It has been a couple of centuries since feudalism was considered okay. Since when do Americans believe it is okay for entitled rich to place their feet on the back of hard working Americans and tell them to work harder for less so that the profit will make the shareholders happier? It is an old concept, Europe and certainly, Asia were built on the idea that “someone else” had to work and get their hands dirty so that a privileged few could have as much as they wanted.
Another word for feudalism is communism. Yes, yes, centralize the power around a very few people and everyone else lives or starves on the whims of the few in power. That is how communism actually worked, though, not a real definition for communism. We all know what Russia and China has been like: a central regime of power, which was merciless to the common people. For America, that translation is money, money equates to power in America.
I am on this rant because of an article in www.tampabay.com. In the article, which is titled Hey Papa John: Stop whining about Obamacare, the writer Matthew Yglesias veers from the title and tells us that Darden Restaurants does NOT want to insure their employees’ health. Darden owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster and they have decided that in order to get around the healthcare insurance expense they are going to cut their employees hours to 29 hours per week. By cutting employees hours they will have part time employees who are exempt from the health care coverage mandate.
Now let’s just say here, that you are a human being who makes a living as a waiter with Red Lobster; you have sacrificed your personal health, because you have gone for years without healthcare. Your circumstances are that you have a family and your income pays for rent and food. You were hoping that by voting for Barack Obama, you could finally get the health care that your now aging body needs, only to find out that the shareholders of Darden restaurant do not want to lose .09 cents, in order to include you in a healthcare plan. Instead the shareholders have instructed the management staff to cut your hours and make you into a part time employee. How do you feel?