Texas Longhorns with newborn calf in Bluebonnets

Texas Longhorns with newborn calf in Bluebonnets

Please note I have a new phone number...

512-517-2708

Alan Maki

Alan Maki
Doing research at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas

It's time to claim our Peace Dividend

It's time to claim our Peace Dividend

We need to beat swords into plowshares.

We need to beat swords into plowshares.

A program for real change...

http://peaceandsocialjustice.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-progressive-program-for-real-change.html


What we need is a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity" which would make it a mandatory requirement that the president and Congress attain and maintain full employment.


"Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens"

- Ben Franklin

Let's talk...

Let's talk...

Friday, March 7, 2014

Who purged "cost-of-living" from our working-class vocabulary?

"Cost-of-living" has been purged from our working-class vocabulary right along with the purging of Communists from the labor movement; coincidental?

To make way for concession bargaining and to prevent any meaningful discussion of wages.




We see this in the discussion taking place around the Minimum Wage and contract negotiations.

There is only one thing that wages can legitimately be compared to: "cost-of-living."

What can you purchase with your wages?

Your "standard-of-living" is determined by what you can purchase with your wages combined with access to universal social programs.

Something to think about:

When Communists were purged from the labor unions the millionaire labor leaders stopped talking about the relationship between wages and cost-of-living and concession bargaining began.

In addition, very simple yet truthful ideas are being left out of the national conversation spreading to the public square concerning poverty, income inequality and the Minimum Wage:


Workers paid poverty wages are going to be poor.

Workers without jobs are going to be poor.

We had better come up with real, specific solutions to both of these problems:

Paying workers real living wages in relation to cost-of-living.

Providing workers with real living wage jobs.

Question:

What is preventing every job from being a decent, living wage job?

Isn't this a legitimate question?