A RACE TO THE BOTTOM

What is happening in globalization and automation is that the richer societies are decreasing the wages of workers just as the poorer societies are increasing theirs.  Consider the pleas occasionally heard that the U.S. should do away with the minimum wage and this would produce more jobs.  Perhaps, but it would just add to and exacerbate the financial problems of the working poor in this country.  There is the attitude by some, nearly all if not all Republicans, who feel that the workers in this country are overpaid.  Thus the median income in the U.S. has not increased for 25 years whereas the incomes of the top 1% have soared.*  At some point maybe in the not too distant future, the wages of the American laborer will decline until it approaches those of the Chinese laborer.

One of the problems with the American laborer is that the white male laborer tends to vote Republican.  Why would they vote for a party that disdains them?  Surely they are not mislead every four years with flattering sayings such as they are the "Real Americans?"**  I think that the problem with the white male laborer is that they really do not have a party.  They feel the Democratic Party unfairly favors minorities, women and, now, homosexuals at their expense; yet it is the Democratic Party that is their only real hope.

A problem is the decline of unions in the U.S.  No individual laborer is strong enough to deal with companies.  In fact it is often the highest paid laborer or tech who is let go in a downturn, even if they are the best and most knowledgeable worker.  So the decline of unions, which are gatherings of laborers, has lead to a decline in the share of income by the middle class.***

* http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/inequality-is-a-choice/?nl=opinion&emc=edit_ty_20131014
** There is the saying (originated in Australia, I guess) that no politician ever lost an election by underestimating the intelligence of the electorate.
*** http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/union-membership-middle-class-income_n_3948543.html