The Absolute Dumbest Wall Street Journal Story Ever. Really

Pethokoukus is full of it

My father had a saying that I think applies to this situation. Don't pee down my back and tell me its raining. The workers have been screwed over the last 25 years. They have been screwed by the cheap labor policies that the Republicans have chanpioned. Corrupt businessmen use illegal labor to depress the wages of Americans and the Republicans refuse to enforce the labor laws. The Republicans pass laws to restrict the rights of workers to bargain collectively reducing their ability to negotiate wage increases while corporate executives give themselves 15 percent raises every year. The Republicans sign trade agreements that force Americans to compete with slave labor thereby depressing their wages even further. Mr Pethokoukus, you are full of it. We are not stupid and because of the greed of you and your friends the Republicans will be sweep from office this November. I predict that we will never see this version(A party that only cares about the super rich) of the Republican party rise again.

Bill Johnson of FL @ May 20, 2008 23:47:10 PM

"So... fascism isn't about forcing corporations to do anything, it's subjugating individual rights to the state. So needs-based health-care managed by the state, doesn't really qualify, now does it? In fact, it would qualify as just about the exact opposite."

Pi of XX, before you insult other people and the "American education system", perhaps you should reeducate yourself on what fascism is. By the way, in order to have the government manage healthcare, you must take away that right away from the individual. It is utterly impossible for the government to gain more power and not have the individual lose rights in the process.

Chris of AZ @ May 20, 2008 17:34:23 PM

How come every heavily unionized industry has either left the country or moved to states without unions? Steel, autos, textiles, mining, etc. Tells you something about unions, doesn't it? The only unions left are government unions --and they have no competition.

Gas is so expensive because the Congress of the United States won't let the oil companies drill for more oil. We are being jerked around by the politicians.

Skilled workers are doing fine. The unskilled are an endangered species. Why pay someone $20 per hour to sweep a floor? The Chinese do it for 60 cents.

Jorod of IL @ May 20, 2008 16:50:26 PM

Corporations and fascism

Corporations are not creations of the state. They are creations of individuals possessing personal property with the purpose of (hopefully) generating wealth. The right of those individuals to do so and the protection of their property is function of the state in the more advanced societies. The US government did not decide we needed cars and then created General Motors.

As for "needs-based health care" managed by the state...This is just an attempt to organize (initially a part of) the economy. In order to do so, the state must take wealth by force from individuals to pay for it, and to dictate to health care providers what they must accept in payment for their services. And you went to school where?

KRW of FL @ May 18, 2008 21:57:56 PM

Get an education

Another product of the American education system it would seem.

Pi @ May 18, 2008 02:00:32 AM

Learn to understand the Dictionary

It is impossible to have a fascist government, in which the individual is subordinate to the state, and not have that apply to corporations. Corporations are a creation of the state. So, besides not being able to interpret the dictionary, you still sound like a fascist.

Rick of FL @ May 17, 2008 14:56:19 PM

Fascist? Get a dictionary...

TN of wherever said... "You sound like a fascist. "

That's the problem with right-wing whacko's... they don't know how to use a dictionary. A quick help for you?

"Fascism is a government, faction, movement, or political philosophy that raises nationalism, and frequently race, above the individual and is characterized by a centralized autocratic state governed by a dictatorial head, stringent organization of the economy and society, and aggressive repression of opposition.[1] In addition to placing the interests of the individual as subordinate to that of the nation or race, fascism seeks to achieve a national rebirth by promoting cults of unity, energy and purity."

So... fascism isn't about forcing corporations to do anything, it's subjugating individual rights to the state. So needs-based health-care managed by the state, doesn't really qualify, now does it? In fact, it would qualify as just about the exact opposite.

Perhaps you shouldn't use big words you don't understand.

Pi @ May 17, 2008 02:51:05 AM

Making up statistics

Is Frank's article a book review or a statement of Thomas Frank's well considered and verified research? It seems like neither.

Mr. Frank says: "How the big change was brought off is the subject of Steven Greenhouse's important new book "The Big Squeeze" which is also my source for many of the statistics in the preceding paragraphs."

These are not Mr. Frank's statistics, so he doesn't take responsibility for them, nor does he say that he checked them. Maybe a book titled "The Big Squeeze" is biased? Where do the statistics come from, and how were they extracted and interpreted? Mr. Frank doesn't say, and we don't know if Mr. Greenhouse does.

The Big Squeeze "reveals how managers extract unpaid work through an array of ingenious tricks, from eliminating bathroom breaks to electronically erasing hours from workers' records." So some managers, somewhere (how many?), have committed crimes, and the 60% increase in worker productivity has been achieved by eliminating bathroom breaks. The workers are so docile, and lacking in memory and written notes, that it is easy to erase "electronic" work records without protest.

Mr. Frank says: "...tax cuts, trade agreements, deregulatory measures, and enforcement decisions all finely crafted to benefit one part of society and leave the rest behind..."

What is the "part" of society that these measures have benefitted? I suppose, the part that did benefit, leaving behind the part that didn't benefit. Does this mean that these measures were beneficial overall, just not widely distributed? Or maybe the benefits were widely distributed, but weren't enough to completely end the need to work. Were these measures cruel manipulations which extracted great wealth from the masses who were too dumb to know that they were rich, and stolen from?

I remember reading that ancient cities including Rome and Alexandria became rich through trade, and that people have fought to secure trade routes for their empires. Just when did free trade become a way to beggar the population? Do we fool others into losing wealth by trading with us, or fool ourselves that trade is valuable?

Further, if true, this theft is all being done through Government (Plutocracy). Then, I am in despair, because I think Mr. Frank is calling for even more government.

Andrew Garland of MA @ May 17, 2008 02:20:04 AM