One of the things that didn't make it into the Newsweek.com article was our discussion of how the rise of self-improvement culture also parallels the decline in the strength of organized labor. Entrepreneurial up-from-under striving becomes an appealing idea when more collective and community-based solutions are absent or in decline.
We talked about how a revitalized labor movement that takes its model from Hollywood's guilds could help Americans re-engage with their colleagues in the interest of mutual aid and support. We talked about the Freelancer's Union, and its importance in promoting the idea of portable benefits.
People feel that they have to think of themselves as the CEOs of Me, Inc. when there is no social safety net: no health insurance for 46 million Americans, evaporating pension funds for workers who still think they even have pensions (reported in The New York Times Magazine, 10/30/05), ongoing attacks on social security, and a minimum wage that won't support a single person, let alone a family.
It's not surprising that Americans have embraced a culture of entrepreneurial uplift and fantasies of rags-to-riches, but a revitalized labor movement would offer a more sturdy solution. Remember, as the bumper sticker says: these are the people who brought you the weekend.
