Dear Commons Community,

Bob Herbert  wrote his last column today for the NY Times.  Mr. Herbert has been a voice for people especially the poor, minorities, and workers for eighteen years.  In his last column instead of a walk down memory lane, his theme is “Losing Our Way” in which  he comments on the fact that America always seems to be able to find resources to involve itself militarily anyplace in the world but cannot find the resources to build our nation’s people infrastructure.  He comments specifically on our current involvement in Libya as a time “when  the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young’.

Other important commentary refers to American income distribution:

“The current maldistribution of wealth is … scandalous. In 2009, the richest 5 percent claimed 63.5 percent of the nation’s wealth. The overwhelming majority, the bottom 80 percent, collectively held just 12.8 percent…A stark example of the fundamental unfairness that is now so widespread was in The New York Times on Friday under the headline: “G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether.” Despite profits of $14.2 billion — $5.1 billion from its operations in the United States — General Electric did not have to pay any U.S. taxes last year….G.E. is the nation’s largest corporation. Its chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, is the leader of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. You can understand how ordinary workers might look at this cozy corporate-government arrangement and conclude that it is not fully committed to the best interests of working people.”

His sign-off is that the corporations and the very wealthy will continue to do well. The employment crisis never gets addressed. The wars never end. And nation-building never gets a foothold here at home.

Best of luck Bob in your new endeavors and thank you for your commentary and insights.

Tony