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For the past four decades, the majority of American workers have been shortchanged by economic policymaking that has suppressed the growth of hourly wages and prevented greater improvements in living standards. Achieving a secure, middle-class lifestyle has become increasingly difficult as hourly pay for most workers has either stagnated or declined. For millions of the country's lowest-paid workers, financial security is even more fleeting because of unscrupulous employers stealing a portion of their paychecks.
Wage theft, the practice of employers failing to pay workers the full wages to which they are legally entitled, is a widespread and deep-rooted problem that directly harms millions of U.S. workers each year. Employers refusing to pay promised wages, paying less than legally mandated minimums, failing to pay for all hours worked, or not paying overtime premiums deprives working people of billions of dollars annually. It also leaves hundreds of thousands of affected workers and their families in poverty. Wage theft does not just harm the workers and families who directly suffer exploitation; it also weakens the bargaining power of workers more broadly by putting downward pressure on hourly wages in affected industries and occupations. For many low-income families who suffer wage theft, the resulting loss of income forces them to rely more heavily on public assistance programs, unduly straining safety net programs and hamstringing efforts to reduce poverty.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Monday May 22 2017, @07:24PM (1 child)
Centralized power is good for more than just military action. Power is centralized when people require or expect immediate action. Military, economic, and social crisis are all good examples of such--like your Roman example. Look at the difference between the Executive and Legislative branches on creating laws/executive orders. Congress has yet to address people's rights to privacy to their digital property, yet a offhanded mention from the POTUS can generate tremendous action and universally violate or protect your information on your devices. However, just like your Roman example, centralized power is easy to abuse. And when a centralized government makes a wrong decision, it is usually severe because there was not the (hopefully) thoughtful discussion before committing to a decision.
In regards to your Great Depression example, FDR was the right person. I will not debate the cause of the Depression, but unlimited, unsecured credit given to the masses seems like a good start to some financial issues. Even if every one of FDR's decisions was wrong, his persona of having a solution and a plan that benefited the average American was precisely what the country needed during that time to recover emotionally from the Depression. FDR's New Deal gave the common man hope that the wages for his labor will make ends meet and the government was working to ensure there was a demand for his labor and a solution for when he became too infirm to work. If the New Deal actually did what it intended to do or if it harmed the recovery is a debate for the historians. My argument is FDR prompted action when Congress couldn't even come to a decision on what hand a one armed man is required to use when wiping his own ass.
Now, should a centralized government remain in power? Ultimately no. The argument of the founding fathers and the examples throughout history show that an all powerful executive leads to tyranny. Whoever bet 250 years for the US to remain a democracy had some pretty good insight. We're not quite there yet, but the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to look like an oncoming freight train. I'll become a miracle believing FSM worshiper if sanity is restored to D.C. in the next decade.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @07:37PM
A double carriage return works better.
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