Political Physics: The Jigsaw Approach to Dealing with the Economic Crisis
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a blogumn by Monique King-Viehland
Last week I wrote about the fact that we are facing significant financial troubles at every level of government – local, state and federal – in the US. I also said that I have grave concerns about the magnitude of that debt and the implications of who owns it. I posed some questions about our country’s ability to get its fiscal house in order. Ernessa commented that she, too, was frustrated with the economic crisis and wondered if I or anyone else had any suggestions about what we can do on a grassroots level to help with this economic crisis?
I’ve been thinking about that question all week.
Then on last Tuesday, I found myself at home sick and watching Saw V (please do not ask, it’s a long story). For those of you who might actually want to see this movie, this is my official spoiler alert: stop reading now, because I intend to give away a significant plot point. Okay, with that said, midway into the film we are introduced to five people who wake up in a trap in which collars are locked around their necks, strung on a cable connected to a set of guillotine blades mounted on the wall behind them. They’re told by Jigsaw’s puppet that “Five will become one, with the common goal of survival.” He states “while your lifelong instincts will tell you to react one way, I implore you to do the opposite.”
The first part of their test involves pulling against a cable to get a key at the end of the room to release themselves. The consequence for not completing the trap is to be beheaded. Of course they ignore Jigsaw’s warning. One of them jumps the gun and in the end only four out of the five survive. This becomes a reoccurring theme throughout the movie, each time they face a test instead of working together it becomes survival of the fittest and someone dies.
Fast forward to the final test with two people remaining. In this test they have to stick their hands in rotating saws and bleed into a beaker. When the beaker fills with the labeled volume of their blood, the door to the room will unlock and they will be free to go. But before they start the test they realize that there are five saws and five openings on the contraption, for which to stick arms into. That’s when they realize that everyone could have made it through every test alive. For example, in the first test only one key was needed to unlock each neck restraint so they did not need to fight against each other to get their individual keys. With no other options, the two remaining survivors begin sawing their arms in an attempt to fill the beaker meant for five with 10 pints of their blood.
If they had listened to Jigsaw and worked together, the pain during each test would have been minimal or non-existent because it would have been born by the entire group.
Now I know you are thinking: why did I put you through that retelling of Saw V? But watching that movie actually took me back to Ernessa’s question: what can we do on a grassroots level to help with this economic crisis?
I think the best thing we can do is take Jigsaw’s advice – “let us become one, with the common goal of survival.”
Now that is a bit simplified, but I mean it we need to spread the pain.
Right now, my husband and I are preparing to deal with a 10% cut in my paycheck in the months of May and June. Like all state employees in NJ (and several other states) I will be required to take two-furlough days in both months. The Governor is proposing the days in order to save $35 million and help close NJ’s budget deficit. The alternative would have been for the state worker unions to agree to an 18-month wage freeze, but they refused. Now it is important to note that almost all non-union employees, like myself, in state government have not had any increase (e.g., cost of living, raise, etc.) in years.
Now some of you may argue that this is a complicated issue, but for me it’s simple – spread the pain. All state employees, union and non-union, agree to an 18-month wage freeze and do our part to close the deficit. We save the $35 million+ and no one is forced to deal with a furlough.
Spread the pain.
I live in a City where more than 22,000 state workers commute in every day for work. They use City resources like Police, Water, Sewer, etc. Less than 25% actually live in or near the City. A few years ago when the City’s water pipes burst, state employees working in Trenton had to be sent home because they were using so much water that there was not enough for local residents. Today, the City of Trenton is facing a potential $28 million budget deficit. I think that the City should impose a 1% commuter tax on state employees and anyone else that works in the City of Trenton but does not reside in the City. That 1% tax could generate $12 million in reoccurring revenue for the City of Trenton.
Spread the pain.
Last week in San Bernardino, California, firefighters approved accepting a 10% salary reduction to help the struggling City close it’s budget gap while also avoiding seeing any of their peers being laid off.
The thing is I am not asking you to stick your hands into a box with rotating saws and bleed into a beaker. Although for some people, taking a hit in the wallet may feel as painful. The fact is we are facing some unprecedented economic challenges at every level of government and we all need to do our part. Like Jigsaw said, “lifelong instincts will tell you to react one way, I implore you to do the opposite.”
At least that is my suggestion, what are yours? What can we do at a grassroots level to help with this economic crisis?
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flickr.com photo credit: Nick Farnhill
I could not agree with you more. I know Americans our known for being all about themselves but if we really want to leave a better place for our kids we need to solve these problems as a group.
I also think we need to look long and hard at what is important for our government to provide. I think if you ask most Americans would they rather put pot smokers in jail or give there kids more school supplies they would go with school supplies. We need to do what helps the most people not what the people with the biggest lobby in Washington wants us to do.
Less Prisons and Military more Schools and Hospitals.
I could not agree with you more. I know Americans our known for being all about themselves but if we really want to leave a better place for our kids we need to solve these problems as a group.
I also think we need to look long and hard at what is important for our government to provide. I think if you ask most Americans would they rather put pot smokers in jail or give there kids more school supplies they would go with school supplies. We need to do what helps the most people not what the people with the biggest lobby in Washington wants us to do.
Less Prisons and Military more Schools and Hospitals.
I loved this post. It really made me think. I agree with everything CH said, and I also think we should rethink the way we think about profit. Quite a few companies are laying off workers right now to avoid bankruptcy or worse — that's understandable. But then there are the companies that are laying off workers, b/c they're not turning as big of a profit as they did the year before. They do this in order to surpass the profits they made the year before in order to appease their shareholders and then they blame the bad economy for these layoffs.
Now, I believe in a free market, but I think that companies that do this should be boycotted. Why should they be rewarded for sacrificing the quality of what their offering and customer service, and also adding to the unemployment rolls, so that they can match last year's profits and a few shareholders can benefit.
I think we should make shining examples of companies that take a profit hit, rather than laying off workers. And I definitely think that more workers should be willing to have their hours cut, so that other workers don't have to get laid off. If we're all working, then the unemployment rolls don't swell, which means we pay less taxes and have less crime.
Basically, I think we should start making job security a main goal. And we shouldn't just be trying to save the company but also the worker.
I loved this post. It really made me think. I agree with everything CH said, and I also think we should rethink the way we think about profit. Quite a few companies are laying off workers right now to avoid bankruptcy or worse — that's understandable. But then there are the companies that are laying off workers, b/c they're not turning as big of a profit as they did the year before. They do this in order to surpass the profits they made the year before in order to appease their shareholders and then they blame the bad economy for these layoffs.
Now, I believe in a free market, but I think that companies that do this should be boycotted. Why should they be rewarded for sacrificing the quality of what their offering and customer service, and also adding to the unemployment rolls, so that they can match last year's profits and a few shareholders can benefit.
I think we should make shining examples of companies that take a profit hit, rather than laying off workers. And I definitely think that more workers should be willing to have their hours cut, so that other workers don't have to get laid off. If we're all working, then the unemployment rolls don't swell, which means we pay less taxes and have less crime.
Basically, I think we should start making job security a main goal. And we shouldn't just be trying to save the company but also the worker.
Ch and Ernessa, obviously I completely agree. The notion of a company, like Starbucks for example, closing several stores around the Country because they have their first (yes, first) quarter where the company did not meet or exceed earning estimates is ridiculous! That is no about survival or shareholder responsibility, that is about greed. And that is a problem.
I think you said it best E, job security does need to be our main goal and not just your job or my job, but keeping as many people working as possible. Not just because it is the altruistic thing to do, but also because it makes more sense from an economic standpoint as well. Swelling unemployment rolls don't have turn the economy around.
Ch and Ernessa, obviously I completely agree. The notion of a company, like Starbucks for example, closing several stores around the Country because they have their first (yes, first) quarter where the company did not meet or exceed earning estimates is ridiculous! That is no about survival or shareholder responsibility, that is about greed. And that is a problem.
I think you said it best E, job security does need to be our main goal and not just your job or my job, but keeping as many people working as possible. Not just because it is the altruistic thing to do, but also because it makes more sense from an economic standpoint as well. Swelling unemployment rolls don't have turn the economy around.
Ernessa asked me to comment, because she knows I work for a union. However, I work for a union doing Communications, so I'll comment as myself but want to make sure no one takes what I say here as official.
First of all, traditionally unions are very loathe to defer wages, cut wages and benefits, anything like that, because once you do, it never comes back, and you're stuck with that compromise the rest of your career. An employer might say, "defer your wage this year, we'll give it to you next year." All well and good, but next year you end up getting this year's raise in lieu of next year's raise. You never really get it back.
(I'm being told my comment is too long…so this will be a serial comment…stay tuned for part two.)
Ernessa asked me to comment, because she knows I work for a union. However, I work for a union doing Communications, so I'll comment as myself but want to make sure no one takes what I say here as official.
First of all, traditionally unions are very loathe to defer wages, cut wages and benefits, anything like that, because once you do, it never comes back, and you're stuck with that compromise the rest of your career. An employer might say, "defer your wage this year, we'll give it to you next year." All well and good, but next year you end up getting this year's raise in lieu of next year's raise. You never really get it back.
(I'm being told my comment is too long…so this will be a serial comment…stay tuned for part two.)
Spread the pain sounds nice, but when you get into the nitty-gritty, it doesn't always work. Out in Riverside County the Supervisors are laying off workers, cutting wages, etc., meanwhile they're buying themselves 50K SUV's with voice-activated navigation.
Spread the pain as a request from bosses for workers' cooperation is still paternalistic.
How about "Spread the problem?" In other words, employers ought to come to workers looking for collaboration on finding solutions. Ultimately those solutions might involve sacrifices of some kind. But often wage deferrals, furloughs, etc. are really the easy way out. They can actually become a release valve that allows the employer to go on doing things in the same ways that led to the mess in the first place. Fact is, workers do the work. They often know best how to do the work cheaper, better, more efficiently. But nobody asks them.
Ther'es one city here in Southern California where my union represents the workers. In the last eight years they took furloughs, they gave back raises, they took small raises, all in the name of helping out the city. Now they've lost 30% against the cost of living over eight years and they've been without a contract for a year and a half, and they can't support their families.
Employers will ask for all these concessions, saying it will prevent layoffs, but unless they make more difficult budgetary choices, you can easily end up giving up your raise, taking furloughs, cutting retirement benefits, and then, six months later–you still get laid off. Or a bunch of your co-workers do.
Ther'es one city here in Southern California where my union represents the workers. In the last eight years they took furloughs, they gave back raises, they took small raises, all in the name of helping out the city. Now they've lost 30% against the cost of living over eight years and they've been without a contract for a year and a half, and they can't support their families.
Employers will ask for all these concessions, saying it will prevent layoffs, but unless they make more difficult budgetary choices, you can easily end up giving up your raise, taking furloughs, cutting retirement benefits, and then, six months later–you still get laid off. Or a bunch of your co-workers do.
Spread the pain sounds nice, but when you get into the nitty-gritty, it doesn't always work. Out in Riverside County the Supervisors are laying off workers, cutting wages, etc., meanwhile they're buying themselves 50K SUV's with voice-activated navigation.
Spread the pain as a request from bosses for workers' cooperation is still paternalistic.
How about "Spread the problem?" In other words, employers ought to come to workers looking for collaboration on finding solutions. Ultimately those solutions might involve sacrifices of some kind. But often wage deferrals, furloughs, etc. are really the easy way out. They can actually become a release valve that allows the employer to go on doing things in the same ways that led to the mess in the first place. Fact is, workers do the work. They often know best how to do the work cheaper, better, more efficiently. But nobody asks them.
In our union, we go to our members asking for their ideas to cut costs, raise new revenues (it's a government union), do things more efficiently. They come up with some crazy, impractical ideas, sure. They also come up with some great, eminently doable ideas. But getting management to take any of it seriously is extremely difficult. They pat the workers on the head and say thanks for trying to help, the n go straight to furloughs, etc. Instead of sitting down across a table and going through the ideas and talking them through and figuring out what they can really do and what they can't. Many of the ideas are about building for longterm fiscal stability. Public officials mouth platitudes about that, but actually doing it, that's much harder. They're not always so keen on that.
In our union, we go to our members asking for their ideas to cut costs, raise new revenues (it's a government union), do things more efficiently. They come up with some crazy, impractical ideas, sure. They also come up with some great, eminently doable ideas. But getting management to take any of it seriously is extremely difficult. They pat the workers on the head and say thanks for trying to help, the n go straight to furloughs, etc. Instead of sitting down across a table and going through the ideas and talking them through and figuring out what they can really do and what they can't. Many of the ideas are about building for longterm fiscal stability. Public officials mouth platitudes about that, but actually doing it, that's much harder. They're not always so keen on that.
Furloughs, hours cuts, wage deferrals depress the local economy. Maybe in these extraordinary times those things are finally necessary. But they should be last resorts. Truly last resorts, not just rhetorically last resorts. Workers don 't want to face layoffs, they don't want to see their colleagues laid off, most people are unselfish. Management depends on that, and goes straight to that, often instead of doing the harder work themselves of true collaboration, sharing power, not just pain, sharing the problems and the responsibility for solving those problems.
Share the power, not just the pain. That's how you get grassroots solutions.
Furloughs, hours cuts, wage deferrals depress the local economy. Maybe in these extraordinary times those things are finally necessary. But they should be last resorts. Truly last resorts, not just rhetorically last resorts. Workers don 't want to face layoffs, they don't want to see their colleagues laid off, most people are unselfish. Management depends on that, and goes straight to that, often instead of doing the harder work themselves of true collaboration, sharing power, not just pain, sharing the problems and the responsibility for solving those problems.
Share the power, not just the pain. That's how you get grassroots solutions.
And that takes workers demanding it. That can make them look selfish. But our whole capitalist system depends on the creativity that selfishness breeds. We seem to often be fine with it if it's coming from above. Not so much if it's coming from below. But in my experience as a union guy I've often seen a strong group of unionized workers help management solve it's problems despite themselves. Management kicks and screams and fights against surrenering any control; but when they're finally forced to, things get better, and they end up grateful.
Share the pain in the end if you have to. But first share the power. That's the only way to figure out if sharing the pain is truly what's required.
[The end. Boy, how many parts was that? Six. Whew. Careful what you ask for, Ernessa! :)]
And that takes workers demanding it. That can make them look selfish. But our whole capitalist system depends on the creativity that selfishness breeds. We seem to often be fine with it if it's coming from above. Not so much if it's coming from below. But in my experience as a union guy I've often seen a strong group of unionized workers help management solve it's problems despite themselves. Management kicks and screams and fights against surrenering any control; but when they're finally forced to, things get better, and they end up grateful.
Share the pain in the end if you have to. But first share the power. That's the only way to figure out if sharing the pain is truly what's required.
[The end. Boy, how many parts was that? Six. Whew. Careful what you ask for, Ernessa! :)]
Jeff, thanks for the post and the perspective.
I do not necessarily disagree…for me it's an issue of symantics. I do not care what you call it…"spread the pain," "spread the power," "spread the problem," "feel the love," whatever. The main issue is that we need to be thinking about fixing this issue and accept that fact that we all need to make sacrifices. If management is asking labor to take a paycut but still riding around in $50K SUV's, that is NOT spreading the pain. If management is asking labor to take a wage freeze in FY 1, but not working to cut expenses so that they will not be having the same discussion in FY 2, that is NOT spreading the pain. If those workers in Southern California sacrified at that 30% level and the folks in charge still have not managed to fix the problem, that is NOT spreading the pain.
Jeff, thanks for the post and the perspective.
I do not necessarily disagree…for me it's an issue of symantics. I do not care what you call it…"spread the pain," "spread the power," "spread the problem," "feel the love," whatever. The main issue is that we need to be thinking about fixing this issue and accept that fact that we all need to make sacrifices. If management is asking labor to take a paycut but still riding around in $50K SUV's, that is NOT spreading the pain. If management is asking labor to take a wage freeze in FY 1, but not working to cut expenses so that they will not be having the same discussion in FY 2, that is NOT spreading the pain. If those workers in Southern California sacrified at that 30% level and the folks in charge still have not managed to fix the problem, that is NOT spreading the pain.
So I still contend that the unions in NJ not taking the 18 month freeze and forcing the furlough instead, was not well thought out, because you are right furloughs, hours cuts, wage deferrals do depress the local economy, but in times like these when you have cut, cut and cut someone, there may not be a choice. And in terms of the math in NJ, the wage freeze at least keep you even (notwithstanding COLA) versus take a 10% reduction in your take home pay. So to refuse to even discuss it or do the math, is deifnitely NOT spreading the pain.
But don't get me wrong, for me this is not a union versus management or union versus non-union issue. That was just one example. The issue is everyone working together to come up with a strategy for solving the problem recognizing that we all may need to take a hit to get there. That IS what I mean by spread the pain.
So I still contend that the unions in NJ not taking the 18 month freeze and forcing the furlough instead, was not well thought out, because you are right furloughs, hours cuts, wage deferrals do depress the local economy, but in times like these when you have cut, cut and cut someone, there may not be a choice. And in terms of the math in NJ, the wage freeze at least keep you even (notwithstanding COLA) versus take a 10% reduction in your take home pay. So to refuse to even discuss it or do the math, is deifnitely NOT spreading the pain.
But don't get me wrong, for me this is not a union versus management or union versus non-union issue. That was just one example. The issue is everyone working together to come up with a strategy for solving the problem recognizing that we all may need to take a hit to get there. That IS what I mean by spread the pain.