From the Left -- Blog

Prisonhouse of Nations — How the Neoconservatives Made the USA the Biggest Jailer in History and What Can Be Done About IT

rdvogel — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 21:33:38 +0000

Prisonhouse of Nations recounts how neoconservatives, in pursuit of their political agenda, made the USA the biggest jailer in the world and examines the social consequences of mass incarceration. It is the tale of a juggernaut that continues to ruin the lives of millions of individuals and countless families and undermine the most vulnerable communities in America. The article also identifies specific objectives for dismantling the system.

Read the article and post a comment about it.

Challenging the Transnational Corporations with Political Smart Mobs and Flying Squads

rdvogel — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:55:45 +0000

“Every age and generation is and must be (as a matter of right) as free to act for itself in all cases, as the age and generation that preceded it.”

Read the article and post a comment.

Mexican truck makes first delivery — the gate is open

rdvogel — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:57:43 +0000

October 21, 2011. The first Mexican truck to enter the US under the cross-border trucking provision of NAFTA crossed the World Trade Bridge in Laredo on its way to make a delivery in the Dallas area. The gate is now open. Fleets of trucks owned by the transnational corporations and driven by Mexican drivers at Mexican wages will soon follow — watch for them at your area warehouses and nearest big box stores. Tens of thousands of US transportation jobs will now follow the millions of production jobs that have migrated south of the border. The US working class, already struggling in a stagnant economy, is about take another major blow.

Again, the relentlessness of the US business interests that embrace neoliberal labor strategy has been clearly demonstrated. It will continue roll over American workers until we mount an effective challenge.

Read The Evolution of Neoliberal Labor Strategy and Decline of the American Working Class.

Cross-border Trucking gets the Green Light

rdvogel — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:37:02 +0000

(October 15, 2011) The business interests that purse neoliberal labor strategy (NLS) are relentless — the offshoring of US transportation jobs to Mexico has commenced. The cross-border provisions of NAFTA have been enacted and both US and “Mexican” trucks were given the green light to cross the border and make deliveries inside the other country. As we predicted in “The Looming Deadline” several small companies are going first while the transnational corporations (TNCs) are waiting in the wings and monitoring public reaction. Lack of significant resistance will result in a flood of Mexican drivers working at Mexican wages driving TNC trucks to make deliveries across the continent. If successful, this NLS initiative will be another blow to the working middle classes of the US.

The impact of guest worker programs on workers and their communities

rdvogel — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:10:27 +0000

Here is the link for Harvest of Loneliness, an excellent documentary on the impact of the Bracero Program on the workers, their families, and communities. It is relevant to the recent attempts to establish new temporary worker programs in the US.

The Evolution of Neoliberal Labor Strategy and the Decline of the American Working Class

rdvogel — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 13:00:35 +0000

The decline of the American working class under the neoliberal labor strategy that has evolved over the last 45 years has been ruinous for millions of working people, their families, and their communities. Yet few people are willing to face the full implications of labor’s decline — increasing economic austerity for a majority of Americans and the prospect of a bleak future for the greater part of America’s youth and coming generations. Knowledge of how it happened and what is at stake offers concrete guidelines for political action.

Read the essay and submit a comment.

Offshoring US Transportation Jobs to Mexico–The Looming Deadline

rdvogel — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 12:45:50 +0000

The North American Free Trade Agreement is the gift that keeps on giving to transnational corporations (TNCs) and taking from US workers. Now, following the migration of countless manufacturing jobs in the 1990s and early 2000s, tens of thousands of US transportation jobs are about to move south of the border.

Read the entire article and post a comment.

Civic Revolution: “to alter or to abolish”

rdvogel — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:47:41 +0000

The neoconservative hijacking of US democracy that was initiated under the administration of Ronald Reagan is a modern manifestation of the despotism generated by monopoly that Paine warned the legislators and citizens of the newly established democracies about. Civic revolution is the only viable response…

Read the entire article and comment.

Transient Servitude and Work in the 21st Century

rdvogel — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:49:55 +0000

Synopsis: The ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993 was a stab-in-the-back to the working people of North America. In his remarks on signing NAFTA, President Bill Clinton cited his primary reason for supporting the treaty: “First of all, because NAFTA means jobs. American jobs, and good-paying American jobs. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t support this agreement.” Former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford were all present at the signing ceremony to support NAFTA as Ronald Reagan had done in an op-ed published a few days earlier.

Read the entire article and post a comment.

Women Workers: Bearing the Brunt of Neoliberal Globalization

rdvogel — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:09:05 +0000

One of the most egregious contradictions of the modern world is the fact that workers in developing nations, especially women workers, whose labor feeds and clothes the developed world do not earn enough money to adequately feed, cloth, house, or educate their own children.

The good news is that a civic revolution to correct this global injustice is underway.

Read the essay and comment.