Browse Month

April 2020

Will America 2.0 see a revaluation of Labor?

Has COVID-19 softened Labor/Management relations?
By Dr. Larry Fedewa
(Washington DC, April 26, 2020) Entrepreneur extraordinaire Mark Cuban has coined the term, “America 2.0” to designate the new realities Americans will face as a result of the COVID-19 quarantine. One of those realities has been the highlighting of the interdependence of labor and management required to attain a successful business. In case after case, we have heard employers and business owners discuss the extreme measures they have undertaken to reduce the burdens on their employees as they face loss of wages and even employment. Their pleas for help have finally penetrated even the hallowed halls of Congress and the Federal Reserve.
Many are learning the lessons that John Mackey discusses in his account of the time when his Whole Foods store would have failed if not saved by the efforts of his loyal employees, suppliers and customers. (Conscious Capitalism, 2013) He discovered that the fate of his business was really in the hands of all those whom he had served so diligently. They had repaid his loyalty to them by proving they were also stakeholders in his company.

What will happen on Main Street?

Will there be permanent changes after COVID-19 is gone?
By Dr. Larry Fedewa (Washington DC, April 19,2020) The total shut-down of American activity will soon be drawing to an end, one area at a time. When we look around us at the world of shutters and silence, it may be worth thinking about this sheltered lifestyle and trying to project forward toward “a new normal”, that is, what effects might this time have on the future? We will look at several areas of American life: home and family, business, recreation and entertainment, and social trends – as a small sample of a very complex topic.
Home and Family Life
Perhaps the most significant experience of this period is “Shelter in place”, namely “don’t leave home”. This home-centered existence runs completely counter to a social trend of the entire society since World War II, the ever-increasing pressure of commercial and social activity drawing Americans AWAY from home, and therefore also away from family. The agricultural economy of previous eras kept people at home as their place of business and in fact involved all but the very young in the business of the farm. Urbanization pulled away first the father, then – as one effect of WWII – the mothers began to enter the work force. Finally, compulsory schooling pulled the children away from home.

Republican activist agenda for 2020 elections

Republicans have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to become the majority party!
(Washington DC. April 11, 2020 by Dr. Larry Fedewa) For Republican activists who would like to a plan of action for the summer and fall, I would suggest that they work to increase the Republican Party’s base. There are three constituencies which the Republicans need to capture if they wish to return to majority party status: black voters, Hispanics, and suburban women.
Black voters
a.    Background
Remember that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in 1863 and black Republicans were the first elected officials of their race during Reconstruction. This phase ended when the Democrats struck back with the Ku Klux Klan and began a reign of terror against southern blacks which lasted until Republican Dwight Eisenhower signed the Voting Rights Bill of 1957, the first victory of the civil rights movement.

How do we end this?

Employers must be part of the re-open strategy
By Dr. Larry Fedewa (Washington DC — April 6, 2020) Two weeks ago, we discussed “Trump’s huge gamble”, namely, his decision to follow the action plan prescribed by the public health experts rather than attempt to mitigate the effects of coronavirus with less drastic means.
To date, that strategy seems to be effective in reducing the spread of the disease to more or less manageable dimensions. The prevalence of cases seems increasingly limited to densely populated urban areas, most notably, New York City.