Why must we cater to Wall Street?

Like all mining areas, the Iron Range is a sacrifice zone. That was a bargain struck over a hundred years ago, and we’ve lived with it. By definition, mining is non-renewable and unsustainable. It’s also necessary and we’re just fortunate that so far our sacrifice zone – unlike the coal fields of Appalachia, for example – has been relatively small.

However, over the past couple of decades, the terms of the bargain have changed. We have global markets and trade to an unprecedented degree, and a curious trend has developed. US Steel, for example, no longer competes against other steel companies, in say China or India. Rather, under globalization, the competition occurs between the workers in those respective countries. How much are Iron Rangers willing to be like Chinese in order to keep US Steel from moving there? How much of our natural environment are we willing to degrade to convince the mining companies that we understand how the game is played? It is the proverbial race to the bottom. Twenty years ago, when the Clinton administration was pushing hard for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the American labor movement and the American environmental movement were in league to oppose it. They recognized that both labor contracts and environmental regulations would eventually be gutted, as the “free” markets gravitated to the lowest common denominator. Clinton lied to both parties and they reluctantly came aboard, regretting it ever since.

The underlying principle of global markets controlled by unaccountable multi-national corporations is simple: greed is virtuous. Did we need any clearer example of this than the recent revelation of the $13.2 million salary of US Steel’s CEO? That is obscene. While Iron Range legislators strive to prevent the MPCA from enforcing the law against MinnTac’s toxic discharges, that CEO might be able to pay for a treatment facility from his personal bank account. This is not about US Steel cutting costs to remain a viable producer, but about cutting costs to maximize the income of the richest 1%. Rep. Tom Anzelc, who is trying to shift electricity costs from big businesses to individual consumers, says it was “disheartening” to hear about that level of greed. I say, don’t be disheartened, be angry! Last week the New York Times reported that in 2014, Wall Street paid out $28.5 billion in bonuses, which is almost double the earnings of the 1.03 million Americans who work fulltime for minimum wage. Be advised that these bonuses were not paid to bold, entrepreneurial job-creators, but to financial gamesters manipulating the economic equivalent of smoke and mirrors – the same grifters who brought you the Great Recession.

Sen. David Tomassoni has written that he’s “sick and tired of listening to people who don’t live where we live trying to tell us what we can and can’t do.” He was referring to environmental activists, but how is that any different from being told what to do by Wall Street or U.S. Steel? At least the environmentalists are concerned about water quality. The capitalists are only concerned about the percentage of fat in their wallets.

No one is trying to shut down the local taconite industry. Also, it is clearly profitable. But if US Steel and Wall Street can scare a few more dollars out of the worker bees – and even better, do it through the offices of the politicians they elected, well that’s how the greed game is played: keep the masses frightened, and get Bakk to do it for you.

Peter M. Leschak

Side Lake, Minn.