Sunday, October 19, 2003

Workers get less Posted here Sunday, October 19, 2003 at 9:16:02 PM     From Slate's summary Rising health care costs at heart of labor strife San Jose Mercury News - 3 hours ago LOS ANGELES - Major labor strikes that erupted last week against grocery stores and the public transit agency here suggest that workers are increasingly willing to stop work over the spiraling cost of health care. Grocery workers fear joining the working poor San Diego Union Tribune At a crossroads Press-Enterprise (subscription) More evidence of the driving down of wages , and centralization, but also that healthcare is being used as a mechanism of wealth transfer, from workers to doctors and medical managers, such that workers get a small cost of living increase each year, but the heath bite from paychecks is larger, leaving them with a net decrease in actual takehome dollars. ********

Iraq and the ME, a deeper problem Posted here Sunday, October 19, 2003 at 11:44:06 AM     From Friedman in the NYT, which eh entitles "Courageous Arab Thinkers" But there is another tremor shaking the Arab world. This one is being set off by a group of courageous Arab social scientists, who decided, with the help of the United Nations, to begin fighting the war of ideas for the Arab future by detailing just how far the Arab world has fallen behind and by laying out a progressive pathway forward. Their first publication, the Arab Human Development Report 2002, explained how the deficits of freedom, education and women's empowerment in the Arab world have left the region so behind that the combined G.D.P. of the 22 Arab states was less than that of a single country — Spain. Even with limited Internet access in the Arab world, one million copies of this report were downloaded, sparking internal debates. Comment: the problem is, he holds up GDP as the measure, but we know that GDP can increase while class differentiation and marginalization can also increase. Part of the Arab reaction is to this dynamic and its deep unfairness nd clture destroying path. The logic, as I see it, is, if we can get the Arab countries to increase GDP, globalization is saved. The question then is, what is the dynamic of globalization?  If it is increased concentration of wealth and power through mega-corporations, smaller and richer elites, broken middle class incomes, genetically modified crops irresponsibly deployed, then the GDP scenario is deeply self defeating, and an illusion. If a better path is to balance GDP with some sense of social democracy - sharing the benefits and providing for quality of life along with market fores - then we are looking for an alternative we do not know how to reach. ********

Wal-Mart, Driving Workers and Supermarkets Crazy Posted here Sunday, October 19, 2003 at 10:28:59 AM     There has ben a lot of hints at rationalization ofthe arket, wit increased centralization, and lowering pay or removing workers all together. he desire for cheaper fuels the resstowards smaller and yet more powerful elites. Published: October 19, 2003 n February Wal-Mart will open its first grocery supercenter in California, offering everything from tires to prime meats, and that could be a blessing for middle-class consumers. The reason is simple: Wal-Mart's prices are 14 percent lower than its competitors', according to a study by the investment bank UBS Warburg. ********