The New Orphan: The American worker

The official number of unemployed Americans for 2010 released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is 9.6% and approximately 15 million people. In 2009, the unemployment rate was 9.3%. When the current recession was officially acknowledged in 2008, the unemployment rate was 5.8%. In both 2006 and 2007, the unemployment rate was 4.6% or 7 million people out of work. Since 2007, there are twice as many Americans out of work. The difference today in 2011 is that unlike the situation in 2008, when many major American corporations were losing Billions of dollars each year and facing bankruptcy or actually went bankrupt; corporations are making record profits. Apple computer had a net income of $14 Billion dollars for 2010 versus $4.8 Billion in 2008. Ford Motors made $6.5 Billion in 2010 versus a loss of $14.7 Billion in 2008. General Motors made $4.6 Billion in 2010 and had to receive a bailout from the federal government as it went into bankruptcy into 2008. The total profits of American corporations were over $4 Trillion dollars for 2010 and yet we ended the year with nearly 15 million people out of work. How can this be you ask? American corporations today are multi-national and as a result, they are increasing receiving both their sales and their profits from outside of the USA. For example, Coca Cola receives 75% of its sales and profits outside the USA. As a result, corporations have diversified and no longer rely on American workers and thus sales from Americans to generate profits. Henry Ford was considered an American genius and visionary when he mass produced the automobile for a fraction of the price of other car manufacturers. Originally the automobile was only a luxury item for the rich in 1910 sold for three to four thousand dollars. Ford designed and sold the model T for only $400. At the same time, he tripled the minimum wage for his employees. Other corporations were upset with Henry Ford and asked him why he would increase wages so high and he responded “Who will buy my cars?” Unfortunately, in 2011, American corporations have reduced wages, permanently eliminated jobs as they have transferred high paying engineering and manufacturing jobs to Asia. And now since American corporations can make record profits from overseas sales, they no longer have to higher American workers. The sad news is that American workers are the “new orphans.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/opinion/21klein.html?pagewanted=print

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/business-doesnt-need-amer_b_819337.html?view=screen

http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=business_is_booming

Geoffrey Canada- The real Superman

I recently watched the documentary “Waiting for Superman” written and directed by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. The film vividly describes the current state of the education system in America and how there are over 2,000 drop-out factories. We have far too many schools which are failing to educate students and prepare them for college or jobs or life. This film ranks in my top five of best films I’ve ever seen in my life. “Waiting for Superman” was released last fall around the same time as “The King’s Speech.” The King’s Speech is the historical drama about King George VI of Britain, his sudden rise to the throne and his struggle with stuttering and public speaking. “The King’s Speech” grossed $132 million dollars in the USA and $208 million outside the USA for a total of $340 million worldwide. “Waiting for Superman” has only grossed $7 million worldwide. To me, this typifies the problem, that the average American doesn’t care about how our current school system fails to educate the majority of American students. Geoffrey Canada was born in 1952 in the South Bronx, NY. He was one of three boys and his father divorced his mother when he was two years old. He grew up very poor and in a struggling single parent household and without any involvement or support from his father. His mother instilled in him that education was the way that he would become successful and better his life. His local high school in the Bronx was one of the worst performing schools in New York and a classic drop-out factory. His grandparents took him in and allowed him to attend a suburban High School in Long Island. Although he graduated his local high school at the top student and when he went to Bowdoin College in Maine, he quickly realized that he wasn’t prepared academically. He went from being the top student at high school to being at the bottom of his freshman class. So Geoffrey Canada realized that even in the suburban areas, the quality of schooling was an issue. He worked extremely hard and performed well and graduated with a degree in Psychology and Sociology. He got accepted to Harvard school of Education and got a Master Degree in Education in 1975. Geoffrey Canada went straight in teaching and has dedicated his life to providing quality education to children. After teaching for several years and learning the flaws and limitations of the public school system, Geoffrey Canada developed a free public Charter School in Harlem and the Harlem Children’s Zone. He guarantees all of his students will go from Kindergarten thru 12th grade will not only graduate High School, but will graduate college. He started with one block radius in Harlem and not covers 100 blocks and about one square mile. Note that the entire city of London is only one square mile. He’s not some famous billionaire, or entertainer or super star athlete, but just one man who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of those who needed help. Geoffrey Canada is the real life Superman.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/opinion/08brooks.html

http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/

Young, Greek and Unemployed – Is this our future here in America?

An economy is labeled as being in recession when there’s an overall economic slowdown. It also has the classical definition of two successive quarters of declining Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If the recession is so severe that it lasts for two years, then it is then labeled a depression. Although I am not an economist, I am wondering if we are not in the middle of either a recession or depression but actually a reset. Generally after a recession and especially after a depression, the economy recovers and companies begin to rehire the huge numbers of unemployed and the GDP grows again. What if the huge numbers of unemployed people permanently remain unemployed and companies never rehire in large numbers as in pre-2008. This is what I see as the current situation in Greece and potentially what can happen here in America. Greece is an European country with a population of 11 million. Greece has a GDP of 323 Billion and is the 30th largest economy in the world. This isn’t bad because the World Bank tracks the GDP of more than 225 economies. The average household income is $28,000. So what’s the problem? If you’re 35 years of age or younger, you probably do not have a job. Unemployment between those ages 15 and 24 is 35.6%. This means that 1 out of 3 young persons do not have a job. The unemployment rate for those ages 25 and 34 is 18%. The high unemployment is equally distributed across the highly educated young people. Those young people with undergraduate and graduate degrees are unemployed at the same rate. The message to young people in Greece is that if you want to find a good job, then you have to leave the country. The Education minister of Greece Anna Diamontopoulos actually states that there are too many educated people in Greece. She states that there are 30,000 too many doctors. She publicly states that rather than pursue education, she wants the people to pursue trade vocations. The message is to either accept a lower standard of living and have a menial job or leave the country. With the high costs of college tuition and the tremendous amount of high paying jobs that have either left the USA or are being filled by less expensive foreign immigrants, I feel that what is occurring in Greece may just beginning here in America.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/02/news/international/greece-youth-unemployment-global.fortune/index.htm