Berkeleyside
"Someday the wealthiest people, deprived of their ability to extract super-profits from developing countries, will turn their attention inward and gobble up the middle and working classes here in the U.S."
So predicted my Economics professor in 1962 at New York's New School. These words were unbelievable to my 22-year-old ears. Picket fences were springing up all across America, accompanied by paid vacations, job security, and pensions. Expansion of our rights was the only vision on my horizon.
Riding a postwar economic boom, young people like myself were tearing down entry barriers to the middle class. Legal segregation was about to fall, women were gaining access to traditionally "male" jobs, and unions flourished. We enjoyed complete freedom of speech. No way could we be gobbled up,
"The independence movements exploding in Africa, in India, all over the world, will force the wealthiest Americans to seek the predatory profits they are used to at home," my professor declared. "They will pauperize the U.S. working and middle classes."
His words lingered, smoldering in the back of my mind. Read More