Fair to Middling

  The new reality for the American middle class is one of anxiety and uncertainty.  In fact, middle class families in 21st century America are having to face problems that were once reserved for those living closer to the poverty line.  Plummeting house values, crushing medical bills, and mounting consumer debt coupled with a frighteningly stagnant job market makes for an increasingly precarious situation concerning the continued solvency of the middle class.  Furthermore, the strength of the United States economy itself depends on a strong and vibrant middle class.  To be sure, America is a middle class society, but perhaps not for long.

In predicting the life expectancy of the American middle class (and as a natural extension, the status of America as a middle class society), a worthy topic of exploration is that of social mobility.  During the economic boom of Post World War II America, it was easy for a single income family to afford a home and a car in the suburbs.  A new standard had been set, attainable for most Americans through hard work, reasonable bank loans, the GI Bill, and a little luck.  The decade marked the birth of the American Dream.  However, while the myth of an open American society was plastered on the magazine covers of the day, whole populations of America were operating in a closed system.  African-Americans were denied the same opportunities afforded to White Americans through denial of civil rights.  Sadly, in the sixty years since the hard fought battles of the Civil Rights Movement in America, not much has changed.  In fact, the unemployment rate amongst African-Americans at 12.6% has remained largely unchanged (Lecture 8/27/13).  If Weber were alive today, he would likely say that this was a textbook example of social closure.

  As the American experiment continues it is easy to see that the middle class is stagnating.  Fewer and fewer families are able to move into the third and fourth quintiles as shown in the US Census Bureaus chart detailing the Growing Spread in Family Income (Sernau 2014, Ch. 4).  Even fewer are those families able to move into the fifth quintile.  In the 1950s through the 1970s, attaining a new social class was much more likely.  Education, coupled with opportunities made this possible.  Those wealthiest individuals knew that a strong middle class buoyed their own successes.  However, as the 1980s approached the wealthy seemed to forget the importance of the middle class.  Seeking more profit and deeper tax cuts, they overreached, which began an erosion of the middle class in America.  The Great Recession is likely a direct result of the deindustrialization of America.  As America has said farewell to the manufacturing base, so could it also say farewell to the middle class.  

Additionally, it is little comfort that with this widening gap comes an increase in low paying service jobs and stagnant rates of minimum wage.  Credentialism is alive and well in America.  While it may be beyond the scope of this essay to fully explore the lack of jobs for recent college graduates (especially in their chosen fields), it is disheartening to look at the available jobs on the OSU job boards only to find entry level jobs that require a master’s degree yet only pay $14 an hour.  It hardly seems worth the effort.  However, foregoing higher education often results in finding employment in a classic dead-end job situation.  As an example, we can consider employment with the United States Postal Service.  What was once a great organization for non-college educated people to get a job which provided health insurance, retirement, and a decent living wage has become nothing more than a glorified temp agency with decreasing wages and benefits.

Also, it is true that poverty is relative.  The poor in America are better off than in most of the developing world where 2 billion people live on less than $2 a day.  Hans Rosling depicts this reality in his TED Talk, where he explains that 5 billion people of the 7 billion people on planet Earth don’t own a washing machine (Lecture 9/17/13).  It is a sobering notion to consider that outside of America and the developed West, people are still washing their clothes in a river.  Of course, this is just one indicator of how the rest of the world lives.  This doesn’t even begin to address the problems of malnutrition, lack of health care, or other vital aspects of life.  How can we begin to address the real issues of global poverty when so many of us are insulated from the true consequences and challenges?

Marxist thought suggests that we are divided into owners and non-owners.  His theories were revolutionary at the time and continue to inform arguments for and against capitalism (or socialism, depending on which side of the fence you are on), but they are too black and white to be of any real use in todays complicated economic and social climate.  There are far too many factors to consider given the rise of technology and it’s enormous affect on the workers of the world.  Further, globalization (something that Marx could not have foreseen) complicates matters even more.

Finally, the question must be answered––if America is a middle class society, why is there so much poverty?  These days, in many political and social arenas, people will often say that poverty is a product of laziness.  This is a fallacy, and mostly serves as a convenient salve for a troubled conscience.  Poverty exists because of a systematic exploitation of the less fortunate, less connected, and less educated.  The wealthy have become so by standing on the backs of the poor.  Further, the concept of social reproduction says that they will remain so.  Interestingly, it is likely that the wealthy wants (needs?) the middle class to disappear.  After all, the poor fulfill a variety of important roles in society.  In fact, sociologist Herbert Gans states that there are no less than fifteen roles that the poor fulfill (Gans, Positive Functions of Poverty).  It would be far too simplistic to repeat the adage that “the world needs ditch diggers, too” but it’s a notion that the wealthy sometimes seem to identify with.

What is to be done to preserve America as a middle class society?  Of course, there are many possible solutions––nearly all of them requiring a sacrifice from the wealthy (specifically regarding their precious bottom lines).  One suggestion includes returning America’s manufacturing base to urban centers on our soil, rather than in foreign countries (as globalization and the ever increasing need for profit require), and paying those American workers a decent living wage.  Finally, as stated in the beginning of this essay a countries economy is only as strong as it’s middle class.  For the future success of America, some sacrifices must be made.  I suggest we start at the top.

Sernau, Scott. 2014. Social Inequality in a Global Age. Los Angeles: Sage Publications

Gans, Herbert J. 1972. “The Positive Functions of Poverty”. The American Journal of Sociology 78, No.2: 257-289. Accessed via Carmen.

Dwyer, Dr. Rachel. Lecture “Poverty”. 9/17/13.

Lecture “Wealth and Elites”. 9/26/13.

Lecture. “Theories of Social Stratification”. 8/27/13.

Bhopal

The Bhopal Gas Leak

Introduction: Union Carbide and Bhopal

The ruins of the Union Carbide plant still loom over the slums of Bhopal, India nearly three decades after the horrific events that occurred on the night of December 2nd, 1984. The skeletal frame of the factory stands as a grim reminder of the gas leak that killed an estimated 8000 people overnight, and consequently contributed to the deaths or chronic health problems of possibly hundreds of thousands more (Broughton, 2005). While there is no doubt that the deaths associated with the world’s worst industrial disaster were a direct result of the inhalation of methyl isocyanate gas (MIC), there was perhaps a more insidious poison at work that night––exploitation of an impoverished, disadvantaged people reinforced by class inequality and the caste system of India.
     When, in 1979, multinational corporation Union Carbide opened their pesticide plant in Bhopal, the company was welcomed with open arms. The jobs that the plant would provide were difficult to pass up for the impoverished people of Bhopal. Further, Union Carbide’s business model was a beneficial one for the people of Bhopal and the company itself. Union Carbide would produce the “miracle pesticide” Sevin and the impoverished primary sector farmers of India would purchase and use the product, increasing their crop yield and profit. Union Carbide could make millions, while the farmers of India could feed millions. Additionally, the factory offered the best wages in a town where work was difficult to find. Everyone would win.

However, by 1984, drought was widespread in India, making it impossible for the financially suffering Indian farmers to afford Union Carbide’s product. Over the course of 4 years, the plant in Bhopal had become a tremendous financial liability. In an effort to cut costs, an entire third of the workforce at the plant (including half of the supervisory team) was fired, resulting in essential safety systems being scaled back. This corporate penny pinching would ultimately set off a chain reaction of irresponsibility that led to the deaths of thousands of Indian people.

Making Matters Worse: Internal Colonialism and the Caste System

In an exploration of how social inequality magnified the tragedy of the Bhopal gas leak, it is important to consider how the caste system in India affected the people that lived near, or worked in, the Union Carbide plant. Applying Robert Blauner’s model of internal colonialism (Sernau 2014, Chap. 5), we can see how the exploitation of a disadvantaged internal population resulted in the unnecessary deaths of thousands. When an entire population, such as the “untouchables” in the Indian caste system, are denied basic participation in their government, restricted in their freedom of movement, subjected to colonial-style labor exploitation, and basically regarded as inferior, their chances for upward social mobility are severely limited (Sernau 2014, Chap. 5). Such conditions of social reproduction leads to situations exactly like the one in Bhopal. With institutional oppression like the caste system, employment options are few. Indeed, there is little question as to the motives of a multinational corporation choosing to operate in a densely populated area like Bhopal, instead of building in a relatively uninhabited (and far safer) area. The potential for exploitation of cheap labor, infrastructure, and profit proved too difficult for them to pass up. Further, the Indian government, eager to become major players on the world’s economic stage, had extremely relaxed zoning and environmental regulations making Bhopal an attractive operations site (Malini, 2005).

Illustrative of the concept of spatial inequality (Lecture, 11/7/2013), consider that in 1984, there were 20,000 people living directly under the shadow of the Union Carbide plant (One Night in Bhopal 2004). Resource inequality results in people living in shanty towns and the surrounding “Old City”. These were people living in abject poverty, most surviving on less than $1 dollar a day. Conversely, the Americans that were employed at Union Carbide (and the Indian supervisory and administrative staff) had access to special advance warning plans and resources that the dwellers of the shanty towns did not. This divide further served to seal the fates of those that died that night. 

The Worst Plan is No Plan At All: How Union Carbide and Local Authorities Failed

There were a number of safety measures that failed that night. They were simple safeguards that, if operable, would have averted the world’s worst industrial disaster. First, a refrigeration unit that was turned off would have kept the MIC from overheating and forming into a gas. Additionally, as the gas leak began, an alarm that would have alerted the people living in the area of the impending danger, was manually disabled––to prevent panic. Finally, a flare tower could have burned off the deadly gas before it drifted into the slums––if it had been in operation (One Night in Bhopal, 2004).

As it became clear that the gas cloud was spreading into the shantytown, Union Carbide did nothing. No call was made to the local authorities. Even if a simple phone call would have been made, it probably would not have helped. There had been no precautions taken, or provisions made, for such a catastrophic event. In Union Carbide’s corporate egotism, they were sure that their technology was sound, while rendering it useless by switching the power off. 

A basic emergency response plan would have saved thousands of lives, but there was nothing like that in place. According to a staff doctor, who resigned after her many warnings to Union Carbide officials of the potential catastrophe were ignored, the company showed no concern for the impoverished population of Bhopal (One Night in Bhopal, 2004). As the poisonous gas drifted into the shantytown, people began to suffocate by the hundreds. Children were affected first, as the gas (which was heavier than air) settled closer to the ground. As people began to run away from the affected area, several hundred more were killed in the stampede. When the poison cloud had dissipated in the morning, thousands had died. The official number was difficult to ascertain, due to the poor social infrastructure. Today, it is generally agreed that the loss of life was near 3800 people during the night of the leak. However, it is estimated that 16,000 additional deaths have occurred as a result of the gas leak in the decades that followed (Broughton, 2005).

Most of these deaths could have been avoided. According to medical officials in Bhopal, a few simple steps could have been taken to prevent the catastrophe (One Night in Bhopal, 2004). An alarm could have alerted the people, and awakened them from sleep. A few extra minutes would likely have made a significant difference. Wet blankets hung over doors and windows would have lessened the impact of the gas. Finally, if people would have been told to stay indoors, or alternatively, to flee in the opposite direction of the wind, the loss of life would have been significantly reduced.

Aftermath: A Legacy of Death and Denial

In the first days following the gas leak, Union Carbide officials denied the impact of it’s system malfunction and the MIC gas. Company doctors said that the conditions of the survivors would improve with treatment, and that the environmental impact would be limited (One Night in Bhopal, 2004). Warren Anderson, the CEO of Union Carbide in India, was arrested for manslaughter, but through intervention of the United States government, was released on bail the same day. He fled to the United States, and has never admitted culpability for the tragedy (Broughton, 2005).

In Bhopal today, there is a disproportionate incidence of skin, lung, and gastrointestinal cancer. Additionally, the rates of miscarriage in women are seven times that of other populations in India. Genetic birth defects in the children of Bhopal manifest as poor coordination, blindness, memory loss, and impaired immune systems. It is estimated that 500,000 people have been affected by the tragedy (Broughton, 2005). Generations have been left crippled by illness, leaving them unable to work, further compromising their social mobility.

In 2010, seven former Union Carbide officials were found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $2000 in fines. Additionally, the population of affected people in Bhopal were awarded the equivalent of $2200 each. Dow Chemical, the parent company of Union Carbide, claims that they have learned important safety lessons as a result of the disaster in Bhopal.

It is clear that the Bhopal disaster was the product of a capitalist, corporatist system which puts profit before human life by exploiting global inequality. As the tide has slowly changed in our own country, corporate interests must seek to improve their profit margins by setting up shop in developing countries that are hungry for American dollars. Unfortunately, the people of such industrializing countries rarely benefit. More often, the presence of a multinational corporation causes more trouble than it’s worth. Sadly, in the case of Bhopal, the cost is a lasting debt of death and illness.

Works Cited

Broughton, Edward. "The Bhopal Disaster and Its Aftermath: A Review." Environmental Health. N.p., 10 May 2005. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://www.ehjournal.net/content/4/1/6>.

Malini, Nair. "Bhopal Gas Tragedy - A Social, Economic, Legal, and Environmental Analysis." Texas A&M, 10 Dec. 2005. Web. <http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/37856/1/>.

One Night in Bhopal. BBC, 2004.

Sernau, Scott, and Scott Sernau. "Chapter 5." Social Inequality in a Global Age. Los Angeles: SAGE/Pine Forge, 2011. N. pag. Print.