Mob boss

The situation at Delphi indicates that the 20th Century has been effectively repealed. Delphi's CEO Robert Miller is now making offers they can't refuse, Godfather style, according to the WSWS:

Reports have emerged about a work-to-rule slowdown at Delphi’s Lockport, New York plant, whose 4,700 workers produce radiators and other vital auto components. There is a growing sentiment for a struggle by workers to defend wages and working conditions that took generations to achieve.

Denouncing the Lockport workers, Miller said, “There’s always going to be a faction that thinks we’re still living in the ’70s.” He then directly threatened any workers who sought to resist, saying, “Any plant that wants to be at the top of our plant closure list should engage in industrial action as a way of sending that message.” He added that any disruption of Delphi’s operation would increase the likelihood that the company would terminate its pension plan.

An older gentleman down the street from me was having a moving sale over the weekend, selling a houseful of stuff acquired over the years. He's looking to move into an apartment in town, hoping to get by on his Daimler-Chrysler pension and Social Security. He figures he needs to get a job, even if it's just working checkout at Krogers, to make ends meet. In addition, his house hasn't sold yet. He said the first realtor screwed him over, and the new one hasn't brought anyone by yet. He said the market is pretty flat right now, which is pretty unusual for Ann Arbor. The American Dream seems to be crumbling all around us, while both major parties continue to insist that "globalization" is the solution. It's not--it's the problem. But the party leaders respond to people like Miller, not people like my neighbor, and the current situation has given Miller and his corporate mafia brethren near dictatorial powers over workers and even whole communities.