USA - America's decline began with Reagan - by Michael Moore
08 Jan 2012
30 Years Ago: The Day the Middle Class Died
From
time to time, someone under 30 will ask me, "When did this all begin,
America's downward slide?" They say they've heard of a time when working
people could raise a family and send the kids to college on just one
parent's income (and that college in states like California and New York
was almost free). That anyone who wanted a decent paying job could get
one. That people only worked five days a week, eight hours a day, got
the whole weekend off and had a paid vacation every summer. That many
jobs were union jobs, from baggers at the grocery store to the guy
painting your house, and this meant that no matter how "lowly" your job
was you had guarantees of a pension, occasional raises, health insurance
and someone to stick up for you if you were unfairly treated.
On
August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air
traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to
work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just
two days.Young people have heard
of this mythical time -- but it was no myth, it was real. And when they
ask, "When did this all end?", I say, "It ended on this day: August
5th, 1981."Beginning on this date,
30 years ago, Big Business and the Right Wing decided to "go for it" --
to see if they could actually destroy the middle class so that they
could become richer themselves.And they've succeeded.On August 5, 1981,
President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic
controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and
declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days.It was a bold and brash
move. No one had ever tried it. What made it even bolder was that PATCO
was one of only two unions that had endorsed Reagan for president! It
sent a shock wave through workers across the country. If he would do
this to the people who were with him, what would he do to us?Reagan had been backed
by Wall Street in his run for the White House and they, along with
right-wing Christians, wanted to restructure America and turn back the
tide that President Franklin D. Roosevelt started -- a tide that was
intended to make life better for the average working person. The rich
hated paying better wages and providing benefits. They hated paying
taxes even more. And they despised unions. The right-wing Christians
hated anything that sounded like socialism or holding out a helping hand
to minorities or women.Reagan promised to end
all that. So when the air traffic controllers went on strike, he seized
the moment. In getting rid of every single last one of them and
outlawing their union, he sent a clear and strong message: The days of
everyone having a comfortable middle class life were over. America, from
now on, would be run this way:* The super-rich will make more, much much more, and the rest of you will scramble for the crumbs that are left.* Everyone must work!
Mom, Dad, the teenagers in the house! Dad, you work a second job! Kids,
here's your latch-key! Your parents might be home in time to put you to
bed.* 50 million of you
must go without health insurance! And health insurance companies: you go
ahead and decide who you want to help -- or not.* Unions are evil! You
will not belong to a union! You do not need an advocate! Shut up and get
back to work! No, you can't leave now, we're not done. Your kids can
make their own dinner.* You want to go to college? No problem -- just sign here and be in hock to a bank for the next 20 years!* What's "a raise"? Get back to work and shut up!And so it went. But Reagan could not have pulled this off by himself in 1981. He had some big help:The AFL-CIO.The biggest
organization of unions in America told its members to cross the picket
lines of the air traffic controllers and go to work. And that's just
what these union members did. Union pilots, flight
attendants, delivery
truck drivers, baggage handlers -- they all crossed the line and helped
to break the strike. And union members of all stripes crossed the picket
lines and continued to fly.Reagan and Wall Street
could not believe their eyes! Hundreds of thousands of working people
and union members endorsing the firing of fellow union members. It was
Christmas in August for Corporate America.And that was the
beginning of the end. Reagan and the Republicans knew they could get
away with anything -- and they did. They slashed taxes on the rich. They
made it harder for you to start a union at your workplace. They
eliminated safety regulations on the job. They ignored the monopoly laws
and allowed thousands of companies to merge or be bought out and closed
down. Corporations froze wages and threatened to move overseas if the
workers didn't accept lower pay and less benefits. And when the workers
agreed to work for less, they moved the jobs overseas anyway.And at every step along
the way, the majority of Americans went along with this. There was
little opposition or fight-back. The "masses" did not rise up and
protect their jobs, their homes, their schools (which used to be the
best in the world). They just accepted their fate and took the beating.I have often wondered
what would have happened had we all just stopped flying, period, back in
1981. What if all the unions had said to Reagan, "Give those
controllers their jobs back or we're shutting the country down!"? You
know what would have happened. The corporate elite and their boy Reagan
would have buckled.But we didn't do it.
And so, bit by bit, piece by piece, in the ensuing 30 years, those in
power have destroyed the middle class of our country and, in turn, have
wrecked the future for our young people. Wages have remained stagnant
for 30 years. Take a look at the statistics and you can see that every
decline we're now suffering with had it's beginning in 1981 (here's a little scene to illustrate that from my last movie).It all began on this
day, 30 years ago. One of the darkest days in American history. And we
let it happen to us. Yes, they had the money, and the media and the
cops. But we had 200 million of us. Ever wonder what it would look like
if 200 million got truly upset and wanted their country, their life,
their job, their weekend, their time with their kids back?Have we all just given
up? What are we waiting for? Forget about the 20% who support the Tea
Party -- we are the other 80%! This decline will only end when we demand
it. And not through an online petition or a tweet. We are going to have
to turn the TV and the computer and the video games off and get out in
the streets (like they've done in Wisconsin). Some of you need to run
for local office next year. We need to demand that the Democrats either
get a spine and stop taking corporate money -- or step aside.When is enough, enough?
The middle class dream will not just magically reappear. Wall Street's
plan is clear: America is to be a nation of Haves and Have Nothings. Is
that OK for you?Why not use today to
pause and think about the little steps you can take to turn this around
in your neighborhood, at your workplace, in your school? Is there any
better day to start than today? Source: Argentine Beef Packers S.A.
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