How the rich & powerful use a "jobs" extortion racket to force us into accepting pollution and climate change

Above: "Ash Heap," a wood engraving print by Charles E. Pont (1898-1971), created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

"Let us pollute... or else"

In The Guardian today, an article highlights research by the Union of Concerned Scientists indicating that between 2018 and 2022, Tyson Foods released 371 million pounds of pollution into waterways. But in response to the possibility of more stringent pollution standards, an official from the North American Meat Institute said, "EPA's new proposed guidelines will cost over $1bn and will eliminate 100,000 jobs in rural communities."

The rich & powerful, and their representatives, frequently use the spectre of job loss to frighten the working-class into accepting pollution. They are saying, in a roundabout fashion, "Either accept polluted air, dirty water, and microplastics in your body, or we'll take your jobs away. Accept the fact that we're changing the atmosphere of your planet, shut your mouth, vote for politicians that let us get away with it, and maybe, just maybe, you won't lose your livelihood, your house, and ultimately your family."

The same phenomenon can be seen with other issues too, for example, taxation. When Americans clamor for the rich to be taxed more, or just pay their fair share, so that more money can be invested in the common good, the rich & powerful (and their toadies) reply, "Well, if you do that, there will be less investment and less jobs. If you dare to tax us more, you can say 'bye-bye' to your paycheck."

Cornell law school defines extortion as, "imposing an action or obtaining something by force or coercion." Findlaw defines it as "obtaining money, property, or something else of value by use of a threat, usually of an injury or use of force towards the victim, the victim's property or reputation, or the victim's loved ones." And Vocabulary.com gives a more layman's definition: "forcing someone into giving you something through threats. A bully who tells kids he'll beat them up if they don't give him their lunch money is guilty of extortion."

Is this not very close to what the rich & powerful are doing? "We'll send you to the unemployment line, if you don't let us pollute your air, water, and bodies."

Why do we accept this "jobs" extortion racket? Well, probably for the same reason anyone else submits to extortion. Fear. The "Sword of Damocles Job Loss" hanging over our heads makes us accept things we normally wouldn't. But, perhaps if the government (i.e., We the People) gave us a job guarantee or an income guarantee, we would be less-prone to extortion from the 1%.