Dublin Opinion

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Michael Zweig here on Dublin Opinion. Below is a two-part interview with Zweig, conducted with Bill Moyers. It took place in October, around the time of the American bail-out - now under review as the American Treasury wakes up to the fact that it’s going to have to recapitalize rather than simply buy up toxic debts.

Zweig has co-written a plan which calls for an economic stimulus, costing around $220 billion, which would involve spending on health, housing, and education for the economically distressed as a way of pump-priming the American economy.

A pdf of the plan is available here.

More information on the Center for the Study of Working Class Life, of which Zweig is the director, is available from its website here.

There’s a great line at the start of the second clip where Moyers asks Zweig whether any of this plan is achievable, and Zweig cuts hims off a little and says,

“First of all, it’s what needs to happen. Let’s start with that.”

Zweig, Professor of Economics at Stony brook University, works in a country where 12% of the workforce is unionised, and where there is no national left-wing party. In Ireland, around 36% of the workforce is unionized, and there are two left-wing parties with branches in every constituency and with senior members with national legislative experience, as well as two smaller left-wing parties with more local, but nonetheless solid, political support.

And yet, Zweig’s focus is “what needs to happen. Let’s start with that”, while all too frequently in Ireland, the focus is not on what needs to be done, but on self-serving asurances that the left will never do anything, so why bother.

You would think that it was Zweig who lived in a country with 36% union membership, and a solid left/liberal political base, and it was the Irish who were stuck with the 12% membership and no national voice, such is the wringing of the hands with a grin of “it’s useless” that would make even Peig Sayers blush.

“First of all, it’s what needs to happen. Let’s start with that.”

As we look to our own situation, I cannot think of a better focus. Let’s start with what needs to happen.

Enjoy.