CAR: I think it’s nearly impossible to frame the argument in terms of a Marxian Labor versus Capital construct. The nature of both Labor AND Capital has changed and the political stance of this country has shifted ever rightward in the last thirty or so years, to the point where someone like Obama would be unrecognizable to JFK, given Obama’s position on torture, civil rights and liberties, etc.
I also believe that the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party is dead. I think organized labor is a shell of its former self and both the GOP and the Dems have sold American manufacturing down the river and with it, the American middle class.
What we’re left with is a hollowed out manufacturing core in places like MI, OH, PA, etc and politicians going on about reviving American manufacturing and the middle class, but without any idea or plan to make it happen.
Until we have a serious and committed US industrial policy and quit kissing China’s ass, we’ll continue to see the middle class circle the drain, struggling with stagnant wages and too much debt, trying to maintain an unsupportable lifestyle.
We’ve been sold out by an unaccountable political class, which is only beholden to the money that elects it. In this sense, you’re 100% right about removing the money from the equation. The problem is, the very people responsible for doing that are the very ones dependent on it. The fox is guarding the henhouse.
