Wages

ARE AMERICAN WAGES SO HIGH?  

Assessing the latest claim of Navalny

By Stephen Wilson

 

Alexei Navalny says Americans are well paid.

(Moscow, Russia) -- 'Putinists are jubilant at the chaos in the United States and are praising 'Putin's stability 'of course there is a problem. But in the U.S.A. there is still an average monthly salary of about 306,000 rubles.{4040 Dollars?} In the Russian Federation, according to official statistics, the average salary is about 40,000 rubles, or more likely about 30,000 rubles,' declared a prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, in reaction to the complacency of many Russian establishment politicians and journalists. The tweet was made in response to the latest assault by militant supporters of Trump on the Capitol building on the 6th of January when demonstrators en-mass, broke through a weak police cordon and practically took over the building sending politicians into flight. What are we to make of this odd tweet? It sounds like a gaffe!  While it is certainly true that most Russians suffer from low wages, it is highly questionable that most Americans, in contrast, enjoy high wages and an affluent life style.That is putting it rather mildly! Navalny fails to take into account the cost of living, huge rent, as will as the vast expenses of paying for an education and medical care which is not free! The huge proportion of students who have fallen into massive debt has already been covered by many past articles by Second City Teachers. One Russian critic replied, 'Where do you get such claims about wages? It is like a fairy tale'.

 

Widespread evidence suggests that a growing number of American workers not only attain low wages but lead a precarious existence without much protection, security or prospects. A recent study by Martha Ross and Nicole Bateman, 2019, found that 53 million Americans between the ages of 18 to 64 accounting for 44% of all workers qualify as 'Low wage'. Their medium hourly wages are 10.22 dollars. Of course, wages vary from state to state, as 'Low wage workers make up the highest share of the workforce in smaller places in the Southern and Western parts of the United States, including Las Cruces, N.M.,and Jacksonville, N.Y.{both 62%}Visalia, Calif.{58%};Yuma,Arizo.{57%}; and McAllen, Texas,{56%}.

Ross and Bateman stated, 'We analysed data for nearly 400 metropolitan areas and the share of workers in a particular place earning low wages ranges from a low of 30% to a high of 62%'. The persistent problem of low pay has been compounded by the Covid 19 crisis where many American workers have lost their jobs and are either unemployed or underemployed.

 

Noam Chomsky, in his work, 'Who Rules the World?', [2017}, points out that American workers are much more insecure and exposed to poorer conditions that in the 1970's. He states how the Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan , "explained during his glory days, his successful policies were based on 'greater worker insecurity'". Intimidated workers would not ask for higher wages or benefits, but would accept lower living standards in exchange for being able to keep a job at all.' This lowering of wages was not connected with 'merit' or 'market forces' but a deliberate neoliberal experiment to drive down wages. Chomsky states:

'A look at the minimum wage in the United States illustrates what has been happening. Through the periods of high growth in the 1950's and '60's, the minimum wage - which sets a baseline for other wages - tracked productivity. That ended with the onset of neoliberal doctrine. Since then, the minimum wage adjusted for inflation has actually fallen. Had the previous trends continued, by now it would probably be close to 20 dollars per hour. Instead today, it it is considered a political revolution raising it to 15 dollars.' Chomsky points out how there exists a vast difference between holding a steady job in manufacturing with union wages and benefits, and a temporary job with no security.' Apart from the loss of wages, benefits, and security, there is a loss of dignity, of hope for the future, of a sense that this is a world in which one belongs and plays a worthwhile role.'

 

It is unfortunate that Trump by using populist rhetoric was able to win much support among impoverished workers who felt the reasons for their insecurity were due to immigrants, Chinese Exports and an elitist government that seems very remote and out of touch with the concerns of the American working class. The Democrats have self righteously condemned the attack on the White House without even asking a reasonable question, 'Why are so many people so angry and alienated from the American Democrats? Why is it that in many cases the policies of both the Democrats and Republicans are so identical?  It is as if Biden and so many of the elite have learnt nothing from the past as to why a demagogue such as Trump could secure enough votes to become President.

 

Many Russians, and not just Navalny, idealize either America or Britain. They can even adopt a very romantic and idyllic view of the west largely at odds with the experience of so many native residents. The grass is always greener on the other side. But why should Russians and Americans sell ourselves short? Why should we choose between a stagnant and authoritarian Russian model which is imploding and an American alternative where people are exposed to low wages, insecure work and lack basic rights such as free medical care and education? People are surely capable of developing a much more just and decent society!  In regard to both the American and Russian government, it is best to quote a line from a character in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet who declares - 'A plague on both your houses'.