Search Articles:

 

Breaking News......... More than 180 competitors triple-test their endurance in Helena......... Billings youth soccer teams hits road - in Europe......... BREAKING NEWS: Storm knocks out power, ignites wildfires in Helena......... Shakespeare in the Parks hit hard by recession, trying not to fold......... Local News......... Cancer patient completes race in 8 hours, 45 minutes........Changes to GI Bill alters tuition benefits by state........Court ruling doesn't change NorthWestern's plan for power line........PSC commissioner wants to kill NorthWestern project........Fast times in Missoula Marathon; everyone had a ballPosted on Sunday, July 12........Downtown Missoula building will be tall and eco-friendly........

While the global economic meltdown and resulting recession will undoubtedly be a time of challenge and hardship for working citizens all around the world, it also presents the kinds of opportunities for deep, lasting change not seen for generations.

Due to the spectacular failure of markets to “self- regulate,” or of a “rising tide” to “lift all boats,” the very logic of neo-liberal capitalism is being questioned and new models discussed and debated. Rather than growth and efficiency, issues like fairness and sustainability are rising to the forefront.

Here in the U.S., the country with the most responsibility for precipitating this collapse, the working class also carries a responsibility. We now need to participate more directly in the management of society and not relinquish this task to politicians, financiers or corporations. It is incumbent on us to see that solutions for recovery go beyond mere re-regulation and involve a fundamental reordering of relative power in society. In light of this collapse, the larger political questions we face are: what form will a rescue take and who will pay for it?

Because the burden for any rescue will fall, as it always does, on the backs of the workers, it is time to make three demands in return.

The first is an affordable health care system equally accessible to all citizens. For too long the U.S. has lagged behind the rest of the developed world in providing comprehensive care for all its citizens. It is more than a little ironic that the citizens of Japan and Germany, whose economies we helped rebuild after the war, enjoy free health care while we do not.

The second demand is a public pension system for all. A dignified, secure retirement with defined benefits should await each worker who has contributed.

The third demand should be for a jobs creation program directed at repairing, upgrading and building new public infrastructure. Creating a green energy grid, localized food systems and carbon dioxide-free methods of transport will both provide millions of new jobs and be an investment in the future. Our national shame is the mortgaging of our children’s dreams to finance today’s obscene consumerism.

Of course, taking advantage of this opportunity for change will depend on citizens’ ability to correctly identify their interests as workers and to mobilize with a unified voice. This is why we see such an aggressive attack on unions by big business and the media that serves them as this crisis unfolds. Only through solidarity will we see not just a bailout for financial markets and mega-banks but a reinvigoration of true democracy and a society which works for all of its citizens. Instead of top-down decrees, we call for a broad and way overdue public discussion.

It is time for workers, those who create the real wealth of society, to finally have an equal say. If you would like to help turn this vision into reality, we would love to hear your ideas.

David Jones is correspondence secretary for the Two Rivers General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, and wrote this on behalf of the Two Rivers membership. He writes from Hamilton.

---

---

Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)

---