By 1991, it was down to 9.2 percent, while the corporate share of state and local taxes stayed about what it was in 1965. These states and municipalities are so desperate for decent jobs that they bid against one another in offering subsidies to bring in plants. Even in states like California, with a well-organized revolt against local taxation, the tax burden increases while the services that such revenues are supposed to underwrite continue to decline. The drying up of public moneys means that for those who must depend on inadequate and demoralized public education, a national postal service that loses mail and is overburdened, and unresponsive police forces, living in America is an increasingly different experience from what it is for those who can afford private schools, Federal Express, security guards and other amenities provided by the great growth industry of the nineties, the privatization of public services. More and more Americans now fear they will lose their job and the anchor it represents.
Pensions are dangerously under funded.
For millions of individuals who once had the expectation of lifetime employment and for communities with expectations of a secure economic base, what is disappearing is not just an income and lifestyle but trust in the corporation, a basic American institution that for years provided security and a sense of self worth and purpose for millions of people. Good news for people is bad news for corporate investors. When employment goes up the stock market tends to go down, because of fears of inflation. The link between unemployment and increased family stress, child abuse, alcoholism, suicide and mental illness has been well documented in many studies. This lack of security is undermining a whole set of beliefs and expectations about opportunity, equality and community on which democratic hopes are based.