What’s good for business is bad for the people
PHOTO/JOHN SLAUGHTER
The state of Georgia is now ranked the number one “business-friendly” state in the nation. Tax abatements, incentives and credits have combined to lure companies to Georgia that will provide “hundreds” of new jobs. (Most of them low-paying) A systematic program to lower tax rates on the corporations and the wealthy, is cutting resources for vital public programs and shifting the tax burden to the least advantaged.
The corporations have taken over state government and are running it entirely in their interest. Consider the consequences. Georgia ranks 40th in the country in per capita income, and its unemployment rate of 8.7% is 44th in the nation. 2 million Georgians now receive food stamps, 20% of the population. Fifty-seven percent are African American, but 37 percent are white.
There is something morally wrong here. A balanced budget in Georgia means huge profits for the corporations and great misery for the people. The good fortunes of the corporations are matched with a huge moral deficit. People are actually going hungry in Georgia; thousands are homeless; people are dying because they can’t afford health care; our children are condemned to a life of no real future as schools are failing; there are no jobs except poverty wages jobs.
The great concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few and the increasing mass of a deprived and suffering humanity is a moral atrocity.
Addressing the morality deficit
The people of Georgia are becoming aware that government does not really serve them. It is not really a government of, by and for the people. They are becoming morally outraged. Moral Mondays are coming to Georgia. When the state legislature opens here on Monday, January 13, the people will be there. And they are saying that it will no longer be business as usual under the capitol dome.
They will be demanding that the governor accept the federal funding that would add 650,000 to the Medicaid rolls in Georgia. Not to do so is morally wrong.
They will be demanding that the $8 billion in education funds be restored, that our children attend school a full 180 days, end the furloughs, reduce class sizes and end the privatization of the public schools at the expense of those who are left behind. Not to do so is morally wrong.
They will demand that workers in Georgia be paid a living wage and that cuts to unemployment compensation be stopped. Not to do so is morally wrong.
They will be demanding that affordable housing be provided and that housing be provided for every homeless person. Not to do so is morally wrong.
They will be standing up for immigrant rights, reform of the criminal justice system, fair taxation, and an end to the attack on voting rights. How else can we call this a democracy? Not to do so is morally wrong.
The people of Georgia have a right to live in a just and moral society. They will accept no less.
