Corporations and Workers in America

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A person could make a career out of bashing corporations and praising the American workers, but that's not my goal. I could do the same about handguns killing children and apparently few people would notice or care. No, I'm taking about pressing issues in America today and recently and sometimes I talk about other things from my own life (car problems, chess, psychology, money, etc.). For example, today we got quite a bit of snow, maybe 3-4". But then, not many people care about that.

Today I want to say the obstinacy of Republicans and the American Right are only narrowly a bigger problem than corporate America (including Wall St.). For years after World War II the economy thrived and everyone benefited. Beginning around 1974 that began to change and the top 5% of income earners began to take a larger share of the nation's income. That take increased and since the recent Great Recession it has taken nearly 100% of all the nation's increase in income. That's pretty astounding and it shows something about their greed, ambition and intellectual flaws. They're not stupid and yet the slow economy isn't seen by them as a problem, but as a good way to keep the unemployment rate high enough to hold wages down. Of course, on the Left, there are many who say that simply aiming to grow the entire economy at a faster rate would increase their incomes much more than this. So, are they stupid or have they gamed-out that alternative and found it lacking?

Here are some links discussing the current state of corporation & worker relations.

These few firms sell most of the things we buy:
http://www.policymic.com/articles/71255/10-corporations-control-almost-everything-you-buy-this-chart-shows-how

Who hides their money in the Cayman Islands?
http://rt.com/business/cayman-tax-report-agreement-505/

How do they steal pension monies?
http://truth-out.org/news/item/19672-pension-theft-crime-wave

Ironically, companies paying higher tax rates create more jobs.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/12/04/3017571/corporate-taxes-jobs/

The Koch brothers oppose raising the minimum wage. Duh.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/27/koch-brothers-mount-braveheart-like-stand-against-minimum-wage-increase-in-seatac/

How much would the minimum wage be if it had increased with inflation over the years?
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/12/01/3007011/minimum-wage-percent-leave-workers/

It's not fun working for peanuts and having bosses who feel they own you.
http://firedoglake.com/2013/12/05/late-night-wage-slavery/

Banks do a lot of good, but they also employ people at mediocre wages. Some even require public assistance (just like many state gov. workers and Walmart workers).
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/12/05/3026531/bank-employees-public-assistance/

Clearly there are corporations, and rich individuals, who prefer low wages and low taxes and they don't especially mind the lower growth rate. Why? I suspect it is that their own part of the economy is fully mature and going at its fastest already. Of course, some people think about themselves first and personal taxes or corporate taxes are their first concern.