Death by Work

By David Glenn Cox

The Bible observes that the wages of sin are death, but what then are the wages of virtue? What are the wages of work? As average Americans’ wages fall and our economy collapses in on itself, Wall Street flourishes as foreign investors move in to take advantage of the weak dollar. It was Mark Twain who noted that “God knows when even the sparrow falls. That’s wonderful that he knows that, but what does that matter if the sparrow still falls.”

In France the government is divesting itself by privatizing former state-owned industries but has run into a situation that can best be called death by work. France Telecom has had twenty-four employees commit suicide in the past year and a half. The employees leave notes behind describing helplessness and rage. "I am taking my life because of my work at France Télécom. That is the only reason." In 2004 management slashed 22,000, or one in five jobs in the company, then began a never-ending series of employee evaluations.

Half of the company’s remaining employees have been forced to change jobs or cities and given near impossible goals with breakneck timetables, knowing full well that to fail means termination. The employees and unions have named it “Terrorist Management.” Ludovic Nonclercq was a 42-year-old department manager. He had always achieved his goals and had done whatever the company had asked of him. In 2007 he was managing a major project in Algeria with 80 employees; in 2008 he was called to the home office and dismissed. He was told to train his successor and "After six months, we expect you to be gone."

In Mexico the state-owned power company, Mexico Power & Light, was suddenly and without warning shut down by the Mexican government. Around 44,500 employees were immediately terminated. Critics call it union busting as the shutdown destroys one of the largest and most powerful unions in Mexico. The government claims the company was inefficient and losing money, yet it was the government that was responsible for the maintenance of the company in the first place.

The government claims it is merely doing away with an inefficient government industry and allowing it to be replaced by a politically friendly private corporation. The people of Mexico owned Mexico Power & Light; the shutdown leaves them with nothing of value for their investment. President Calderon says he will start a new power company, without the union of course, which gives the union busting charge just so much more validity.

“Foreign investors cheered the decision. ’This a very good signal,’ said Gabriel Casillas, head Mexico economist for JPMorgan Chase, in comments representative of the enthusiasm of foreign investors. ’It indicates that Calderón could carry out other structural changes to modernize Mexico.’ Many electricity customers are also looking forward to changes after years of complaining of high bills and poor service.” (Time Magazine)

These structural changes are new speak for union busting. Seventy-five percent of Mexico’s electricity is generated through oil fired plants. Since Mexico’s oil output is in decline this is now seen as inefficient. Yet we see time after time that when a company fails it is the workers salaries which are blamed and not the management. A company that provides electricity to over eighteen million Mexicans with 44,000 employees makes that argument thin at best.

In Germany the newly elected center right government has a plan to improve overall efficiency of government efforts and job creation. The new government is calling for tax cuts that will create new jobs and cuts in social services. But as Jurgen Ruttgers, leader of the Christian Democratic Party, advises, “People are not generally afraid of change, but they want to see changes in the direction of more security, not more insecurity.” Ruttgers also adds, “The success of companies was based primarily on share prices. The entire shareholder value idea has turned out to be wrong. The most important aspect of a company isn’t its share price but its employees.”

The string that ties these events, so far globally from each other, together is the quest for ever greater riches. It is totally counter intuitive that a company seeking a 15% or 20% return on investment is somehow naturally more efficient than a non-profit corporation doing the same job. We in America have been down the tax cut road and it’s not job creation and investment that grows but personal wealth. Even more there are creeping demons that seek to eliminate and destroy anything non-profit. They want them all reduced to rubble and rebuilt on the profit model. So that they can then buy the shares and take control of things like electricity in Mexico, phone companies in France and pension plans in Germany.

Our Congress debates healthcare and takes pot shots at the giant gorilla on top of the Empire State Building from their rickety bi-planes. But this misses the point entirely. The US military fights the Taliban in Afghanistan, but it was not the military’s idea to go to Afghanistan and fight, they were sent there by the government. They work for the government, and who do the healthcare insurers work for?

The health insurance providers are cash cows on Wall Street. They use their largesse to make profits on Wall Street. Their stocks are owned in part by the movers and shakers on Wall Street. The idea that the health insurance industry is afraid of government regulation is true but only as it affects their stock price. The stock price is the only driving fear index in the health insurance industry. A fear that makes them squeeze pennies and rip off the entitled because the more money the company makes the higher the stock price goes.

So the Congressional shooting of the ape off the ninety-sixth floor might have dramatic shock value but fails to address the central issue of our times. Who is in charge here?

There is not one valid reason not to have single payer health care in this country except that Wall Street won’t like it. But who is in charge here? Our government? Or Wall Street?

If you were to barricade yourself from the government they would spare no expense with helicopters, tanks and troops to smash down your walls and drag you out dead or alive. Yet Wall Street is holding this country hostage, barricaded behind bank walls and stock portfolios while the hostages die daily. They shout “You better not or mark my words the little guy is going to get it!” When in fact the little guy is going to get it anyway and gets it either way every day. Either Wall Street dies or we all do!

What benefit will it be to you
if you gain the whole world
but lose your own soul?
(Mark 8:36)

Or as Twain might add, what benefit will it be to you if you give the whole world to those who seek to turn a profit from your very soul?