Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr
with Chris Hedges
RT America on Feb 5, 2022
Chris Hedges discusses the gig economy with Louis Hyman, professor of economic history at Cornell University.
After the end of World War II, two generations of workers in the United States were blessed with a period of unprecedented prosperity. Wages for the working class were high. Jobs were stable and came with benefits and health insurance. Unions protected workers from abuse by the business elites.
Taxes on the wealthiest individuals and corporations was as high as 91%. The public school system provided a quality education to the poor and the rich. The nation’s infrastructure and technology were cutting edge and unrivaled.
But by the 1970s, it all began to go south. Wages stagnated. Income inequality grew, until by 2008, the top wealthiest 10% of Americans received 87% of the economic growth, compared with 29% from 1933 to 1973. The good industrial jobs vanished.
In their place rose the temp or gig economy, one where wages were low, the jobs were not secure and did not provide benefits, unions were emasculated, and the nation’s great democratic institutions, along with its infrastructure, crumbled into decay. What went wrong? How did it happen? And what does it mean for our future?
Louis Hyman is professor of economic history at Cornell University, and author of Temp: The Real Story of What Happened to Your Salary, Benefits and Job Security.
From the archives:
Max Lawson: World’s Richest Doubled Their Wealth While Millions Fell Into Poverty
Thoughts on the Left’s Response to Capitalism’s Global Death Spiral, by Gary Olson
The Tragedy of the Worker, by Aragorn Eloff
Chris Hedges and David Harvey: The Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Part 1
Working Conditions are Getting Worse in the US, by Pete Dolack
Capitalism and Alienation, by Yanis Iqbal
The Anti-Social Socialist: How Do We Rent Our Lives?
The Anti-Social Socialist: What is Wage Slavery?
How Capitalism Controls You by The Anti-Social Socialist
Ken Loach and Paul Laverty: The Idea Capitalism Can Be Regulated is RIDICULOUS!
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