So What’s That Bad About Class Warfare??
For years, we’ve lived with this crazy idea put forth by conservatives that “class warfare” is a terrible thing that Democrats often fall back on and it only divides America. In January, 2003, then-President Bush decried critics of his tax cut proposals as agents of “class warfare,” despite the diminutive response the proposals were receiving from the opposition. It was an aggressive, in-your-face statement that set the stage for the bi-elections later that year. What would have been more appropriate would have been for him to be talking into a mirror, for few can now doubt what Bob Borosage of the Campaign for America’s Future has been arguing for years – namely that the signature accomplishment of the Bush years has been to drastically weaken the lot of working Americans. Everything from tax cuts that gave 90% of the benefits to the already wealthy to coddling of Wall Street at every possible opportunity that arose, most notably in the deregulating of the financial markets.
In many ways, we have been at this since “supply-sider” Ronald Reagan assumed the presidency. He quite straightforwardly sought to shrink government while embracing the free market cheerleaders who believe in unfettered markets. Tax cuts became the answer to everything. Reduced federal spending was close behind. Outside of the military, real progress in the evolution of governance in America came to a standstill for the past 28 years. So perhaps it is no great surprise that the barons of Wall Street are having a bit of difficulty adjusting. One loves the story about John Thain, recently dethroned from Merrill Lynch after revelations that he spent $1.2 million of the firms money to “redo” his office about a year ago. While the meltdown hadn’t taken full force then, it was well understood that the financial giant was in trouble and had been losing money for some time. It has, of course, ended up in the dumps, recently purchased for a song by B of A. What I love about the story is the simple idea that he apparently thought the role to model (as all CEO’s realize that role modeling is a core requirement) was that of potentate not worker bee. Having an antique “commode” worth tens of thousands of dollars somehow conveyed a message he cared about.
Thain is hardly alone. It seems as though the titans of industry, whose bonuses long ago departed any connection to the overall financial performance of their companies, view the ascension to pinnacle roles as a license to take all they can get away with. Reading that 2008 Wall Street bonuses amounted to some $18.4 billion in the worst financial period since the Great Depression is simply astonishing. If not illegal, it is certainly the moral equivalent of stealing. So, I say a pox on all their houses. Let’s “claw back” everything we can, but let’s also bring these people back to earth. Maybe establish a legal limit on the ratio of highest paid to lowest paid employees? In my organization that ratio is about 8 to 1. So the non-profit world is a bit different. Let’s set it for 20 to 1 in the for profit world. I bet there would be a lot more well paid folks on the low end of the scale. So, what was wrong with the idea of class warfare?