Tom's Life Bits

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===== Where workers are 'resources': IBM and the American dream =====

Last week, IBM laid off about 30 people in Research Triangle Park as a cost-cutting measure. IBM doesn't like to use the word "layoff," as it will personalize the victims; it uses the term "resource action." If you were to read the IBM dictionary, you would see that the company does not have any employees or people, only "resources." Everyone and everything is a resource. Well, the resources that have been eliminated from IBM's payroll translate into people and families that do not have monthly paychecks anymore.

The last time IBMers got a memo from their leader about the state of the company was in early spring, when CEO Sam Palmisano was raving about corporate profits and the stock price increase. In fact, he did his job so well that he received $20.9 million in compensation, an 11 percent increase. In contrast, most resources did not receive a pay raise this year, and the lucky resources that did cannot say that the raise is outpacing inflation.

The math is very clear to me: Rob people of their livelihoods so that the fat cat can get even fatter. The corporate greed of the 21st century and the return of the robber barons is nothing new. IBM is not the only multinational corporation that has total disregard for the people it hires and fires. The bigger question is: Why are people doing nothing about it?

How low will the American middle class go before it starts demanding a New Deal from the government to protect it from modern-day robber barons? In France, for example, a corporation needs to show at least three consecutive quarters of losses before it can lay off a single person. It makes sense to me. How about this one from Japan: salary caps!

Unfortunately, a lot of people in the U.S. still believe in the American dream. They still hope that one day they will strike it rich and make millions of dollars. Statistically speaking, that will never happen to Joe Average. As long as Joe Average does not realize this, the fat cats will continue to use the American dream as a carrot on a stick to prevent the people from uniting and demanding a change.

Dragana Djuricic Mendel

Wake Forest

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