Capitalism and Facebook

I’m pretty sure that most of us who ‘Facebook’ have posted or shared something – a photo, a meme, a story, a video – that, at first glance, seems to support our position on a particular issue.  I say we, because I’ve done it myself.  (I’ve taken the example above from a friend’s post but do not mean to call out that person over any of the rest of us.)  The problem with doing that, and I’ll go into this specific example below, is that often those snippets tend to provide incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading information.  They sound good on the surface but they do not really tell the whole story.  From what I’ve seen, they don’t lead to honest, thoughtful dialogue, but instead, to anger, name-calling, or self-righteous agreement – with no room for anything in between. And without room for real dialogue, I just don’t see the point.  Most of the issues that I and my friends care about are far too complicated for Facebook.  Obviously, when we post these things on social media we’re looking for something.  But I doubt we’re getting what we want.

What I really want to talk about is capitalism and wages.  I’m still working on expanding my own understanding of capitalism, and economics in general, so I definitely don’t have the answers.  But I want to explore the thinking and assumptions behind this particular issue as part of my process. 

The basis of capitalism requires that some people do actual work and others invest capital in that work, or the equipment and supplies needed to do the work.  Those who invest expect a return on their investment – they want to get back more than they put in.  They’re the ‘capitalists’, though they are now called shareholders.  And these days, the whole goal of most companies is to provide the largest return on investment for their shareholders.  Of course, one way to increase the profits is to keep the wages of the workers as low as possible.

The people who do the work get paid for their work, usually an hourly rate or by salary or piecework.  Whatever it is, we’ve created this notion that the income of labor is based on merit, and we, therefore, earn what we deserve and deserve what we earn.  I think I bought into this idea for a long time but I’m starting to see that it’s just not that simple.  As we all know, the gap in pay between the workers and executive management in most fields has grown obscenely wide.  In 2015 the Huffington Post reported that in 2014 the gap between the median wage and the CEO salaries was 204-1!  So, the unequal distribution of the wealth of a company is another way that worker wages are kept low.
I agree that, based on the wealth generated in this country, workers should get a higher proportion of the wealth than they do.  But the argument being made in the meme does not address the complications and even assumes that the issue of out-of-reach rent could be solved by increased wages.

This is where I get back to the failure of Facebook posts to accurately inform or make room for dialogue.  The post above makes assumptions, statements, and calculations that are all questionable.  “The average US rent is $1234/month.”  My first question is, “where did that statistic come from?”  And for what size home or apartment – an adequate 600 square foot, one bedroom apartment for one person; a studio; two bedrooms?  And, generally, using the median rather than the average for a statistic like this is more accurate.  The next statement: “for rent to cost less than a quarter of income, as suggested…”  As suggested by whom?  I have never heard that rent should be less than 25% of income.  In my experience and through various Google searches, the standard suggested percentage is 33%.  That figure can be challenged, and in some cities it’s probably an impossible standard, but suggesting that the standard is 25% is just a way of making the argument stronger.  And then the calculations… the figures in the example are based on working 160 hours in a month (40 hours/week X 4 weeks).  In reality, the average, standard work hours in a month is 173 (52 weeks X 40 hours / 12 months).  As for the minimum wage, $7.25/hour is the federal minimum wage.  However, based on state and territory minimum wage laws in place in 2016, the average minimum a worker would actually earn is $8.51/hour.  More than half of the states or territories had a minimum wage above the federal standard in 2016 and many have laws or indices in place that will increase the minimum wage over time. It’s not that any one of these things constitutes such a big difference but the whole goal of this post is to get you riled up by drawing a comparison between a perceived, unjust minimum and some more reasonable or necessary hourly wage.  Every inaccuracy or half-truth along the way makes for a bigger gap, which then reinforces the intended goal of the statement.

And this is where social media fails.  These things are designed to get you riled up!  They are not intended to provide accurate information or thoughtful ideas around which you can have a reasonable dialogue or make personal decisions about your own behavior or actions.  And for those of us who truly care about issues of fair pay or a dysfunctional economic system, about sexism, or racism, or environmental degradation, or poverty, or homelessness, or bullying, or gun control…(the list is endless) – we need real information and real dialogue.  We think we’re saying something when we share a meme but, instead, we’re dumbing down the issue.  And, unfortunately, I think that this way of engaging is creeping into our lives and our face-to-face interactions.  We’ve gotten so used to these short, pointed commentaries that we think we know something – about the issue or about the person who posted the meme – and we just don’t look any deeper.  This is not how we will make progress in creating a world that works for everyone.  We’re smarter than that!

As I review what I’ve just written I see that this whole post is an example of the type of distraction these memes cause.  When I began this post I really wanted to talk about the idea of the “minimum wage” and about our expectations of the space we need to live.  I wanted to talk about the evolving perceptions of needs verses wants and about rampant consumerism that has had a significant impact on how much money we think we need.  Instead, I wasted the time it took to write this post on trying to discredit the supposed conclusion of a single meme posted on Facebook that I should have just ignored.  Maybe next time I’ll write about something that really matters.

It's hard being an activist...

Honestly, I’m not really an activist – maybe an activist wannabe.  I have friends who are true activists and I can surely tell the difference.  But I have, at least, been regularly visible in the fray for many years.  I’ve written previously about my first ‘personal protest’ against racism but I lived a fairly conservative, sheltered life when I was young.  My parents were not educated beyond high school and did not encourage discussions about social or political issues.  They did not even begin voting until after I moved out of the house.  So, I didn’t have any role models or connections with people who were politically or socially active.  Even when I heard Betty Friedan speak at my college in Orlando, I didn’t quite know what to think.  

The ‘60s have come to represent the quintessential period of protest in America but for women, things really started happening in the ‘70s.  Feminist journalism and writing exploded; equal pay initiatives were gaining foothold and equal access to education was finally granted with Title IX; reproductive rights were being recognized; the ERA was passed by the Senate and sent to the states for ratification; women’s art, poetry, music, and theater were capturing the struggle in new and evocative ways; and Consciousness Raising groups sprang up everywhere.  Some of the earliest protests were strikes in support of equal pay and equal access to jobs, boycotts against states that had not ratified the ERA, Take Back the Night marches to protest an increase in violent crimes against women, and demonstrations against Jerry Falwell and his “I Love America” rallies (a precursor to the Moral Majority).

Probably the real turning point for me was when I came out in 1974 and finally woke up to feminism.  I think my initial experience with group demonstrations was the first (and subsequent) Take Back the Night march in Waikiki and a protest outside the Hawai’i State Capitol building where Falwell was holding one of his rallies.  I became active in the Honolulu NOW chapter working to write their bylaws, was part of one of those ubiquitous women’s collectives who did things like run coffee houses for women, and spoke to local schools, military groups, and other organizations about being gay.  Finally, probably the most personally significant act of protest happened while I was working as a submarine mechanic at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.  With the help of my doctor, a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, I came to realize that I could not continue to work in a job that supported war and the use of nuclear power and nuclear weapons – no matter how much I liked the job or how much it paid.  So, I quit my job and moved to Seattle.  When I got there, I went to work for Puget Sound Sane (which evolved into Sane/Freeze) to fight the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the sale of arms to Iran to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.  Since then I’ve continued my resistance in a variety of milder ways – joining marches and rallies, giving financial support to environmental and political causes, working on election campaigns, writing a blog about being eco-friendly in daily life, expressing my views directly to my elected representatives, creating politically-motivated art, etc.
 
Then, along came Trump.  I was so excited when we finally elected an African-American president and I thought we were about to elect our first woman to that highest office.  I was flabbergasted!  (There has been a lot written about why we should not have been that surprised.  I’ll leave those discussions alone for now.)  The international display of opposition in the Women’s Marches on January 21^st, 2017 was a powerful energizer.  We marched and then we made plans and agreements and commitments and promises – to ourselves, to each other, and to the world.  But now, here we are a short year later and I’m wondering what happened to that energy.

Shortly after the march, I gathered a group of people to talk about resistance to the Trump administration.  These were people who, for the most part, had never been politically active.  But they were scared, and outraged, and anxious to try and prevent what we all were afraid would happen with this presidency – what, in fact, has happened.  But we couldn’t keep it up.  I couldn’t keep it up.  And I really want to try and understand why.  We started out talking about going to additional marches and rallies; we tracked the Women’s March 100-day plan; we found the 5 Calls app (which is great, by the way); we identified reliable sources of news and agreed to read them and provide financial support; we each attempted to identify our primary areas of concern so we could focus on them and not feel overwhelmed.  We wanted to DO something.  We wanted to have an impact.  I began attending a monthly film series at the OUUC focusing on race and racism.  I got our book group to mail a bunch of postcards as one of the 100-day post Women’s March activities.  I went to a SURJ meeting.  I went to one other march.  Now, I see those same people and we hardly even talk about the political issues.  We do sometimes talk about the latest abomination coming out of the mouth – or the thumbs – of that monster in the White House.  But what are we DOING?  What am I DOING?  I still pay attention.  I certainly still read, try to stay informed, to learn.  But right now, my life doesn’t feel much different than it did before that fateful election.

Where have I gone wrong?  It’s not that I don’t care.  In some ways, I think I care more deeply than ever.  I certainly dislike this president more than any before him.  Maybe I’m just feeling overwhelmed.  And, even though I know it’s not true, I feel very alone in it all.  Reading back over what I have just written, I think I see what’s missing.  All of my earlier activism was in the midst of groups of others with whom I felt a connection and a camaraderie.  I was living in Long Beach, California in 1975 when Olivia Records moved to LA and every lesbian I knew was in thrall to the music of a host of lesbians singing for and about us and about greater socio-political issues as well.  As lesbians and as women we bonded over the injustice and oppression that we experienced and set out to fight against it.  And music was our language.  Olivia Records provided the lesbian sound track but there was also Holly Near, Helen Reddy, Aretha Franklin, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Nancy Sinatra, and others.  And for the Seattle peace activists there was Sandy Bradley, Charlie Murphy, Pat Wright, Ranch Romance, Duffy Bishop, and Give Peace a Dance!  We were all in it together.

I’m much older now, and I’ve entered a phase in my life that is more about solitude and introspection than joining groups.  I find the need to resist just as compelling as ever but it may be that I need to find ways to keep the energy flowing, even as I go it alone. If the right group presented itself I might be inclined to join but I don’t think I should hold my breath.  I need to act, with or without others.  I have long believed that the power of activism is the DOING of it as much as any outcomes we might realize.  That has not changed and I think it’s true whether we act alone or as a movement.  I think I just need to get back to the DOING and trust that the doing will have its own intrinsic rewards.  I will continue to share what I’m doing and hope that my sharing will encourage others.  And if you’re interested in DOING any of it with me, just let me know!

So, with the first anniversary of #45’s inauguration upon us, what are my priorities?

• Impeachment.  As I wrote in the previous post, I believe this is where we should be focusing most of our attention.  We should be demanding that this man be held accountable for his actions and removed from office due to his inability to execute his duties appropriately.
• Supporting congressional representatives and local leaders who continue to resist the selfish, racist, short-sighted, divisive, and dangerous actions of the #notmypresident and his right wing cronies.
• Mitigating the effects of this administration and republican congress by putting time, energy, and money into groups and activities that seek to make the world a better place for all.
• Expanding my awareness of the issues, their impact on people and the environment, and options for solutions by reading, watching films, and talking and listening to others.

I think this post has gotten out of hand so I’ll end here.  In the near future I’ll write more about specific ways I can act on those four priorities and, in that, maybe you’ll find some inspiration for yourself! 

Stay tuned.

What are we marching for?

So, the first anniversary of the inauguration of #45 #notmypresident is coming up and I’m seeing calls for a redux of the 2017 post-inauguration Women’s March.  I was there, in Seattle – with 150,000 others.  It was an amazing thing, in Seattle and around the world.  It was the largest global protest in history as well as the largest protest march ever in Seattle and many other American cities.  Women were galvanized by the Access Hollywood tape to declare, among other things, that Trump was not fit to be president and that he clearly did not represent them.  Obviously, there were many other issues brought out by his campaign promises that were of concern: refugees and immigration, the environment, reproductive rights, etc.  But it was the women, and their outrage against this man’s constant demeaning of women throughout the campaign and throughout his life, that sparked that first march.  It was the women who stood up and said, “This is wrong and we will not stand for it.  You cannot continue to treat us this way.  We are listening and we are watching!”  

But for what is being dubbed as Women’s March 2.0, I can’t figure out what the real message is.  It seems to me that a planned and promoted march/rally ought to have a clear goal – to rally the masses to inspire them to work on some specific thing, to communicate some specific demand(s) to the leaders, or both.  There are certainly many issues we could rally around, but this being the anniversary of the inauguration, it seems most fitting that we should keep the heat on Trump and his Republican cronies.  But “Unity, Equity, and Justice”?  That’s awfully vague.  Here’s what the Seattle march Facebook page says, “To engage and empower all people to support women's rights, racial equity, human rights, civil rights, disability rights, LGBTQIA rights, workers’ rights, immigrant rights, reproductive rights, Indigenous people's rights and social and environmental justice.”  Um, okay, I’m all for that.  But that’s not a statement that moves people.  And there’s no clear action behind it – nothing about what we’re going to do and nothing about what we expect from government or corporate leaders.  And I don’t know if this is an issue across the country, but in Spokane the organizers are struggling because, as one organizer put it, “as an all-inclusive non-partisan non-profit, the Women's March was focused on educating people about legislation on issues like equity and human rights. It wasn't meant to be a political group singling out people or organizations.”  I don’t know where that ever came from but the first march, last year, was definitely meant to be political.  And here’s a statement from the Women’s March Alliance FAQ page about why we march: “Remind the existing government body that they report to the people and the people expect their civil liberties to be upheld.” 

Really???  Remind them?  WTF!?!!  We have a man in the White House who has admitted to sexually assaulting women and backed a candidate who has been accused of sexually assaulting children; who has equated racist right-wing extremists and Nazis with those who oppose them; whose businesses directly benefit financially from his role as president; who believes that climate change is a hoax; who has made totally unfounded claims of voter fraud; who has no foreign policy except to fling tweets full of insults, threats, and bravado at leaders of other countries; who has appointed agency heads who want to dismantle the very agencies they are supposed to lead; who has appointed an attorney general who has taken regressive positions on civil rights, the death penalty, drug enforcement laws, and many other issues in our justice system; who continues to vilify Muslims and Latinos; who is suspected of colluding with Russia against his political opponent; who acts as commander-in-chief by tweeting that transgender individuals can no longer serve in the military – without consulting with military leaders; and whose fitness for the office is finally being questioned by mental health professionals.

Based on all of that, we ought to be taking that outrage from last year and demanding that our congressional representatives call him out on every one of those things, begin investigations into every accusation of sexual assault, investigate his ties with the neo-Nazi alt-right, denounce all of his ridiculous tweets, and take away that big button of his.  This man is not only unfit to run this country; he is dangerous to our national security, our environment, and our health.  We should be demanding nothing less than impeachment.

Women should be feeling even more outraged and motivated to make these demands in the wake of the recent #MeToo movement that is shining a bright light on the persistence of the patriarchy.  It’s not just about harassment in the workplace.  It is about men not taking women seriously, about men objectifying and sexualizing women.  It is about a deeply held belief that men have a right to women’s bodies and that women should be nice, sweet, quiet and do what they are told.  And are they really saying we can’t attach our signs to wooden sticks?  Give me a f'ing break!  A bunch of red neck white guys staged an armed protest and occupation of a federally owned facility with very few consequences! 

But, like Elizabeth Warren, we should persist.  We are far beyond “reminding”… It is time to demand.  And while our protests should be non-violent, they should certainly be loud enough to be heard in Washington, in state capitals all over the country, on Wall Street, and in Hollywood.  At this point, I don’t even know if I’m going to the rally/march.  I don’t know that I want to waste my time on something so pitifully inadequate.  Last year’s march was exciting, awe inspiring, and motivating.  With the way things are looking this year, I expect the results of the Women’s March of 2018 to be disappointing at best.

But, if I go, I’m carrying my sign on a stick!!