Re: European Union

[Dennis R Redmond <dredmond@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 1 Jun 1998, Andrew Wayne Austin wrote:

> 	(1) Do you think that the modifications made to the US economy
> 	following the Great Depression, and institutionalized following
> 	World War Two, strengthened or weakened the position of the US
> 	ruling class and the capitalist mode of production?

Weakened. In the Twenties unions were weak, controls over capital
nonexistent, workplace conditions were barbaric, and business could do
(and frequently) did anything it damn well pleased. After WW II, powerful
unions redistributed income from the rich to the poor, the welfare state
blossomed (though not as much as the warfare state), and many sectors of
the economy -- from home ownership to mass education -- were radically
democratized. Social Security, employer-paid health insurance, Medicare...
big biz fought like mad dogs against all this socialistic stuff --
and lost. Now big biz is, of course, trying to destroy all these
hard-fought gains, and succeeding to a frightening degree; the political
power of we working folks has spiraled downwards in this country, just
like our real wages. The EU, alas, appears to be on the same royal road to
ruin.

> 	(2) Do you think that the modifications made to the US economy
> 	following the Great Depression, and institutionalized following
> 	World War Two, raised or lowered the living standards of US
> 	citizens in general?

Raised, obviously.

-- Dennis