When Bad Things Happen to Good Americans

23 million US citizens are not fully employed while corporations enjoy record profits. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers show US unemployment at 8.8 percent with another 5.4 percent underemployed and .7 percent "discouraged" -- not looking for work for various reasons -- for a combined rate of 15 percent. Of these unemployed, at least 1.4 million are "99ers," individuals who have exhausted their unemployment benefits after unsuccessfully seeking work for 99 weeks. Oh vey!

Americans need to respond to chronic unemployment with sympathy and righteous indignation. And from this moral stance we need to resist the political tsunami that argues that corporate rights trump those of individuals, that contends that democracy and capitalism are synonymous. In the face of a grave wrong Americans need to find the strength to protect all of our people.