Yahoo - Reuters - AOL CEO sorry for 'distressed babies' remark; reverses retirement plan. Now this has been all over the news; but, I think the real point is being missed. The CEO said that the reason AOL needed to cut contributions to their 401k plans was because of the cost of health insurance, specifically because of 2 distressed babies. This is at the same time that his company has seen it's greatest profit in years.
Here is where once again the media has failed us. What would have been the savings from cutting the 401k contributions as compared to what the "increased" costs in healthcare were? Pretty simple question and very basic; but, no reporters have apparently asked it. Another failure of the media is to talk about real wages. While companies have barely maintained wages, they have cut benefits. The fact is that wages have not kept up with inflation; but, in addition benefits have gone away that is a reduction in real compensation for your work and efforts. American workers are being paid (salary and compensation) less in real dollars (adjusted for inflation) then in a whole lot of decades and the work is the same.
I just had a thought. It is as capitalistic as they come. What if we rewarded people based on their contribution? This would include taking care of people who are incapable of contributing, just like I paid to feed my children, a community approach. So, if a company has 1,000 workers and the company increases in profit, as a margin, shouldn't all involved benefit to the same extent? A ten percent increase in profits could result in a ten percent across the board increase in returns. That would include labor, investors, bond holders, whoever had a stake in the outcome. That incentives everyone to do better in their role.
By the way, if you have an hour or two to kill, this is a great video. YouTube - Why Is America in Decline? Chris Hedges on the U.S. Empire & Death of the Liberal Class (2012).
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