Screw the "new economy"

So, I've actually been intending to discuss this for a while, but it hasn't been in the forefront of my mind lately and a recent Jimmy Dore clip on it has what has brought it back in my mind. The video is worth watching, and honestly, I'm just going to expand on it and give my thoughts here.

The "new economy" is a fairly dystopian term to describe what has been done to the economy over the last few decades in terms of employment and ownership, and attempts to rebrand these changes as good and that we need to adapt to. It's normally trendy silicon valley and wall street type folks writing in pro business publications that discuss it in a positive way. Basically, it talks about the death of full time jobs and the lack of being able to own anything as this new term called the "new economy", also referred to as the "gig economy" (because people need to take on tons of gigs and part time work to get by) and the "sharing economy" (because people need to "share" things instead of being able to afford to own them outright).

The worst thing about this term is that due to right wing libertarian ideology, pro hyper capitalist types try to make it out to be this GREAT thing. Like it's a brave new world out there, and we just gotta adapt to it. That people are okay with part time work because they CHOOSE to work it, and people are okay with ride sharing via lyft and uber because they CHOOSE it. Because, you know, in libertarian ideology, everything is voluntary unless it's taxes or regulation. Even if there's a metaphorical gun to your head the whole time you make these "choices."

And then there's the fact that people need to work multiple jobs to survive or work while freaking giving birth like discussed in the Jimmy Dore video. This is a sick, sick society that we have people do this in the richest country in the world. But instead, this 1984 double speak tries to make it a good thing. Bush went on about the woman working three jobs being "uniquely American" and people were praising this poor woman driving people for Lyft while going into labor as if she was doing a good thing. No, this isn't a good thing, this is horrible, and we need to break this cult of work in order to recognize it.

The worst part about all of this crap is if you dare criticize the fact that people have to do this, the people who actually praise this crap will call you lazy and entitled, hence why I have issues with being called lazy and entitled. No, I don't want to have to work 3 jobs. No, I don't want to have to work while having medical stuff going on in my body. Yes, I do want a living wage for working ONE job for 40 hours a week, or dare I say it, LESS (in line with Keynes' long term dream of a 15 hour work week that pays well for everyone), with adequate vacation time and benefits. Or heck, let's make work voluntary like I keep saying it should be. TRULY voluntary.

This "new economy" is freaking horrible, and the double speak to justify it is abusive to the populace. They are trying to make us work harder for less, against our best interests, while all the wealth goes to the top and the ownership of goods and services is increasingly concentrated there too. They want us to work harder for less money, and this isn't a new freaking idea. This was the logic behind the gilded age. This isn't some brave new world, it's a regression to the distant past. People who work three jobs or work while giving birth aren't martyrs, they're victims. Working and living under these conditions isn't voluntary, it's forced on us because we have no other freaking options.

This is why people like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were coming out of the woodwork this year. Despite this rhetoric, I think a significant population knows we're regressing, although not everyone understands why. The right talks about "making America great again" and returning to some long gone era and blaming brown people for our problems, and the left talks about returning to what actually made us great, unions, regulations, safety nets, a living wage, etc. The legacy of FDR. Deep down, we know something is screwed up, we know something is wrong, and we are right in wanting to do something about it. And I hope we do, do something about it. Screw this "new economy", it's really just a term for what the far left calls "late stage capitalism." Our economy is in dire need of serious overhaul like we have not seen since the 1930s. We need a return to unions, updated regulations, more safety nets, more mandated worker benefits, economic democracy, etc. We can do way better than what we are doing. We shouldn't buy into any of this "new economy" nonsense and recognize it for what it is: an erosion of the legacy of FDR that made our country great in the first place, to use a Trump term. And yeah, that's all I have to say for now. End rant.