: 5 million is quite a generous figure, considering Henry Ford (no commie, he!) thought that the wage differential should never exceed 20 to 1. We're nipping at the heels of a 500 to 1 ratio now, a difference that would have shocked even a Ford.: In my opinion, greed itself doesn't give an adequate explanation for the soaring wage differential--CEO's take all that money because it's SAFER FOR THE SYSTEM than spreading it out equally. So, of course, Michael Eisner knows he doesn't need 500 million dollars, but having it in his bank account is much better than giving it to the worker's in Asia who might use it for leverage.
: It's not just a question of how much CEO's want but also what workers would do if the wealth was in their hands. The logic of capitalism DEMANDS that the workers live pretty much paycheck to paycheck, hand to mouth. Any more would give the workers too much power, and this would be true even with vast disparities in income and wealth.
I disagree. Our society is now one of consumerism. Think back to Henry Ford, he offered a $5 dollar a day wage to workers who worked in his factory. People were lucky to find half of that at other jobs that were just as bad (working condition-wise). His belief was that since he could make the model-t so cheaply he could afford to pay his workers higher wages, and witht he higher wages, they would be able to buy a model-t for themselves. It basically changed automobiles from being a luxury for the rich to a practicality that everyone could afford.
: We have to remember that our only power is labor power, and the only thing we have over the capitalists' is our ability to withold that labor power (i.e. go on strike). If the average workers had, say, six month's salary the bank--imagine the strike potential there!
Now, think about all those wealthy industrialists, many of them have enough money to survive for the rest of their life without any more income. Imagine what would happen if they suddenly decided to close down all the factories and liquidate their assets. It would be just as dangerous, if not more, than all the workers going on strike.
