The real free market

About a week ago, I was listening to The Stephanie Miller show. A caller phoned in with the typical conservative talking point about how social-welfare programs enabled poverty and kept African-Americans and other minorities down. As I expected, the host and her mooks parroted the usual Democratic and ineffectual counter arguments but it occurred to me as I listened that a better response might have been along these lines:

"Dear caller, the reason we need anti-poverty programs is because of the economic system we've locked ourselves into. There is a 'free market.' It's called the 'labor market,' and it's where individual workers are pitted against each other in a ruthless race to the bottom of the wage scale. Meanwhile, oligopolistic corporations use their bought-and-paid-for politicians to rig the system so they can confiscate as much wealth as they can get away with, starving the commonwealth.

"If you want to reduce people's dependence on social welfare, at the very least you're going to have to radically redistribute wealth in a fairer way, and give workers the right to flex their muscle in the work place (i.e., "unions")."

Massey Coal and the need for a new Labor movement

The saddest thing about the Massey Coal catastrophe last week (beyond the personal tragedies of the 29 families who lost husbands, sons, cousins, etc.) is the apathetic response I heard while listening today to an interview with one of the widows.

She was responding to the inevitable question about what she was going to do next and replied that she would pray to God that no more accidents happen and that others wouldn't be killed if they did.

Huh?

She's going to get down on her knees and pray that God doesn't allow any more accidents to happen?

She's not going to organize with her fellow workers and mine families to demand decent wages and safer working conditions from a company whose management has clearly made the calculation that it's cheaper to weather the occasional accident and fines?

I hope that some miner or a surviving relative is inspired to start an organizing campaign, and make it in Massey's interest to give a damn about its workers.

If nothing else, maybe we can look into charging Massey with manslaughter - after all the SCOTUS says corporations are people (and here we thought it was soylent green all these years).