Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

These unconscionable practices in the name of ever more profits are not only having a negative impact on the quality of life of the poor and middle-class, but often, literally, sacrifice their very lives, as we’ve seen in an increasing number of cases, as in the coal mine disaster in Kentucky that took the lives of 29 coal miners, and the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico less than a month later, that took the lives of 11 oil workers.  Both of these “accidents” were avoidable, and due to reckless penny-pinching by the corporations.

What the corporate community is calling “unfortunate accidents” are not accidents at all. They’re actually the corporate community’s reckless response to the new global economy – and it’s having a devastating impact on the American middle-class standard of living, and an even worse impact on the poor.

What we once thought of as American corporations have now become international in scope. They have no loyalty to any one nation, nor do they have any respect for any geographical boundary. They’re now competing with countries that pay their workers less per week than many American workers spend on lunch per day. As a result, the American middle-class standard of living has become a liability and is under an aggressive assault by both the corporate and governmental establishment.

Something has to be done, so in response to this attack on our quality of life I’ve recently become associated with three gentlemen who share my belief that it is essential that the middle-class beat back this assault by every means at our disposal. These gentlemen include the following:

• Lewis Maltby: Attorney, author (Can They Do That?), and former president of the worker’s Rights Division of the ACLU. Lew is also current president of the National Workrights Institute.
• Dr. Steve Musacco: Therapist, author (Beyond Going Postal), occupational psychologist, and 30-year veteran of the postal service, retired. Steve was involved in the development and implementation of both the Voice of the Employee Program and the Employee Assistance Program for the U.S. Postal Service.
• Rick Owens: Publisher of the Postal Employee Network. Rick’s publication reaches the workforce of the postal service’s 600,000 employees.
• My name is Eric Wattree. I’m an author (A Message From the Hood), and I write a political column called Beneath the Spin. My column is carried in the Los Angeles Sentinel, New York’s Black Star News, and several other publications in America’s heartland. I’m also a staff writer for VT – a publication that is global in scope.

We’ve come together to establish a non-partisan organization called CARMA (Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse). We’re currently in the process of developing a database to increase our numbers. We intend to consolidate and flex the political clout of poor and middle-class workers in a way that will be impossible for politicians, unions, and the corporate media to ignore. We also intend to use our clout to address the reckless assault on the poor and middle-class through both political action, and in the courts.

Religious bigotry: It’s not that I hate everyone who doesn’t look, think, and act like me – it’s just that God does.

Eric L. Wattree

Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, The Black Star News in New York, and a Staff writer for Veterans Today. He’s also the author of A Message From the Hood.