Robber barons, redux: Labor Day

If you know what a robber baron is, and have noticed them lurking around recently, go to the head of the class.

artoon of child labor supporting robber baron
Cartoon of child labor supporting robber baron. Image in public domain.

As Merriam-Webster reminds us, “robber baron” refers to:

  • “1: an American capitalist of the latter part of the 19th century who became wealthy through exploitation (as of natural resources, governmental influence, or low wage scales)
  • 2: a business owner or executive who acquires wealth through ethically questionable tactics”

The barons are definitely back, and more powerful than ever. Only we call them Wall Street, the Military Industrial Complex, and the Top 1% now.

Check out some of the revealing documentaries:

As history so often shows us, when the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. That has been particularly true for people of color and immigrants following the recent great shift in money from the poorer to the richer.

A recent book from Laura Gottesdiener, A dream foreclosed: Black America and the fight for a place to call home, provides many of the horrendous details:

  • The current unemployment rate for blacks is 13.7%
  • The median net wealth of black families in 2010 was $4,900, compared to $97,000 for white families—a number that is itself inflated by multimillionaire and billionaire whites
  • Since 2007, corporate corruption and loan-sharking have led to at least 4.8 million completed foreclosures, disproportionately to black and Latino families.

Gottesdiener also provides some heartening examples of Occupy movement and other community organizers’ work to stop the plunder of poor.

The labor movement learned long ago that individual and community efforts can bring about important change—although preserving those changes demands constant vigilance.

Most members of American labor have to work this Labor Day “holiday,” but we would all do well to remember the value of activism.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology