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"The Rich rob the poor and the poor rob
each other."
If one examines social, political and economic policy in the ‘90s, an unmistakable picture emerges of the poor as people who are despised for their very poverty, and punished for their lack of wealth. The state, and their cultural elite project this picture until it permeates political and popular culture, and is reflected in public policy. Why did the government launch its attack on the welfare system? What was behind its rhetoric? If you analyze it closely, you'll find the push for this policy came from American Business. Here’s why: The "business cycle" is crucial to capitalists economies )This is also known as the recurrent tendency of economic "boom and bust" periods). Back in 1958, an economist noted that when unemployment rises, wages fall (this is known as the "Phillips Curve"). This is so because when most workers are employed, business is pressed to react to wage demands. However, when there is significant unemployment, business knows they can find labor at lower wages. Thus, unemployment drives down wages for all workers, as it increases job security. What does this have to do with welfare? Well, welfare is a form of income maintenance, and as such it served as a buffer between the employed and the unemployed. Therefore, workers were not desperate for any job that they could find. When workers are not desperate, when they have security, they demand higher wages form capitol. Who would’ve thought that the poorest among us, those on welfare, strengthened and stabilized the wages of workers? It’s for this reason that capital launched it’s attack on income maintenance programs through its political agents (republicans and Democrats), using the slight-of-hand label of "welfare reform." Both parties of big business joined hands in the battle against the poorest, egged on by big business media conglomerates, who are but subsidiaries of even bigger businesses. This interests of capital can be summed up in one word: capital. Why do you think every time news comes out about low unemployment Wall Street panics and stocks tumble? When masses of people are unemployed that’s called "good for business!" How can bad for people be good for business? So, what is to be done? Several weeks ago, French unemployed took to the streets nationally, rocking the Neoliberal establishment with a wave of militant demonstrations. This remarkable mobilization showed the power of a movement of unemployed, that beat back the state’s attempts to cut back on French income maintenance programs. That movement leaped across the border to Germany, where marches sprung up in over 200 cities. We can learn from the French who did not hesitate to organize and mobilize the poor and unemployed. The slogan of the French may not translate well to us here, but it bears repeating: "Who sows misery reaps rage." The politicians ain’t the solution - the people are. Let us organize. © 1998 Mumia Abu-Jamal
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Why a War on the Poor?