U.S. Labor Secretary speaks at Berkeley
Reich warns grads of America that is 'growing apart'
By Michelle Locke
The Associated Press
BERKELEY -- Labor Secretary Robert Reich warned graduating students at UC Berkeley that they inherit an economy where the gap between the haves and have-nots is growing dangerously wide.
"Instead of an America that is growing together, the Class of '95 has been handed an America that is growing apart," he said Tuesday, speaking at the commencement convocation.
As college grads, the Berkeley students likely will be on the right side of that chasm, Reich said.
But he warned they may not like the world they find themselves in.
"There is no place to hide from the consequences of widespread fear and economic despair," he said. "America's successful cannot secede from a society coming undone."
Fifty years ago, graduates emerged into a country "percolating with possibility."
But as the country's economy base shifted from mass-producing goods to processing and distributing information, the assembly lines that once provided lifetime work for high school graduates disappeared.
In the last 15 years, the economy continued to expand but almost all growth in income went to the wealthiest 20 percent of American households, while the poorest 20 percent saw income fall, Reich said.
He cited a recent study by Professor Edward Wolff of New York University that showed by the end of the 1980s, the wealthiest 20 percent owned more than 90 percent of the nation's stocks and bonds and other financial assets.
In the changing world, education is dividing winners from losers, Reich said.
But Reich urged graduates not to become part of recent trends that have seen the well-off retreat to their own towns and even gated communities.
"We are witnessing a retreat from common ground not just from public parks, public transportation, public libraries, public schools, public universities but from the ... very idea of shared aspiration and shared responsibility," he said.
A college degree could be a ticket to secede, said Reich. "But let me urge you to resist ... you will not want to live in a society sharply divided between winners and losers."
For the losers, fear and disillusionment can turn to hate, he said.
Bridging the gap will take investment in the education and skills of Americans, he said.
"Do not tolerate what is now being considered in Washington," said Reich, taking aim at proposals to cut student loans, work-study programs and job training.
"America is an experiment. But it's not an accident," Reich said. "Doing better together creates the right conditions."