History Teaches: 
     Effects  of Industrial Revolution

Dare a member of the academic elite opine? Takes a bit of courage these days. However, compelled 

as I am, here are some thoughts. They emerge from what I thought was a sudden flash of brilliant idea.

Further research brought me down a peg by revealing that the idea did not originate with me.

Recently I engaged in very stimulating conversations about the the current state of things with two young

men (freshman and sophomore in high school) and their father. The youngsters were totally engaged 

in the discussion, knowledgeable and very capable of expressing their thought out opinions. In the midst

of extolling the balance of powers in our government, presidential propriety, banning immigrants and 

restoring jobs in coal mines my new idea came as a flash. "We are going through a new industrial revolution

without learning the lessons of the unintended consequences caused by the last one", I blurted out.

Few would doubt that we have entered a period of technological revolution. It seems those in decision making 

positions effecting not only our citizens but also those of the world have failed to comprehend the enormous 

consequences of that revolution. Much less have they considered the unintended negative consequences for 

society which the industrial revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries caused. Highly recommended is an essay 

concerning the social effects of the industrial revolution . I makes abundantly clear the negative effects of 

unbridled free market capitalism.

In 2016 German economist Klaus Schwab published "The Fourth Industrial Revolution" . Reading it brought to 

an end my notion of having a unique idea. After giving historical context and ample evidence for his theory

(and that of others) of this new and equal consequential global revolution he offers a number of chapters on 

the consequences in terms of the economy, nature of work,business, national and global developments,

society at large and the individual. 

Sub-topics in these areas include but are not limited to:

unemployment

nature of work

consumer expectations

collaborative innovation

inequality and the middle class

community

identity, morality and ethics

human connection

managing public and private information

You must be getting the idea. What is facing us cannot be fixed by persuading companies not to move facilities

in order to keep to 1,200 employees on the job; not by assuring coal miners that jobs will come back. 

Coping with what is to come requires major study and planning within an informed and communicating citizenry, 

governance by the constitutionally balanced executive, legislative and judicial branches of government less

interested in re-election or appointment than the best interests of all and influenced by 'the better angels of their

nature, and finally, business within a compassionate capitalist system.

webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/.../industrialrevolution/ireffects.html

History Makes Demands

Among the many gifts received from my father is the fruit of his deliberate effort to make me a student of history beginning in my early childhood. Just before my 7^th birthday he planned a family vacation in Washington, DC. My sister was just 5 years old. We flew to D.C., stayed in a hotel on Embassy Row, saw every monument and historic site in and around the city and we walked, and walked, and walked. It is amazing how much of that trip I remember in detail – the Declaration of Independence under glass, the very cramped box at Ford’s Theater in which Lincoln was assassinated, the awesomeness of his famed Memorial, and precision of the guard change at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

At home we watched Walter Cronkite reporting the news every evening and what we heard was discussed at the dinner table. And there were books all around, especially American history and historical novels. Once off to college I very naturally became a history major.

All of this is reported so as to establish my ‘creds’ as a life-long student of history. It is that background that brings me to urging everyone to vote in the election facing our country. It also gives me the courage to forcefully ask outright that votes be cast for Senator Hillary Clinton. I have never before directly requested support for a specific candidate. But this election is so horrifyingly different, has so distorted democratic values, so distracted the ‘better angels of our nature’, so annihilated standards of civility and human respect, and so buried the real requirements of the office of president that, as a student of history, I find I am obligated to speak out.

In the past I have written about why so many are angry and afraid. I do not blame them for being so. Elected representatives of both political parties have for so long protected and promoted the top 10% in the financial picture of our country and now the inevitable gaps in wealth, services, benefits, education, employment and housing have become intolerable; a grave danger not only to individuals and families but also to the future of our democracy.

Just as the greedy and powerful have in their avarice become myopic about the consequences of their policies; those suffering are myopic about the consequences of their support for a candidate so unsuited for the office of President of the United States. They have become deaf and blind to actions and words that in the past would have caused any political party to send him packing after recognize him as dangerous excess baggage. These considerations seem to matter no longer. Truly we have been reduced to the lowest common denominator. Students of history remember that President Harry Truman fired Douglas MacArthur, a five-star general, for disrespecting the office of the presidency.

As for Senator Clinton, I recognize her short comings; see the dangers inherent in the degree to which she has formed relationships with the high and mighty in all sectors national and international and I worry about errors in judgment. However, these concerns are tempered by the mouthy irresponsible and ignorant nature of her opponent as well as the cranked up scrutiny to which all women aspiring to positions of power are subjected in our society.  It still seems that men can get away with almost anything but women are dissected under a microscope. Free for discussion is the tone of her voice, color of her hair, practices as a mother, choices made in a long and at times troubled marriage, as well as her attire. And then there are the complaints about emotional reticence. Wonder how all the former male presidents would score if subjected to this contest?

It troubles me that it seems easy to ignore a life-long dedication to service, persistent effort consistently applied, creation of a huge tool box of experience acquired as attorney, First Lady, senator, and Secretary of State. Her curriculum vitae should be envied and valued; particularly so in the troubled, on the verge of self-destruction, world in which we live.

We know virtually nothing about Donald Trump’s financial holdings and machinations. We have not been told how he will separate himself from the ongoing management of his business interests if elected. He has thoroughly revealed himself to be a non-reader. He has no record of public service as a volunteer, philanthropist, or elected official. He is a one-man show, surrounding himself with people he thinks he can trust. These are largely family members who we might consider tied to him only because they know on which side their bread is buttered. In the first presidential debate he unabashedly admitted that he uses every loophole in in the law favoring the wealthy to reduce his taxes and cheat those to whom he owes money.

History has reveal that the elections of such leaders can destroy democracies and countries as well as unleashing of terrible hardship, suffering, death and even genocide. Check out any documentary account of the time of Hitler and the Third Reich for affirmation of this assertion.

So get out there and vote. Urge family members and co-workers to vote. And, by all means, even where a vote has never been cast for the Democratic candidate, cast your vote this year for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Too much is at stake. The study of history reveals this necessity.

"The West Wing" As Corrective Civics Lesson

Notes on Instructive Television

Two factors have driven me to the ranks of Amazon Prime and Netflix users. In 1961, Newton Minow, one of the seven Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under President John Kennedy, famously labeled commercial television "a vast wasteland" in a speech before the National Broadcasters Association. More than fifty years later his observation is no less true. More channels are available than ever before but the quality of programming seems only to decrease with quantity. The second factor is my personal need to update myself in the area of cultural literacy. Older nuns speak of "the black out years" of their early religious life when TV and newspapers were often strictly forbidden. Although things were very different in my experience, there still was not much TV and certainly no cocktail party conversation about the latest media.

Wanting to watch something worthwhile and fill the gaps in my cultural literacy, I have been binge watching "The West Wing". Wikipedia reports "The West Wing is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where the Oval Office and `offices of presidential senior staff are located, during the fictitious Democratic administration of Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen)."

Some may be commenting, "Poor Hilda, is she really reduced to that?" But I have found that this awarding-winning television series offers a brand of dignity, righteousness and patriotism which makes the current political scene in our country look like the worst of vulgar situation comedies.

Wikipedia also commented:

Despite acclaim for the veracity of the series, Sorkin [creator] believed, "our responsibility is to captivate you for however long we've asked for your attention." Former White House aide Matthew Miller noted that Sorkin "captivates viewers by making the human side of politics more real than life—or at least more real than the picture we get from the news." Miller also noted that by portraying politicians with empathy, the show created a "subversive competitor" to the cynical views of politics in media. In the essay "The West Wing and the West Wing", author Myron Levine agreed, stating that the series "presents an essentially positive view of public service and a healthy corrective to anti-Washington stereotypes and public cynicism.

Dr. Staci L. Beavers, associate professor of political science at California State University, San Marcos, wrote a short essay, "The West Wing as a Pedagogical Tool". She concluded, "While the series' purpose is for-profit entertainment, The West Wing presents great pedagogical potential." The West Wing, in her opinion, gave greater depth to the political process usually espoused only in stilted talking points on shows like Face the Nation and Meet the Press.... In Beavers' opinion, a critical analysis of the show's political views can present a worthwhile learning experience to the view.

Although admirable for other reasons, the later popular political drama series moved into a much darker place presenting totally disillusioning stories of nefarious political motivations and downright evil in "House of Cards." And then came "ABCs "Scandal" where the adjective depraved may be most apt.

So this reviewer highly recommends viewing "The West Wing" as a valuable civics lesson for the uninformed or merely jaded. You may find it restorative in its hopeful reality and in observing the better angels of our nature play their part on behalf of the interests of this democracy and all its people.

"Where did our wages go?"

Discontent of the Electorate

Driving Movement to the Fringe

They are still asking "Why?" Why is it that Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States while Bernie Sanders is giving Hilary Clinton a run for her money." I continue here to provide at least one answer. Keep this answer in mind when you think about how you will vote in the election. Keep in mind who or what is more responsible for wealth inequality in our country. And by all means, get out there and VOTE.

Reliable statistics support the conclusion that 80% of the workers

in this country are either voicing or have quietly eating away at them the belief that their take home pay today gets them no further than it did any number of years ago. We could go back even thirty years and that would be a fact.

In 2014 the Pew Research Center reported, "...for most US workers, real wages - that is, after inflation is taken into account - have been flat or even falling for decades, regardless of whether the economy has been adding or subtracting jobs." 2014 wages had the same purchasing power as 1979.

In 2014 Fortune Magazine published an article entitled Wealth Inequality in America: It's Worse Than You Think written by Chris Matthews. Extrapolating from the Pew statistics he wrote, "In real terms average wages peaked more than 40 years ago: the $4.03 an hour average rate recorded in 1973 had the same purchasing power as $22.41 [an hour average] would today."

Since the year 2000 weekly wages have fallen 3.7% on average with the lowest 10% of wage earners experiencing a 3% decrease while the top 10% enjoyed an increase of 9.7%.

Matthews went on to report statistics compiled by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman of the London School of Economics. They reveal that while the share of total income of the top 1% of earners was 10% of all American wages in the 1970s, it now exceeds 20% of the total of earned wages in the US.

In terms of net family assets the top 1% includes 160,00 families each with total net assets of 20 million dollars or more. Meaning that the top 1% own more than that the 145 million families in the following 99%. As bad as the wage inequality reported may be, asset inequality is ten times worse statistically.

Why has the inequality of wages and assets increased? Saez and Sucman offer a few reasons:

Trend of making taxes less progressive since the 1970s

Changing job market (loss of manufacturing and trade agreements) forcing blue collar workers to compete with cheaper labor abroad

Deregulation of financial institutions making it easier for families and individuals to accumulate debt

Stagnant wage growth

Decreasing savings rate of the middle class

After citing the social repercussions of these disparities, Matthew's concludes: "In other words there's evidence that rising inequality and many other intractable social problems are related. Not only is rising inequality bad for business, it's bad for society too."

AND NOW, on to the Presidential Election

They Just Don't Get It

Political Commentary


The Electorate is Angry - Is It Any Wonder


How can political operatives and pundits continue to express their incomprehension of voter angst expressed in the astonishing rise of Donald Trump. Clearly they are not students of history nor, in spite of their professional positions, students of political science. In addition, they make it abundantly clear that they have no awareness of the plight of a diminishing middle class and and the resulting growth of the underclass living in poverty in our country. How can they not see it?

Recently quoted in a New York Time editorial was a Republical insider with roots in the Regan administration who stated, " I have never seen us to thoroughly screwed up." Another party official said, " Maybe we really do need time in the wilderness to figure out what we don't get about our own voters."  Time in the wilderness? How about time on Main Street with people who feel like they are getting nowhere and slogging through increasingly threatening seas?

Here are some statistics which they need to memorize as informative context for any deliberation concerning what has happened to their party and, much more importantly, to our citizens.

In 2012 the mean income of the top 10% of household wealth in the country was $1,318,000.
In 2012 the mean income of the bottom 40% of households was $17,300.

In 2010 1% of the population held 35.4% of all privately held wealth in the US.
The next 19% owned 53.5% of all privately held wealth in the US.
That means that 20% of the population owned 89% of all privately held wealth in the country.
Which in turn means that 11% of the wealth was left for the remaining 80% of the people.

In 1983 the bottom 80% of the population owned 18.7% of the privately held wealth.
In 2010 the bottom 80% held only 11.1%

More information about the top 10%:
The top 10% own 35% of all stock, 64.4% of financial securities, 63.4% of business equity.

In 2010, the bottom 90% of the population owned only 12% of the total investment assets in this country.

So the vast majority of our citizens feel as if they reside in the bottom of the toothpaste tube, having
had all they worked so hard to attain or guarantee slowly but surely squeezed out of their lives.

Next I will report about the changes in real income among the vast majority of citizens since 1980. The bottom line will be that none but the very wealthy have gotten ahead.

Voting, Your Right

Register to Vote

Much on my mind these last weeks has been how I might speak out concerning the current political climate in our country - it is a situation that seriously threatens our system of government and constitutional democracy. There is historical record of the disastrous consequences which can come to pass when citizens have not spoken out due to the mistaken judgement that "surely this aberration will go away". That is magical thinking.

ALL OF US MUST VOTE IN THE NEXT ELECTION. Registered voters who declare themselves for a particular party can vote in the NY State Primary Election on April 19. You must be registered by March 25 - this coming Friday - in order to vote in the primary. Applications mailed in must be postmarked by midnight on the 25th. You can register on line at https://www.pdffiller.com/6963321-v... can also register via the Department of Motor Vehicles Website.

My appeal is that you exercise your right to vote. Many, many have died to protect your right to do so in a free and democratic society. Do not dismiss the meaning of their sacrifice.

A Sunday Op-Ed Piece

Spawn of the GOP

Yesterday, at the end of an unusually balmy February day, a friend posted on Facebook, "60 degrees and Trump - the end times?" Yes, it is that kind of spooky. Shedding the heavy winter coat and enjoying the sunshine was a treat but we all know that it only serves to predict the sure arrival of much less pleasant and even disastrous effects of climate change. What is similarly disturbing about Donald Trump's win in South Carolina? Beyond spooky and downright frightening is that the Republican Party has created its own Frankenstein, a shocking monster resulting from their  manipulation of American minds.

The Grand Old Party has long pursued the program of dupping the people. They have spewed forth fear mongering; fear of the other, the immigrant, the undeserving poor; fear of an undefended position of power and masculinity betrayed by efforts to arrive at concensus through compromise; fear of the Black man, especially the one elected by the people to hold the office of president. All of this, plus their sabre rattling calling for all out war in any area of the world that threatens our interests, has been a calculated distraction for the American  mind. It is a slight of hand trick directed at the fearful, the greedy, the insecure. Its purpose is to distract from the real causes of income inequality, a shrinking middle class, the persistence of poverty, job insecurity, crumbling infrastructure, etc., etc. And distract they must because the real solutions to these problems would negatively effect the private interests of coorporations, monopolies, and stockholders.

But something has gone horribly wrong for them. Imagine the conversations in their closed door meetings? Their message has worked so well that it has allowed for the rise of an extremist beyond their imagining. It has been said, "Be careful about what you pray for." They have gotten Donald Trump! His successes are reminiscent of Hitler's rise in a demoralized, inflation strapped, humiliated German society. My own grandparents fled this circumstance in 1928. Adolph Hilter was democratically elected in the most sophisticated and intellectual society in the world. And we all know what that Frankenstein monster wrought in the world.