Swings and merry-go-rounds

The gilded age in America saw the rise and rise of some of the wealthiest people in the world. People such as JD Rockefeller who made his fortune establishing Standard Oil, financiers, Andrew Carnegie and JP Morgan establishing financial institutions which controlled more money than many governments during the time of massive industrialisation in the US, and a number of others who profoundly changed the political landscape in the USA, influencing, even ‘buying’ politicians including the Presidency.

The times were a period of intense polarisation and social upheaval. A period during and after the civil war and the westward push to settle the lands previously held by the indigenous peoples. The Indian Wars, manifest destiny which saw white supremacy dominate and the ultimate defeat of the Indian tribes in the massacre known as Wounded Knee.

The Civil War saw the end of slavery and growing American industrial might during a period of high corporate profits, declining labour rights and stagnant wages.

The idea of slavery changed to one of paying effectively subsistence wages so that the workers could look after themselves and their families… or maybe not.

America has entered a new gilded age.

We have seen the rise and rise of business leaders such as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel and others to positions of corporate power and dominance and also reach the highest political position in the USA, the President and hanging onto his coat tails, the others listed. Political power, backed by corporate power has seen the highest court in the land become the most conservative in America’s history and adjudicating on social and legal matters which support the agenda of the conservative side of politics and business interests.

The consolidation of business into the hands of fewer and fewer stakeholders, the change in the media industry with streaming services and social media becoming the drivers of news and advertising is seeing local news sources closing, while the likes of Amazon, X and Meta continue to rake in profits.

The dramatic six weeks since President Trumps inauguration has seen a move to strip the civil service in the USA of its power with the sacking of many, the unwinding of protections for the most vulnerable citizens and the threat to undermine the social security and the provision of medical support for this who are uninsured. The already meagre social safety net is being stripped away, disenfranchising those with the least, depriving them of the few rights they have to live lives of dignity.

The imposition of tariffs on products imported from major trading nations will see inflation rise and retaliatory moves by those countries will see exports fall, especially from farm produce.

America will head into a self induced recession, if not depression thanks to the actions of President Trump and Elon Musk.

In recent years we have seen a smaller, but none the less evident push from the right here in Australia.

Starting with the xenophobic Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party, the financial help of Clive Palmer’s involvement in political campaigns which have brought very little in actual votes won but has promoted the fear agenda, directing votes away from responsible economic and social policies, promoting the politics of hate which are played into by the LNP with their decisive rhetoric.

We need go back just a little way to the 2019 election which was Labor’s to lose, and sensible economic policies on taxation benefits for the already rich drove away the ‘aspirational voters’, those who may never be in the privileged positions to have attracted those taxes, and earlier, the fear engendered to those who seek refuge in this country, effectively criminalising them, sentencing to indefinite detention on Nauru just for daring to try to find a safe haven.

In Australia, several of its billionaires are openly being courted by Peter Dutton, taxation policies are written by the wealthy, by using the likes of PWC, EY and other multinational consultancy firms to not just advise on taxation policies, but write them for the government, as was done during the last run of LNP governments (and let their clients know in advance what the policies are… nothing to see here). Policy being promoted today is to sack public servants, and then ‘oh dear, who can do that work’, farmed out to those same companies again. Ostensibly saving millions of taxpayer revenue by not having those wages to pay, but a few squllion more to pay to the ever eager consultancies.

Should we be worried? Should we start thinking about slashing our wrists because the gathering storm looks way to scary or can we see some light near the end of the tunnel?

Without considering history, without seeing what has happened in the past, the future looks pretty grim, but when we look at history we see the cyclic nature of politics, we see the swings and merry-go-rounds.

The gilded age in America ended. It wasn’t all that important to us in Australia at that time but the depression following the optimism of the 1920s was. The aftermath of WWI, the first really global war saw economic powers shift, saw the rise of the ‘isms’, political and philosophic changes, challenges as the old order, the ruling royal families particularly of Europe give way to rising democratic powers and the conflicts inherent in those. The rise of socialism, communism, fascism and National Socialism (Nazi) which led to internal struggles, particularly in Germany but also in Russia and spreading through to Spain and other parts of Europe.

The crash of stock markets, firstly Wall Street in 1929 but the strain that put on other economies, including Australia, at the time carrying debt for the developments such as Sydney Harbour Bridge and other infrastructure projects caused those debts to be called and Australia had the deepest recession felt at that time while still recovering from the disaster of WWI.

At times of stress, divisions occur, blame is shunted back and forth, immigrants particularly carry the blame for unemployment and financial problems, easy targets for those who see ‘difference. The stresses of WWI, the depression which followed it ended effectively with the start of WWII. Military needs were to be met, armaments manufactured, men sent to war, women stepped up to fill the roles in the workforce.

The end of the war saw a post war reconstruction boom, the cry of ‘populate or perish’ by the then Labor government encouraged immigration from war torn Europe, the Marshall Plan in Germany helped in the reconstruction of the German economy and Japan was also helped out to become an industrial power house. The beneficiaries of the economic growth was wide spread. From the mid 1950s till well into the 1980s a burgeoning middle-class of workers were well paid and with easy loans for homes, vehicles and domestic appliances, economies grew on the back of unbridled consumerism. A boom throughout the western world.

In economic terms, Keynesian economics were the rule during the immediate post war period. Government spending in the development of infrastructure was seen as essential to achieve full employment and price stability. It was OK to have budget deficits. The argument proposed by John Maynard Keynes was that inadequate overall demand could lead to prolonged periods of unemployment. Full employment with generous wages and salaries drove the demands of consumerism with the spread being broader than any previous time in history. Higher earnings related to higher income tax revenues.

But all good things come to an end. Enter the Chicago School of Economics. Under the leadership of Milton Friedman and George Stigler, the ‘trickle down’ economic theory was taken on by Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Ronald Reagan in the USA. Profits became more significant than wages… wages were a cost to industry, but if the owners of an enterprise made healthy profits, the benefits would trickle down to the lowest rungs of society. Every one would benefit. And the rest of the industrialised world followed.

The main markers of the American economy during the Gilded Age was high corporate profits, declining labour rights and stagnant wages. These were the results of corporate influence in politics where the movers and shakers of industry manipulated politics to their benefit, driving intense polarisation and social upheaval. They are also the markers we have seen since the 1980s change to neoliberal economic thinking.

As the benefits of that most egalitarian period, 1950s till 1980s, becomes a faded memory, except for the ageing baby boomers who are still living in the lap of relative luxury while their grand children struggle to raise a roof over their heads, real wages stagnated under the LNP governments of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments while they have risen in real terms under the current government. Tax changes enacted under the LNP governments favoured those who earned the most, and the changes which were to be introduced under the following government would have furthered the disproportionate favouring of the wealthiest. That legislation was amended to produce a slightly fairer result.

The treatment of workers in Amazon distribution centres have been heavily influenced by AI developed time and motion theories where workers are pushed to their limits, restricted toilet breaks and an unrelenting demand for performance in picking and packing orders for despatch. The same theories have been applied in supermarket warehouses here in Australia, where the lowest paid workers are pushed to their limits using similar strategies.

As wages have risen faster than the cost of living indices in the last couple of years, a new strategy is being applied. Have workers work a four day week, but still a 38 hour week, so nine and a half hour days, but no overtime for the two hours extra worked on those days. The benefit for the worker, a three day break from work, the benefit for the employer, a squeeze on the wages of the most vulnerable.

Another insidious element of employment plans is to discard DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) employment practices, meaning that people can be discriminated against for their ‘difference’, however that is defined, whether it is gender, ethnicity, disability, whatever marks a person as ‘different’. It is a means of winding back the clock, winding back those hard won battles called human rights. And in some industries, such as mining where women are increasingly being employed on remote sites, hyper masculinity would over ride any attempt at sexually motivated coercion being addressed.

But, is there light at the end of the tunnel, are we going to accept the changes being proposed, the underlying discriminations?

History tells us that we will not.

The ‘cost of living crisis’ being touted time and again in the media and by politicians making not so much promises that they will actually do something about it, but pointing out that the current government cannot deal with the issue (yet they clearly have, but don’t tell any one) are saying ‘trust us’ not because they are trustworthy but that they really just want the keys to the treasury, the keys to power to further disenfranchise the least among us.

The New York Times columnist David Brooks spoke on this recently in an address to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. His talk covered a broad swath, elitism and how it is entrenched, and how Trump and so many on the right of politics are part of the elite, the old school tie, inherited wealth and privilege, the creation of a caste system in what is thought to be a classless society.

He referenced the moral order, quoting Walter Lipman on what is right and what is wrong. “If what is right and what is wrong depends on what each individual feels is right or wrong, we are outside the bounds of civilisation.” For example, if slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong.

Are we going to stand for the rights we have to be eroded? Are we going to allow a form of slavery, where subsistence level wages are paid to workers who are pushed beyond reason? Are we going to stand in the way of basic human rights? Haven’t we had that debate in about 1948 with the writing and support for the Declaration of Human Rights?

Or are we going to let the filthy rich get even filthier rich as those, the great unwashed, the homeless, the desperate, the powerless are further exploited?

James Baldwin was a writer and civil rights activist, a friend of Toni Morrison. He suffered discrimination of multiple fronts. He was black. He was gay. He found it hard to make a living until he moved overseas.

His expression of defiant humanism was powerful.

“There isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there is enough. What you have got to remember is that every person you meet, you could be that person, and that person could be you. You decide whether to be a monster or a saint.”

We can look down the nose of privilege at those we meet, we can look at the other with pity, with scorn, or we can see each other with the deepest respect.

And we really do need to stand up, yet again, at the disgusting divisions being driven in today’s world.

 

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