May 8, 2012
Thomas J. Mackell Jr.
There is a global leadership vacuum and not many people appear to notice it. But do not fear, the French recognized it and will lead the way with a new Socialist president at the helm. Austerity has been the name of the game in Europe with an abundantly clear abysmal failure.
Here in the U. S. the right wing, led by Congressman Paul Ryan wants to downsize America, downsize it so that more and more of us fall through the cracks never to be heard from again. But hold on, could it be that the masses have awakened and will rise from the ashes to change the tide globally? Will people now recognize what has been going on?
What lessons can be learned from France’s election by those who toil day-to-day to right the wrongs and put the powers that be on notice that we are not going to take it anymore? How will we engage the voters in America to take a stand against the insane agenda of the right wing? It’s boots on the ground and serious dialogue that should wake up those, who for some reason, think everything will be all right.
If Mitt Romney were to be anointed president, things will not be all right and the George W. Bush administration will look like a tea party compared to the havoc that will come upon us if Mitt were to be elected. His first call to order is to dismantle Davis Bacon and destroy the livelihood of millions of organized building and construction trades workers who still have a job and the second is to do away with all unions throughout the land.
Those two dramatic initiatives will remake the landscape and bring us back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution when worker protection wasn’t part of the vernacular. Forget all of the other things that will be destroyed, just think about a world where worker institutions no longer have a voice in the workplace at the bargaining table and in the legislative halls locally, statewide and at the federal level.
Voter registration, education and motivation are the order of the day. Failure to engage their interest and passion will have devastating ramifications.
Thomas J. Mackell, Jr. Ed.D., Senior Partner, Black Thorn Lynch Associates, Inc., former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and author of: “When the Good Pensions Go Away: Why America Needs a New Deal for Pension and Health Care Reform.”
