U.S. Labor Secretary speaks at Berkeley
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 10, 1995 9:00 p.m.
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."
