Sustainability: “If we avoid change, we’ll be the victims of change.”

Sustainable Middle Class

“If we avoid change, we’ll be the victims of change.” – L.W. Milbrath

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Bly Proposes a Middle Class Amendment

Minnesota State Representative David Bly is so concerned about the decline of the middle class and its essential role as the foundation of our democracy and engine of our economy that he wants to pass a constitutional amendment to preserve it. He’s written a booklet that describes the problems threatening the middle class and offers solutions to preserve and strengthen it. The booklet, “The Middle Class Amendment” is available here

In the booklet, Representative Bly identifies “five building blocks of the middle class”:

1. A safe, reliable transportation system;
2. Quality education at all levels;
3. Comprehensive health care;
4. Living wage jobs;
5. A clean, safe environment.

Bly calls for fair trade legislation, enforcement of anti-trust laws, and a living wage law. He also supports legislation to make it easier to join unions and backs the Employee Free Choice Act. He further describes how American workers have increased our nation’s economic productivity 50 percent since 1973 and have apparently gotten nothing in return. That’s something to get mad about.

I’m especially impressed with his authorship of legislation in the Minnesota House that would have established renewable energy pricing for small power producers. They’d be guaranteed access to the power grid and the opportunity to sell energy from wind or solar devices to the power companies. This would give homeowners and farmers the opportunity to create energy and income from the wind and sun available on their property.

Throughout Bly’s booklet, you’ll see a word repeated over and over. That word is opportunity. Policies to preserve and grow the middle class are not intended to make everybody equal, but to provide everyone the opportunity to make the best of their individual talents.

If we don’t have opportunity, how can we say we have freedom?

Tags: Minnesota Legislature, Representative David Bly, The Middle Class Amendment

This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 12:46 am and is filed under Books, Economy, Education, Energy, Environment, Health, Income inequality, Labor, Politics, Single Payer Health Plan, sustainable living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.