o Unions are attacked as part of the problem, not (as they could be) part of the solution to these challenges.
These are not because of market failure but rather because the system of orientation (the mindset) of leaders in business and government--their beliefs and the way they think--doesn't reflect an understanding of systems. Seemingly those in authority are oblivious to the fact that everything is connected to everything else and so they decide and act as if things are independent. Thus the unit of survival to them is them and their corporation. However this does not negate the fact that nothing is just individually separate and independent, even though we structure life in society as if things were--this is the root of many of our socio-economic crises.
So what we have are decision-makers whose decisions have influence on life in society yet they have: limited scope of concern; a view of the future as a linear sum of short-terms; and a relationship to people as objects having only instrumental value in service to their self-interest. We have business management with a myopic focus on results, especially those in the short-term, and correspondingly a preference for divesting not investing, coupled with decisions by elected government officials guided (if not directed) by their pursuit of their material self-interest. Thus there is collusion between moneyed interests of private business and political parties--it is a fixed system--that in effect diminishes if not disregards concern for the collective "we' of society (except of course in election years). So what does this get us? Kochan's list (above) is a short list but an important list of observations emerging from the system we've created.
It's a Tragedy
A few points on the list, when looked at together, suggests a deeper underlying dynamic. For example, companies investing far less than they used to in worker training, many jobs going unfilled because companies say they can't find workers with the skills they need and unions are attacked as part of the problem together indicate a shifting the burden dynamic is likely operative. In a Huffington Post article on skills mismatch Andrew Sum (Northeastern University Economics professor), concluded from his analysis of data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics there is no "credible evidence of anything approaching a shortage in manufacturing workers anywhere in the country." In the same article Paul Osterman, professor of management at MIT stated "firms are always interested in shifting the costs of training to the public sector." So what we have is moneyed self-interest trumping collective interest in the interest of maximizing self-interest--a real tragedy of commons.
A tragedy of commons is not merely the fact that we share a common tragedy. If the current situation was in deed just a common tragedy, then the institutions simply getting together--as Kochan suggests--to alleviate the common problem might be all that is needed. Unfortunately given the root cause of the situation, what getting together absent of proper guidance would do is provide opportunity for more collusion. This would lead to short-term symptomatic relief to appease the collective "we' of society while (hidden from view) the select group of individuals (persons and corporations) would continue advancing their self-interests ensuring the underlying dynamic remains operative.
But we aren't suffering from a common tragedy, what we have is a tragedy of commons where decision-makers see themselves as individual actors and fail to understand how deeply interrelated we are--concern is self concern not universal concern. What is not included in the decision-making is what we have in common: our humanity, our environment, and life itself.
Seeing Wholes Is
Critical
We are deeply and inextricably holarchically related, which means we shouldn't act as if we are independent entities each seeking to maximize (our) self-interests. We can't proceed as if we aren't highly interdependent and still maintain our viability. For example if we are team of people then the team is comprised of a network of helping relationships and if we do things that destroy these relationships then we in effect will destroy the team. In other words, we can't forsake our constituent parts--which are systems as well--and expect to continue to exist. We exist as living systems within living systems--wholes within greater wholes--and therefore we must think and act with this in mind.
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