T P O

T   P   O
The Patient Ox (aka Hénock Gugsa)

G r e e t i n g s !

** TPO **
A personal blog with diverse topicality and multiple interests!


On the menu ... politics, music, poetry, and other good stuff.
There is humor, but there is blunt seriousness here as well!


Parfois, on parle français ici aussi. Je suis un francophile .... Bienvenue à tous!

* Your comments and evaluations are appreciated ! *

Monday, September 29, 2014

Jobs: Doing the Right Thing - by Hénock Gugsa


Jobs: Doing the Right Thing
by Hénock Gugsa
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich's Facebook Page (9/28/2014)

The logical corollary to the wrong-headed argument that raising the minimum wage will cause job losses is the argument that eliminating the minimum wage altogether will generate vast increases in jobs. As former congresswoman Michele Bachmann put it, if the minimum wage were repealed “we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level.” In fact, more workers would simply end up with lower wages and less purchasing power, causing the economy to slow and generate fewer jobs. It is no great feat for an economy to create a large number of jobs paying very little. Slavery, after all, was a full-employment system.

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My comment to the above posting by Mr.Reich ...

Mr. Reich:

I am in full agreement with the conclusions you have arrived at regarding economic incentives for the middle class (livable wages, job security and growth of disposable income). I do not comprehend how and why the monied and the politically influential groups don't grasp the underlying essence of "Capitalism". It is that invisible hand working ... a ripple effect from a common human trait, self interest. And that does not mean "selfish" interest, by the way. In a truly free and just society, there is freedom of movement, and also freedom for equal opportunity.

The subject of inequality and powerlessness also brings to mind another reality that is hardly ever mentioned - i.e the psychological state, the despair, and the low morale. This reality is the "elephant in the room."

We have not only unemployment, but also underemployment. I personally have known or have had friends coming out of college with engineering degrees and end up working as cab drivers. There are many young, capable, educated or skilled people out there stuck working minimum-paying jobs because the economy is not creating the right jobs, enough right jobs at any rate. These people look to the government for help, but then their voice is being heard less and less because the monied, "selfish", group is manipulating the government. And there is no recourse for redress anywhere, not even the Supreme Court.

At some point, of-course, the breaking point will be reached. And one wonders what the outcome will be. Thesis - Anti-thesis - Synthesis!


Friday, September 19, 2014

September - by Rudyard Kipling


Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
September
by
Rudyard Kipling
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At dawn there was a murmur in the trees,
A ripple on the tank, and in the air
Presage of coming coolness -- everywhere
A voice of prophecy upon the breeze.
Up leapt the Sun and smote the dust to gold,
And strove to parch anew the heedless land,
All impotently, as a King grown old
Wars for the Empire crumbling 'neath his hand.
One after one the lotos-petals fell,
Beneath the onslaught of the rebel year,
In mutiny against a furious sky;
And far-off Winter whispered: -- "It is well!
"Hot Summer dies. Behold your help is near,
"For when men's need is sorest, then come I."