditions. This was a hugely liberating change for millions."
ACA stopped the appalling practice of denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, but the care is far from affordable, unless you're well-off, like Krugman.
And on the topic of freedom, a majority of the public has supported a Medicare-for-all single payer system, but neither party is willing to bite the corporate hands that feed them.
With the threat of a Sanders presidency gone, Krugman can now speak the truth about social democracies generally, but he has to tiptoe - and bend the truth -around certain issues, such as health care.
"Then Obamacare went into effect, guaranteeing affordable care even to those with pre-existing medical conditions. This was a hugely liberating change for millions."
ACA stopped the appalling practice of denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, but the care is far from affordable, unless you're well-off, like Krugman.
And on the topic of freedom, a majority of the public has supported a Medicare-for-all single payer system, but neither party is willing to bite the corporate hands that feed them.
9
Yes indeed Ed, they have become obese from the corporate diet of the last few decades, and the thought of doing anything, other than lick the last morsels from their masters hands, never occurs.
The system is spoiled beyond redemption, entirely corrupted, and the only way back, largely unlikely, is worldwide revolution, blood in the streets kind, as these clowns simply refuse to see where this is going.
The system is spoiled beyond redemption, entirely corrupted, and the only way back, largely unlikely, is worldwide revolution, blood in the streets kind, as these clowns simply refuse to see where this is going.
If you want a Medicare system for younger workers, all of you better start paying into a special Trust Fund 25 years ago. Medicare is not an entitlement, but, a premium based program administered by the Fed. Gov. You pay your premiums every week out of your pay, automatically. If you qualify that is. Fed Employees don't pay these premiums, or the ones for SS, as they are not qualified to receive benefits from either program, they have their own, they paid for all the time they worked in the Fed Gov. They keep paying for the health coverage even after retirement.
All of congress has been embezzling out of those 2 trust funds since they were started. $3 trillion so far. In fact Ryan wants to kill both programs (as far as disbursements are concerned, keeping the payroll deductions anyway). That way congress can keep using those two trust funds as slush funds to get whatever their little hearts want in the way of pork. So, Ryan says Medicare is insolvent, because of the Baby Boomers. We the largest generation have been paying in our premiums every week for near 50 years. Now is the time for the program to start paying out to us. But, they are in trouble, the trust fund has been embezzled from for so long, it has no where near the money it should at this point. In every other business embezzlement is a crime. In congress it is normal operating procedure. No wonder they don't want to Impeach *45, we just might come after them. Past present & future members of congress, all guilty.
All of congress has been embezzling out of those 2 trust funds since they were started. $3 trillion so far. In fact Ryan wants to kill both programs (as far as disbursements are concerned, keeping the payroll deductions anyway). That way congress can keep using those two trust funds as slush funds to get whatever their little hearts want in the way of pork. So, Ryan says Medicare is insolvent, because of the Baby Boomers. We the largest generation have been paying in our premiums every week for near 50 years. Now is the time for the program to start paying out to us. But, they are in trouble, the trust fund has been embezzled from for so long, it has no where near the money it should at this point. In every other business embezzlement is a crime. In congress it is normal operating procedure. No wonder they don't want to Impeach *45, we just might come after them. Past present & future members of congress, all guilty.
Small government, low regulation principles give all the power to Corporation and businesses. And businesses do not have the interests of the society that supports those businesses. We have seen that recently in the scandals of Wells Fargo, United Airlines, Epi-pen, and many others. They will hollow out our society and economy at every point they can. That is history. And it is no good for the average citizen of that country.
By contrast Democratic Socialist countries provide a living wage for all workers, healthcare and education for all, four weeks vacation for all by law, AND they generally balance their budgets. What Conservative wants any of that?
By contrast Democratic Socialist countries provide a living wage for all workers, healthcare and education for all, four weeks vacation for all by law, AND they generally balance their budgets. What Conservative wants any of that?
4
It isn't limited to private employment. The NC legislature is currently considering a bill to eliminate retirement health coverage for new state hires from 2018.
3
While I agree with Krugman's premise, he does not go nearly far enough. The notion that people can freely change jobs and make choices creating a more "efficient" economy is built on both sides of the relationship having equal clout. The reality is that most Americans work in "at will" states where employers can fire an employee at will and unionization that used to protect those in lower levels has so eroded that it is of no consequence.
The dishonesty that the 1%, corporate owners and their Republican lackeys don't discuss is that they sold the first half of the equation on mobility, then took away the workers side. When I say worker, I mean everyone from middle management as Professor Krugman has said to the Wal-Mart greeter. The device used may differ by busting unions, making people reliant on healthcare provided by a company, requiring longer hours for the same pay, etc.
Until we restore some modicum of a safety net and change the bargaining power of workers, the "modern" work environment will increasingly resemble a prison. Owners should be very concerned, because just as monopolies are successful when they don't look like monopolies, when workers get full wind of what is being done to them the backlash will be brutal. Never mind the unethical nature of the current arrangement.
The dishonesty that the 1%, corporate owners and their Republican lackeys don't discuss is that they sold the first half of the equation on mobility, then took away the workers side. When I say worker, I mean everyone from middle management as Professor Krugman has said to the Wal-Mart greeter. The device used may differ by busting unions, making people reliant on healthcare provided by a company, requiring longer hours for the same pay, etc.
Until we restore some modicum of a safety net and change the bargaining power of workers, the "modern" work environment will increasingly resemble a prison. Owners should be very concerned, because just as monopolies are successful when they don't look like monopolies, when workers get full wind of what is being done to them the backlash will be brutal. Never mind the unethical nature of the current arrangement.
5
Freedom from want is the greatest gift that could be bestowed on Americans. Freedom from hunger, from lack of medical care, and from discrimination, for ourselves and our families, stimulates job mobility and nourishes the entrepreneurial spirit. Every American should be able to act as a free agent with a social safety net of employment, health care, and retirement benefits.
My local newspaper reports there are 80,000 job openings in Atlanta. Surely there are similar opportunities in Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles. Why aren’t the left-behind Americans in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia leaping at the opportunity for a milder climate and a better life for themselves and their children? Why do they stay in their miserable villages to wait the improbable return of sweatshop manufacturing and dirty, dangerous coal jobs? Fear of want keeps them there, deprives them of a decent life!
My local newspaper reports there are 80,000 job openings in Atlanta. Surely there are similar opportunities in Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles. Why aren’t the left-behind Americans in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia leaping at the opportunity for a milder climate and a better life for themselves and their children? Why do they stay in their miserable villages to wait the improbable return of sweatshop manufacturing and dirty, dangerous coal jobs? Fear of want keeps them there, deprives them of a decent life!
3
I have in laws who did exactly that. Years ago. They sold everything, moved to a booming Texas. Lot's of job listings. Should have been a slam dunk right? Wrong. Every decently paid job had a clause that it could only be given to a TEXAN. Sometimes it went so far as to say from which county. At the time Texas was very close to full employment, in the areas that provide well paying jobs to well trained people. Were they training their people for these jobs? Nope. Attitude was, those without jobs were too stupid to be trained. But, they still enforced the Hire a Texan First law. So, my in laws were stuck. Both working flipping burgers (those jobs would be given them, though at a lower wage than paid to a Texan). Finally calling home for the money to bring their family back to Ohio. So, if you are going to try this: 1. Don't sell everything. 2. Only the major bread winner should go to another state to see how things work. 3. Don't move the family until you have a job, & have been working at it for a few months. Then bring the family. 4. Remember what happened to all the people who migrated from the south & the dust bowl in the 30's. States often don't want you, even if you know the work they need done. They look down on you. They try to 'deport' you, or block you from coming across the state border, into their state.
The pendulum of worker rights vs. employer needs has swung way to far in the employer's favor. The loss of collective bargaining, non-compete agreements, low wages, and so on are symptoms of the larger malaise in capitalist America. The end result is the share of national income accruing to labor has dropped dramatically since 2000. See https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/article/estimating-the-us-labor-share.htm.
Why should corporate owners care? Because in the long run, an economy in which workers don't make enough to live on stagnates. We get 1.5% - 2% growth coming out of the Great Recession instead of 2%-3%. Business owners complain about lack of demand holding back growth. We get a large segment of disenfranchised workers who believe the economy doesn't work for them. We get those disenfranchised workers voting to elect a government that promises to champion their cause, but is actually pushing the pendulum further away from them.
Why should corporate owners care? Because in the long run, an economy in which workers don't make enough to live on stagnates. We get 1.5% - 2% growth coming out of the Great Recession instead of 2%-3%. Business owners complain about lack of demand holding back growth. We get a large segment of disenfranchised workers who believe the economy doesn't work for them. We get those disenfranchised workers voting to elect a government that promises to champion their cause, but is actually pushing the pendulum further away from them.
6
It's going to be worse than serfdom. Ironically, serfdom at least had stability. If you want to see modern-day serfdom, look at Japanese corporations.
No, as technology gets better, what you will get is steadily dropping demand for local human labor. We have already seen that for the last 70 years, just in slow motion like the proverbial frog in a frying pan. In the 50s, a single breadwinner could support an entire family with no debt. Today, both parents work, delay kids, live paycheck to paycheck, household debt is high, and still can't afford the same kind of real estate. What gives?
Simple - technology has caused the demand for human labor to go down, on average. Supply chains made outsourcing easier, and now AI is going to make one human do the job of 100. Many things have come down in price, but not food and real estate. It's simple economics.
Productivity is 5-10x higher today than in the 50s, as measured by inflation-adjusted GDP per capita. But food and rent are always increasing in price relative to what people earn.
To deliver money to the people, Capitalism relied on employers valuaing their employees, but technology changes that equation. Your grandfather worked in the same company for 50 years and got a pension. Today's millennials flit from job to job and are lucky to stay in one place for more than two years. There is hardly any loyalty one way or the other. Choice is on both sides, and as wages fall, employers will becomes less loyal, not more.
No, as technology gets better, what you will get is steadily dropping demand for local human labor. We have already seen that for the last 70 years, just in slow motion like the proverbial frog in a frying pan. In the 50s, a single breadwinner could support an entire family with no debt. Today, both parents work, delay kids, live paycheck to paycheck, household debt is high, and still can't afford the same kind of real estate. What gives?
Simple - technology has caused the demand for human labor to go down, on average. Supply chains made outsourcing easier, and now AI is going to make one human do the job of 100. Many things have come down in price, but not food and real estate. It's simple economics.
Productivity is 5-10x higher today than in the 50s, as measured by inflation-adjusted GDP per capita. But food and rent are always increasing in price relative to what people earn.
To deliver money to the people, Capitalism relied on employers valuaing their employees, but technology changes that equation. Your grandfather worked in the same company for 50 years and got a pension. Today's millennials flit from job to job and are lucky to stay in one place for more than two years. There is hardly any loyalty one way or the other. Choice is on both sides, and as wages fall, employers will becomes less loyal, not more.
Another big area where Americans are losing freedom is that often hidden clause in virtually every business transaction that blocks consumers and employees from suing for injuries in a court of law. Instead we are increasingly forced to have the matter arbitrated in front of an arbitrator picked by the very business who you would like to sue.
9
Perfect for the 1%. Wages low, benefits disappear, safety a thing of the past, fear and loathing across the land. As us ancients finally get out of this new world order, the young are losing the knowledge of a semi-civil workplace where the struggle for a safe workplace, fair wages and benefits was hard fought with the blood of their ancestors. 40 hour work week? A thing of the past for many workers. They are going to have to fight for everything all over again.
1
May Republican politicians have sought to define "freedom" as absence of government regulations, which they portray as unconditionally deleterious. Many ordinary citizens have fallen for this falsity. But, in reality, large private corporations, more than government, are taking away our freedom. In addition to what Prof. Krugman described, and compulsory arbitration, mentioned by another commenter, there is the issue of credit reporting. If a creditor or a credit reporting business gives a person a false negative report, that means the person will have to pay a higher interest rate on a home or car loan, if they can obtain a loan at all. It may also impede the individual's ability to obtain employment. The Investor State Dispute Resolution provision in our trade agreements allows large multinational corporations to take away communities' freedom to govern themselves as they see fit. And don't forget the private prison corporations. We need prominent politicians to have the courage to acknowledge and explain how large private corporations are invidiously taking away our freedom, and that government is the only bulwark against this.
2
Freedom isn't free, but not the way you hear some talk about "freedom."
The "Freedom Caucus" and their ilk apparently think "freedom" means freedom from paying taxes, freedom from letting voters know what's happening inside our government, "freedom" from having affordable health care, and "freedom" from making our own determinations about what is and is not our right to know.
In other words, the public is "free" to not interfere with "our betters" and their needs, wants and desires because, obviously, our "betters" are the "job creators" and the only taxpayers that count (despite paying a below average percentage of their income in taxes).
The "Freedom Caucus" and their ilk apparently think "freedom" means freedom from paying taxes, freedom from letting voters know what's happening inside our government, "freedom" from having affordable health care, and "freedom" from making our own determinations about what is and is not our right to know.
In other words, the public is "free" to not interfere with "our betters" and their needs, wants and desires because, obviously, our "betters" are the "job creators" and the only taxpayers that count (despite paying a below average percentage of their income in taxes).
We never made it to student debt but I have a feeling I already know the message. Take whatever job at whatever wage you can get and be grateful. There's no way out from underneath your debt burden except a paycheck. In 10 years, you might be able to start your life.
I'll only add that non-disclosure agreements are equally limiting to the bargaining power of labor. I once had a job offer with an NDA that effectively terminated my right to disclose anything I've ever learned in my life without the express permission of the employer. Furthermore, once employed, any idea I had during my employment was the property of the company. They wanted me to sign the contract before they would even agree to an interview. Sorry. Not happening. Looking for a job some place else.
I'll only add that non-disclosure agreements are equally limiting to the bargaining power of labor. I once had a job offer with an NDA that effectively terminated my right to disclose anything I've ever learned in my life without the express permission of the employer. Furthermore, once employed, any idea I had during my employment was the property of the company. They wanted me to sign the contract before they would even agree to an interview. Sorry. Not happening. Looking for a job some place else.
2
"It is not infrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their actions, mean nothing else by it but their own liberty - to oppress without control, or the restraint of laws, all who are poorer and weaker than themselves." - Samuel Adams
1
So-called arbitration agreements are another avenue to serfdom. A large number of employers coerce their employees and new hires to sign agreements that any and all employment disputes, including claims of discrimination and retaliation, must be arbitrated instead of going before a court and jury. Our courts are complicit in this, as they will find that entire employee handbooks are not contracts, but will enforce the arbitration agreements. This has been extensively discussed in the media before, but Republican legislators will do nothing about it.
2
Your column included my favorite phrase...the land of the free. I.e., where businesses use the pretense of consumer protection to construct barriers to free trade. Car dealers in Texas who can't open on Sunday, the three slot alcohol distribution system, all manner of licensing laws, etc...all working to keep prices "stable"!
1
Of course Mr. Krugman is being disingenuous when he talks about preexisting conditions. He knows that only Americans who elect not to have health insurance would be subject to a surcharge from preexisting conditions in the new health care bill. Anyone with health insurance could freely switch plans with a preexisting condition without any kind of a surcharge, even if they transfer jobs.
Nonetheless, I could not agree more about workers who have non-compete clauses in their contracts. This is a huge impediment to worker mobility, and the ability of workers too freely market their own skills. I would expect members of both parties to support legislation to vastly limit non compete clauses, but I would expect there to be many things that both parties could agree upon, but I would have been wrong.
Nonetheless, I could not agree more about workers who have non-compete clauses in their contracts. This is a huge impediment to worker mobility, and the ability of workers too freely market their own skills. I would expect members of both parties to support legislation to vastly limit non compete clauses, but I would expect there to be many things that both parties could agree upon, but I would have been wrong.
1
I work in IT, and have been signing these agreements for20 years. But I did consult an attorney first, and their analysis was that the breadth of these agreements is usually so wide as to be unenforceable. If an employer attempted to take me to court Based on one of these agreements I would let them, and then trot out for all to see the complete lack of originality and uniqueness of all their IT documentation, controls and processes. You don't want to be the one who has proven you are not an innovator or 'disruptor', not in this day and age.
1
Worth remembering.
Traditional economics (supply and demand, etc.) is dead. This is the economics of control, through the deal, the contract, etc. Businesses couldn't make the kind of profit that they wanted through the the usual route, so they had to game the system.
Ultimately, they will undermine themselves.
Ultimately, they will undermine themselves.
1
Universities do the same thing. I developed a product using my money and time after performing all my University duties. They wanted to claim intellectual property rights. I have everything set to go upon leaving the University and have given a percentage of the company to one of their former intellectual property lawyers. I refuse to be their serf.
2
If an employer hires professionals, and then makes a substantial investments to enable those professionals to build up a client base that supports the professional's salary, after which the successful professional takes her client base and walks across town to work for another firm, induced by a bonus, the first employer is in the position of a spouse who deferred their own career to put their partner through school, and is served with divorce papers as soon as the partner gets a degree and starts their career.
In each particular case, it makes sense to say that the employee should be "free" to promote his or her own best interests. But can a situation arise in which one firm becomes entrenched as a parasite on another, so that the other firm is "trapped" into the role of a "farm team"? Perhaps one of Prof. Krugman's students can try to look into it.
In each particular case, it makes sense to say that the employee should be "free" to promote his or her own best interests. But can a situation arise in which one firm becomes entrenched as a parasite on another, so that the other firm is "trapped" into the role of a "farm team"? Perhaps one of Prof. Krugman's students can try to look into it.
to be fair, noncompete clauses have to deal with important information and are frequently not enforceable.
Here is an article from Forbes: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/upshot/the-cost-can-be-debated-but-me...
If propietary information is involved, as it is in the Google/Uber case, then that may be enforceable.
Here is an article from Forbes: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/upshot/the-cost-can-be-debated-but-me...
If propietary information is involved, as it is in the Google/Uber case, then that may be enforceable.
American workers are caught in a double bind. This is driven primarily by corporate greed. The end-goal is to create a demoralized, desperate, and spiritually beaten down workforce, that will endlessly capitulate to increasing demands and ever decreasing quality of life.
Healthcare is a crucial issue. If we really cared about "freedom," we would expand a universal, single-payer healthcare system to cover every American. This would take away the terrifying insecurity inherent in our atrocious for-profit system. From a business perspective, it would allow actual freedom for workers- to find fulfilling work, and to build businesses of their own.
But, god forbid we have that! Then, corporate interests wouldn't be able to beat down their workers, and they'd actually have to compete again! Much easier for them to purchase lackey politicians who will help them further squeeze and demoralize working people.
Noncompete clauses taken to such extremes seem more like the hysterical reactions of a spurned lover, not intelligent business. It's another way to keep workers captive, browbeaten, and complacent.
We need a new labor movement in this country. One that promotes and expands union membership, universal healthcare, and equitable wages relative to productivity. Right now, we are living in a neo-gilded age, and have forgotten all of the lessons of past labor movements.
We must vote accordingly. And if there are no politicians who support this- run for office ourselves.
Healthcare is a crucial issue. If we really cared about "freedom," we would expand a universal, single-payer healthcare system to cover every American. This would take away the terrifying insecurity inherent in our atrocious for-profit system. From a business perspective, it would allow actual freedom for workers- to find fulfilling work, and to build businesses of their own.
But, god forbid we have that! Then, corporate interests wouldn't be able to beat down their workers, and they'd actually have to compete again! Much easier for them to purchase lackey politicians who will help them further squeeze and demoralize working people.
Noncompete clauses taken to such extremes seem more like the hysterical reactions of a spurned lover, not intelligent business. It's another way to keep workers captive, browbeaten, and complacent.
We need a new labor movement in this country. One that promotes and expands union membership, universal healthcare, and equitable wages relative to productivity. Right now, we are living in a neo-gilded age, and have forgotten all of the lessons of past labor movements.
We must vote accordingly. And if there are no politicians who support this- run for office ourselves.
1
Let's not forget all the mandatory arbitration agreements. This increases your "freedom" so those pesky courts don't stand in the way of the freedom provided by corporate friendly arbitration panels.
They even get their own legal system!
They even get their own legal system!
2
I agree with Dr. Krugman, and the corporate sector limits freedom in another key way, age discrimination. I am in my early 60's. After my private sector employer laid me off I searched for a new private sector job. I am highly qualified in my profession, but had only one shallow phone interview after submitting 25 applications. Among public sector employers I had much better success and ultimately found a great government job. I am very happy with the outcome. Freedom in the corporate world...yeah, right.
Dr. K. neglects to include the prohibitive cost of Obamacare for those who do not qualify for subsidies in many states, especially for older Americans. This, too, is a limit to freedom.
Dear JMA,
Re - High cost of Obamacare premiums
You say Obamacare premiums are too high for people who are ineligible for subsidies, but that's not really a fault with Obamacare, that's a fault that comes about because you use the private sector (for insurance) and use government subsidies to make it affordable (for those with less money).
If America is willing to have a single insurer (government) and to pay for healthcare through taxes (like we do for Medicare and especially Medicaid) the high costs can be avoided.
Unfortunately it appears that less than 50% of the country is happy with the idea of higher taxes and government provided healthcare
Re - High cost of Obamacare premiums
You say Obamacare premiums are too high for people who are ineligible for subsidies, but that's not really a fault with Obamacare, that's a fault that comes about because you use the private sector (for insurance) and use government subsidies to make it affordable (for those with less money).
If America is willing to have a single insurer (government) and to pay for healthcare through taxes (like we do for Medicare and especially Medicaid) the high costs can be avoided.
Unfortunately it appears that less than 50% of the country is happy with the idea of higher taxes and government provided healthcare
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, heady with the reality of a Republican president, have laid bare the real Republican agenda. And it is clear and frightening. Trump is our easiest problem to solve. It reminds me of when I was studying slavery in college, sickened by the revelation that slavery wasn't a single law, it was a slowly creeping series of laws that built slavery. Rich conservatives and their partners in Congress are reaching across the United States and to Washington DC to build up laws that systematically take our freedoms away, including voter rights, healthcare, social services, education, minimum wages and civil liberties. I believe Democrats are doing the best they can - hovering around moderate solutions just to keep whatever they can functioning. It looks like its up to us, the majority of Americans. We have been too quiet for too long. But I am not sure we know how to rally together and be effective yet...
2
There seems to be a lot of jobs with no workers to fill them. Now is the time for skilled workers to organize and start demanding unions and control. Use capitalism against the employers who need skilled workers.
Make sure that younger workers understand that noncompete clauses do not have to exist and that healthcare does not need to be tied to your boss.We have a whole generation that has been so exploited by these restrictions they don't know they can throw off their chains.
The Democratic Party needs a division that focuses all its efforts to shine light on the economic inequities that Republican policy promotes for ALL levels of work.
It is time to refute Republican lies. Start with the ones that affect daily lives of working and middle class Americans. Once the opening is made it will be easier to prove more complicated policy lies like banking loopholes.
Make sure that younger workers understand that noncompete clauses do not have to exist and that healthcare does not need to be tied to your boss.We have a whole generation that has been so exploited by these restrictions they don't know they can throw off their chains.
The Democratic Party needs a division that focuses all its efforts to shine light on the economic inequities that Republican policy promotes for ALL levels of work.
It is time to refute Republican lies. Start with the ones that affect daily lives of working and middle class Americans. Once the opening is made it will be easier to prove more complicated policy lies like banking loopholes.
I'm confused. The first version of AHCA (need to find a prefacing word beginning with 'C') never went to a vote because it wasn't draconian enough for the Freedom Caucus and too draconian for the so-called 'moderates.' Besides, it 'would never pass the Senate' so it was 'walking the plank.'
So they altered it to be more punitive, getting the Freedom Caucus. The moderates once again earned their 'so-called' status by voting for something worse than they'd been willing to accept previously. Now 13 men in the Senate are considering it, and Krugman is talking about it as being perfectly possible a bill throwing 24 million off health care could pass.
Democrats could be taking this time to put forward a plausible Medicare-for-All bill and sell it hard, but there are essentially silent, once again justifying their well-deserved reputation as spineless.
Heaven help us, 'cause there ain't no one down here doing it.
So they altered it to be more punitive, getting the Freedom Caucus. The moderates once again earned their 'so-called' status by voting for something worse than they'd been willing to accept previously. Now 13 men in the Senate are considering it, and Krugman is talking about it as being perfectly possible a bill throwing 24 million off health care could pass.
Democrats could be taking this time to put forward a plausible Medicare-for-All bill and sell it hard, but there are essentially silent, once again justifying their well-deserved reputation as spineless.
Heaven help us, 'cause there ain't no one down here doing it.
2
Non-compete agreements are ridiculous and dangerous to the worker because most Companies in the same field have every similar mouse traps. One is not so different than the other. Most companies utilize very similar computer programing to achieve the same ends.
Although an educated work force can and should parlay their knowledge into better economic levels.
Companies can maintain their educated work force by offering good wages, benefits and a friendly office staff that become like family, certainly a win win for all.
Although an educated work force can and should parlay their knowledge into better economic levels.
Companies can maintain their educated work force by offering good wages, benefits and a friendly office staff that become like family, certainly a win win for all.
Thank you Mr. Krugman for addressing this important but little approached issue.
Corporate America has been attempting to enslave workers for decades through the destruction of unions and through the employer based health care system. And many workers especially those who support Trump and the Grasping Old Party go along with it.
They have bought the employer line that they are lucky to have a job and deserve nothing better than what they have. Coal country miners are a case in point. They bought this line for decades and generations, then when they no longer had a job they could no longer see other possibilities. The ACA was a lifeline for them, but it was as if they had no hands to grasp it. A Trump vote was a vote for further suffering.
Freedom is something you choose and it is not always easy or simple. Republicans never wanted freedom for workers even though their poor base often cried for it. The corporate slavery system gives lip service to freedom, but knows their piratical profits depend on their worker's ignorance.
Corporate America has been attempting to enslave workers for decades through the destruction of unions and through the employer based health care system. And many workers especially those who support Trump and the Grasping Old Party go along with it.
They have bought the employer line that they are lucky to have a job and deserve nothing better than what they have. Coal country miners are a case in point. They bought this line for decades and generations, then when they no longer had a job they could no longer see other possibilities. The ACA was a lifeline for them, but it was as if they had no hands to grasp it. A Trump vote was a vote for further suffering.
Freedom is something you choose and it is not always easy or simple. Republicans never wanted freedom for workers even though their poor base often cried for it. The corporate slavery system gives lip service to freedom, but knows their piratical profits depend on their worker's ignorance.
2
When republicans talk business freedom, they mean freedom to form nepotistic or crony alliances so there is no competition.
1
There are other ways that American workers are at a disadvantage when it comes to employment. No one fights for us. People are convinced that unions are terrible but they don't realize that employers, any employer from a public one to a private firm, can and do get away with mistreating, abusing, and outright killing their workers. Unions, if they function properly, do protect employees from the most egregious violations employers try to use. If we complain to our supervisors, or the HR Department, or higher up, about things such as doing overtime without compensation, sexual harassment on the job, or anything else, nothing is done or what is done doesn't remedy the situation. Quite often the employee who speaks up is fired, demoted, or "downsized". If we're lucky we're given a severance package on the condition that we don't say anything disparaging about the employer and that includes telling the truth.
We lose our civil rights as soon as we cross the threshold of our employers building. We cannot talk about our salaries. We're not supposed sport political stickers on our cars if our employer doesn't agree with them. They can violate safety rules because of how weak OSHA is. We're forced to agree to credit checks, drug tests, and whatever else an employer decides they want to know about us even if we're temps. In some cases, we're asked for our social security numbers before they'll even interview us. We comply because we have no choice. Freedom, no.
We lose our civil rights as soon as we cross the threshold of our employers building. We cannot talk about our salaries. We're not supposed sport political stickers on our cars if our employer doesn't agree with them. They can violate safety rules because of how weak OSHA is. We're forced to agree to credit checks, drug tests, and whatever else an employer decides they want to know about us even if we're temps. In some cases, we're asked for our social security numbers before they'll even interview us. We comply because we have no choice. Freedom, no.
35
The destruction of unions and collective bargaining rights has always been a high priority of the Republican Party. For the most part, they have been successful. Post WW II, union membership ran about 30%. Today, it is less than 11%. It is a basic plank of the party. Witness what Governor Scott Walker did to the unions in WI - stripped away collective bargaining by the state employees. Republicans in the statehouse broke procedural rules to ram legislation through in the middle of the night. Attempts to organize are met by employers spending millions on law firms that specialize in thwarting representative elections, by any means necessary - harassment, intimidation, portraying leaders as goons, thugs, Communists, etc. Once the voting fails, the "trouble makers" are eliminated under pretexts.
The fact that one has to agree to these overly broad, non-compete clauses as a threshold condition of urgently needed employment is, in itself, coercion.
The same thing can be said for mandatory arbitration clauses. Individuals are forced to give away their legal rights, while the business has stacked the deck with a panel of arbitrators that rule in favor of industry 85% of the time. The costs to arbitrate are prohibitive for the little guy.
The deck has been stacked for a long time.
The latest Republican strategy: like WI, spread legislation making every state a "right to work" state, I mean, "right to starve."
Koch Bros money. We have reverted to the robber baron period.
The fact that one has to agree to these overly broad, non-compete clauses as a threshold condition of urgently needed employment is, in itself, coercion.
The same thing can be said for mandatory arbitration clauses. Individuals are forced to give away their legal rights, while the business has stacked the deck with a panel of arbitrators that rule in favor of industry 85% of the time. The costs to arbitrate are prohibitive for the little guy.
The deck has been stacked for a long time.
The latest Republican strategy: like WI, spread legislation making every state a "right to work" state, I mean, "right to starve."
Koch Bros money. We have reverted to the robber baron period.
1
All the great companies got their start from one group of employees leaving Company A and taking their learned-on-the-job knowledge to start Company B. Companies have been copying from and improving on each other since time began, and noncompete clauses are just a cheap, ugly way to try to interfere with that. They should be banned nationwide.
14
Complete freedom for the wolf means death for the sheep. Unfortunately, a lot of sheep have been conned by Trump and the Republican party into to believing that their interests coincide.
41
Conned by Fox News before anyone knew who Trump was outside of New York. Back in his "Slum Lord" days.
Agreed
1
The use of non-compete agreements is completely out of control. Gyms use them in their contracts with personal trainers, whom the gym treats as independent contractors but are really employees (yes, a business can use them in contracts with independent contractors). The use of such agreements is now primarily a means to quash competition. Ironically, lawyers are not bound by such agreements because a person has a constitutional right to choose his attorney.
26
Great piece. Free market does not mean free choice; it just means your choices are dictated by what the market provides rather than a central government. In many cases the free market is more flexible and offers better choices, but not in many cases without some constraints it offers less.
22
Free to work for minimum wage. Free to have no health care. Free from union constraints. Free to serve at your employers pleasure. Free to keep working until you're 68 or older before collecting social security. Free to find a doctor who will accept your medicare vouchers. Go ahead working class America. Keep voting republican.
Home ownership can be another systemic obstacle to mobility; especially in one industry towns. Compare two situations:
The plant owner depreciates her investment over time and, when its time to move on, often has very little investment on the books.
Her employer, however, pays off his mortgage over time and, when the plant shuts down, has just about paid off his mortgage when the local property market tanks. He's left with an investment that he cannot sell.
It's not just small towns; consider the housing market collapse that hit Detroit. Is there a way to alleviate this problem? One way to liberate workers from this housing trap might be to subsidize the housing market in ecoomically depressed areas, with the government buying houses when the housing market fails to provide an appropriate return on the worker's investment.
The plant owner depreciates her investment over time and, when its time to move on, often has very little investment on the books.
Her employer, however, pays off his mortgage over time and, when the plant shuts down, has just about paid off his mortgage when the local property market tanks. He's left with an investment that he cannot sell.
It's not just small towns; consider the housing market collapse that hit Detroit. Is there a way to alleviate this problem? One way to liberate workers from this housing trap might be to subsidize the housing market in ecoomically depressed areas, with the government buying houses when the housing market fails to provide an appropriate return on the worker's investment.
8
For employer read employee. ;(
It seems that there are two, no three things that are going on in labor economics in our country. First, there are more employees than good jobs, so the employer has the upper hand. Unions are so hobbled as to be ineffective for most employees. Perhaps that will change as the economy picks up. But, secondly, jobs are going away as we have more robots and lower wage countries compete for some jobs. What do we do with people? What are people for? Big companies are also in a shifting place, Macy's is loosing to Amazon, Millenials don't love cars as much as boomers, the gig economy takes some established businesses demand, so they have to cut costs somewhere and labor is the easiest when there are plenty of employees.
The third thing, I see, is that we have been conditioned by whoever, to accept things that may not be in our general interest. For example, vote in Republicans who want to role back health care, retirement, sick leave, so we can have a bigger military. Or agree to reduce taxes or estate tax on wealthy while about half of our citizens, voting Republican, don't pay much tax, promoting a greater wealth disparity, thus undermining our democracy. The arguments for this third condition, include "Freedom" and "Choice". But as Mr. Krugman points out, that is not what you get; you get more shackles, "the tyranny of choice". My diagnosis is that we are being "sold" much of the time, and we are conditioned to accept the inaccuracies of the "seller" as true. How come?
The third thing, I see, is that we have been conditioned by whoever, to accept things that may not be in our general interest. For example, vote in Republicans who want to role back health care, retirement, sick leave, so we can have a bigger military. Or agree to reduce taxes or estate tax on wealthy while about half of our citizens, voting Republican, don't pay much tax, promoting a greater wealth disparity, thus undermining our democracy. The arguments for this third condition, include "Freedom" and "Choice". But as Mr. Krugman points out, that is not what you get; you get more shackles, "the tyranny of choice". My diagnosis is that we are being "sold" much of the time, and we are conditioned to accept the inaccuracies of the "seller" as true. How come?
15
This column should never have had to be written about America. It is just that simple. Congress is about caring for constituents, not reelection or deprivation.
Trump and the Republican Congress are as far from pro-America as any collection of humans I can think of.
Constituents put you in office and constituents can vote you out. Try humane leadership. It would mean a lot to America.
Trump and the Republican Congress are as far from pro-America as any collection of humans I can think of.
Constituents put you in office and constituents can vote you out. Try humane leadership. It would mean a lot to America.
27
It is sad, but it is those with the most to lose, those least free in the market who voted Trump and this Congress into office. I doubt Trump, Ryan, McConnell and the boys are too worried about being voted out of power. Why should they be? The voters have shown a shocking lack of knowledge of or concern for their own interests.
The Republican notion of Freedom is the notion that religious freedom is the right to force your religion on others and economic freedom is the right to impose serfdom on others. It is directly related to the "lost cause" of the Confederacy (aka Southern Heritage) which was about the valiant fight for the "freedom" to own slaves. It is all just another example of Newspeak.
41
The Republican Party has been thoroughly "Southernized."
The only freedom that the freedom caucus actually supports is an unregulated free market where capitalists have the freedom to crush the common man.
56
Only in a country as ignorant as america can an entire half the population 'believe' lies when it comes to quality government and society.
I am convinced that america is mediocre. The culture is vapid.
It has gotten there because capitalists run america. Capitalists care for nothing but themselves.
I am convinced that america is mediocre. The culture is vapid.
It has gotten there because capitalists run america. Capitalists care for nothing but themselves.
123
Corporate America...that is to say Republicans...wants citizens (employees) to be desperately tied to their employers. That way, employers can offer modest wages and benefits without protest or great opportunity to improve one's financial status by leaving a job.
When you turn over Republican plans up and down the line, that's what you find. Marketed under the banners of "freedom" and "choice", it is actually a program to, in the context of work, limit those exact options. Keeping the minimum wage lower helps force employees at the low end to work for whatever they can get and, what's more, the minimum pay impacts other jobs in that entire end of the pay scale. Having health coverage lashed to the corporate job likewise makes it difficult to move on and upward.
Student loans could be seen as a plot to force younger workers into the labor pool and to stay there. The idea that the post-college years might be a time when exploring and learning occurs informally without regard to how much money one makes is washed away. There goes the year abroad idea.
With health insurance, employers have the potential to make life or death decisions when they dismiss someone. What happens if the family that was covered by health insurance can't get it and a critical illness appears? The family often faces a choice of declaring bankruptcy to go on Medicaid and some people even divorce so both don't have to seek it.
Freedom's just another word for starting with nothing and ending there, too.
When you turn over Republican plans up and down the line, that's what you find. Marketed under the banners of "freedom" and "choice", it is actually a program to, in the context of work, limit those exact options. Keeping the minimum wage lower helps force employees at the low end to work for whatever they can get and, what's more, the minimum pay impacts other jobs in that entire end of the pay scale. Having health coverage lashed to the corporate job likewise makes it difficult to move on and upward.
Student loans could be seen as a plot to force younger workers into the labor pool and to stay there. The idea that the post-college years might be a time when exploring and learning occurs informally without regard to how much money one makes is washed away. There goes the year abroad idea.
With health insurance, employers have the potential to make life or death decisions when they dismiss someone. What happens if the family that was covered by health insurance can't get it and a critical illness appears? The family often faces a choice of declaring bankruptcy to go on Medicaid and some people even divorce so both don't have to seek it.
Freedom's just another word for starting with nothing and ending there, too.
75
You mention student loans. I agree with your statement.
I also believe student loans were created to keep the riff raff in their place. I think the upper class saw those with college degrees from the lower classes were moving up getting the jobs that they felt only belong to them. So they devise this system of serfdom, with very little freedom to move around, maybe take the position that pays lower to start but is more in line what you want to do in a career.
I do believe student loans were created to keep the lower/ minority class in a serfdom of drudgery.
I also believe student loans were created to keep the riff raff in their place. I think the upper class saw those with college degrees from the lower classes were moving up getting the jobs that they felt only belong to them. So they devise this system of serfdom, with very little freedom to move around, maybe take the position that pays lower to start but is more in line what you want to do in a career.
I do believe student loans were created to keep the lower/ minority class in a serfdom of drudgery.
Or as Janice Jolpin sang "freedom is just a word for nothing left to lose"
If the freedom caucus has their way Medicaid will not be an option. What happened? Why do 40 or so white guys determine the fate of 300 million people? It's sick, truly deplorable (HRC was right about some things.)
2
We are truly on the wrong track in America on many fronts but the two Krugman points out are at the head of the list right now. Healthcare insurance needs to be Medicare for all provided by tax money collected from all of us. Private insurance and insurance tied to employment has to go and soon. Non-compete clauses have become rampant in the salon industry over the last 10 years. I have had a hair stylist in the past who left a salon and started her own business rather than sign a 5-year non-compete clause. I currently go to a nail tech who works at the same salon. She was young, needed the job, and signed the non-compete clause. She is effectively tied to this job and this salon as long as she stays in the area where she works. She is excellent at what she does, has a huge clientele, and is effectively tied to this employer for now and probably a good portion of her working future. Krugman is right. Much of our working force is entering serfdom.
59
A five year non-compete is likely unenforceable.
"Freedom" always comes with questions and qualifiers: from what, for whom, extended or taken, limited how, etc. With a nod to Janis Joplin ("Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose") and an appreciation for our multilayered albeit constrained lifestyles, real freedom is often a Hobson's choice.
13
For the record, the credit for "Me and Bobby McGee" goes to Kris Kristofferson.
1
What Trump followers don't get, those rust belt workers and small business types, is in Trump's world, workers and contractors will always lose and corporations always win---that is how the game is designed. Sadly, Trump's followers keep thinking Trump will allow them to play the game when in reality he will sell them tickets to watch the game, but they will never be allowed to play the game.
38
Some of them even enrolled in Trump "University" to learn his secrets!
They were hustled and conned out of life savings and retirement savings, and the promises were never kept. Well, that is his secret to "success".
"Trump U.", indeed!
They were hustled and conned out of life savings and retirement savings, and the promises were never kept. Well, that is his secret to "success".
"Trump U.", indeed!
1
Money can't buy me love anywhere, but real freedom in the U.S. costs big bucks.
23
Human rights and freedom are from God and don't cost anything. What costs us is human greed, which is at the root of all war and rumor of war and the rest of human misery.
1
The Republican March to Servitude continues.
50
Other means by which employees become less free are the rise of information service firms, arbitration law, increased industrial concentration, and surveillance in the workplace. During the 1980s, information service firms posed the greater threat, in that they had the potential for legalized black-listing. One is reminded of the 'little brown book' employees in Nazi Germany were required to carry with them at work, which had their personnel record; an employer could write anything in the book he wanted for a future employer to see. The South has been notorious for black-listing 'agitators' - those attempting to create a labor union.
Many firms require a person to sign away their legal right of redress to an arbitration firm, which is funded by the employer and rules in favor of the employer. Why is this legal?
Increased industrial concentration gives a person fewer places to work; the limiting case of a monopoly puts the employee at a disadvantage, especially if one is a specialist. It's either to work there or nowhere.
The greatest threat in this day and age is employee surveillance. Current technology uses RFID badges to track employee movements, software to measure productivity by keystrokes (although protecting against criminal behavior 'internal threats' is a laudable feature), and TV cameras. But with the rise of AI technology, software can now infer personality characteristics. Both employee surveillance and information service firms threaten privacy.
Many firms require a person to sign away their legal right of redress to an arbitration firm, which is funded by the employer and rules in favor of the employer. Why is this legal?
Increased industrial concentration gives a person fewer places to work; the limiting case of a monopoly puts the employee at a disadvantage, especially if one is a specialist. It's either to work there or nowhere.
The greatest threat in this day and age is employee surveillance. Current technology uses RFID badges to track employee movements, software to measure productivity by keystrokes (although protecting against criminal behavior 'internal threats' is a laudable feature), and TV cameras. But with the rise of AI technology, software can now infer personality characteristics. Both employee surveillance and information service firms threaten privacy.
36
A thousand times yes on the arbitration clauses. And it's not limited to the employee/employer contract. You can find it in the small print of so many service contracts these days. I still do not understand how it's legal to take away our ability to take a corporation to court, whether it be as an employee or a customer.
"Whenever the GOP uses 'American', 'freedom', 'patriot’, ‘liberty’, 'Christian', you can be sure it's a cover-up for lies and deceit."
93
When industrialists want to talk about the people working for them as economic engines they speak about the workers as if their company and the worker are on equal footing where there is a balance of power and economic interests between the corporation and worker. They'll speak about the worker as selling their skills to the highest payer.
However when industrialists want to talk about the people working for them as employees who are depriving them of greater profits they enact policies that clearly demonstrate that the worker is a small entity beside the corporation with little to no power. They'll speak about the workers being paid what their worth.
As usual when the industrialists speak of "capitalism" and "free market" they mean for themselves.
However when industrialists want to talk about the people working for them as employees who are depriving them of greater profits they enact policies that clearly demonstrate that the worker is a small entity beside the corporation with little to no power. They'll speak about the workers being paid what their worth.
As usual when the industrialists speak of "capitalism" and "free market" they mean for themselves.
21
"But what if you wanted to change jobs, or start your own business? Too bad: you were basically stuck (and I knew quite a few people in that position)."
Very true - but I'd also point out that the same holds true for early retirees - many of whom have no choice about retirement. While Obamacare's health insurance premiums are not a Godsend to early retirees - they are much more manageable that what Trumpcare's premiums are forecast to be. And it should be noted that right behind Trumpcare, Paul Ryan's agenda includes slashing Medicare and Social Security - all of which shackles older workers even further to their employers.
When taken with the dismantling of company pensions and company sponsored retiree insurance, it can be taken that Corporate America has launched a "War on Retirement".
Very true - but I'd also point out that the same holds true for early retirees - many of whom have no choice about retirement. While Obamacare's health insurance premiums are not a Godsend to early retirees - they are much more manageable that what Trumpcare's premiums are forecast to be. And it should be noted that right behind Trumpcare, Paul Ryan's agenda includes slashing Medicare and Social Security - all of which shackles older workers even further to their employers.
When taken with the dismantling of company pensions and company sponsored retiree insurance, it can be taken that Corporate America has launched a "War on Retirement".
39
True story. I worked in the business of fruits and vegetables for more than 20 years, on the retail side. Near the end of my career, I took a job on the wholesale side of the business to help a company that had lost most of its sales into retail stores figure out whether it could regain some or all of that business, or, if not, what else the company could do to employ its distribution assets. After a couple of months on the job, having reported that all appearances were regaining much on the retail side was nearly impossible, I was asked to sign a non-compete agreement. This was absurd! I wasn't looking at doing or suggesting anything that wasn't perfectly obvious to competing companies in the business. In addition to that, this was going to be my final job in the business and everyone knew it. I quit. I don't think the company ever solved its problem.
23
Here's what blows me away: the same people who promote laissez-faire style capitalism simultaneously support policies that are grotesquely inconsistent with the efficient working of the marketplace.
At its purest, the free market includes the central elements of free will and competition. As Dr. K points out, national policies continue to move in the direction of loss of free will by employees - and by new businesses seeking to compete with existing behemoths.
The result of these distortions of our market-based system is a dysfunctional marketplace where innovation, proper placement of labor and capital, and freedom of choice are stifled. In a closed system these might not be disqualifying sacrifices; in world markets they are crippling.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of large businesses are not American and owe no fealty to the American people - they are multinational enterprises whose only concern is maximization of profits. Until and unless American governments are willing to offer some level of control over these factors, Americans will indeed gravitate toward serfdom.
Oddly enough, a large portion of Americans are facilitating that very dynamic.
At its purest, the free market includes the central elements of free will and competition. As Dr. K points out, national policies continue to move in the direction of loss of free will by employees - and by new businesses seeking to compete with existing behemoths.
The result of these distortions of our market-based system is a dysfunctional marketplace where innovation, proper placement of labor and capital, and freedom of choice are stifled. In a closed system these might not be disqualifying sacrifices; in world markets they are crippling.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of large businesses are not American and owe no fealty to the American people - they are multinational enterprises whose only concern is maximization of profits. Until and unless American governments are willing to offer some level of control over these factors, Americans will indeed gravitate toward serfdom.
Oddly enough, a large portion of Americans are facilitating that very dynamic.
27
Labor is a significant percentage of the so-called "free" market, which includes the right for labor to freely organize and to freely work for anyone they choose. Republicans don't understand that and, neither do most Democrats and apparently, no American economists. Although I generally agree with the views of Paul Krugman, as far as I am aware, he has never argued correctly, that to inhibit the formation of unions in any way, shape or form is to oppose the so-called "free" market.
2
"Freedom" is a right-wing rhetorical term of little meaning. It presents a false image of complete freedom - as if anything is free - in a market where everyone can find success, if only they make the "right" decisions and work hard enough.
It ignores reality. We live in the era of corporatocracy, that ugly aberration of capitalism, where the rule of law has given us 62 individuals who control more personal wealth than the 3.5 billion poorest people on the planet, where cartels, trust funds, oligopolies and monopolies control just about all aspects of our lives.
It ignores reality. We live in the era of corporatocracy, that ugly aberration of capitalism, where the rule of law has given us 62 individuals who control more personal wealth than the 3.5 billion poorest people on the planet, where cartels, trust funds, oligopolies and monopolies control just about all aspects of our lives.
27
Poor education --> easily influenced by Republican propaganda for tax cuts--> poor choices at the voting booth --> cuts in funding for education --> worse education --> worse choices at the voting booth --> more cuts for schools and teachers --> (repeat until serfdom)
42
Agreed. Now an article on compulsory arbitration and the dismal picture will be complete.
24
I have been watching this march to a Brave New Orwellian World for 2 decades now. When will the people take notice and remember that corporations are not people and have no place in governing and our founders separated church and state for good reason.
56
Americans seem incapable of remembering anything. Also, separation of church and state is a big joke. Religion is, politically, extremely powerful.
1
Likely never with the level of education
2
Why don't you go ahead and call it "slavery" because that's exactly what it is.
I experienced the "pre-existent condition" situations a few years back, trying to get medicare supplemental insurance because a doctor had misdiagnosed a situation he thought was a heart problem (it wasn't) and no insurance company would take me until after I stopped telling of the incorrect diagnosis.
We are all under this umbrella of "slavery" now, because those who govern to the corporate best interest wish it that way.
I experienced the "pre-existent condition" situations a few years back, trying to get medicare supplemental insurance because a doctor had misdiagnosed a situation he thought was a heart problem (it wasn't) and no insurance company would take me until after I stopped telling of the incorrect diagnosis.
We are all under this umbrella of "slavery" now, because those who govern to the corporate best interest wish it that way.
48
In addition to the non-compete trap and the pre-existing condition trap, please add the H1-B visa workers, who are not only at the mercy of their employers, but also depress the wages of Americans.
28
This column could be just as well entitled, "The Unfreeing of Americans."
A recent statistic showed Americans have more cumulative debt than before the great recession in '08. We are a commoditized society in which every last dime is extracted from us for necessities like rent, healthcare, education and food.
Decades ago I asked a friend how his trip to Disney World went. He said, "They attach a vacuum cleaner to your wallet when you enter and then take it off when you leave."
That sums up life in America. We are bled dry by those with billions who apparently can't get by day to day without billions more.
Very few in politics care about their fellow humans. They are beholden to the money changers, titans of finance and corporations who fill their campaign coffers with money we pay for when buying their products. They lobby against our interests.
The entire system is corrupt to the bone. We either start a real conversation about how we can make real change, or perish in debt.
But don't hold your breath for mainstream politicians of either party taking the lead. They are beholden to certain people, and it ain't you and me.
A recent statistic showed Americans have more cumulative debt than before the great recession in '08. We are a commoditized society in which every last dime is extracted from us for necessities like rent, healthcare, education and food.
Decades ago I asked a friend how his trip to Disney World went. He said, "They attach a vacuum cleaner to your wallet when you enter and then take it off when you leave."
That sums up life in America. We are bled dry by those with billions who apparently can't get by day to day without billions more.
Very few in politics care about their fellow humans. They are beholden to the money changers, titans of finance and corporations who fill their campaign coffers with money we pay for when buying their products. They lobby against our interests.
The entire system is corrupt to the bone. We either start a real conversation about how we can make real change, or perish in debt.
But don't hold your breath for mainstream politicians of either party taking the lead. They are beholden to certain people, and it ain't you and me.
43
It's not about money.
Henry Ford figured out way back that if he paid his workers well it helped his own bottom line in terms of selling his products. It was obviously a very successful way of doing business. It always is. Pay your workers well. Invest in public education through to college. Even add in single payer healthcare because it's cheaper and actually frees up companies to concentrate their money into their businesses. And corporations end up growing customers.
But companies who ignore Ford's business model and try to turn their workers into Russian peasants instead, are not thinking in terms of money or business.
It's about subjugation for them. Which ultimately hurts bottom lines because there are a lot less potential customers and even the richest family can only use so many homes, yachts, and private airplanes.
But people interested in subjugation don't care if their plans mean less money. The subjugation is its own reward.
And so the "Freedom Caucus" is about freedom for those looking to subjugate everyone else. And "right to work" actually means, right to work your employees to death.
People like the Kochs who push these things have very sick empty souls. They're more parasites than people. And they make life harder for the good corporation owners who are interested in running actual businesses and see the wisdom in following rules that benefit their employees.
That's why we need strong governments, with strong laws to guarantee a level playing field.
Henry Ford figured out way back that if he paid his workers well it helped his own bottom line in terms of selling his products. It was obviously a very successful way of doing business. It always is. Pay your workers well. Invest in public education through to college. Even add in single payer healthcare because it's cheaper and actually frees up companies to concentrate their money into their businesses. And corporations end up growing customers.
But companies who ignore Ford's business model and try to turn their workers into Russian peasants instead, are not thinking in terms of money or business.
It's about subjugation for them. Which ultimately hurts bottom lines because there are a lot less potential customers and even the richest family can only use so many homes, yachts, and private airplanes.
But people interested in subjugation don't care if their plans mean less money. The subjugation is its own reward.
And so the "Freedom Caucus" is about freedom for those looking to subjugate everyone else. And "right to work" actually means, right to work your employees to death.
People like the Kochs who push these things have very sick empty souls. They're more parasites than people. And they make life harder for the good corporation owners who are interested in running actual businesses and see the wisdom in following rules that benefit their employees.
That's why we need strong governments, with strong laws to guarantee a level playing field.
43
I have come to the same conclusion. They do indeed want to beggar their neighbors- it gives them pleasure.
Repeal Taft-Hartley and watch things change for the better.