While U.S. troops fight abroad, poverty increases back home

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Army St., Rm. 308, San Francisco, CA 9411C 16 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1990 American way are the young. Many of them joined the military only because they saw no better prospects.

Workers in the 25-34 age bracket earned 2 percent less in 1987 than they did in 1973. If the breadwinner had not finished high school, his or her earnings would have dropped a shocking 29 percent in these 14 years. This is partially because manufacturing jobs, protected by union contracts, have been replaced by hamburger jobs paying minimum wages.

Today, only 14 percent of the work force is protected by union contracts, and many of these discriminate against the young. They I 16 months for $3 ICH FOR THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION Heresh to the boysh over in Saudi (hic) AraDia... have "two-tier" clauses that give the newly hired lower pay than senior employees doing the same work.

The dream of owning one's home is fading fast for young Americans. In 1973, nearly 44 percent of 25-29 year-olds were paying off home mortgages. Now that percentage is 35 percent and will fall further. In California and other major markets, only 15 out of 100 potential home buyers can qualify for a loan.

Unable to buy, young veterans will have to rent. Here they will face grim prospects. Rents in major cities have risen much faster than wages. This means that as many as 78 million Americans are "shelter I 11 year for $6 poor." They have to pay from 50 to 70 percent of their income for rent. After the landlord has taken his cut, not enough is left to even feed the family adequately.

It is estimated that 40 percent of the homeless are working 40 hours a week but don't earn enough for minimum shelter. Thirty percent of the homeless are children. Millions of families who have shelter right now are only a paycheck away from homelessness.

Healthcare-at what price?

The young soldiers in Saudi Arabia may worry about their health, but not about their healthcare. When they take off their uniforms back home, however, they will stand naked before the medical industry. If they turn to the Veterans Administration for treatment, and their ailments are not service-connected, they will be turned away unless they are 65 and living in poverty.

They, will be offered private health insurance, but at prices they can't afford. So they will join the 30 million families who have no health insurance. With medical costs rising faster than even oil prices, they can faces charges of $1000 or more for stitching up a simple cut.

The sick worker's last resort is the county hospital. But medical care is not assured even there. Los Angeles County Hospital in California, which has been treating about 250 walk-in patients a day, Name Address City Zip Enclosed is a contribution.

— I'd like to become a regular Socialist Action sustainer. Enclosed is $ _ amount every _ months. every _ months.

I'd like to ioin Socialist Action. Send more to join Socialist Act Tel state and county have cut their budget by $4.2 million. Mental health budgets have been slashed even more, to the point where disoriented veterans of previous wars are left to wander on our city streets.

If our veterans try to escape poverty by getting more education, they will face more disillusionment. They will not receive the GI educational benefits their veteran fathers got after World War II. They will be offered onerous loans instead of grants. A young professional may start his or her career owing as much as $30,000 before earning a single penny.

With university fees soaring, the veteran may try the community colleges. But community colleges, like county hospitals are being starved. They are eliminating courses and and shutting down adult education programs. Meanwhile the failure of high school education is pushing the nation back to 19thcentury levels of illiteracy.

So long as American troops remain in Saudi Arabia, the quality of life at home will continue to deteriorate. Social services will be slashed still further to finance the war for cheap oil and feudal monarchies.

This is the wrong war in the wrong place. The right war is the political war on poverty at home. To mobilize the massive forces to win the war on poverty, we must first demand: No intervention in the Middle East! Bring our troops home now!

. I pledge this State

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.. Gorbachev's emergency decrees (continued from page 1: “Gorbachev uses emergency decree to ram through pro-capitalist laws”) ing to do with returning economic and political power to the dispossessed millions of Soviet citizens. Instead, it called for undermining the historic gains of the Russian Revolution by opening the dos: t0 massive foreign investment and private ownership of state land and property. it is slightly modified by Gorbachev, as is expected-calls for bypassing a direct confrontation with the Soviet people over drastic price hikes, at least for now.

The new proposal calls for making millions of Soviet citizens property owners to "give them a stake" in a capitalist future before the inevitable rash of price increases and removal of government subsidies take effect.

A New York Times editorial says the plan "would kill socialism," saying that it "deserves to be called the 'Capitalist Manifesto.'" Certainly it's understandable why Western capitalists and government officials are euphoric. They are the only ones