Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

James Webb Talks Democratic Economics

Democratic populism and liberal social economics is alive and well and now
a majority in the U.S. Senate.

The Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannity upper class snobbery and middle class smackdown
is over.

I worked hard, as so many others did, especially you in Virginia, to elect
James Webb to the Senate. To see an op-ed like the one below, which Webb wrote
yesterday for the Wall Street Journal, is exhilarating.

This ever-widening divide is too often ignored or downplayed by its beneficiaries. A sense of entitlement has set in among elites, bordering on hubris. When I raised this issue with corporate leaders during the recent political campaign, I was met repeatedly with denials, and, from some, an overt lack of concern for those who are falling behind. A troubling arrogance is in the air among the nation's most fortunate. Some shrug off large-scale economic and social dislocations as the inevitable byproducts of the \”rough road of capitalism.\” Others claim that it's the fault of the worker or the public education system, that the average American is simply not up to the international challenge, that our education system fails us, or that our workers have become spoiled by old notions of corporate paternalism. Still others have gone so far as to argue that these divisions are the natural results of a competitive society. Furthermore, an unspoken insinuation seems to be inundating our national debate: Certain immigrant groups have the \”right genetics\” and thus are natural entrants to the \”overclass,\” while others, as well as those who come from stock that has been here for 200 years and have not made it to the top, simply don't possess the necessary attributes. Most Americans reject such notions. But the true challenge is for everyone to understand that the current economic divisions in society are harmful to our future. It should be the first order of business for the new Congress to begin addressing these divisions, and to work to bring true fairness back to economic life. Workers already understand this, as they see stagnant wages and disappearing jobs. America's elites need to understand this reality in terms of their own self-interest. A recent survey in the Economist warned that globalization was affecting the U.S. differently than other \”First World\” nations, and that white-collar jobs were in as much danger as the blue-collar positions which have thus far been ravaged by outsourcing and illegal immigration. That survey then warned that \”unless a solution is found to sluggish real wages and rising inequality, there is a serious risk of a protectionist backlash\” in America that would take us away from what they view to be the \”biggest economic stimulus in world history.\” More troubling is this: If it remains unchecked, this bifurcation of opportunities and advantages along class lines has the potential to bring a period of political unrest. Up to now, most American workers have simply been worried about their job prospects. Once they understand that there are (and were) clear alternatives to the policies that have dislocated careers and altered futures, they will demand more accountability from the leaders who have failed to protect their interests. The \”Wal-Marting\” of cheap consumer products brought in from places like China, and the easy money from low-interest home mortgage refinancing, have softened the blows in recent years. But the balance point is tipping in both cases, away from the consumer and away from our national interest. Class Struggle American workers have a chance to be heard. – by senator-elect James Webb