View from Indian country: Turkey with a side of death

by: Andrea Perkins
November 25 2013

This week the nation will be gathering for a day set aside for turkey eating and football. But underneath all that merriment is a false history that is also celebrated. Most people here in the United States understand that the Thanksgiving Day myth was started in 1621. It's the story of how the Puritans and Pilgrims landed in Patuxet (Plymouth, Mass.), and had a large dinner in thanks for their first harvest. This myth that has been woven into our nation's creation story. However there is a story that is largely forgotten or overlooked, and that is a story of disease and of genocide.

The true story starts off like this ...

"We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us" - Gov. John Winthrop of Massachusetts spoke these words in 1622 before a meeting to discuss the growth of the colony.

1620-1621:

In the fall of 1620 a Puritan ship called the Mayflower landed in the Village of Patuxet of the Wampanoag Nation. They found a village that once held 1,500 to 2,000 people completely abandoned due to illness that had raged through the area a few years before. The Pilgrims saw this a sign from God that this space was cleared out for them. They began to build a settlement. That winter the Pilgrims lost over half of the people who had come over on the Mayflower.

During this time the Wampanoag leader Massasoit saw the newcomers as weak and manageable, and as potential friends and allies against other tribes and groups of settlers. By the spring of 1621 the Pilgrims began talks with Massasoit through his English translator Squanto, who has made his way back home from living in England as a slave a few years earlier. Massasoit established relations with the English, making way for trade between the peoples. In the summer of 1621 Massasoit gave the settlers the Patuxet area and the surrounding hunting grounds, which the English would rename Plymouth.

In October 1621, an Englishman by the name of Miles Standish went into Pequot territory posing as a trader. He cut the head off a Pequot man named Wituwamat and murdered his family. Standish then brought back the head to Plymouth where it was displayed at the settlement wall on a wooden spike. That same week the Puritans held their first Thanksgiving feast to celebrate the harvest and the victory of Miles Standish against that Pequot community.

1637- Mystic River Massacre:

With tension high between the Indigenous people and the Puritan settlers, the trade between the Wampanoag and the settlers slowed down. By 1633 the number of settlers arriving by boat was in the thousands. They were pushing their way into Algonquin territory at an alarming rate.

In 1633 two European slavers from England went into Pequot territory looking for Indigenous people for the slave trade. The slavers were killed by the Pequot people. The local English settlers were outraged by the killings and demanded that the Pequot hand over the ones responsible. The Pequot refused to hand over the killers. The Puritans were furious. Preachers and religious people demanded action from the settlement leadership using quotes from the Bible like this one from Romans 13:2 "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, rseisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." This set the tone for religious zealousness and self-righteousness in their revenge on the Pequot people.

This turned into what is known as the Pequot War which stretched from Massachusetts to southeastern Connecticut. It all came to a dramatic head on May 26, 1637, when English Captain John Mason and few hundred men arrived at the Pequot fort near the Mystic River in Connecticut and surrounded it. The English attempted a surprise assault, but met Pequot resistance. Captain Mason gave the order to set fire to the village and block off all exit from it. The Pequot people were trapped inside, and those trying to escape were gunned down. In the end, 700 women, children and elders were killed. People who had managed to escape were found killed and scalped. This would be known as the Mystic River Massacre. When news was spread of Captain Mason's victory, celebrations of "Thanksgiving" were held all over the New England territory.

Today - remember and fight:

We as Indigenous people remember this not as a day of thanks but as a day to remember the genocide and colonization of our people that continues even today. We are on the front lines facing destruction of the land, exploitation of our children, and our culture reduced to mascots. In the face of all this we continue to fight imperialism with all of our strength, and find power in our Ancestors before us.

Wyndham Mortimer was labor's voice against fascism and war; for democracy and peace.

"...If our enormous productivity is diverted to a peace time economy, and trade re-opened with all the world, it would certainly result in a 'swift expansion of the material well being' for all the world.

"The threat of widespread unemployment would vanish, and we could look forward to generations of peace.

"The continuation of the present insane war economy can result only in more taxes, more misery; more of our sons wasting their precious lives; abysmal poverty for generations to come, a lower standard of living, a complete loss of all the liberties we praise so highly..."

Wyndham Mortimer writing in 1953 to members of the United Auto Workers union.

Mortimer had been the UAW Vice-President in charge of the Flint Sit-Down Strike and he signed the first contract with General Motors on behalf of the UAW.

Mortimer was expelled from the UAW in 1938 for being a "Red;" but a few months later militant rank-and-file members won his re-instatement in the union.

Mortimer joined the Socialist Party of Eugene Debs in 1908; in 1932 he joined the Communist Party and remained a member until his death in 1966.

HOW CLASS WORKS - 2014

PLEASE POST AND FORWARD WIDELY - DEADLINE DECEMBER 11, 2013

PLEASE SEND ALL QUERIES AND PROPOSALS DIRECTLY TO <michael.zweig@stonybrook.edu> 

DO NOT REPLY DIRECTLY TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

          HOW CLASS WORKS - 2014

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS
A Conference at SUNY Stony Brook
June 5-7, 2014

The Center for Study of Working Class Life is pleased to announce the How Class Works –2014 Conference, to be held at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, June 5-7, 2014.  Proposals for papers, presentations, and sessions are welcome until December 11, 2013 according to the guidelines below.  For more information, visit our Web site at <www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass>.
Purpose and orientation: The conference seeks to explore ways in which an explicit recognition of class helps to understand the social world in which we live, and ways in which analysis of society can deepen our understanding of class as a social relationship. Presentations should take as their point of reference the lived experience of class; proposed theoretical contributions should be rooted in and illuminate social realities. Presentations are welcome from people outside academic life when they sum up social experience in a way that contributes to the themes of the conference.  Formal papers will be welcome but are not required. All presentations should be accessible to an interdisciplinary audience.
Conference themes: The conference welcomes proposals for presentations that advance our understanding of any of the following themes.

The mosaic of class, race, and gender. To explore how class shapes racial, gender, and ethnic experience and how different racial, gender, and ethnic experiences within various classes shape the meaning of class. 

Class dimensions of poverty. To explore why and how poverty is something that happens to the working class, not some marginal "other" at the bottom of society..  

Class, power, and social structure. To explore the social content of working, middle, and capitalist classes in terms of various aspects of power; to explore ways in which class and structures of power interact, at the workplace and in the broader society.

Class and community. To explore ways in which class operates outside the workplace in the communities where people of various classes live.

Class in a global economy. To explore how class identity and class dynamics are influenced by globalization, including experience of cross-border organizing, capitalist class dynamics, international labor standards.

Middle class? Working class? What's the difference and why does it matter? To explore the claim that the U.S. is a middle class society and contrast it with the notion that the working class is the majority; to explore the relationships between the middle class and the working class, and between the middle class and the capitalist class.
                                         

Class, public policy, and electoral politics. To explore how class affects public policy, with special attention to health care, the criminal justice system, labor law, poverty, tax and other economic policy, housing, and education; to explore the place of electoral politics in the arrangement of class forces on policy matters.

Class and culture: To explore ways in which culture transmits and transforms class dynamics.

Pedagogy of class. To explore techniques and materials useful for teaching about class, at K-12 levels, in college and university courses, and in labor studies and adult education courses.

How to submit proposals for How Class Works – 2014 Conference

Proposals for presentations must include the following information: a) title; b) which of the eight conference themes will be addressed; c) a maximum 250 word summary of the main points, methodology, and slice of experience that will be summed up; d) relevant personal information indicating institutional affiliation (if any) and what training or experience the presenter brings to the proposal; e) presenter's name, address, telephone, fax, and e-mail address. A person may present in at most two conference sessions. To allow time for discussion, sessions will be limited to three twenty-minute or four fifteen-minute principal presentations. Sessions will not include official discussants.  Proposals for poster sessions are welcome.  Presentations may be assigned to a poster session.

Proposals for sessions are welcome. A single session proposal must include proposal information for all presentations expected to be part of it, as detailed above, with some indication of willingness to participate from each proposed session member.

Submit proposals as an e-mail attachment to michael.zweig@stonybrook.edu or as hard copy by mail to the How Class Works  - 2014 Conference, Center for Study of Working Class Life, Department of Economics, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4384.

Timetable:  Proposals must be received by December 11, 2013. After review by the program committee, notifications will be mailed on January 17, 2014. The conference will be at SUNY Stony Brook June 5-7, 2014.  Conference registration and housing reservations will be possible after March 3, 2014. Details and updates will be posted at http://www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass.

Conference coordinator:

Michael Zweig

Director, Center for Study of Working Class Life
Department of Economics

State University of New York 
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4384

631.632.7536    

michael.zweig@stonybrook.edu                 

##

The FBI makes an "error."

The Guardian published a list in spreadsheet form of the 2013 Mass Surveillance revelations. 

Among the revelations is this little gem:

"FBI monitored anti-war website in error for six years, documents show (November 6)"

An "error;" ya, sure; you betcha.

And no one gets canned.

Mark Dimondstein and the APWU

Check out the speech by Mark Dimondstein, the newly elected President of the APWU--- American Postal Workers Union:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UULwUiRV8200UoXTyRo77mUQ&v=CEJEgRRhvQE

Forum to be held in Duluth, Minnesota on January 11

TITLE:  PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL FORUM -- DULUTH -- SATURDAY, JANUARY 11TH!

MESSAGE:  

To put it bluntly  — we are in crisis.  

In crisis with our economy, our climate, our environment, our system of government.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We've tried for years and decades . . .  to change things for the better . . .  but the trends only worsen.  

We've organized — we've demonstrated— we've worked on campaigns . . and nothing really changes.

We've voted for Democrats who promised progressive legislation . . . and little changes.

We keep on blogging and emailing and petitioning online . . . mostly talking amongst ourselves . . .  and still nothing changes.

Except the endless wars continue; the corporate subsidies continue; the corporate domination and corruption of our

government continues;  the environmental ravaging by mining and oil companies continues; the wealth/income disparities continue;  ---  

— all the while, human devastation caused by poverty, joblessness, homeless and inadequate healthcare continues to increase; 

and the quality of life and financial security for most Americans deteriorates. 

What to do?  . . . What to do?  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

That's the basic question that will be discussed at a broad-based, political forum . . . scheduled for 

SATURDAY, JANUARY 11TH . . . 

FIRST METHODIST (COPPER TOP) CHURCH, DULUTH

11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.  

We need to put our heads together . . . to figure out how we can bring our concerns  -- the progressive message --

into the public square in a way that it can't be marginalized . . . or ignored.

We, on the progressive Left,  need "more political clout."  How to build that political clout is the basic agenda for the forum.

The title is:  "Building Progressive Political Power in Minnesota 

                        Around the Politics and Economics of — 

                                   • Full Employment / Living Wage / Minimum Wage

                                   • Health Care for All

                                   • Environmental Sanity: Climate Change; Species Protection"

The format will entail panel presentations with audience dialogue.  Input from audience members

will be crucial in order to build support for the recommendations and action plans that are formulated.

I invite . . .  encourage . . . you to attend.  Please mark you calendar to save the date.

I'll send you updates in December and provide the names of the panelists, once we have everyone confirmed.  

If you have ideas to contribute even at this stage of the planning, please email me -- soon!

And, please spread the word to folks on your email lists!  

In common struggle,

Vern Simula

Mt. Iron, Minnesota

218.591.5722

Event Organizer for:Uniting People 

and the New Progressive Alliance

Like the discussion over the Minimum Wage, the over-paid pundits are feeding people a line of shit about health care.

I recently made this post on my FaceBook page and it stimulated a lot of discussion:

It has been suggested that I "stop bitching" about Obamacare with the question following: What did we get from the Republicans? The suggestion being that Obamacare is better than the Republican "plan."

Here is my response:

Obamacare is based on RomneyCare which is based on a scheme devised by right-wing think tanks. So, to answer your question: What did we get from the Republicans? We got Obamacare.

These are my responses to questions and comments:

 I was accused of being against single-payer.

 My response:

 I never said that single-payer universal health care was "bad." In fact, as an elected delegate and as an elected member of the State Central Committee I led the six year fight to get the best resolution in the United States passed by a 72% majority by the State Convention of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party. (the resolution was later altered to conform to Obamacare but that is another story of how the Democratic Party is manipulated and controlled by big-business interests.)

But, in leading this struggle to get this resolution passed, I always made the point that single-payer universal health care like they have in Canada should be considered as a first step towards a national public health care system.

Had I not presented single payer in this way, we never would have recruited the huge number of delegates we needed to pass this resolution--- some 600 delegates; there were about 1,800 delegates at the state convention.

As Canadians are finding out, and as Tommy Douglas himself warned, single-payer is only a short-term fix for a problem which requires nothing less than socialized health care and from his death bed he repeated this message.

We need a health care system based on the same universal system as public education. If anyone suggested that we have education "privately delivered" in our public schools we would look at them as some kind of freaks and kooks.

Public education is is:

1. Publicly financed.

2. Publicly administered.

3. Publicly delivered.

Why wouldn't we have the exact same approach to health care?

In Canada, Tommy Douglas "settled" for single-payer as an important reform to health care but NEVER viewed single-payer as THE solution.

If the Democrats and Republicans want to agree to single-payer, fine; but, they don't. They are not as far-sighted as Canada's ruling elites were when they made Tommy Douglas the deal.

Francis Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor, insisted that a National Public Health Care System be part of the New Deal and she was allied with Communist labor leader Harry Bridges, Minnesota's socialist Farmer-Labor Party and liberals, progressives and leftists across the country on this point. She wanted a National Public Health Care System to be financed from a payroll tax placed on workers and employers just like Social Security (in fact, this is the way Canada finances its single-payer system.)

In fact, Linda, single-payer is not THE cheapest way to cover most people--- a National Public Health Care System is... with the added bonus that it creates more than four times the number of jobs!

If, in fact, you believe single-payer with private delivery of health care is the cheapest way out then you must believe that when it comes to public education private delivery of education is the cheapest way to provide public education and I seriously doubt you are prepared to make this argument... and we both know why you wouldn't try to do this.

And; the fact is, it is cheaper to provide people with health care than it is to provide them with education. This is FACT.

this is an important fact because I am always asked: But how much will such a National Public Health Care System cost?

My answer is: I don't know; but if we compare the amount spent on public education to the amount spent on militarism and these dirty wars, spending on public education comes in far behind that which is spent on militarism and wars so the cost of providing the American people with free health care shouldn't even be an issue--- just stop this military insanity and these dirty imperialist wars that no one but Wall Street wants just like Wall Street backs Obamacare because, like with wars, there are profits to be made.

And if Wall Street were forced to take its greedy hands out of public education we could provide public education much cheaper. One text book cost the public school systems as much as a visit to the doctor. Of course, the real comparison is how many visits to the doctor could be had for the cost of a drone. 

And the discussion continued...

It was pointed out to me, correctly, that this ACA scheme goes back to Nixon.

My answer is this:

I don't know how far back we can trace the ACA's history; but, one thing for certain: it is a thoroughly reactionary scheme. Every single reactionary scheme has to have some elements that make it appear to be good because otherwise these reactionary schemes couldn't be packaged and sold to the people.

Obama himself is an example of a reactionary being prettied up with progressive sounding rhetoric.

Can anyone imagine Obama getting elected pitching the kind of legislation he has brought forward? No. Obama is all lies. But lies fabricated in a way to make them sound appealing. Same thing with the ACA.

That we need to hire an attorney to find out just what we are entitled to with Obamacare should tell us everything we need to know.

An entire new and very lucrative industry has popped up teaching employers how to get out from under their health care obligations to employees under Obamacare.

Again; Obamacare is the "Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical Industry Bailout and Profit Maximization Act of 2010." And doctors profit very handsomely from this legislation, too. 

 

I asked a question:

Have you ever sat for a day in a bankruptcy court? I have. About 80% of the cases I heard involved huge health care costs and every single one of the people had "health insurance." 

 

My response to a New York Time's article:

The ACA classifications of health insurance: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. What kind of shit do you call this? The rich get Platinum; the poor get shit called "Bronze."

My further comment:

Every reactionary scheme like ACA needs a few good things to suck people in. 

And this response from me:

Did you read the article from the New York Times that you posted, David, saying about 7 million poor would receive government subsidies?

"The bulk of these plans are so-called bronze policies, the least expensive available. They require people to pay the most in out-of-pocket costs, for doctor visits and other benefits like hospital stays."

Does this make sense? The poorest people will pay the most in out of pocket expenses.

 

 

 

 

It's about priorities and profits.

Has anyone else been reading the investment papers about the fortunes to be made from Obamacare?

Here are a few paragraphs typical of what is going around in investor circles:

"...The fact is Obamacare is one of the single biggest wealth creation opportunities to hit the markets in decades. That's because huge amounts of money - trillions - will be spent as Obamacare gets rolling.

And trillions more will be reallocated implementing, regulating, and enforcing Obamacare. Not all companies will benefit - but a select few are primed for higher returns on a scale that was simply unimaginable before this legislation was passed.

Investors who act now are set to make a fortune in the next several months - and years - as the full Obamacare plan gets underway..."

Like I keep saying, Obamacare is the "Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical Industry Bailout and Profit Maximization Act of 2010."

We pay through the nose; Wall Street investors profit.

When do we see the kind of movement this country really needs?

A movement for a National Public Health Care System which is operated on the same principle as public education.

Publicly financed; publicly administered and public delivery... just like public education.

Free health care provided through a vast network of community and neighborhood health care centers creating twelve to fifteen million new jobs.

Solving the health care mess.

Solving much of the unemployment problem.

We can get it all for much less than these dirty wars are costing us.

It's about P-R-I-O-R-I-T-I-E-S.

pri·or·i·ty
noun \prī-ˈȯr-ə-tē, -ˈär-\

: something that is more important than other things and that needs to be done or dealt with first

priorities : the things that someone cares about and thinks are important

: the condition of being more important than something or someone else and therefore coming or being dealt with first

What is more important to you? Wars or health care?

The Wall Street politicians have their priorities all f*&%#@-up.

Wall Street's priority is profits.

We need to put people before profits.

Support the "Black Friday Movement;" demand the repeal of "At-Will Employment."

By now I am sure most of you have heard of the "Black Friday Movement"... unorganized workers, with union staff in the background, standing up for their rights and improved livelihoods.

I recently sent this message to Shar Knutson, the President of the Minnesota AFL-CIO:

There should be a demand coming from the Minnesota AFL-CIO together with this "Black Friday Movement" that Minnesota Democrats with their super-majority repeal this thoroughly reactionary "Employment At-Will" legislation in the upcoming legislative session.

"Employment At-Will" is the primary obstacle to union organizing in Minnesota and the rest of the country... with the exception of Montana.

The "Employment At-Will" doctrine needs to be abolished. It is undemocratic and places employers in a dictatorial relationship to employees; it should be replaced with "just cause hiring and firing" legislation.

Hundreds of Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party Precinct Caucuses have already passed the resolution I wrote as has the Roseau County DFL.

About 30% of the DFL State Convention delegates voted for the resolution I introduced as a State DFL Convention Delegate and member of the DFL State Central Committee--- ever since, DFL Chairs Mike Erlandson, Brian Melendez and Ken Martin have worked to keep this resolution from coming forward again.

It is time for working people to stand up to these corporate Democrats and insist that unless "Employment At-Will" is repealed, the DFL will get no more support or votes from working people in Minnesota.

It is not too much to expect that a party which appeals to labor for votes would repeal the most Draconian legislation on the books attacking the unorganized working class majority.

With "At-Will Employment" repealed, we will see a dramatic surge in unionization here in Minnesota.

In solidarity and struggle with the Black Friday Movement,

Alan L. Maki, Director of Organizing, Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

Looks like the Democrats have kicked off the campaign...

Will we allow ourselves to be bamboozled, again?

Looks like the theme for the 2016 Presidential race has begun. Check out the banner being used by the Democrats. We are in for another slick Hollywood-Madison Avenue snow-job financed by Wall Street.

Anyone still think Elizabeth Warren isn't part of the Wall Street crowd?

If Elizabeth Warren's vote, along with her other 97 U.S. Senators bribed by Wall Street, to approve Penny Pritzker to champion the Trans-Pacific Partnership didn't convince you--- then the above banner should do the trick.

Workers receiving the "kiss of death."

Alternative poverty measure finds 3 million more poor in US than government's official rate

Question: Why isn't poverty linked completely to all cost-of-living factors tracked by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics?

Question: Why aren't we ever told in these stories on poverty what the percentages and numbers are for Native American Indian poverty? 

Question: Why aren't alternatives to poverty like full employment and a real living Minimum Wage being explored?

Comment: What we need are alternatives to poverty not alternative methods of figuring out how much poverty exists here in the wealthiest country in the world where multi-billionnaieres are being created as a direct result of paying people poverty wages with a huge pool of unemployed people forcing wages down. And no one seems to be looking at the fact that paying for militarism and these dirty wars are making us all poor.

Comment: I have news, pun intended, for this writer and the Associated Press... poverty in this country is worse than the government admits and poverty is worse than it is portrayed in this story.

Conclusion: Poverty can be solved but not as long as Wall Street dominates the political and economic life of this country. The solution to poverty will only be found by creating a working class based progressive people's party that would be representing a "grand alliance" of all working people in determined struggle to establish new priorities in this country which would put people before profits.


http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/230825521.html?page=all&prepage=2&c=y#continue

Alternative poverty measure finds 3 million more poor in US than government's official rate

• Article by: HOPE YEN , Associated Press
• Updated: November 6, 2013 - 5:15 PM

WASHINGTON — The number of poor people in America is 3 million higher than the official count, encompassing 1 in 6 residents due to out-of-pocket medical costs and work-related expenses, according to a revised census measure released Wednesday.
The new measure is aimed at providing a fuller picture of poverty but does not replace the official government numbers. Put in place two years ago by the Obama administration, it generally is considered more reliable by social scientists because it factors in living expenses as well as the effects of government aid, such as food stamps and tax credits.
Administration officials have declined to say whether the new measure eventually could replace the official poverty formula, which is used to allocate federal dollars to states and localities and to determine eligibility for safety-net programs such as Medicaid.
Congress would have to agree to adopt the new measure, which generally would result in a higher poverty rate from year to year and thus higher government payouts for aid programs.
Based on the revised formula, the number of poor people in 2012 was 49.7 million, or 16 percent. That exceeds the record 46.5 million, or 15 percent, that was officially reported in September.
The latest numbers come as more working-age adults picked up low-wage jobs in the slowly improving economy but still struggled to pay living expenses. Americans 65 and older had the largest increases in poverty under the revised formula, from 9.1 percent to 14.8 percent, because of medical expenses such as Medicare premiums, deductibles and other costs not accounted for in the official rate.
There also were increases for Hispanics and Asian-Americans, partly due to lower participation among immigrants and non-English speakers in government aid programs such as housing aid and food stamps.
African-Americans and children, helped by government benefits, had declines in poverty compared with the official rate.
"This is a real incongruity, when 1 in 6 people face economic insecurity here in the richest country in the world," said Joseph Stiglitz, a Columbia University economist and former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers who has argued for more government action to alleviate income inequality.
"When so many citizens are worse off year after year, with food insecurity and health care insecurity, there's no way you can say that's a successful economy."
Last week, more than 47 million Americans who receive food stamps saw their benefits go down, while Congress began negotiations on further cuts of up to $4 billion annually to the program.
Among states, California had the highest share of poor people, hurt in part by high housing costs and large numbers of immigrants, followed by the District of Columbia, Nevada and Florida. Under the official poverty rate, more rural states were more likely to be at the top of list, led by Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico.
Some other findings:
—Food stamps helped lift about 5 million people above the poverty line. Without such aid, the overall poverty rate would increase from 16 percent to 17.6 percent.
— Adults of working ages 18-64 saw an increase in poverty from 13.7 percent based on the official calculation to 15.5 percent, due mostly to commuting and child care costs.
—Child poverty declined from 22.3 percent to 18 percent under the new measure. Under both measures, children still remained the age group most likely to be living in poverty.
—By race, Hispanics and Asians saw higher rates of poverty, 27.8 percent and 16.7 percent respectively, compared with rates of 25.8 percent and 11.8 percent under the official formula. In contrast, African-Americans saw a modest decrease, from 27.3 percent to 25.8 percent based on the revised numbers. Among non-Hispanic whites, poverty rose from 9.8 percent to 10.7 percent.
"The primary reason that poverty remains so high is that the benefits of a growing economy are no longer being shared by all workers as they were in the quarter-century following the end of World War II," said Sheldon Danziger, a University of Michigan economist.
"Given current economic conditions, poverty will not be substantially reduced unless government does more to help the working poor."
Economists long have criticized the official poverty rate as inadequate. Based on a half-century-old government formula, the official rate continues to assume the average family spends one-third of its income on food. Those costs have declined to a much smaller share, more like one-seventh.
In reaction to some of the criticism, the Obama administration in 2010 asked the Census Bureau to develop a new poverty measure, based partly on recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences. The goal is to help lawmakers better gauge the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs.
For instance, the new measure finds that if it weren't for Social Security payments, the poverty rate would rise to 54.7 percent for people 65 and older and 24.5 percent for all age groups.
Refundable tax credits such as the earned income tax credit helped lift 9 million people above the poverty line. Without the credits, child poverty would rise from 18 percent to 24.7 percent.
In recent years, New York City as well California, Virginia and Wisconsin have sought to put in place a more accurate poverty measure. They were prompted in part by local officials such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who have argued that the official measure does not take into account urban costs of living and that larger cities may get less federal money as a result.

Is something missing from discussions surrounding what amounts to "fair wages" and establishing a real living Minimum Wage?

I saw this excellent question asked on FaceBook:

How is a "fair wage" determined? What factors should determine a "fair wage?" I'm just curious because I see people rushing to support the Democrats talking about a $9.50 minimum wage. Now I hear people talking about $15.00 an hour wages. Elizabeth Warren said that had the minimum wage kept up with inflation the minimum wage should be $22.00 an hour yet she is calling for a $10.00 minimum wage. Where do all these different figures come from? Isn't there some kind of way to establish a fair wage that is a real living wage? If so, what is it we compare wages to? I have always felt we are missing something in this discussion about wages. But what could we be missing?

The answer as to what is missing is really quite simple; I have stated the answer many times here on my blog.

There is only one thing wages can, and should be, compared to:

Cost-of-living.

The United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks all "cost-of-living" factors.

If a worker can't purchase the basic necessities of life for which prices are being tracked by this government agency, that worker is not being paid a real living wage; certainly nothing approximating a "fair wage." 

If a worker can purchase the basic necessities of life, those "cost-of-living" factors tracked by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, that worker has a decent "standard-of-living."

Why would anyone except an employer refuse to talk about "cost-of-living" and "standard-of-living?" Probably because they don't understand or they are working for the employers.

 Workers need to bring "cost-of-living" and "standard-of-living" into this discussion about wages. 

If the Minimum Wage is going to be a real living wage it has to be legislatively tied to all "cost-of-living" factors, indexed to inflation with an annual increase to improve "standard-of-living."

A vigorous, united, militant struggle needs to be waged to win an improved "standard-of-living" for everyone.

Part of the struggle seeking real living wages must be a struggle for full employment. In a full employment economy it becomes easier for working people to win pay increases.

What we need is a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity" which would require, by an act of legislation, that Congress and the president be required to work together to attain and maintain full employment.

Workers without jobs are going to be poor; just as workers paid anything less than real living wages based on all "cost-of-living" factors are going to be poor.

 Politicians who talk about Minimum Wages of anything less than real living wages are not talking about "fair" or "decent" wages... These politicians, themselves, lack basic human decency.

It is unjust, unethical and immoral to advocate anything less than real living wages for working people.

We are living in the wealthiest country in the world where multi-billionaires have been created because they have been allowed by the government--- a government bribed by Wall Street--- to pay less than real living wages. 

Anyone who thinks this is fair needs to look up the word "fair" in a dictionary.

fair

adjective \ˈfer\ : agreeing with what is thought to be right or acceptable
: treating people in a way that does not favor some over others


When talking about wages, workers always need to consider two things:

"Cost-of-Living."

"Standard-of-Living."

Your wages are only relevant in relation to your "cost-of-living."

Your "standard-of-living" is determined by the relationship of your wages to your "cost-of-living."

It's all about the politics and economics of livelihood.