This one's bigger than an elephant and a lot more dangerous.
It's spectre is invoked in the run up to elections, but is rarely spoken of otherwise.
The power of the word used to be seriously discussed by the media, as it was considered the most vital part of the food chain.
No more, though. It is the truth that dares not speak it's name, or more precisely, the truth who's name no politician dares to speak.
We all know what it is, of course. We all know that it HAS to be addressed, sooner or later, it has to be acknowledged.
Jobs. Living wage jobs. Jobs that allow regular people to provide housing, food, health care, clothing, and an education for themselves and their families. Jobs that allow us to create OTHER jobs by providing us with the ability to both save and spend. Someone has to buy things, after all, goods and services.
Or are we willing to see every strip mall end up an endless row of "Cash For Gold!" and "Pay Day Loans!" outlets, with the occasional Dollar Store thrown in so we have somewhere to buy those ramen noodles and poisonous Chinese toothpaste?
No sustained economic growth without real wage growth
And no one is talking about the real unemployment rate, which may equal - or exceed - that reached during the Great Depression Real US unemployment rate may be 22%
What does unemployment, or "underemployment" do to a person? Well, sometimes, it kills. Suicides rise with unemployment rates
This recession is not just measured in dollars. It is stressing families, delaying dreams, and taking lives. Most of the researchers I have contacted expect suicide rates will rise along with the unemployment rate.
Sometimes, it "just" destroys your marriage. Rising unemployment creating more work for divorce lawyers
It might not actually kill you - it may just threaten your sanity. mental health troubles rise with unemployment rates
And there's the obvious stuff: you can lose your housing, your access to health care, your hopes, dreams, and will to live.
We are being told this by some of our elected officials:
1. the unemployed, once they have been unemployed longer than 99 weeks, don't deserve any help from the society that trashed their lives.
2. the unemployed should - somehow - go back to school. The fact that this requires money that the unemployed don't usually have is not being addressed. Nor is the fact that many of the unemployed are already damn well educated.
3. ...crickets...
Silence. The Republicans were great at shouting about jobs before the November election, but since then, it's been all pandering-to-the-hate-base-all-the-time. The Democrats? A few of them are talking about it. Rep. John Conyers has proposed HB870, a full employment and training act (deficit neutral!) HB870
But mostly, what we're hearing is - nothing. Despite record profits, banks are not loaning to small businesses, which actually would use the money to create jobs. Despite record profits, large corporations are not hiring in numbers that would make a difference. (the only numbers that matter are the ones that Wall Street cares about. And we're supposed to be proud of the "Rise in productivity". What that means, translated from the oligarch-ese, is this: fewer people working harder for longer hours and less pay). And most of the new jobs are not the kind that provide a living wage, one that would allow people to - well, you know - buy things that would give OTHER people jobs. new jobs are low wage jobs
We deserve better. We're not going to get anything that the ruling class is not first fearful we're going to take, though. We need to support the workers in Wisconsin, and elsewhere who are fighting for the rights of ALL working people - don't let the arguments about "gold plated pension plans" distract you. What's wrong with the American economy won't be solved by attacking the teachers, nurses, librarians, and firefighters. It will be solved by ALL working people (and if you require a wage to survive, welcome to the working class!) standing in solidarity - even if that means a general strike. Even if it means risking what little you have for your rights, and the rights of our neighbors and children, to earn a living wage in a safe and dignified way.
What can you do this week to help? For one thing, call your elected officials. And tell them their job is to do something real, something substantial, about jobs. Real jobs. Tell them you are not interested in the myth of "shared sacrifice" until you see the tax rates on the wealthy go up to, oh, say, what they were in the idyllic 50s, under Eisenhower. bring back the 90% top tax rate
Tell them you support a transaction tax on Wall Street to finance a jobs program. And tell them you vote.