Fear and Resentment
The alienation of the American worker politically and economically has led to a politics of fear and resentment. The erosion of economic and political power has created contradictions between values that should justly be held and a sense of competition for economic viability that shakes the very foundation of the ideas of family and community.
Daily, millions of people shuffle into jobs that don’t intellectually stimulate them, pique their curiosity, or foster a sense of discovery. Oftentimes these jobs are at corporations that hold no allegiance to the local communities of workers nor to the well-being of the worker beyond them being able to do their assigned tasks. Through the necessity of efficiency the more inefficient, creative human spirit must be managed towards profit.
On top of all of that, the economic system depended on to provide not only comforts, but necessities, doesn’t always provide stability. With the Great Recession millions of workers saw their jobs disappear and they stared into the maw of the abject poverty, a beast with teeth that can not only tear apart families, but communities as well. Workers found themselves at competition with their friends, neighbors, and broader community for a dwindling supply of jobs.
It’s no accident that the rise of authoritarianism and xenophobia grips the nation even as official metrics of employment and economic growth appear to strengthen. Most institutions, private and public, have lost credibility across the board in the face of scandals and ineptitude to fulfill their duties. Corporate forces hostile to public wealth attacks a government unwilling to defend the public assets of the American people in a bid to keep power through the very corporate forces attacking it. The government of both parties even has the audacity to suggest that it must listen closely to the corporate world in order to save us from the ruthlessness of the corporate world.
Something is wrong.
Is there any discernible moral compass of the government? What values does it hold? Why does it feel like the government is becoming nothing more than a funnel of money towards defense contractors and management of democracy? No wonder conservatives don’t trust the government and liberals feel like the government keeps doing the wrong things.
Moral Justice
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.— Genesis 4:8:10
#BlackLivesMatter is compelling us to bear witness to the destruction of their lives physically, socially, and economically, because it is unjust. The #FightFor15 is compelling us to bear witness to wages that leave millions of families in poverty and the struggles that brings, because it is unjust. The #MillionStudentMarch compels us to bear witness to the debt through pursuance of education causing a burden on a generation of young people, because it is unjust. They are calls to action. Abel’s very source of his existence, his blood, cries out for justice and couldn’t be silenced. The cry for justice is powerful and it should be listened to.
In my view it would be prudent to listen to the cries of those with no power and who suffer. Who has the power: an unarmed black youth or the police officer threatening them with a gun? Who has the power: a corporation that can tell the government to keep wages low to “create jobs” or the workers who suffer under those low wages? Who has the power: a student who took on debt in an attempt to be economically viable or the banks that profit on those debts? When the call for justice among those without power is heeded we find the path to truth.
Where is the government in all of this? It is sad to say the government, through action and inaction alike, has helped create the conditions for these injustices. It helped build the police state that consumes our black communities and allowed police to militarize. The government changed the economic deal it made with the American people while not being forward about the negative consequences for everyday working people. This helped lead to the erosion of wages and good paying, stable jobs. The government slashed public funding of colleges so that banks and private institutions could profit off the process of educating people in preparing for the future.
Sure, it helped foster these conditions with good intentions. The intention of increased police funding and prison building was to reduce crime. The intention of free-trade deals was to facilitate trade globally so that businesses can create products more efficiently. The intention of privatizing higher education was to foster innovation via market forces. How is it that good intentions go so wrong? How is it that good intentions are somehow unchecked by some guidance?
Politics of Moral Justice
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” — Jesus, Matthew 5:3-10
Who suffers under the current health care system? The homeless, the poor, and people in need of mental health care are just a few examples. Currently the health care system is dominated by private health insurance companies that profit as middlemen. The homeless and the poor, groups who face economic violence and suffer for their condition, hold little economic power against the vast resources of the private heath insurance industry.
The current system is excluding the most vulnerable and in need of medical care and this exclusion deprives them of life. If a lack of medical care can deprive someone of life, then why isn’t it a right to all citizens? Why should living be reserved to those that can afford it?
Who suffers under the current wage system? Start with those making minimum wage. The jobs at minimum wage have such a vast pool eligible workers that corporations can prey on them. They have no true bargaining power against the corporations that prey on them at those wages. Minimum wage jobs are often jobs with inconsistent hours on a weekly basis. Minimum wage jobs are often jobs that can give as little as a few hours notice for them to come to work for a shift. Minimum wage jobs are often jobs that shift hours to another week to avoid paying overtime.
The current system of wages is excluding those making minimum wage from the pursuit of happiness by allowing for the condition of poverty where everyday life events become a series of crises that threaten their economic viability. On top of that, the conditions of their work are a constant interruption to a consistent routine and life. In my view, this is wrong.
Listen to the cries of those who are treated unjustly and find the truth. Find the reasons for their conditions. All the money in the world can be spent on experts and hours listening to testimonies can be done but without the moral courage to seek truth and clarity you end up nowhere.
This is a time of vast oligopolies and deep poverty. Many people are suffering and they’re taking to the streets to tell everybody what’s causing their grievances. This is their constitutional right. I believe Bernie Sanders is listening to them and has an acute sense of what’s moral. When others saw good intentions he saw the possibility of trouble. Look at his speech on a bill that expands the police state, when he asked Greenspan about too big to fail in 2000, or when he spoke out against the war in Iraq in 2002.
It’s clear that time and time again he asks the questions that should be asked and has concerns that should be had. He’s calling on everybody to fully realize where power truly resides in politics and democracy: with everybody.
It’s clear that a crisis point has been reached in many ways. Climate change, an over-sized military, a police state, the rise of nationalism and xenophobia, and a tendency towards authoritarianism threaten the way of life and the security in the lands, especially among the poor. Underneath all of this is a roiling, angry cauldron of poverty that slams the working poor against each other violently as they try to escape. Poverty is more than stats. It’s more than numbers. It’s a force that strains social relations and breaks apart social cohesion.
If economic security isn’t acted upon then the economic violence of unjust systems can never be fully addressed. Economic security is a right not a privilege. Economic security for all will help free those in the chains of systems of oppression that hold them in place through economic violence and exclusion.