Rick Raw: Decline of American Optimism

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Today, the mood of the Zeitgeist is somber and defeatist. Of course, the general malaise caused by the aftermath of the economic apocalypse of 2008, which has dragged on into 2010, is justifiable. Consequently, American optimism has been dealt an almost fatal blow by the slow recovery and failure of the Obama administration to solve the post-economic disaster problems.

Granted, the Republican sabotage of Obama’s agenda is mostly to blame. The GOP’s unyielding determination not to compromise on important issues has led to an impasse on the Hill.

Nonetheless, the indomitable American spirit has been seriously wounded by a broken political system, corrupted by special interests and bipartisan war on the Hill. Political agendas are narrow and unyielding on both sides of the aisle.

More significantly, the complex 19,000 pages of the IRS tax code is inefficient and a burdan on the once thriving middle class. This tome is so complicated, only specially trained tax lawyers understand its totality. Loopholes that allow favors to special interests abound on every page.

In an essay in "Time," Freed Zakaria states. "The tax code represents the deep, institutionalized corruption at the heart of the American political process, in which it is now considered routine to buy a member of Congress’ support for a particular narrow provision that will be advantageous for your business."

The big American global conglomerates like Coke are thriving. However, these mega-corporations’ global success has come at the expense of the American middle class, which has taken a fatal hit after the economic collapse.

This brave new world economy has changed the dynamics of the American working class. Today, manufacturing is high-tech. Workers have to be retrained to operate the complex computer operated machines that make everything imaginable. There are competitive apprenticeship programs in which the applicants have to show a basic knowledge of computers, math, and design. Some of these programs require college graduates.

In contrast, the wages for American workers have steadily declined, even in unionized jobs. Unions have had to make compromises to prevent large scale layoffs by accepting reduced benefits and wages–a bitter pill to swallow. That’s because of globalization has established lower wages in foreign countries like India.

Today corporate executives echo the mantra, "do more with less,." which means fewer workers are working harder for less pay. Gone are the days when assembly line workers at Ford enjoyed a middle class life with a nice house and car. Those jobs have disappeared–taken over by robots.

Today, the world has gone through a technical revolution as robotics have advanced and manufacturing has been computerized. Workers who lost heir jobs during the economic collapse of 2008, will never get those same jobs back again. They will have to face reality, and retrain or start their own businesses.

Some companies have offered free retraining to get these workers back on their feet. But what do the bread winners live on in the meantime when they’ve run out of unemployment benefits and gone through their savings?

The economic collapse forced American workers into the vortex of vast a paradigm shift from middle class to a struggling lower class existence. For some of the older workers, adjusting to this drastic changing situation may be impossible. They won’t have the resources to retrain or move to where the new jobs are located.

Freed Zakaria says in his "Time" piece, "There are reasons for optimism. The U.S. faces huge challenges, but it also has enormous advantages, It is still the largest, richest market in the world."

Yes, I believe we’ll get through this dark time but people will have to lower their expectations about jobs and wages. It’s a time for people to get creative and think outside the box. Invent something or start your own business are optimistic priorities.