Why poverty grinds on

In the 150 years, from 1825 till 1975, corporate profits and labor’s wages had risen together. Since the mid- 1970’s profits, productivity and prices have risen steeply while real wages have remained stagnant or have actually declined.

This is no accident. A number of factors have converged to create this travesty. A very small amount of poverty is caused by wanton laziness, but poverty today and the drastic decline of the middle class has been caused by forces beyond the control of average Americans.

Automation and computerization have eliminated far more jobs than they have created.

The corrupting pressure of huge corporate congressional campaign contributions has led to the passage of treaties such as GATT and NAFTA which have given American corporations tax breaks to move their operations to low wage paying foreign countries. Even today, the U.S. Senate is poised to betray the American worker by ratifying the Trans Pacific Parternership treaty which has been authored by elitist international corporate executives and their government cronies.

The women’s liberation movement, which was subsetantially funded by David Rockefeller, an international business broker, banker and no freind of labor, virtually doubled the work force and exerted a tremendous downward pressure on wages.

Congress, the president, and the U.S. judiciary have encouraged and supported the legal and illegal immigration of cheap foreign labor.

Labor unions, allegedly the voice of labor, have rotted from within and have been assailed from without by greedy corporations and government complicity.

Municipal, state and federal government officials have exacerbated the oppression of the middle class by extorting exorbitant taxes and fees from them while rewarding themselves with obscene salaries and benefits.

This disgrace will get even get worse unless and until Vermonters and Americans throw out the incumbents who are not capable of honoring their oaths to protect our inherent rights and then begin a serious discussion about the above issues. Then we, the people, must take profound political action to address this betrayal of the people.



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