The Other Side of the Rim

Jerry Brown drops California State minimum wage lawsuit here

Wisconsin lawmakers boycott vote that would strip State employees of collective bargaining rights here.

Back in the George W. Bush era, the surging real state and stock markets made it appear that we had moved beyond the simple truths of working for a living. Capital accumulation, investment and speculation ruled.   And with that, along with the increasing move toward privatization, as public funds were shifted out of the private sector, it did in fact seem as though we were at a point where the diminution of the balance between the public and private sectors in the US had shifted in a not so subtle way. It appeared to some that this was a harbinger of late capitalism, as the excesses of speculation caused economic disruptions and inequities for those who labored for a living.

Looking through a Marxist/materialist lens, it seemed as though things were again swinging right --pretty far right actually -- and that it would ultimately swing back to achieve balance. With the election of 44, it did in fact seem as though it was swinging in that direction. However, despite all of the tea party ballyhoo, it does not appear that the current president is in fact opposed to the continued growth and expansion of the current pro-financial institution/anti-worker model. Where this is going is anyone's guess, although one might think that this is a further push toward the extreme, into a region of advanced, late, coming to the edge of the rim, capitalism. 

Sadly, one has to fear that the ideological fear of a more regulated, managed economy (like some of those successful countries have) which makes the future of the economy a subject that is beyond any real discussion, just a further movement toward the brink.