Robert Reich, you are one of the voices I follow as closely as I can. You bring clarity and hope, truth and inspiration. I look forward to reading your book.
My only complaint is that Robert doesn’t give enough credit to us Boomers. (Actually, I was born during WWII, so I am a year before the Boomers.) We actually did a lot! We ended the Vietnam war, ended the draft, passed the Civil Rights Act, allowed women to have credit in their names, killed sex discrimination in hiring (though Trump is taking us backwards), ended poll taxes, lowered the voting age, allowed men to have equal parental rights after divorce, opened shelters for battered spouses, stopped blaming women for rape (mostly), started the environmental movement, and did much more. Without all our work on social issues, our world would be a lot different. Let’s stop blaming our generation! Not all of us sat by and did nothing. Look at the April 5 protests. A huge percentage of the protesters were Boomers! We have been active for many years!
Donna, when we Boomers overwhelmingly elected that POS Ronald Reagan, we cancelled any good that came before. I’ve despised that bastard and all the harm he inflicted upon our nation all my life. I’m still ashamed of our generation for falling for his obscene bullshit.
Like hell 'the Boomers overwhelming elected that POS Reagan'! We hated him. It was the backlash against the counterculture, anti-war movement, civil rights, women's lib, and all the upheaval that rocked the 60s-70s, that motivated our parents generation and the blue collar and rural voters who were appalled at all that often violent social/cultural change who wanted the fantasy of a return to the shining city on the hill that Reagan so effectively sold to them.
BTW 'Boomers' is not a single or homogeneous 'generation' as is so often misrepresented. It was a long term increase in birthrate across 20 years and encompassed a broad and varied spectrum of cultures, subcultures, ideologies, belief systems, moral paradigms, political movements and blocs, and much much more. Often in fierce opposition to each other through any given short term period.
The ending of the movie Easy Rider always springs to my mind as representative of the oppositional nature of just one era in the late 60s.
Thanks!! You have just proven my point that the baby boomers are not a monolithic group. Many of us fought and won some hard battles in social justice. Some sat on the side. And some were actively against it. To say that the boomer generation failed dumped all of us into the same bucket. But your statement proves that this is not an accurate statement. We are a diverse group. Many of us fought for change, and we are still fighting for a change. Again when I look at these crowds that showed up on April 5, a good chunk of them have gray hair and are using walkers. We are pretty angry that the stuff we worked for in the 60s and 70s is being thrown away by a president who is from our own generation. It is indeed frustrating and depressing. I will be 80 this year. I thought these years would be time for travel and enjoyment. I thought I would be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Instead, I have to go out there again and fight for basic freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution. I saw a lot of signs that said that we are fighting again for the same things we’ve fought for in the 60s. It’s like we can’t believe that at our age, we have to do this all over again.
Yes... Some of us are still trying tio do good... We are even trying to keep independent voices ( like yours) alive because we care.. And some are even contributing financially to that end, even while our Social Security is being ripped away from us.
I respect you Robert, but maybe that blanket statement should be addressed in your next Coffee Klatch... Thanks Donna for your posts!
Can’t disagree with you about Reagan and the boomers. At the time, I thought he was the worst president ever (except for Nixon). How little did I know.
I was born in '54. Reagan was elected in '80. I think it was the "Greatest Generation" who elected Reagan. The millions of union members with pensions and homes in suburbia who felt entitled to cash in, who were born before '45 and were in their middle age and/or retired. Most of us "boomers" were still way too spooked by Vietnam to vote for that reactionary prick.
Reagan won 489 electoral votes to Carter’s 49. Boomers were 33% of the voting population and Greatest 29%. Boomers more than did their share of destruction. But nice try.
https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-1980 Reagan won 55% of age 45-59. Not Boomers. Reagan won 55% of age 60 and over. Greatest. Reagan won 55% of age 30-44, only a tiny portion of that age group were Boomers. Age 18-29: Carter and Reagan each got the same, 44 or 45 per cent. Save your "nice try". I was responding to your comment, "we Boomers overwhelmingly elected that POS Ronald Reagan". Your comment could not be further from the truth.
Fascinating! I was 17 and completely shocked when Carter lost to Reagan, after having worked on Carter’s re-election campaign. I was 21, studying abroad and even more shocked when Reagan was re-elected. Ever since I’ve been hard-pressed to understand the electorate, and why I think so differently. There are many factors but I ponder how, and how often, our responsibility as citizens is covered in schools. It seems truth, and respectful and constructive debate over issues, has gone downhill and over a cliff.
I was born in 1966, in the earliest years of GenX. I was able (old enough) to vote in 1984, and you better believe I voted for Mondale, not because I could tell you a single policy position of his, but because Geraldine Ferraro was his running mate, and I wanted to see a woman in the White House.
In my late teens - early 30’s, what I was aware of was “New Age” spirituality, and what I heard back then from people that might be considered “kooky” or worse, was that if we didn’t collectively change our behaviors as a society, shit would hit the fan, our ecosphere would be in tatters, and we could easily find ourselves in a devastated world due to human greed, destruction of the biosphere, and massive, massive inequalities and all the violence that comes from that. At this point in my life, I study the words and act on the suggestions of Robert Reich, Thom Hartmann, Lance Kunce, Heather Cox-Richardson, AND Marianne Williamson, and Caroline Myss, because I completely believe that a spiritual ethos cannot be divorced from politics. I believe that they are two sides of the same coin, frankly, and in fact, this understanding is expressed in Biblical writings as well. A small group (Israelites) were navigating how to live with integrity and compassionate humanity among much larger, more powerful- which absolutely encompasses economic and political power - groups. The laws they lived by were essentially socialist. They realized even then that power and wealth in the hands of the oligarchies of that day were dehumanising and invited destruction. So my social action today is informed by Reich and Williamson’s; Hartmann and the Bible. I don’t know how many other GenX’ers see things as I do, but this works for me, and frankly, it’s my religious and spiritual grounding beliefs that keeps me sane when I’m calling my Senators, marching with Indivisible, etc.
Donna, Boomers are awesome! As a Boomer myself, I remember my activist years. When the call came out for protest against the orange man, I didn't think twice ready to become "active" again! Boomers were busy and we did do a lot of great things for our country, but paraphrasing Monty Python, "But we're not dead, yet!" We Boomers will show up every time if it means we can get our country back and rebuild her better! Keep fighting, America! Stay strong and stay safe!
I don’t disagree with you. I think in this Robert is speaking out of personal disappointment. He has seen so much of his work stymied by malice, greed, opportunism and elitism.
You mention the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Guardian has a good article on what Johnson saw as the consequences of it.
Look, I think he’s spot on with his observations about our predicament. Yes, there are Boomers who are right wing and who do little to change things. But I disagree with his statement that our generation failed to do anything to improve our democracy or our sense of social justice. We cannot toss all of us into the same pile. It’s frustrating when I hear young people speak disrespectfully of my generation. We did a lot, and we still are doing a lot. Right now, I lead a group of about 30 people, mostly Boomers but alsosome older and younger members, who write postcards to Democratic voters each week. In eight years, we have written, at our own expense, nearly 55,000 cards. Judge Susan Crawford, who just won the Wisconsin election, said she was blown away by how effective these postcard groups were in getting out the vote. Do we win every fight? No. Do we give up? Hell no. Our inspiration is the Freedom Fighters of the Sixties and the French Resistance in the Forties. It’s discouraging to hear that Boomers have failed to effect any real change. Again, I definitely agree with Robert on many issues. But not on this one.
As a fellow boomer, I understand your pain and anger. And I applaud how hard you and your friends have been working. It’s heartening that you were able to make a difference in Wisconsin. Thank you.
If this or another country in its place rises again to become a pluralistic democracy, Dr. Reich will have been an integral part of it. Thank you, professor, for standing up to the endless stream of bullies who have confronted you throughout your career of service, and for speaking on behalf of the ordinary person.
Yeah, we did, or at least slices of us did. But I remember an undertone of blue collar/small town resentment. Some guys volunteered but most got drafted for Korea then Vietnam. Not the college boys. My parents donated to the NAACP and HBCs but could not understand or tolerate Black Panthers. They saw no connection between Women's Suffrage and those annoying Women's Libbers. We had dispensed with corsets but not bras. The chasm between blue collars and college degrees was visibly, audibly growing in the 60s and here we are. We're our minds captured by liberal professors? Or were the values never translated? Or did we not see what was already happening?
Donna, I agree. Our generation isn’t a monolithic body that has failed the working class. Some of us have been committed to social and economic justice for decades, others have drunk the Reaganomics koolaid. The tension between these two wings is playing out today in an extreme way, with democracy itself at stake. Maybe so many people will suffer enough pain that they eventually realize that government, taxes, immigrants, trans people, and the latest bogeyman of the day fabricated by right wing media aren’t the cause of their woes, but rather the wealthy grifters running the show. Instead of being distracted by demonizing those at the bottom, maybe they’ll understand that the real villains are those at the top. My hope is that this can still happen within a democratic system. History shows us the violence that occurs when it doesn’t.
I am not a boomer but I applaud all the boomers who made up the majority of protesters at tesla dealerships, the boomers who walked beside me in protest last Saturday who also made up the majority, the boomers who read and comment on this substack and the boomer I am married to. I don't blame any of you.
I blame the ignorant, the greedy, the self-serving deplorable people who voted for Trump and voted for putting their own selfish needs and prejudices above human compassion, the rights to live freely and the right to have equal opportunities in life. I wish they all had some mark i could identify them by when I am out and about so I know who not to waste my time around, you know like the old Irish saying if we can't change their hearts at least we can recognize them by their limping"...sort of thing.
I totally agree, Karen. We are not a single monolith. Some of my Boomer cohorts are very strong Trumpers. So I know firsthand that everybody who was born in the 1950s does not carry the same values. Sometimes I wonder what happened to some of those in my Boomer generation who lived through all this change and then made a hard right turn. At first, I thought maybe it’s only the people who managed to get wealthy. But I know of others who are still living paycheck to paycheck and still think that Donald Trump is their savior. They failed to realize that he is actually in it just for himself, and they are not one of the people sitting on the big golden yacht. In fact, they are being dragged behind as chum for the sharks.
I was just going to comment as well on this... My mother went to the first Earth Day and then we had a brick in our toilet for as long as I can remember... She taught us to care for the environment which I have championed my whole life... I have seen all ages come into our area and trash the place over and over again. I will be interested to read how you feel the Boomers were a failure and will keep an open mind, but we all have to be careful about stereotyping.
As a sidenote, I hope your book is not banned by library censorship under Trump regime, as many more people will have access to your book if it is in a library - another resource Boomers took advantage of to procure "real" news...
Donna, as a Boomer myself, I agree with most of what you say, although we were most of us too young to be involved in the Civil Rights Act. Credit for that rightly goes to the Kennedy/Johnson generation. Still, I'm disappointed in a lot of my fellow boomers who have abandoned the values we grew up with and now vote for autocracy.
Thank you Michael, I agree. Robert is my first Substack read every morning. I follow all of his work and have the utmost respect for everything that he writes.
I thought as much, reading your comments every day. It’s good to know we both hold Robert in respect and honor. As so many others do. Thank you as well.
I read Professor Reich first, too, Keith! His posts are my first read every day and then I move on to Marc Nevas, Scott Dworking, Bowers Media, Dr. Trump, Mr. Rather and several others. These people keep me in the know about what the orange man is doing and help strengthen my resolve to fight harder each and every day!
Me too. I read both Professor Reich and Richardson first. Then a young man, Aaron Parnas , for instant updates as they happen. I enjoy all my 15 Substack subscriptions though.
Funny, i dont read him first. Rather i save his posts each day for when i’m getting despondent over some craziness or another, or just at the end of the day. He’s my anchor-read, a dose of sanity, sometimes optimism. Thank you RR, and yes, looking forward to reading your book from the pre-order on bookshop.org.
Yeah, I really follow what he says as it seems the most accurate. I do though think what Dr. Reich says here is incomplete. Trump won the election by lies. That has been Trump's only life long strategy. He lied about everything he did. He lied about everything Biden did or Harris said. It worked.
It was Machiavelli that basically said that the person (prince) that lies the best will win. The prince of the Democrats is the Constitution, an inherently moral document, so it's hard for them to use lies. Trump used them well and America is still drowning t in the lies from Fox and the rest of the Right Wing Media.
As for what Dr. Reich said here, that is the larger, longer thing. It is just more of the class war in a phase that started with the New Deal. The wealthy want to finish destroying that and believe they can also do a corporate takeover of America. Biden wanted to go back to the citizen democracy we had until Reagan made it a corporate democracy. When Trump won, the oligarchs won a major battle in their war.
As it stands now, I think there is only one way to save American freedom. The only moral authority powerful enough to overcome the oligarchs is going to be socialism and we need to get there as peacefully as possible, because psychopaths like Trump thrive in chaos. Real capitalism is about using capital as a tool of productivity. Every nation and government has to use that. The thing is that capitalism in America refers to ownership, not productivity. For self preservation, we are going to have to limit ownership. Maybe do what Sen. Warren said, raise taxes to 100% after the first $ billion. We cannot be fooled by the words. "Capitalism" is not a God and "Socialism" is not the devil. We need a system that works unregulated capitalism is leading toa system of slavery.
Let's not ignore the WONDERFUL book by Dr. Reich that's AVAILABLE NOW!!! Not only filled with valuable info about government and economics, but MANY REMARKABLE DRAWINGS!!
"Economics In Wonderland: Robert Reich's Cartoon Guide To A Political World Gone Mad And Mean"
My Grandfather---Gramps was one of the good guys, another Robert. He fought in the trenches in France during WWI, he was the gunnery sergeant of his regiment which was out of Fort Custer in Michigan. Gramps was a mountain of man who stood all of 5 foot 3 inches tall. Robert had a saying; "I can't make you do anything, but I can make you wish you had." My Grandfather was a man who lived by a code of honor rarely found in anyone today. Bob, you were very much like the man I grew up admiring, like your book he and you both came in a hard cover.
Professor Reich: OOOOOO!!!! i am SO EXCITED by your soon-to-be-released book! as an avid reader (of science, and more recently in the last 2 years, of history and (auto)biographies), this is the best news i could have imagined! this news alone made it worth crawling out of bed (for me, personally) on this terrible day, when agent orange signed an EO punishing the states' support for fighting the climate crisis. (welp, so much for states' rights, eh?)
"'They put me into a freezer': Trump’s ex-lawyer describes '51 days of abuse and torture'."
"Donald Trump's former longtime confidant and personal attorney recently went into detail about an ordeal he endured during Trump's first term, when he was incarcerated in federal prison.
In a Monday episode of the Jim Acosta Show on Substack, Acosta — a former CNN reporter — spoke with Michael Cohen, who was known until 2024, as Trump's personal "fixer", before he became the prosecution's star witness against Trump in his New York criminal trial. Acosta reminded viewers that Trump has repeatedly promised to go after his political enemies, and to use the apparatus of the federal government to do so. Cohen corroborated that threat by describing what he went through after he agreed to plead guilty and serve a three-year federal prison sentence between 2018 and 2021.
"I have been beseeching people to please listen, listen to what I'm trying to say," Cohen said. "I lived it. And I am only speaking from experience. When [former Attorney General] Bill Barr unconstitutionally had me removed from my federal location monitoring agreement program, and re-incarcerated and put back into solitary confinement, making it a total of 51 days of abuse and torture. They handcuffed and shackled me. They put me into a freezer ... My fear is, what they did to me, they will do to you." (Raw Story)......
Professor Reich, I look forward to reading this. Hopefully I can get a copy in Scotland. I will no longer buy from Amazon so I’ll wait till it’s released & see if I can purchase through a local British bookstore.
From my view America is in the state it’s in because of greed. Everything I’ve seen over the past 35 years has been about the goal of making money. Sadly you have a society obsessed with celebrity & wealth. And a society that has been manipulated to think that social welfare is communism. So very sad to have witnessed the America I once knew, decline into its current state.
Please don't buy anything from Amazon. I'd rather walk 10 miles and wait 10 months rather than give them another penny. Wish he didn't include their link.
"This is not a drill: Trump's new attack on America means no one is safe."
“Whenever law ends, tyranny begins.” —John Locke
"When a president declares an “invasion” to justify shredding the Constitution, he’s not defending the nation—he’s declaring war on democracy itself.
The United States of America has long been defined by its commitment to the rule of law. For over 240 years, this nation has stood as a beacon of justice, due process, and constitutional order. Yet today, we are witnessing a grotesque and unprecedented assault on those very principles.
Donald Trump, in his endless pursuit of authoritarian control, is now weaponizing a wartime-only power—the Alien Enemies Act—to circumvent legal protections, deport individuals without any due process, and imprison people indefinitely with no evidence.
This is an atrocity, an outright attack on the very foundation of our democracy, and it must be met with fierce resistance from every true patriot.
The Alien Enemies Act, a relic from the 18th century, was intended for use during actual wartime to address foreign threats. It was never meant to be a political cudgel for a desperate demagogue who seeks to inflame his base with fear and xenophobia.
Trump and his cronies, however, have now declared that migrants crossing the southern border constitute an “invasion,” an absurd and legally indefensible claim.
By invoking this law, they are sidestepping constitutional protections and rounding up people en masse, deporting them with no regard for individual circumstances, and throwing others into black sites without trial. This is not just an overreach of executive power—it is tyranny.
The administration’s blatant disregard for evidence is particularly chilling.
Thousands of individuals, many of whom have lived in this country for years or have fled unimaginable horrors, are being swept up with zero proof that they are gang members or threats.
Trump and his enablers do not care. They are deporting innocent people to countries where they face certain death, violating our laws, international treaties, and basic human decency. This is not immigration enforcement; this is state-sponsored terror.
Even more horrifying, Trump is ignoring court orders to halt these unconstitutional actions. He is deliberately undermining the judiciary, proving once again that he does not see himself as a president constrained by law, but as a dictator accountable to no one.
If left unchecked, this power grab sets a precedent that no American is safe from arbitrary detention." (Raw Story)......
I won't spend a penny to buy a book on Amazon and I hope to find it in Europe in a real bookstore with real sellers. But it is certain that I will read Robert's book who, without knowing it, has become in spirit, a close friend, because I read and share his comments in full every day and watch his video dialogue with Heather every Saturday morning (in Belgium) with enormous pleasure. Thank you Robert.
The link for preordering provided by Dr Reich at the end of his post today includes four options for online ordering: one is Bookshop.org, which contributes a portion of proceeds from every book sold to independent bookshops. For those of us who do not live near an independent bookstore, it’s a nice option.
Perfect! I was hoping someone would suggest which non-Amazon retailer to use. Now I'm worrying if we will still have a democracy come August. Or if books like this will have been censored. Worry, worry, worry....
"'It's going to kill all of them': Veterinarian slams Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bird flu plan."
"A professional veterinarian, on Thursday, dumped on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s plan to let bird flu rip through American farms.
Appearing on CNN, former Kansas State Veterinarian, Dr. Gail Hansen, explained why exposing every chicken in the United States to bird flu will not create a race of super chickens with broad immunity to diseases.
"Most of the birds that are laying eggs... are pretty much from the same kind of stock," she said. "So they're the same breed, they're the same type of bird. They're not quite clones, but they're pretty close. So if you've got disease that's going to kill them, which it does, it's going to kill all of them... and even if you have one in a million, you've got, you know, the rest of them that are going to die a horrible death." (Raw Story)......
Great recollection of America during your lifetime, Robert. Although I am 13 years older than you, we had many of the same experiences (I experienced first hand both the Great Depression and WW2) I was a late bloomer - didn't start college until I was 31. I look forward to reading your new book.
"We are not a cult — we're being buried under a nuclear-powered 'firehose of falsehood'."
"This second iteration of the Republican authoritarian regime that has taken over our White House has been a terrible assault to the senses. The one-after-another attacks on our economy, civil liberties, environment, government and benefits have been a helluva lot to deal with." (Raw Story)......
Thank you Mr. Reich. I offer my sincere hopes your book is a smash hit! I comment only that the working class you refer to is growing wider (in income disparity across the board) and deeper (in division with each other, and not willing to be MAGAfied into brainless drones). A thoughtful, intelligent and achievable solution needs to present itself. I am bigly disappointed that the democrats are sitting in a baby-circle, finger painting in their own shit (save a few).
Regardless, water will find its way and fill an empty container. Working class families will find a new entity, an acceptable affiliation that fights on their behalf in this constitutional republic of ours. It is neither a new or novel idea: the Democrats only revealed truly what they’ve become since the election - a belt buckle placard on the face of a dysfunctional, self-absorbed, unhelpful “intellectual” mass of people. Their star has fallen, but I will push and fight for the next one that DOES meet the political needs of the “90%” that desperately need it.
Robert Reich, you are one of the voices I follow as closely as I can. You bring clarity and hope, truth and inspiration. I look forward to reading your book.
My only complaint is that Robert doesn’t give enough credit to us Boomers. (Actually, I was born during WWII, so I am a year before the Boomers.) We actually did a lot! We ended the Vietnam war, ended the draft, passed the Civil Rights Act, allowed women to have credit in their names, killed sex discrimination in hiring (though Trump is taking us backwards), ended poll taxes, lowered the voting age, allowed men to have equal parental rights after divorce, opened shelters for battered spouses, stopped blaming women for rape (mostly), started the environmental movement, and did much more. Without all our work on social issues, our world would be a lot different. Let’s stop blaming our generation! Not all of us sat by and did nothing. Look at the April 5 protests. A huge percentage of the protesters were Boomers! We have been active for many years!
Donna, when we Boomers overwhelmingly elected that POS Ronald Reagan, we cancelled any good that came before. I’ve despised that bastard and all the harm he inflicted upon our nation all my life. I’m still ashamed of our generation for falling for his obscene bullshit.
Like hell 'the Boomers overwhelming elected that POS Reagan'! We hated him. It was the backlash against the counterculture, anti-war movement, civil rights, women's lib, and all the upheaval that rocked the 60s-70s, that motivated our parents generation and the blue collar and rural voters who were appalled at all that often violent social/cultural change who wanted the fantasy of a return to the shining city on the hill that Reagan so effectively sold to them.
BTW 'Boomers' is not a single or homogeneous 'generation' as is so often misrepresented. It was a long term increase in birthrate across 20 years and encompassed a broad and varied spectrum of cultures, subcultures, ideologies, belief systems, moral paradigms, political movements and blocs, and much much more. Often in fierce opposition to each other through any given short term period.
The ending of the movie Easy Rider always springs to my mind as representative of the oppositional nature of just one era in the late 60s.
Thanks!! You have just proven my point that the baby boomers are not a monolithic group. Many of us fought and won some hard battles in social justice. Some sat on the side. And some were actively against it. To say that the boomer generation failed dumped all of us into the same bucket. But your statement proves that this is not an accurate statement. We are a diverse group. Many of us fought for change, and we are still fighting for a change. Again when I look at these crowds that showed up on April 5, a good chunk of them have gray hair and are using walkers. We are pretty angry that the stuff we worked for in the 60s and 70s is being thrown away by a president who is from our own generation. It is indeed frustrating and depressing. I will be 80 this year. I thought these years would be time for travel and enjoyment. I thought I would be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Instead, I have to go out there again and fight for basic freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution. I saw a lot of signs that said that we are fighting again for the same things we’ve fought for in the 60s. It’s like we can’t believe that at our age, we have to do this all over again.
Yes... Some of us are still trying tio do good... We are even trying to keep independent voices ( like yours) alive because we care.. And some are even contributing financially to that end, even while our Social Security is being ripped away from us.
I respect you Robert, but maybe that blanket statement should be addressed in your next Coffee Klatch... Thanks Donna for your posts!
Can’t disagree with you about Reagan and the boomers. At the time, I thought he was the worst president ever (except for Nixon). How little did I know.
I was born in '54. Reagan was elected in '80. I think it was the "Greatest Generation" who elected Reagan. The millions of union members with pensions and homes in suburbia who felt entitled to cash in, who were born before '45 and were in their middle age and/or retired. Most of us "boomers" were still way too spooked by Vietnam to vote for that reactionary prick.
Reagan won 489 electoral votes to Carter’s 49. Boomers were 33% of the voting population and Greatest 29%. Boomers more than did their share of destruction. But nice try.
https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-1980 Reagan won 55% of age 45-59. Not Boomers. Reagan won 55% of age 60 and over. Greatest. Reagan won 55% of age 30-44, only a tiny portion of that age group were Boomers. Age 18-29: Carter and Reagan each got the same, 44 or 45 per cent. Save your "nice try". I was responding to your comment, "we Boomers overwhelmingly elected that POS Ronald Reagan". Your comment could not be further from the truth.
Fascinating! I was 17 and completely shocked when Carter lost to Reagan, after having worked on Carter’s re-election campaign. I was 21, studying abroad and even more shocked when Reagan was re-elected. Ever since I’ve been hard-pressed to understand the electorate, and why I think so differently. There are many factors but I ponder how, and how often, our responsibility as citizens is covered in schools. It seems truth, and respectful and constructive debate over issues, has gone downhill and over a cliff.
I was born in 1966, in the earliest years of GenX. I was able (old enough) to vote in 1984, and you better believe I voted for Mondale, not because I could tell you a single policy position of his, but because Geraldine Ferraro was his running mate, and I wanted to see a woman in the White House.
In my late teens - early 30’s, what I was aware of was “New Age” spirituality, and what I heard back then from people that might be considered “kooky” or worse, was that if we didn’t collectively change our behaviors as a society, shit would hit the fan, our ecosphere would be in tatters, and we could easily find ourselves in a devastated world due to human greed, destruction of the biosphere, and massive, massive inequalities and all the violence that comes from that. At this point in my life, I study the words and act on the suggestions of Robert Reich, Thom Hartmann, Lance Kunce, Heather Cox-Richardson, AND Marianne Williamson, and Caroline Myss, because I completely believe that a spiritual ethos cannot be divorced from politics. I believe that they are two sides of the same coin, frankly, and in fact, this understanding is expressed in Biblical writings as well. A small group (Israelites) were navigating how to live with integrity and compassionate humanity among much larger, more powerful- which absolutely encompasses economic and political power - groups. The laws they lived by were essentially socialist. They realized even then that power and wealth in the hands of the oligarchies of that day were dehumanising and invited destruction. So my social action today is informed by Reich and Williamson’s; Hartmann and the Bible. I don’t know how many other GenX’ers see things as I do, but this works for me, and frankly, it’s my religious and spiritual grounding beliefs that keeps me sane when I’m calling my Senators, marching with Indivisible, etc.
That wasn’t Boomers. It was the Silent Generation.
Donna, Boomers are awesome! As a Boomer myself, I remember my activist years. When the call came out for protest against the orange man, I didn't think twice ready to become "active" again! Boomers were busy and we did do a lot of great things for our country, but paraphrasing Monty Python, "But we're not dead, yet!" We Boomers will show up every time if it means we can get our country back and rebuild her better! Keep fighting, America! Stay strong and stay safe!
I don’t disagree with you. I think in this Robert is speaking out of personal disappointment. He has seen so much of his work stymied by malice, greed, opportunism and elitism.
You mention the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Guardian has a good article on what Johnson saw as the consequences of it.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/22/we-may-have-lost-the-south-lbj-democrats-civil-rights-act-1964-bill-moyers
Look, I think he’s spot on with his observations about our predicament. Yes, there are Boomers who are right wing and who do little to change things. But I disagree with his statement that our generation failed to do anything to improve our democracy or our sense of social justice. We cannot toss all of us into the same pile. It’s frustrating when I hear young people speak disrespectfully of my generation. We did a lot, and we still are doing a lot. Right now, I lead a group of about 30 people, mostly Boomers but alsosome older and younger members, who write postcards to Democratic voters each week. In eight years, we have written, at our own expense, nearly 55,000 cards. Judge Susan Crawford, who just won the Wisconsin election, said she was blown away by how effective these postcard groups were in getting out the vote. Do we win every fight? No. Do we give up? Hell no. Our inspiration is the Freedom Fighters of the Sixties and the French Resistance in the Forties. It’s discouraging to hear that Boomers have failed to effect any real change. Again, I definitely agree with Robert on many issues. But not on this one.
As a fellow boomer, I understand your pain and anger. And I applaud how hard you and your friends have been working. It’s heartening that you were able to make a difference in Wisconsin. Thank you.
If this or another country in its place rises again to become a pluralistic democracy, Dr. Reich will have been an integral part of it. Thank you, professor, for standing up to the endless stream of bullies who have confronted you throughout your career of service, and for speaking on behalf of the ordinary person.
Yeah, we did, or at least slices of us did. But I remember an undertone of blue collar/small town resentment. Some guys volunteered but most got drafted for Korea then Vietnam. Not the college boys. My parents donated to the NAACP and HBCs but could not understand or tolerate Black Panthers. They saw no connection between Women's Suffrage and those annoying Women's Libbers. We had dispensed with corsets but not bras. The chasm between blue collars and college degrees was visibly, audibly growing in the 60s and here we are. We're our minds captured by liberal professors? Or were the values never translated? Or did we not see what was already happening?
I second that! Not bad for a failed species though.
Donna, I agree. Our generation isn’t a monolithic body that has failed the working class. Some of us have been committed to social and economic justice for decades, others have drunk the Reaganomics koolaid. The tension between these two wings is playing out today in an extreme way, with democracy itself at stake. Maybe so many people will suffer enough pain that they eventually realize that government, taxes, immigrants, trans people, and the latest bogeyman of the day fabricated by right wing media aren’t the cause of their woes, but rather the wealthy grifters running the show. Instead of being distracted by demonizing those at the bottom, maybe they’ll understand that the real villains are those at the top. My hope is that this can still happen within a democratic system. History shows us the violence that occurs when it doesn’t.
I am not a boomer but I applaud all the boomers who made up the majority of protesters at tesla dealerships, the boomers who walked beside me in protest last Saturday who also made up the majority, the boomers who read and comment on this substack and the boomer I am married to. I don't blame any of you.
I blame the ignorant, the greedy, the self-serving deplorable people who voted for Trump and voted for putting their own selfish needs and prejudices above human compassion, the rights to live freely and the right to have equal opportunities in life. I wish they all had some mark i could identify them by when I am out and about so I know who not to waste my time around, you know like the old Irish saying if we can't change their hearts at least we can recognize them by their limping"...sort of thing.
I totally agree, Karen. We are not a single monolith. Some of my Boomer cohorts are very strong Trumpers. So I know firsthand that everybody who was born in the 1950s does not carry the same values. Sometimes I wonder what happened to some of those in my Boomer generation who lived through all this change and then made a hard right turn. At first, I thought maybe it’s only the people who managed to get wealthy. But I know of others who are still living paycheck to paycheck and still think that Donald Trump is their savior. They failed to realize that he is actually in it just for himself, and they are not one of the people sitting on the big golden yacht. In fact, they are being dragged behind as chum for the sharks.
Exactly!!!! But we still get blamed for everything that is caused by corporate America and the billionaires. I’m sick of it!
I was just going to comment as well on this... My mother went to the first Earth Day and then we had a brick in our toilet for as long as I can remember... She taught us to care for the environment which I have championed my whole life... I have seen all ages come into our area and trash the place over and over again. I will be interested to read how you feel the Boomers were a failure and will keep an open mind, but we all have to be careful about stereotyping.
As a sidenote, I hope your book is not banned by library censorship under Trump regime, as many more people will have access to your book if it is in a library - another resource Boomers took advantage of to procure "real" news...
Donna, as a Boomer myself, I agree with most of what you say, although we were most of us too young to be involved in the Civil Rights Act. Credit for that rightly goes to the Kennedy/Johnson generation. Still, I'm disappointed in a lot of my fellow boomers who have abandoned the values we grew up with and now vote for autocracy.
Damn right!
Thank you Michael, I agree. Robert is my first Substack read every morning. I follow all of his work and have the utmost respect for everything that he writes.
I thought as much, reading your comments every day. It’s good to know we both hold Robert in respect and honor. As so many others do. Thank you as well.
You two aren't the only ones. Dr. Reich has become one of my heroes.
Maureen, That would make you three, and us four, and many more. :-)
I read Professor Reich first, too, Keith! His posts are my first read every day and then I move on to Marc Nevas, Scott Dworking, Bowers Media, Dr. Trump, Mr. Rather and several others. These people keep me in the know about what the orange man is doing and help strengthen my resolve to fight harder each and every day!
Me too. Smart guy.
Me too. I read both Professor Reich and Richardson first. Then a young man, Aaron Parnas , for instant updates as they happen. I enjoy all my 15 Substack subscriptions though.
Funny, i dont read him first. Rather i save his posts each day for when i’m getting despondent over some craziness or another, or just at the end of the day. He’s my anchor-read, a dose of sanity, sometimes optimism. Thank you RR, and yes, looking forward to reading your book from the pre-order on bookshop.org.
Yeah, I really follow what he says as it seems the most accurate. I do though think what Dr. Reich says here is incomplete. Trump won the election by lies. That has been Trump's only life long strategy. He lied about everything he did. He lied about everything Biden did or Harris said. It worked.
It was Machiavelli that basically said that the person (prince) that lies the best will win. The prince of the Democrats is the Constitution, an inherently moral document, so it's hard for them to use lies. Trump used them well and America is still drowning t in the lies from Fox and the rest of the Right Wing Media.
As for what Dr. Reich said here, that is the larger, longer thing. It is just more of the class war in a phase that started with the New Deal. The wealthy want to finish destroying that and believe they can also do a corporate takeover of America. Biden wanted to go back to the citizen democracy we had until Reagan made it a corporate democracy. When Trump won, the oligarchs won a major battle in their war.
As it stands now, I think there is only one way to save American freedom. The only moral authority powerful enough to overcome the oligarchs is going to be socialism and we need to get there as peacefully as possible, because psychopaths like Trump thrive in chaos. Real capitalism is about using capital as a tool of productivity. Every nation and government has to use that. The thing is that capitalism in America refers to ownership, not productivity. For self preservation, we are going to have to limit ownership. Maybe do what Sen. Warren said, raise taxes to 100% after the first $ billion. We cannot be fooled by the words. "Capitalism" is not a God and "Socialism" is not the devil. We need a system that works unregulated capitalism is leading toa system of slavery.
Michael, you have perfectly encapsulated how I feel about Mr Reich. I too will be an eager reader of his book.
Try this one, Michael! It's GREAT!
Let's not ignore the WONDERFUL book by Dr. Reich that's AVAILABLE NOW!!! Not only filled with valuable info about government and economics, but MANY REMARKABLE DRAWINGS!!
"Economics In Wonderland: Robert Reich's Cartoon Guide To A Political World Gone Mad And Mean"
https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/economics-in-wonderland
Oopsie...
Just in the past few days this title has been placed on "Out of stock" status.
Typically with Fantagraphics, this means a short delay for restocking.
I am so grateful for Robert Reich's guidance/information I can trust, from the beginning of this madness. I definitely will get the book.
Isn't that the truth.
Your voice is the best one I hear about American politics. You are a truth speaker.
My Grandfather---Gramps was one of the good guys, another Robert. He fought in the trenches in France during WWI, he was the gunnery sergeant of his regiment which was out of Fort Custer in Michigan. Gramps was a mountain of man who stood all of 5 foot 3 inches tall. Robert had a saying; "I can't make you do anything, but I can make you wish you had." My Grandfather was a man who lived by a code of honor rarely found in anyone today. Bob, you were very much like the man I grew up admiring, like your book he and you both came in a hard cover.
Professor Reich: OOOOOO!!!! i am SO EXCITED by your soon-to-be-released book! as an avid reader (of science, and more recently in the last 2 years, of history and (auto)biographies), this is the best news i could have imagined! this news alone made it worth crawling out of bed (for me, personally) on this terrible day, when agent orange signed an EO punishing the states' support for fighting the climate crisis. (welp, so much for states' rights, eh?)
Yeah! "Agent Orange." It may be the death of us.
"'They put me into a freezer': Trump’s ex-lawyer describes '51 days of abuse and torture'."
"Donald Trump's former longtime confidant and personal attorney recently went into detail about an ordeal he endured during Trump's first term, when he was incarcerated in federal prison.
In a Monday episode of the Jim Acosta Show on Substack, Acosta — a former CNN reporter — spoke with Michael Cohen, who was known until 2024, as Trump's personal "fixer", before he became the prosecution's star witness against Trump in his New York criminal trial. Acosta reminded viewers that Trump has repeatedly promised to go after his political enemies, and to use the apparatus of the federal government to do so. Cohen corroborated that threat by describing what he went through after he agreed to plead guilty and serve a three-year federal prison sentence between 2018 and 2021.
"I have been beseeching people to please listen, listen to what I'm trying to say," Cohen said. "I lived it. And I am only speaking from experience. When [former Attorney General] Bill Barr unconstitutionally had me removed from my federal location monitoring agreement program, and re-incarcerated and put back into solitary confinement, making it a total of 51 days of abuse and torture. They handcuffed and shackled me. They put me into a freezer ... My fear is, what they did to me, they will do to you." (Raw Story)......
https://www.rawstory.com/rs-exclusive/michael-cohen-2671345223/
Professor Reich, I look forward to reading this. Hopefully I can get a copy in Scotland. I will no longer buy from Amazon so I’ll wait till it’s released & see if I can purchase through a local British bookstore.
From my view America is in the state it’s in because of greed. Everything I’ve seen over the past 35 years has been about the goal of making money. Sadly you have a society obsessed with celebrity & wealth. And a society that has been manipulated to think that social welfare is communism. So very sad to have witnessed the America I once knew, decline into its current state.
According to his site, the book can be purchased via at least three non-Amazon online outlets.
I wonder about his suggestion that we can order not from Amazon despite his selling his book through them?
I too hold him highest among the commentators that I read daily. It puzzles me.
Yes glad to see that but I shall wait & see if it’s available via a UK bookstore whereby shipping won’t be as expensive or dealing with customs fees.
Thank you Jersey Girl. We appreciate your words and your voice.
Please don't buy anything from Amazon. I'd rather walk 10 miles and wait 10 months rather than give them another penny. Wish he didn't include their link.
Most definitely won’t be. I also wish he hadn’t included them!
"This is not a drill: Trump's new attack on America means no one is safe."
“Whenever law ends, tyranny begins.” —John Locke
"When a president declares an “invasion” to justify shredding the Constitution, he’s not defending the nation—he’s declaring war on democracy itself.
The United States of America has long been defined by its commitment to the rule of law. For over 240 years, this nation has stood as a beacon of justice, due process, and constitutional order. Yet today, we are witnessing a grotesque and unprecedented assault on those very principles.
Donald Trump, in his endless pursuit of authoritarian control, is now weaponizing a wartime-only power—the Alien Enemies Act—to circumvent legal protections, deport individuals without any due process, and imprison people indefinitely with no evidence.
This is an atrocity, an outright attack on the very foundation of our democracy, and it must be met with fierce resistance from every true patriot.
The Alien Enemies Act, a relic from the 18th century, was intended for use during actual wartime to address foreign threats. It was never meant to be a political cudgel for a desperate demagogue who seeks to inflame his base with fear and xenophobia.
Trump and his cronies, however, have now declared that migrants crossing the southern border constitute an “invasion,” an absurd and legally indefensible claim.
By invoking this law, they are sidestepping constitutional protections and rounding up people en masse, deporting them with no regard for individual circumstances, and throwing others into black sites without trial. This is not just an overreach of executive power—it is tyranny.
The administration’s blatant disregard for evidence is particularly chilling.
Thousands of individuals, many of whom have lived in this country for years or have fled unimaginable horrors, are being swept up with zero proof that they are gang members or threats.
Trump and his enablers do not care. They are deporting innocent people to countries where they face certain death, violating our laws, international treaties, and basic human decency. This is not immigration enforcement; this is state-sponsored terror.
Even more horrifying, Trump is ignoring court orders to halt these unconstitutional actions. He is deliberately undermining the judiciary, proving once again that he does not see himself as a president constrained by law, but as a dictator accountable to no one.
If left unchecked, this power grab sets a precedent that no American is safe from arbitrary detention." (Raw Story)......
https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/trump-justices/?u=7b9efb3185bef2bd309f85021fcf366956aa9a477375b276f5af3843618fd1f1
I won't spend a penny to buy a book on Amazon and I hope to find it in Europe in a real bookstore with real sellers. But it is certain that I will read Robert's book who, without knowing it, has become in spirit, a close friend, because I read and share his comments in full every day and watch his video dialogue with Heather every Saturday morning (in Belgium) with enormous pleasure. Thank you Robert.
The link for preordering provided by Dr Reich at the end of his post today includes four options for online ordering: one is Bookshop.org, which contributes a portion of proceeds from every book sold to independent bookshops. For those of us who do not live near an independent bookstore, it’s a nice option.
Perfect! I was hoping someone would suggest which non-Amazon retailer to use. Now I'm worrying if we will still have a democracy come August. Or if books like this will have been censored. Worry, worry, worry....
I got rid of most of my subscriptions with Amazon except I do order when I can't get locally or within 30 miles.
I feel the same exact way. I survived before Amazon and I will survive without it.
I cannot say enough about how I support you and your position. You are my hero.
Agreed
"I came to understand, the “free market” is a misnomer, and little or nothing has trickled down."
We got the "Down".
But neve saw the "Trickle".
Source: Reverend Al Sharpton
Whenever you came out with a new book, you always gave my late father an inscribed copy, going back to Tales of a New America.
Will signed copies of your upcoming book be available?
"'It's going to kill all of them': Veterinarian slams Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bird flu plan."
"A professional veterinarian, on Thursday, dumped on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s plan to let bird flu rip through American farms.
Appearing on CNN, former Kansas State Veterinarian, Dr. Gail Hansen, explained why exposing every chicken in the United States to bird flu will not create a race of super chickens with broad immunity to diseases.
"Most of the birds that are laying eggs... are pretty much from the same kind of stock," she said. "So they're the same breed, they're the same type of bird. They're not quite clones, but they're pretty close. So if you've got disease that's going to kill them, which it does, it's going to kill all of them... and even if you have one in a million, you've got, you know, the rest of them that are going to die a horrible death." (Raw Story)......
https://www.rawstory.com/rfk-jr-bird-flu-2671368912/
Your hope, Robert Reich, inspires hope in me, especially when things seem so bleak and dark. Thank you.
“I love America and am proud of much that this nation has accomplished over my lifetime. I remain doggedly hopeful about the long-term future.”
Great recollection of America during your lifetime, Robert. Although I am 13 years older than you, we had many of the same experiences (I experienced first hand both the Great Depression and WW2) I was a late bloomer - didn't start college until I was 31. I look forward to reading your new book.
"We are not a cult — we're being buried under a nuclear-powered 'firehose of falsehood'."
"This second iteration of the Republican authoritarian regime that has taken over our White House has been a terrible assault to the senses. The one-after-another attacks on our economy, civil liberties, environment, government and benefits have been a helluva lot to deal with." (Raw Story)......
https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/firehose-of-falsehood/
Thank you Mr. Reich. I offer my sincere hopes your book is a smash hit! I comment only that the working class you refer to is growing wider (in income disparity across the board) and deeper (in division with each other, and not willing to be MAGAfied into brainless drones). A thoughtful, intelligent and achievable solution needs to present itself. I am bigly disappointed that the democrats are sitting in a baby-circle, finger painting in their own shit (save a few).
Regardless, water will find its way and fill an empty container. Working class families will find a new entity, an acceptable affiliation that fights on their behalf in this constitutional republic of ours. It is neither a new or novel idea: the Democrats only revealed truly what they’ve become since the election - a belt buckle placard on the face of a dysfunctional, self-absorbed, unhelpful “intellectual” mass of people. Their star has fallen, but I will push and fight for the next one that DOES meet the political needs of the “90%” that desperately need it.
Thank you again, and good luck. —rph