Green Social Thought

Produce less. Distribute it fairly. Create a greener world for all.

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Topic: Labor / Economics

  • Tenth Anniversary Of Financial Collapse, Preparing For The Next Crash

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    fitzdon

    Ten years ago, there was panic in Washington, DC, New York City and financial centers around the world as the United States was in the midst of an economic collapse. The crash became the focus of the presidential campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain and was followed by protests that created a popular movement,…

  • The History of the Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Bill

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    by

    fitzdon

    At a time when the American population is radicalizing, when popular movements are coalescing around “radical” demands—Medicare for All, the abolition of ICE, tuition-free college, in general the demand to make society livable for everyone—it can be useful to draw collective inspiration from the past. Irruptions of the popular will have on innumerable occasions reshaped…

  • Mystery of the Underpaid American Worker

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    by

    fitzdon

            Economists say they are stumped by a mystery: Since the US economy is doing so well, and unemployment is down to below 4%, which many argue is close to “full employment” in historic US terms, why is it that wages are not growing, and in fact, are lower in real dollars than they were in 1974,…

  • Imagining a world with no bullshit jobs

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    by

    fitzdon

    Is your job pointless? Do you feel that your position could be eliminated and everything would continue on just fine? Maybe, you think, society would even be a little better off if your job never existed? If your answer to these questions is “yes,” then take solace. You are not alone. As much as half…

  • Migrant Injustice: Ben & Jerry’s Farmworker Exploitation

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    fitzdon

    These are harrowing times for the nearly 1,500 migrant workers laboring on Vermont’s largest dairy farms. These farmworkers, predominantly from Mexico, are forced to live in the shadows, where their farm bosses harbor them in exchange for long hours, low wages, and cheap housing. It’s a human rights stain on the state, allowing these migrant…

  • How China’s Mobile Ecosystems Are Making Banks Obsolete

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    rsburke
    in

    Giant Chinese tech companies have bypassed credit cards and banks to create their own low-cost digital payment systems.   The US credit card system siphons off excessive amounts of money from merchants, who must raise their prices to cover this charge. In a typical $100 credit card purchase, only $97.25 goes to the seller. The…

  • Grapes of Wrath in Rural Venezuela

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    fitzdon

    On May 31st, Venezuelanalysis interviewed Angel Prado, a key organizer of El Maizal Commune[1]. The conversation followed hard on the heels of an attempt to jail him and two other local organizers. The conversation sheds light on the current Chavista campesino struggle in Venezuela. Most Venezuelanalysis readers know about El Maizal, both as an expression…

  • Unions have been down before, history shows how they can come back

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    fitzdon

    Living Revolution   Unions have been down before, history shows how they can come back George Lakey June 29, 2018     Email Print Leave a Tip   Embed from Getty Images The Janus decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday was another blow to the labor movement. It creates a financial incentive for…

  • Burgerville fight revives the Wobblies, a radical union from Oregon’s industrial past

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    by

    fitzdon

    The Wobblies emerged more than a century ago, a revolutionary, anti-capitalist union that shook up the nation’s industrialists, including Oregon’s timber barons. Their political descendants no longer toil in logging camps on the American frontier. Now they’re behind the counters of a beloved fast-food chain in Portland, up to their elbows in burger grease, marionberries…

  • California Dreaming: Cannabis Cash, Public Banks and the State’s Own Mini-Fed?

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    by

    kimscipes

    There is serious consideration of establishing a State Bank in California–the fifth largest economy in the world–to enable the state bank to both serve their population and add income to the state's budget.  Interestingly, this is being advocated by leading politicians in the state, people who have serious popular support.