Paul Krugman slams Republicans for protecting the 1 percent while pretending to care about “the dignity of work”
If GOPers actually cared about workers' dignity, Krugman writes, they'd support the welfare state
Topics:
Paul Krugman,
The New York Times,
1 percent,
Inequality,
GOP,
Sam Zell,
Eric Cantor,
Professor Krugman,
Income inequality,
dignity,
dignity of work, Media News, News, Politics News
Paul Krugman (Credit: AP/Lai Seng Sin)
In his latest column for the New York Times,
award-winning economist and best-selling author Paul Krugman tears to
pieces Republican claims to oppose Obamacare because it denies Americans
“the dignity of work.”
“It’s all very well to talk in the abstract about the dignity of work,” Krugman writes, “but to suggest that workers can have equal dignity despite huge inequality in pay is just silly.” He notes that in 2012, the top 40 hedge fund managers and traders made $16.7 billion — basically equal to the wages of no less than 400,000 regular Americans.
“Given that kind of disparity,” Krugman writes, “can anyone really believe in the equal dignity of work?”
Krugman then notes that it’s actually the 1 percent who seem most dead-set against recognizing the dignity of the rest of the country, with oligarchs like Sam Zell demanding everyone else agree that the 1 percent “work harder” and are “much bigger factors in all forms of our society.”
“Dignity for all!” writes Krugman, sarcastically.
Krugman then claims that the GOP is just like these members of the 1 percent when it comes to respecting most workers — he makes a point of highlighting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s recent admonition to his fellow Republicans to remember that most Americans aren’t small business owners, something Republicans in Congress apparently forget.
Beyond savaging the 1 percent and their Republican backers, though, Krugman makes a bigger point: that the welfare state — Social Security, Medicare and now Obamacare — is the real guarantor of workers’ dignity, making sure that people won’t have to worry about the essentials of life if they lose or quit their job.
“Think about it,” Krugman writes:
“It’s all very well to talk in the abstract about the dignity of work,” Krugman writes, “but to suggest that workers can have equal dignity despite huge inequality in pay is just silly.” He notes that in 2012, the top 40 hedge fund managers and traders made $16.7 billion — basically equal to the wages of no less than 400,000 regular Americans.
“Given that kind of disparity,” Krugman writes, “can anyone really believe in the equal dignity of work?”
Krugman then notes that it’s actually the 1 percent who seem most dead-set against recognizing the dignity of the rest of the country, with oligarchs like Sam Zell demanding everyone else agree that the 1 percent “work harder” and are “much bigger factors in all forms of our society.”
“Dignity for all!” writes Krugman, sarcastically.
Krugman then claims that the GOP is just like these members of the 1 percent when it comes to respecting most workers — he makes a point of highlighting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s recent admonition to his fellow Republicans to remember that most Americans aren’t small business owners, something Republicans in Congress apparently forget.
Beyond savaging the 1 percent and their Republican backers, though, Krugman makes a bigger point: that the welfare state — Social Security, Medicare and now Obamacare — is the real guarantor of workers’ dignity, making sure that people won’t have to worry about the essentials of life if they lose or quit their job.
“Think about it,” Krugman writes:
advertisement
Elias Isquith is an assistant editor at Salon, focusing on politics. Follow him on Twitter at @eliasisquith, and email him at eisquith@salon.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered