Working people need an association

My wife and I are retired - haven't worked since 2000.  The AARP looks out for the interests of retired people.

But who looks out for the interests of working people?

Working people include full time workers, part time workers, those who work at home, piecework workers, public sector workers, independent contractors, entrepreneurs, even bankers and elected officials.

In theory, working people are the bedrock foundation of the United States of America.  But who looks out for the interests of working people?

What are the interests of working people?  Primarily, to make a living.  But even more, to get ahead.  That's the story that made the United States great.  People worked hard and got ahead.  While some people will want to work several jobs, that shouldn't be a requirement.  A person who works full time, that is 40 hours a week or more, should definitely make a living.

Second, working people should be protected.  Accidents do happen, and if a person is unable to work for a while - or forever - due to sickness or injury, that person should be insured against loss of income until he or she can get back to work.  Workers should have access to health care to keep them fit to work.

Finally, working people ought to benefit from some form of retirement pension, so that a person who works from the end of school to retirement is provided enough income and health care through the rest of life.

There are other things that might be nice, but those three major items - adequate compensation, protection against sickness or injury, and retirement benefits at the end of a working career - can be thought of as the working person's bill of rights.

But who looks out for the interests of working people?

We need an AAWP - an American Association of Working People - to look out for the interests of working people in America.

What do you think?

A Rising Tide

A rising tide floats the megayachts of the billionaires, the cabin cruisers of the merely wealthy, the warships of the powerful, the outboards of the plain successful, the kayaks of the up-and-coming yuppies.

But a rising tide just drowns the poverty-stricken, for they have no boat at all.