January 9, 2012 – RI Future

January 9, 2012January 10, 2012

Retail Stock Data Proves The Middle Class Is Imploding

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A close analysis of stock market data is an excellent bellwether for determining the financial health of the middle class. Despite the meteoric rise of the market since its bottom in 2008, there are very negative omens for the middle class if one examines the market data more in depth. An analysis of stock prices and company performance in the retail sector shows a middle class that is rapidly losing purchasing power. In contrast, the data also shows that the high end or wealthy consumer is doing quite well.

An investment strategy that has proved consistently successful in the retail space has been betting against the prosperity of the middle class consumer. Investors have successfully gambled that the middle class consumer will continue to be pushed down to retailers that have traditionally catered to the lower income American consumer. Some examples of these companies are Dollar Tree, Dollar General, TJ Max, and Wal-Mart.

Retailers that traditionally catered to middle class shoppers, such as J.C. Penny and Kohls, have been losing market share to the “bargain retailers.” This trend is a reflection of the change in the shopping habits of the middle class. Middle class shoppers are feeling less confident with their financial stability and consequently are trading down to cheaper brands.

In contrast, the higher end retail shoppers appeared to be quite confident with their finances in 2011. Luxury retailers such as Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks, Tiffany, and Lululemon saw a healthy demand from their higher end customers.

The data for retail sales in 2011 clearly shows that the purchasing power between the middle class and the rich is widening very quickly. This trend should be carefully noted by all Americans both rich and poor. One only needs to read a bit of history to see that a disappearance of the middle class is one of the final markers before the implosion of an empire.

January 9, 2012January 13, 2012

Save the Bay: “Grave Concerns” Over Polluting Waterfront Junkyard

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EcoRI reported while we were gone that Save The Bay has delivered a letter to the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) about “persistent violations of the federal Clean Water Act by Rhode Island Recycled Metals.”

“The scrap metals recycling industry is growing rapidly along the Providence waterfront — and with it a serious and ongoing threat to the Providence River,” [Save The Bay director Jonathon] Stone wrote in the letter. A lack of enforcement and regulation “sets bad precedent and sends a message to other businesses on the water that’s [sic] it’s OK to illegally discharge in Rhode Island.”

Some of you will remember the earlier promises of a green industrial future for Providence’s hospital adjacent waterfront… wind turbines, short-sea shipping, frolicking puppies (OK, not the puppies). Those promises were used by lobbyists to torpedo zoning changes that would have allowed for non-industrial uses to be mixed in with the few existing businesses. With higher density uses no longer in consideration, what we’ve seen instead is the proliferation of waterfront junkyards, to date the only new businesses to relocate to that section of the waterfront and a far cry from the green-washed promises of the polluting special interests.

Of particular concern for residents is the continued lack of action from the city and state.

“In the 18 months since the first violation was reported nothing has been done to fix the problems, [Stone] said. “I think one of the interesting questions is why DEM and CRMC haven’t enforced their own permits? I don’t have an answer to that”…

Save The Bay is calling for construction of a drainage system, a concrete pad for heavy equipment, and a fully enclosed plastic cover to control dust and keep rain off the scrap piles. The environmental group also expressed concern about the lack of public information about a temporary dredging permit for dismantling the aforementioned submarine that has “mushroomed” into other uses. [my emphasis]

Recall that the Mayor Taveras championed his role in bringing in these industrial uses, calling one earlier this year “a very welcome addition to Providence’s working waterfront” (note – working waterfront is the lobbyist preferred term for the polluting special interests). But with this news and with the exposed “Mt. Taveras” scrap pile at Sims Metal Management growing every day, one has to wonder why these environmental questions and the health of local residents weren’t first and foremost among the city’s concerns.

January 9, 2012January 9, 2012

A YouthBuild Providence Classroom Update

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I want to thank you for your ongoing support of and commitment to teaching and learning opportunities for all of Providence’s residents. And I invite you to learn more about YouthBuild Providence and ask that you lend your vision to our pioneering educational program for out of school youth as we transition toward a diploma granting institution.

What we are embarking on as a community is quite remarkable. Other states are already looking to Rhode Island and YouthBuild Providence as a model. Too many students age out of our public schools after a personal crisis. We are taking a stand by saying that young adults who have left school for whatever reason and want to return to the classroom should not be excluded from a brighter future. We are re-engaging drop outs by exposing them to new worlds, developing their identities as scholars, and sparking their engagement as citizens.

I am pleased to share that our students attended the preview performance of “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Trinity Repertory Theater. YouthBuild students gave the performance a five star rating.

We are building an ongoing relationship with Trinity Rep. A few weeks ago, on a service learning day, our students toured the theater. As we were leaving the building, one of the students spotted actress Annie Scurria and introduced herself. It was a sweet and inspiring moment. Our student and Ms. Scurria had a second chance to speak on December 9. After a standing ovation for their performance, the company actors met with our students in the lobby. It made our night.

Attending local performances has proven to be a vibrant educational tool. After seeing two shows, we have had dynamic conversations about what community means, and about questions of history, representation, and authenticity. You can see the impact first hand in student Ervin Figueroa’s video:

Our students are asking for more theater opportunities, which is a request we can’t deny. During our spring semester, YouthBuild will host a local playwright and retired theater teacher who will develop one act plays with our students.

We are proud to include Rhode Island’s Future as a friend and partner in the fight against anti-intellectualism, low expectations, and poverty.

P.S. YouthBuild Providence relies on individual donors to sustain our theater arts program. Bring history and literature to life, consider making an online gift to the Balcony Fund.

January 9, 2012April 12, 2014

Meritocracy or hypocrisy?

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A friend of mine just had a tragedy in the family—his grandmother passed away. It has been difficult for him, but the good news is that his grandmother lived a rich, full, and happy life and died surrounded by a large and loving family.

But talking to my friend really got me thinking about some of the major assumptions that inform public policy in this country, particularly the idea that America is a meritocracy. My friend’s grandmother was a very wealthy woman, and she left her grandchildren each with substantial trust funds (and by substantial, I mean substantial — as in as much money as I will ever make in my entire life if I continue in the non-profit/community organizing field).

We might think that a nation as deadset against “free handouts” as ours would try to restrict this most extravagant of free handouts. But the reality is quite the opposite — the United States greatly subsidizes these kinds of handouts by taxing capital gains and estates at a far lower rate than any other industrialized nation in the world. What we say in this country, in effect, is that it’s more important to ensure that a friend of mine on one end of the socioeconomic spectrum get wealth he did not actually work for than, for example, another harder-working friend of mine be provided with bus passes so that he can get to school every morning without having to walk nearly three miles through the winter chill.

It’s just hard for me to understand how folks can claim that legitimate social services designed to help those constrained by structures of inequality will create dependence and a lack of initiative, but the ability to live comfortably the rest of one’s life without doing a lick of work is alright as long as its restricted to those who are already greatly privileged. If anyone can explain to me how that can possibly make sense, I’m willing to listen. Until then, I will remain confused.