Thank you, Professor Reich. We share many memories of the shameful McCarthy Era including viewing the HUAAC hearings on a matchbook-size TV and favouring Stevenson over Ike. It is the ghost of Joe McCarthy and the shade of Roy Cohn that I see leading the full-out FASCIST PUTSCH of today's Republican Party. The history you review on this podcast is essential for today's voters to know. Nothing happens in a political vacuum and McCarthy-ism is the missing context for today's"digital and quantum age voters. PAST IS PROLOGUE - and also Epitaph - if knee-jerk , un-informed "conservative" voters choose ignorance of their own history over the long view that sees in both directions and understands that Fascism eventualy destroys everyone in its path. Trump is ignorant of the very tyranny he thinks he wants to unleash on America because he can only see his own infinitesimal personal context.
Voters who support him will find themselves abandoned by him. But by then, they will have none of the Constitutional protections of Democracy to save them because they will have traded away their Freedom for a set of false promises Trump will never fulfill for the simple reason that, to him, they are all just "useful idiots" - as he himself is to the Corporate Fascists who use him to overthrow Democracy.
Terri, you have said a serious truth. Donald Trump truly has no idea of what he is doing. In addition to the beginnings of dementia I believe he is suffering, he can't see into the future and predict anything accurately. You are right that he can only comprehend his small space in the world and how he thinks he will respond. For some reason, his followers can't see his contempt for them and everyone else except maybe the few sycophants who have sworn fealty to him. How they don't see it still amazes me. I suspect they are not actually hearing what Trump says anymore and are going with the feeling of belonging or something they had when they first connected with Trump.
Ruth, One thing I’ve come to understand is that those to whom we could lose our democracy believe they are fighting for their freedoms. Whether due to rapid technological changes that increasingly have rewarded higher-educated workers over the less skilled, the shift in manufacturing from high- to low-wage countries that has drawn down wages, or some other such causes, the Trump base, in my view, largely perceive themselves as victims of modernity’s unevenly distributed opportunity and prosperity. I imagine such people who feel devalued and dejected would be drawn to one whom they seemingly perceive as a blue collar billionaire.
While I like the sound of blue collar billionaire, I think it's more accurate to see him as defiantly uneducated and deeply racist. Actual blue collar workers who have worked for DT correctly identified him as untrustworthy.
Ironically, the shift in manufacturing to both increased automation and cheaper labor in other countries, is never correctly identified by those who consider themselves victims as a CHOICE by the corporations themselves. Those choices are driven not by any kind of loyalty to their workers or the communities where they do business, nor by a desire to necessarily provide the highest quality product at the best price, but only to maximize profits, most of which only directly impact the financial accounts of executives and shareholders. This way of doing business also mirrors the narcissistic personalities of capitalists such as our former President, who says he values loyalty, but is always the first to abandon people who have served him if they are no longer contributing to his wealth and power.
David, I note you astutely have portrayed capitalism in its raw brute form wherein the majority suffer the worst consequences of it. Considering we know, albeit a reasonably productive system, that capitalism is not very good at distribution, still, we choose not to wed it to social democratic institutions that would contain its excesses and moderate its self-serving impulses.
We certainly do have some choice, however, thanks too the greed of those running the corporations and the politicians falling all over themselves for handouts, we, the people, have little on our side except to boycott. And in some instances even that is a hardship for he neediest.
I agree. But I hate the idea that we are sitting with our hands in our laps. From looking around, a lot of grassroots movements are building up. Maybe things are going to change ...
Straight talk, Barbara. You perceive the exact argument used by the MAGAs. They sincerely believe it is the government and 'welfare' that has 'ruined' their way of life. They don't understand how the wealthy have bilked them of their standard of living in order to obscenely enrich themselves. There are only two ways that I see out of this mess, train all the underemployed to the digital world so they to can benefit, or take Andrew Yang's advice and give every poverty level person in America $2000 a month. The problem with Yang's concept, it takes away the 'personhood' of the recipient making them feel worthless. I favor the the teaching of crafts and digital training and give everyone a livable wage (including the wealthiest among us) Every human being, of sound mind and body, deserves to be valued and be housed, fed, clothed, and educated to the extent of their need. Those who are not of sound mind and body need to be cared for compassionately and humanely, receiving the best medical treatments available. No one needs multiple mansions, yachts, luxury cars, airplanes and all the rest of the paraphernalia the wealthiest seem to acquire. Also a person should be valued for what they give to the betterment of the Earth, not for what they take from it.
Fay, While I subscribe wholeheartedly to your vision, my question is how do we make the transition? I believe we start with a more fulsome understanding of the January 6th insurgency.
In my view, what we saw on January 6th was the coming together of a normally fragmented spectrum across the far right (e.g., White Supremacists and Second Amendment rights protestors) united by a sense of both precarity and entitlement—the fear that something to which they feel entitled is going to be taken away and, in turn, given to someone who doesn’t deserve it. The “Stop the Steal” rhetoric, replete with massive disinformation about an illegitimate election and a broken democracy, predictably acted as the connective tissue that stitched together the various grievances and resentments, all be they slightly different across all the groups.
As for whether the chaos we are living through is the beginning of something or the end of something, in my view, the challenge for America today is whether it will continue to deny, evade, and avoid the emergence of ancient tribalisms that have been revitalized under the aegis of an uncontested, unevenly distributed runaway wild capitalism.
What has ruined their "way of life" is immaturity, childishness, selfishness and resentment. There are ways up - there are ways out. An utterly canonical Republican precept is that if they gathered together for each others' betterment rather than ruination, they might be able to achieve a better way of life. Such precepts are utterly foreign and antagonistic to the Party of Ressentiment. They only wish to smash. That is the SA reborn.
Barbara Jo, you have hit the nail on the head. I understand those who voted for Trump. The ultimate con man was able to convince them that he had their backs and was going to fix everything. Remember him saying, "I alone can fix it". I go back the Powell Memorandum of 1971 and the various policies by both parties and the Supreme Court that lead to the broken system we have today. Trump was the wrong answer to the right question. We must fix the system. A start would be to support the "We the People Amendment". Thanks to all the "likes" when I mentioned this before.
Rhana, While our thinking clearly is in synch and I unequivocally support the “We the People Amendment,” correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t amending the Constitution require a 2/3 vote in both U.S. Chambers plus 3/4 of the state legislatures. I ask because H.R.1 For the People, which passed in the House and likely would pass in the Senate were we to hold the House and pick up 4 Senate seats, seems more plausible.
Barbara, you're absolutely correct. That is a more plausible approach. There were other approaches recommended but I must admit I've been so focused on the Sarasota school board races I haven't kept up. Sadly all the DeSantis supported candidates won. I thought my attendance at school board meetings, beginning in 2016, were over and I could finally audition at our local comedy club. That plan got dumped! Must keep going if only to be a friendly face for the only gay member on the board. They are vicious in how they attack him. Still looking for a faith to keep :-)
Rhana, For what it’s worth, I have found that most of the things worth doing meet with repeated frustration and failure before making significant progress. Meantime, carving out some time possibly to appear at your local comedy club could be a really healthy outlet.
Exactly! However, the 'educated' are suffering the same fate! Technology is also facilitating the outsourcing and automation of jobs in higher paying fields like IT and Healthcare! By design, we keep fighting each other while our common enemy gains more wealth/power at our expense.
Yes, too much of the USA’s culture is based on competition rather than creative cooperation. I have seen ruthless competition sink many worthwhile projects that could have been successful if more-creative and egoless leaders were in charge.
In recent years, schools have started to prioritize cooperation over competition along with showing greater dignity & respect to one another, but the right can't tolerate that, so they are suppressing schools from teaching these values.
Conservative parents push this same ideology in school. Their child must be #1 in sports. Even if they take them out if school for private lessons. And of course the big push of religion into sports etc. The danger of this is staring us in the face!
'egoless' leaders reminds me of a "quote" DJT said at some point =
Ego is everything. If you don't have and use your ego, you're nothing. (paraphrasing). I've also noticed that the 'former' is a past and present
master - of the art of - projection. i.e. projecting his own flaws onto others
(part of the process of misdirection?). As for the concept of 'freedom' that
repuGs so make use of, I personally think it's 'freedom from' (obligation, scrutiny, accountability, ++++). There is little 'freedom' to or 'freedom' for in their dialogue/lambasts ~ ~ ~
No, thank you. We have to understand that we are all trying to figure this stuff out. Some of us have a better grasp on this but none of us has all the answers. The fact is that Americans and ppl all over the world are being manipulated and taken advantage of by selfish/greedy, so called 'leaders', and if it's not you now, it will be later! We're all in this together and our only way out rests in unification- coalition- power in numbers. But we can't come together if all we do is judge/convict each other. We have to have compassion and understanding to break through the BS and get to common ground. Too much judgement and not enough love/compassion, is the reason so many are leaving Christianity/religion.
People are leaving christianity because of the hypocrisy and non-sense in the bible. If you’re looking for compassion, the bible isn’t the place to look. Have you read it entirely? I think not.
It is not possible to reason with right wingers because they are living in a fact-free world created by racists and the cults if religion. Especially christianity.
So true! Unfortunately, they have no idea that not only was he born with a silver spoon 🥄 but he also gives to his other 1% friends at the expense of his followers.
Whereas in reality, Trump was anything but a "blue-collar billionaire" nor could he care anything less about those whom he or his stupid books and show has mislead.
Much of the blame for this misperception lies on the shoulders of Mark Burnett and his ridiculous lie of a reality show, "The Apprentice".
May Burnett join Trump, Stone, Nixon, Reagan, Cohn and every other neo-fascist who created or jumped on the GOP putsch-like bandwagon in their descent to their inevitable entrapment in the ice of the 9th circle. (Read 'Dante's Inferno' for the punishment of sinners who commit treason and betrayal).
T L, While I don’t discount the veracity of any of your remarks, I would note, as my prior comments indicate, that my focus principally has been twofold: 1) seeking to understand the appeal of this noxious, dare I say, evil to 35%, give or take, of the Republican base and 2) seeking to direct our engagement, our energy, our caring, and our work to making this brutality and barbarity increasingly marginalized, replete perhaps with repeated frustration and setbacks before making significant progress.
One night, playing cards, I mentioned how much I hated "The Apprentice," and to my surprise, another player, Black and middle class, replied, "I just love hearing him say 'You're fired!'" Go figure.
I hated the Apprentice for it's overt celebration of cut-throat competition, subtle encouragement of cheating and cruelty. It was a horrible, horrible show.
I think they see in him the slippery-eel they wish they were in life’s difficulties. “Take what you want. Might Makes Right”. Successfully obfuscate with the shrapnel of lawsuits paid for by “friends” you “do a service for”. They do not see a blue-collar anything except spite and pettiness. But it’s spite and pettiness that succeeds. It’s their wet dream. (Apologies for the disparagement of eels)
Michele, If you’re right, it would seem that holding Trump (and his coterie) accountable would be critical to cementing the public’s trust both in our institutions and in the idea that no one is above the law. Anything less, in my view, could result in utter chaos.
I agree. And I’m curious watching how hard it is to hold him accountable. This has been a front-row seat to the real way of our current system works. It has tottered along on norms and myth. But actual substance? The “justice for all” foundation seems to be built on quicksand. Seeing more robust (and I’m NOT talking overreach) implementation of justice would be heartening. But this slow, glacial-paced white-collar accountability is empowering for fascists, and organized-crime too. (Or are they today the same?)
Michele, I, too, am concerned that the government is not moving fast enough and has been overly deferential to Trump and his circle of would-be-felons. Though I expect Trump, shortly, could be held criminally accountable for his part in taking and withholding government documents, I do wonder about the status of the other 3 investigations, particularly January 6th, considering that by last March a blueprint for all of the criminal offenses that may have been committed by Trump and by others at the top already had been laid out by a number of scholars and former prosecutors.
Regarding the dementia thing: In his first year in office I began to think Trump had frontotemporal dementia because of his simplistic language and his frequent paraphasic errors. No longer. I now think he can be understood as a profoundly unintelligent individual - mental age around nine perhaps - with massive narcissism. And a fascist.
Ruth Sheets ; We may be pleasantly surprised when we see how much influence tRump has lost in the upcoming elections. It was always a very vocal minority propped up by the obscenely wealthy anyway.
Ruth: I actually think that Trump knows what he is doing, or trying to do. For what it's worth this makes him much more dangerous that you, I surmise, think.
While I agree with the both of you (Randy and Rhonda)--that Trump knows what he is doing--my thought is: this country is very lucky indeed that due to Trump's personal demons of insecurity, impatience, impulsiveness, narcissism, greed and his ultimate fear of being perceived as a "loser", he makes too many missteps, mistakes and fumbles the follow-through.
A smarter, less demon-riddled person could pulled off an entire coup with great personal charm, right under our noses. Why the GOP's choice fell upon such a flawed individual is a mystery...other than they thought they could control him rather than it becoming the other way around.
That Trump is himself a danger, there can be no doubt...but more as a model of what could be accomplished and how to do so by a GOP candidate with more charm, fewer personality flaws and more subtle tactics. Beware the up and comers in the GOP!
Please remember, before becoming Corporate Fascists' & Libertarians' 'useful idiot', TheRump won the '16 GOP primary by being Putin's 'useful idiot' to defeat Hillary and shred both NATO and the US State Dep't, with an assist from Russian 'Order of Friendship' medalist, Tillerson
D_amn, well said. This is exactly how it will play out for Trumps supporters. Following Trump (who perpetrates as wealty) who is only a tool of the truly wealthy, corporate interests and billionaire class. Staying idol is not an option! We have to apposed this iteration of violence, terrorism & intimidation, based on lies, by pushing back and exposing the BS. Allowing the sunlight of truth to sanitize their lies.
We have ALREADY seen Bunkerboy abandon HIS OWN FAMILY in order to save his own ample rear! It is truly baffling how all his liddle drones STILL think he cares about them, eh? [sic]
Except for the ones who are snitching their pink little butts off to the FBI and any Federal officer who will stand still long enough to hear their woes. And - drum roll please - I know who is snitching on Trump! EVERY ONE OF THEM! Jared! Ivanka! Don Junior and Eric! any one who doesn't want to go the Stoney Lonesome is chattering behind the walls.
Sorry, but a long diatribe will follow. I cannot resist it. Its intended Journey is thru the Power of Movies to its Destination: to request Professor Reich, & his frequent Red-Diaper Baby collaborator co-produce a new Citizen Kane: perhaps Citizens Cain & Abel, with brothers Don & Freddy competing over whether their Sacrifices earn their Heavenly father's love.
Thank you, Terri, and Thank you, Professor Reich for showing the steps linking the Corporatocracy's anti-Communist hysteria, bullying, anti-semitism, the ACLU's reticence, McCarthy, Nixon, Cohn, TheRump, Murdoch, Stone, Anderson, Reagan, and today's predicament. Thank you also for mentioning the moderate GOP politicians, and how far today's QOP has shifted to the right.
Part of enabling that rightward shift is that, after LBJ sacrificed the Democrats' Southern base via voting rights, Democrats thought their only recourse to electoral success was to pander to the so-called 'Reagan Democrats', and shift their party towards the 'center', thereby reshifting this 'center'. (Yes: Hurray for Bernie's efforts to shift it back)
Re: RR's wonderful story, one of my first thoughts is that it didn't quite give sufficient emphasis to McCarthy's attacks on 'Commie', 'Liberal', 'Semitic' Hollywood, to destroy movies' power over Americans. As my thoughts went to powerful movies, I pondered what could become a new, powerful Citizen Kane, and how fitting it would be for Red Diaper Baby, Josh Kornbluth, to have a hand in this.
Being told he wasn’t welcome, his reaction to it is the anthesis of America. He definitely had the qualities I look for in following someone. He had balls! The Apple didn’t fall far from the tree either! Love you too Robert!
Michael. I like your praise of Dr. Reich's dad. He surely did have courage and his presence in the neighborhood may well have turned some folks there into better citizens and more decent people. How can we foster more such courage? Maybe we need to find ways to reward it in children as well as adults, even in small acts of courage.
My dad switched parties in 1955. He had been head of Veterans for Eisenhower in 1952 in Pa, and when there were local political problems, ran for DA as a Democrat and won.
We had two branches in the Republican Party, the Lincolnians and the Hamiltonians. Statewide the Republicans had a political boss and controlled all jobs via a spoils system. My dad had been the head of the WPA in our county, controlled by a Republican Party boss, even when in law school, and after he became a lawyer had been appointed an assistant DA before the war. After Pearl Harbor he enlisted. After the war he was commander of the American Legion, and had been a Republican candidate for judge in the 1953 primaries.
Virtually all of my family, my neighbors and my classmates' families were petit bourgeois professionals, small businessmen and Lincolnian Republicans.
When my dad switched parties, he became the enemy of the Hamiltonian head of the Republican Party, who had become the state wide boss. The boss was a neighbor. I knew him from the golf course. I probably caddied for him a couple of times. He was a manufacturer, and had been president of the National Association of Manufacturers, chair of the board of directors at Penn State.
When my dad ran, and later the Republicans started a whisper campaign. Dozens of my classmates, predominantly Presbyterians, reported to me that their parents had gotten a call to oppose any "other," Jews or Catholics, and were asked not to shop at non WASP businesses.
At age 13, I quit my membership in Boy Scouts, Builders (Demolay) and similar groups because I could sense the hostility of some former friends.
Today, most of the Lincolnians oppose Trump. Many have switched parties. Most of those Hamiltonians' families remain registered Republicans. That whisper campaign is the same as Trump's dog whistle to the racist collective subconscious of many of his cultists.
Trump's attraction within the party reminds me of Joe Pewism in Pa and to what happened to my dad. Trump demands loyalty and obedience.
Seeing the term wasp reminds me of the good old days. I was in college and had to ask my Jewish girlfriend what it meant. Also MCP. Her friend blurted out more chocolate pie. OK, that sounds nice. It was a while before “male chauvinist pig”was revealed.
Sorry you had to experience having “former friends” at 13. Almost everyone has racial and cultural biases that need to be processed as we become conscious adults. Sadly we are seeing people who never did the work coming out of the woodwork. I have had the “former friend”experience and hope the “former country” experience can be avoided.
I started school at age 4 at a Polish Catholic School. I was the only Jew. We had to go to the cloakroom during catechism. My parents pulled me out when I called the Rabbi "Father Lipschitz."
In the 3rd grade in public school I had a teacher who used me as demonstrative evidence to show "racial differences" in science class. I'm sure that she, like my dad, had to take eugenics in college, and apparently I was the only Jew in her classes. I have BTW, blue eyes and at the time had sandy hair. Probably the nose and beady eyes gave me away. She probably missed the horns, tail and cloven hoofs.
In high school my home room teacher read the NT John passages indicting the Jews for the death of Jesus. Daily.
But I never had to fight my way home every day. It could have been a lot worse. If anything gave me an advantage. My brother and I wound up representing some of the same people who I'm sure heard that dog whistle.
Paterno was another issue. He belonged to a parish that had to pay for child molestation lawsuits long before the football team was implicated. Big Republican. Big hypocrite.
For several years, I have understood the far-right to be a group of self-interested, I dare say, fascists out to control the country for their own benefit. The part I hadn’t fully grasped prior to reading and rereading this morning’s newsletter is that the current nightmare scenario that, for me, started with Trump, in 2016, taking over the Republican Party portended a future people had been trying to build for generations. I imagine, then as now, we have to make sure the American people know that the stakes are bigger and far more critical than simply a struggle between left and right. Rather, the concept of government “of, by, and for the people” seemingly safely sheltered in law, isn’t.
Totally agree with your comment, Barbara Jo. The far right self-interested fascists are out to control the country for their own benefit. They wear various labels at various times. Controlling the country for their own benefit was exactly what the enslaving southern planters intended to do, and they launched a war to get there way. This greedy evil has been at work since the founding of the country. “ The love of money is the root of all evil.”
JennSH, While I fully appreciate your comment, I merely would note that I mostly have viewed our history through the lens of social movements wherein we have met with repeated frustration and failure before making significant progress toward their goals. My one hope is that this trajectory holds.
Yes, and if you look even further back it’s the same throughout history: the Medicis, the Borgias, the Romans, Alexander the “Great,” the Crusades, etc.
interesting! "In the last days men will become lovers of themselves (selfish/greedy)... " Apparently, 'last days' doesn't necessarily mean the end of the world. But it clearly applies to the End of an Empire of end of an Era, end of sports dynasty and even the end of U.S. Democracy! Each destroyed due to selfishness/greed. https://www.bible.com/bible/compare/2TI.3.1-3
But he laundered money for his friends so effectively! Doesn’t that account for something? They were the folk that matter! The Cult understands this. Why can’t we?
Thanks Dr. Reich for sharing your recollection of the McCarthy hearings. My dad had a similar response to McCarthy as did your dad. He never forgave McCarthy for tearing the country apart over a non-issue and was frustrated that "liberals" did not stand up to the schoolyard bully. Clearly courage wasn't prevalent back then just as it isn't common today in the Republican party that is again trying to tear the country apart. When I hear chunks of the McCarthy hearings, I am shocked that the members of the committee interrogating witnesses took so long to call McCarthy out for his appalling behavior and accusations. Roy Cohn was just the kind of critter Donald Trump would be drawn to and whom Cohn would court. They were cut from the same cloth: cheating, lying, and deception as their modus operandi. McCarthy was rather ignorant of so many things and it was clear just listening to him, but our nation just went along. I was so disappointed when in history class, I learned that Truman even bowed to the insanity. McCarthy got a lot of ordinary citizens on his side thinking there were Communists around every corner. I don't get it. It seems they preferred McCarthy's fascism, which they had so recently fought, to Communism (which they knew nothing substantial about). I suspect it is that same level of ignorance of reality that draws ordinary citizens in the millions to Trump, a man well-trained by Cohn and others as a bully. We all need to find ways to stop our current racist, misogynistic, homophobic bully before he does any more damage than he has already done.
Ruth Sheets ; I think people were afraid of the bullies, who could label a person 'communist' and the person could be 'blacklisted' and unable to even get a job. Many people lived through the Depression and warned their children about extreme poverty. Fear was real, and I remember even as a small child, hearing people say they would not discuss politics or religion. Talk about putting a damper on Democracy!
I lived for many years in a very conservative area of the Midwest. Because of my southern accent, people often assumed I was an ignorant hick or hillbilly. I grew up on a farm in a small, rural community, so I guess I do qualify as a hick, but I am a college educated hick. I never discussed politics with the local folks. I was never going to change their minds. I had almost daily examples of their prejudices, that were examples of their hypocrisy. In this insular community, these folks never had any reason to doubt their political thinking because most people thought the same way. These “good” people escorted Black people out of town. But they weren’t prejudiced in their minds.
Your comment says a "mouthful". Similar situation with my anti-Democrat friends. They're all good people, except when they're not, which they don't see. I see little cracks and flaws that have led to their current "bright red" views, but we all have cracks and flaws. They have good intentions, so how can I blame them for not seeing clearly and allowing themselves to be brainwashed? They're probably saying the same about me. Those whom I blame are the powerful, the purposely misleading brainwashers, like Trump, who use their advantage for self-serving and harm. It does take a lot of explaining to myself, though, about how I manage to hold onto old friendships with some who now subscribe to the red devil -- although none of them will admit they'd vote for him. They just make it clear that we "socialists" are trying to destroy the country. I remember my Tennessee grandmother trying to describe to me, a young Northerner, how the horrific Civil War divided families, with brothers in each army. I've come to understand. I just don't see that we've made enough progress. I wonder if there shouldn't be two countries -- one composed of the self-serving leaders and those who need to be led -- by their God whom they fear, by ego-driven TV stars, and by mentally unbalanced pillow salesmen; the other, by those who perhaps aren't so either greedy or insecure. Of course, then when life looks better here, they'd want to invade and rule us. The only hope, I guess is to discover the two faulty genes -- for despots and pathological followers -- and banish them. Soon.
Good idea about banishing the bad genes! Maybe the National Institutes of Health can use that new crisper technology to root out authoritarianism, sadism, and masochism.
JennSH from NC ; They most likely could not see the forest for the trees. In a world where people do not speak easily with each other it is easy to perpetuate myths. Up here in the Northeast, we could think of ourselves as not racist, and really feel that we are not. As people get more integrated and work together and even live near each other, there could be a 'thawing out' process. It takes time, and willingness from both sides. But if people are willing, it's a start. I bet it's a ;lot more difficult for the very rich. They truly have a 'bubble' and can avoid interacting with the 'others' ; the poor, which are the majority, of all races, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and birthplaces.
I wouldn't be too hard on the Left in the 50s. The anti-communist right held many levers of power and people could be blacklisted and ruined at the drop of a hat. The FBI was a constant threat and the House Unamerican Activities Committee invented the "crime" of "premature anti-Facism" to criminalize anyone who opposed Hitler before December, 1941. There were some incredible people who resisted, but most people needed to find some way to support their families. It wasn't until the Kennedy administration that things really began to change.
That’s right: my father went to Spain in 1937 to fight against Hitler and Mussolini. When he came back to the USA in 1939, he couldn’t get his old job back in the steel mill — so he started a small neighborhood grocery store. In the early 1950s, when the secret police came snooping, he wasn’t harmed because, of course, he worked for himself. In contrast, many members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade lost their jobs just like the screen writers known as the Hollywood Ten. I recommend the movie “Trumbo,” which tells that story.
I suspect it was the money aspect that made the difference. Communists want to share it equally, at least in theory. Under fascism you can still be rich.
You didn’t mention the other name that Bob cited; that of J Edgar Hoover who kept a file on literally everybody and who never hesitated to throw around whatever “dirt” he might have had in order to have them do whatever he needed to have done. Old J Edgar had quite a history and a bit of a life that would have been looked at sideways in the ‘50s had he not built up his reputation so much as to have it overlooked then. And of course Cohn died of AIDS which tells us that he was living a serious secret life at the time. Oh yes. The ‘50s society here in the States was quite something.
That reminds me how the right is seeing pedophiles around every corner. While I know they exist, I'm quite sure they're a very small proportion of the population. And the right is also panicked about communists again, when there has been virtually no sign of communism in America for decades.
Thank you for this lesson. The roots of Trumpism are older and more nefarious than I had realized. Nixon, Stone, Cohn, Murdoch, and Trump are part of a cadre of subversives out for money and power at any cost. Their wealth has shielded them from the law. Maybe if TFG is finally indicted their corrupting grip on power will finally be loosed.
Carmen, it's amazing how much power we allowed pathetic human beings to gain and for the most part, it has been with impunity. That needs to stop. Each successful evasion of the law encourages others in their wealth class to ratchet up their game and a whole lot of people and our nation's integrity are harmed.
I agree. It takes way too long to go after these elitist "thugs". As an example, tRump leaves the white house in January of 2021 with top secret U.S. classified documents, and I read the DOJ was NEGOTIATING WITH HIS LAWYERS shortly thereafter for the return of these sensitive documents??? They should have issued the search warrant within the month! We MUST stop coddling these UNAMERICAN human beings. Is it because these lawbreakers are, or claim to be, wealthy, or is/were in a prestigious government position that the law-abiding civil servants are timid to act swiftly? Remember, just like in business, if you fire someone for misconduct, EVERYBODY in the organization becomes aware and you see them on pins and needles for, at least, a few weeks because of the fear they might be next. This ACTION sends a STRONG MESSAGE to EVERYONE doing or considering doing illegal acts!! If you do NOT indict UNAMERICANS, such as tRump, others who may be even MORE NEFARIOUS (DeSantis?) boldly move forward as he sees there will be NO PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES!! And remember that the FCC, which should be a watchdog of public media, appears to be unable to hold KNOWINGLY LYING "news" stations to account for their misdeeds (FAUX, Infowars, etc.). It should NOT be private citizens who must sue for personal defamation (ex: Alex Jones and his Infowars lies about Sandy Hook atrocity) to bring these UNAMERICAN corporations down. OUR FCC should aggressively take on this responsibility to hold these corporations ACCOUNTABLE! The media plays a HUGE role in the brainwashing propaganda fed to the masses.
Thank you, Dr. Reich, for sharing your family's history and the connections between these nefarious people who support one another in their UNAMERICAN pursuits (McCarthy, Nixon, Reagan, Cohn, tRump, Murdock). As President Biden recently said, "The U.S. Constitution begins with the words, We the People". This means ALL of the people, not just the wealthiest, power thirsty, in it for themselves group.
IMHO the media has been intimidated and became a co-conspirator as they gave Trump zillions of dollars in free publicity.
This goes back to the accusation that Jews controlled the media. Thus the allegations about the NYT and network television, and "Hollywood," which were the subjects of HUAC investigations during 194s and the McCarthy era.
"In 1947, the committee held nine days of hearings into alleged communist propaganda and influence in the Hollywood motion picture industry. After conviction on contempt of Congress charges for refusal to answer some questions posed by committee members, "The Hollywood Ten" were blacklisted by the industry. Eventually, more than 300 artists – including directors, radio commentators, actors, and particularly screenwriters – were boycotted by the studios. Some, like Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Alan Lomax, Paul Robeson, and Yip Harburg, left the U.S or went underground to find work. Others like Dalton Trumbo wrote under pseudonyms or the names of colleagues. Only about ten percent succeeded in rebuilding careers within the entertainment industry.["
Perhaps, following your late father, you have the makings of a book about all these people entitled SOBS. It might do good by encouraging Americans to follow integrity and ideals (such as they might already have been taught in school) instead of people like this.
Great history that I can vouch for, from Eisenhower to McCarthyism, Edgar Hoover and for sure Nixon (first President I voted for was John Kennedy). Young as I was back then I could decipher the good from the evil. What’s really surprising is how far back the corruption (or take over of America) has been going on. It’s interesting that you mention Ayn Rand whose “Fountainhead” (Paul Ryan made his people read it) was published. I doubt many Americans are aware of her history, her perspective and that her heroes were based on a real live murderer. The real kicker with her is how the Republicans, more than ever, think as she did - everything for oneself regardless of the consequences to others. This being displayed more than ever today by those following Trump. Trump, what the Republicans have waited for, for sometime now. Trump, the Antichrist!
Such a fascinating personal story and shameful history. It breaks my heart that the peace and serenity of this country is destroyed by people like McCarthy and Cohn and Stone and Bannon and Trump etc. They are all bullies without a shred of integrity.
It astounds me that people like them gain such power and amass supporters. What makes someone support and respect a bully?
It seems like those of us kind, compassionate, honest, open-minded pragmatists could and should stand up sooner to people like this before they get a foothold and stir up such unnecessary hate and chaos and vitriol.
I wonder why we don’t... why are we letting the mass of modern-day Mccarthy’s win elections today? Why aren’t we standing up as the majority that we are and saying “enough”?
I hope we do in the midterms. We have to - otherwise, we are in for an era much darker than McCarthyism....
Laurie. I do remember being told in "good company" you weren't supposed to discuss religion or politics. That was a problem for me because they along with history were and are my favorite topics. I broke that rule regularly as did my dad and a couple of my sisters. I do know too as you describe, that fear was real and being blacklisted was no joke. The atmosphere made it possible for anyone who didn't like their neighbor due to race, religion, or any other reason, could report them as Communists and sometimes, it stuck and people were threatened. People who bowed to McCarthy never even considered that his and their behavior was totally against what America was supposed to stand for. The Trumpers and Trumpettes now are doing the same thing, think about what they are doing, as little as possible.
I never thought of that rule of politeness in the 50s/60s as stemming from the McCarthy era (and its antisemitism, not to mention the anti-Catholic backlash after McCarthy's fall). But it makes perfect sense. (If still, alas, a good idea at Thanksgiving.)
I’m not so sure. In everything I’ve seen, domestic terrorists are acknowledged as embittered young rightwing white men. Pretty much all the mass shootings and mass murders (like the Murrah building bombing) are perpetrated by white men on the racist fringe.
Really? Well what I see is anyone who sees these people for what they are and says so gets put on the FBI's monitor lists and if you openly disagree with say "the bombing and warmongering" they call you a "Domestic Terrorist". I guess it may depend who and where you are saying such things?
I continue to noodle on how come Americans accepted the rabid vitriol of people like McCarthy and Bilbo and Nixon. At what point did Americans turn off their critical thinking and fail to turn away in disgust from these slavering fomenters?
I think fearmongering had a lot to do with it, Martha. Russia—the communists—had the bomb and could destroy us. I remember as a kid being scared to death of that. Then when Brown vs Board of Education and the Voting Rights Act came around, white people freaked out just the way they’re doing now. Those kinds of fears can warp people’s minds.
I wish I knew. Some people are just more skeptical and independent than others. It also depends on your peer group. Most people don’t like the idea of being ostracized.
The way it looks to me, this shows a distinct lack of cultural regard for mental leadership, independence, and critical thinking. It also shows an utter disregard for the wellbeing of society and the world.
Nice to hear a first hand account of McCarthyism. Shocking but accurate to see the parallels between that time and our current politics. The best defense against gaslighting is education. I hope Democrats can protect K-12 public education from privatization. And find a way to reduce the cost of college tuition. Great article!
I am 83 and remember it all yet we are at this juncture again. Trump is not the main issue, his followers are. He just taps into a reservoir of left overs from the junkyard of our history. we need a new USA.
Yes! Thank you for recounting this very history. Yes, this very shameful McCarthy Era and the tie to Trumpism. Yes. And post again and again until all who are able can “hear“ it. The evaporation of Trump and the “falling dominoes“ are awaited with bated breath. Yes.
Thank you, Professor Reich. We share many memories of the shameful McCarthy Era including viewing the HUAAC hearings on a matchbook-size TV and favouring Stevenson over Ike. It is the ghost of Joe McCarthy and the shade of Roy Cohn that I see leading the full-out FASCIST PUTSCH of today's Republican Party. The history you review on this podcast is essential for today's voters to know. Nothing happens in a political vacuum and McCarthy-ism is the missing context for today's"digital and quantum age voters. PAST IS PROLOGUE - and also Epitaph - if knee-jerk , un-informed "conservative" voters choose ignorance of their own history over the long view that sees in both directions and understands that Fascism eventualy destroys everyone in its path. Trump is ignorant of the very tyranny he thinks he wants to unleash on America because he can only see his own infinitesimal personal context.
Voters who support him will find themselves abandoned by him. But by then, they will have none of the Constitutional protections of Democracy to save them because they will have traded away their Freedom for a set of false promises Trump will never fulfill for the simple reason that, to him, they are all just "useful idiots" - as he himself is to the Corporate Fascists who use him to overthrow Democracy.
Terri, you have said a serious truth. Donald Trump truly has no idea of what he is doing. In addition to the beginnings of dementia I believe he is suffering, he can't see into the future and predict anything accurately. You are right that he can only comprehend his small space in the world and how he thinks he will respond. For some reason, his followers can't see his contempt for them and everyone else except maybe the few sycophants who have sworn fealty to him. How they don't see it still amazes me. I suspect they are not actually hearing what Trump says anymore and are going with the feeling of belonging or something they had when they first connected with Trump.
Ruth, One thing I’ve come to understand is that those to whom we could lose our democracy believe they are fighting for their freedoms. Whether due to rapid technological changes that increasingly have rewarded higher-educated workers over the less skilled, the shift in manufacturing from high- to low-wage countries that has drawn down wages, or some other such causes, the Trump base, in my view, largely perceive themselves as victims of modernity’s unevenly distributed opportunity and prosperity. I imagine such people who feel devalued and dejected would be drawn to one whom they seemingly perceive as a blue collar billionaire.
While I like the sound of blue collar billionaire, I think it's more accurate to see him as defiantly uneducated and deeply racist. Actual blue collar workers who have worked for DT correctly identified him as untrustworthy.
@progwoman, I agree. If you reread my comment, you will note I was speaking of how Trump’s base, in my view, perceives him.
Got it.
Ironically, the shift in manufacturing to both increased automation and cheaper labor in other countries, is never correctly identified by those who consider themselves victims as a CHOICE by the corporations themselves. Those choices are driven not by any kind of loyalty to their workers or the communities where they do business, nor by a desire to necessarily provide the highest quality product at the best price, but only to maximize profits, most of which only directly impact the financial accounts of executives and shareholders. This way of doing business also mirrors the narcissistic personalities of capitalists such as our former President, who says he values loyalty, but is always the first to abandon people who have served him if they are no longer contributing to his wealth and power.
David, I note you astutely have portrayed capitalism in its raw brute form wherein the majority suffer the worst consequences of it. Considering we know, albeit a reasonably productive system, that capitalism is not very good at distribution, still, we choose not to wed it to social democratic institutions that would contain its excesses and moderate its self-serving impulses.
As for Trump, there is no cure.
His diet might become the answer we seek ..
Phil, Unless there is a diet that could cure his narcissistic personality disorder, the alternative is to render him irrelevant.
Agree, his blubber seems to grow exponentially (:-)
The choice is up to us and our politicians. The system that determines what is and what is not profitable for corporations is created by the law.
We certainly do have some choice, however, thanks too the greed of those running the corporations and the politicians falling all over themselves for handouts, we, the people, have little on our side except to boycott. And in some instances even that is a hardship for he neediest.
I agree. But I hate the idea that we are sitting with our hands in our laps. From looking around, a lot of grassroots movements are building up. Maybe things are going to change ...
David, Sounds accurate to me.
Beautiful, David. You are absolutely correct in perceiving the real 'fault'
EXACTLY!
Straight talk, Barbara. You perceive the exact argument used by the MAGAs. They sincerely believe it is the government and 'welfare' that has 'ruined' their way of life. They don't understand how the wealthy have bilked them of their standard of living in order to obscenely enrich themselves. There are only two ways that I see out of this mess, train all the underemployed to the digital world so they to can benefit, or take Andrew Yang's advice and give every poverty level person in America $2000 a month. The problem with Yang's concept, it takes away the 'personhood' of the recipient making them feel worthless. I favor the the teaching of crafts and digital training and give everyone a livable wage (including the wealthiest among us) Every human being, of sound mind and body, deserves to be valued and be housed, fed, clothed, and educated to the extent of their need. Those who are not of sound mind and body need to be cared for compassionately and humanely, receiving the best medical treatments available. No one needs multiple mansions, yachts, luxury cars, airplanes and all the rest of the paraphernalia the wealthiest seem to acquire. Also a person should be valued for what they give to the betterment of the Earth, not for what they take from it.
Fay, While I subscribe wholeheartedly to your vision, my question is how do we make the transition? I believe we start with a more fulsome understanding of the January 6th insurgency.
In my view, what we saw on January 6th was the coming together of a normally fragmented spectrum across the far right (e.g., White Supremacists and Second Amendment rights protestors) united by a sense of both precarity and entitlement—the fear that something to which they feel entitled is going to be taken away and, in turn, given to someone who doesn’t deserve it. The “Stop the Steal” rhetoric, replete with massive disinformation about an illegitimate election and a broken democracy, predictably acted as the connective tissue that stitched together the various grievances and resentments, all be they slightly different across all the groups.
As for whether the chaos we are living through is the beginning of something or the end of something, in my view, the challenge for America today is whether it will continue to deny, evade, and avoid the emergence of ancient tribalisms that have been revitalized under the aegis of an uncontested, unevenly distributed runaway wild capitalism.
What has ruined their "way of life" is immaturity, childishness, selfishness and resentment. There are ways up - there are ways out. An utterly canonical Republican precept is that if they gathered together for each others' betterment rather than ruination, they might be able to achieve a better way of life. Such precepts are utterly foreign and antagonistic to the Party of Ressentiment. They only wish to smash. That is the SA reborn.
Hear hear! Excellent post, Fay!
Barbara Jo, you have hit the nail on the head. I understand those who voted for Trump. The ultimate con man was able to convince them that he had their backs and was going to fix everything. Remember him saying, "I alone can fix it". I go back the Powell Memorandum of 1971 and the various policies by both parties and the Supreme Court that lead to the broken system we have today. Trump was the wrong answer to the right question. We must fix the system. A start would be to support the "We the People Amendment". Thanks to all the "likes" when I mentioned this before.
Rhana, While our thinking clearly is in synch and I unequivocally support the “We the People Amendment,” correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t amending the Constitution require a 2/3 vote in both U.S. Chambers plus 3/4 of the state legislatures. I ask because H.R.1 For the People, which passed in the House and likely would pass in the Senate were we to hold the House and pick up 4 Senate seats, seems more plausible.
Barbara, you're absolutely correct. That is a more plausible approach. There were other approaches recommended but I must admit I've been so focused on the Sarasota school board races I haven't kept up. Sadly all the DeSantis supported candidates won. I thought my attendance at school board meetings, beginning in 2016, were over and I could finally audition at our local comedy club. That plan got dumped! Must keep going if only to be a friendly face for the only gay member on the board. They are vicious in how they attack him. Still looking for a faith to keep :-)
Rhana, For what it’s worth, I have found that most of the things worth doing meet with repeated frustration and failure before making significant progress. Meantime, carving out some time possibly to appear at your local comedy club could be a really healthy outlet.
I love "blue collar billionaire. " How can anyone be so delusional as to think Trump cares about them?
Leslie, I am quite certain were you to pose your question to psychologist Mary Trump, she would offer some brilliant insights.
Exactly! However, the 'educated' are suffering the same fate! Technology is also facilitating the outsourcing and automation of jobs in higher paying fields like IT and Healthcare! By design, we keep fighting each other while our common enemy gains more wealth/power at our expense.
Yes, too much of the USA’s culture is based on competition rather than creative cooperation. I have seen ruthless competition sink many worthwhile projects that could have been successful if more-creative and egoless leaders were in charge.
In recent years, schools have started to prioritize cooperation over competition along with showing greater dignity & respect to one another, but the right can't tolerate that, so they are suppressing schools from teaching these values.
Conservative parents push this same ideology in school. Their child must be #1 in sports. Even if they take them out if school for private lessons. And of course the big push of religion into sports etc. The danger of this is staring us in the face!
'egoless' leaders reminds me of a "quote" DJT said at some point =
Ego is everything. If you don't have and use your ego, you're nothing. (paraphrasing). I've also noticed that the 'former' is a past and present
master - of the art of - projection. i.e. projecting his own flaws onto others
(part of the process of misdirection?). As for the concept of 'freedom' that
repuGs so make use of, I personally think it's 'freedom from' (obligation, scrutiny, accountability, ++++). There is little 'freedom' to or 'freedom' for in their dialogue/lambasts ~ ~ ~
👏👏
fyiurban, Thank you for writing and for adding a perspective that deepened my original comment.
No, thank you. We have to understand that we are all trying to figure this stuff out. Some of us have a better grasp on this but none of us has all the answers. The fact is that Americans and ppl all over the world are being manipulated and taken advantage of by selfish/greedy, so called 'leaders', and if it's not you now, it will be later! We're all in this together and our only way out rests in unification- coalition- power in numbers. But we can't come together if all we do is judge/convict each other. We have to have compassion and understanding to break through the BS and get to common ground. Too much judgement and not enough love/compassion, is the reason so many are leaving Christianity/religion.
People are leaving christianity because of the hypocrisy and non-sense in the bible. If you’re looking for compassion, the bible isn’t the place to look. Have you read it entirely? I think not.
It is not possible to reason with right wingers because they are living in a fact-free world created by racists and the cults if religion. Especially christianity.
👏👏
Fyiurban, I agree and simply would add that these exchanges continue to deepen the understanding I carry with me into my political work.
So true! Unfortunately, they have no idea that not only was he born with a silver spoon 🥄 but he also gives to his other 1% friends at the expense of his followers.
Whereas in reality, Trump was anything but a "blue-collar billionaire" nor could he care anything less about those whom he or his stupid books and show has mislead.
Much of the blame for this misperception lies on the shoulders of Mark Burnett and his ridiculous lie of a reality show, "The Apprentice".
May Burnett join Trump, Stone, Nixon, Reagan, Cohn and every other neo-fascist who created or jumped on the GOP putsch-like bandwagon in their descent to their inevitable entrapment in the ice of the 9th circle. (Read 'Dante's Inferno' for the punishment of sinners who commit treason and betrayal).
T L, While I don’t discount the veracity of any of your remarks, I would note, as my prior comments indicate, that my focus principally has been twofold: 1) seeking to understand the appeal of this noxious, dare I say, evil to 35%, give or take, of the Republican base and 2) seeking to direct our engagement, our energy, our caring, and our work to making this brutality and barbarity increasingly marginalized, replete perhaps with repeated frustration and setbacks before making significant progress.
One night, playing cards, I mentioned how much I hated "The Apprentice," and to my surprise, another player, Black and middle class, replied, "I just love hearing him say 'You're fired!'" Go figure.
Whoa...that would surprise me, too.
I hated the Apprentice for it's overt celebration of cut-throat competition, subtle encouragement of cheating and cruelty. It was a horrible, horrible show.
I think they see in him the slippery-eel they wish they were in life’s difficulties. “Take what you want. Might Makes Right”. Successfully obfuscate with the shrapnel of lawsuits paid for by “friends” you “do a service for”. They do not see a blue-collar anything except spite and pettiness. But it’s spite and pettiness that succeeds. It’s their wet dream. (Apologies for the disparagement of eels)
Michele, If you’re right, it would seem that holding Trump (and his coterie) accountable would be critical to cementing the public’s trust both in our institutions and in the idea that no one is above the law. Anything less, in my view, could result in utter chaos.
I agree. And I’m curious watching how hard it is to hold him accountable. This has been a front-row seat to the real way of our current system works. It has tottered along on norms and myth. But actual substance? The “justice for all” foundation seems to be built on quicksand. Seeing more robust (and I’m NOT talking overreach) implementation of justice would be heartening. But this slow, glacial-paced white-collar accountability is empowering for fascists, and organized-crime too. (Or are they today the same?)
Michele, I, too, am concerned that the government is not moving fast enough and has been overly deferential to Trump and his circle of would-be-felons. Though I expect Trump, shortly, could be held criminally accountable for his part in taking and withholding government documents, I do wonder about the status of the other 3 investigations, particularly January 6th, considering that by last March a blueprint for all of the criminal offenses that may have been committed by Trump and by others at the top already had been laid out by a number of scholars and former prosecutors.
Regarding the dementia thing: In his first year in office I began to think Trump had frontotemporal dementia because of his simplistic language and his frequent paraphasic errors. No longer. I now think he can be understood as a profoundly unintelligent individual - mental age around nine perhaps - with massive narcissism. And a fascist.
Heart.
Ruth Sheets ; We may be pleasantly surprised when we see how much influence tRump has lost in the upcoming elections. It was always a very vocal minority propped up by the obscenely wealthy anyway.
Exactly Laurie.
Ruth: I actually think that Trump knows what he is doing, or trying to do. For what it's worth this makes him much more dangerous that you, I surmise, think.
Randy, I too, believe trump knows exactly what he is doing. Making him one dangerous person.
While I agree with the both of you (Randy and Rhonda)--that Trump knows what he is doing--my thought is: this country is very lucky indeed that due to Trump's personal demons of insecurity, impatience, impulsiveness, narcissism, greed and his ultimate fear of being perceived as a "loser", he makes too many missteps, mistakes and fumbles the follow-through.
A smarter, less demon-riddled person could pulled off an entire coup with great personal charm, right under our noses. Why the GOP's choice fell upon such a flawed individual is a mystery...other than they thought they could control him rather than it becoming the other way around.
That Trump is himself a danger, there can be no doubt...but more as a model of what could be accomplished and how to do so by a GOP candidate with more charm, fewer personality flaws and more subtle tactics. Beware the up and comers in the GOP!
Beau of the Fifth Column has a great t-shirt which says, “You traded your country for a red hat.”
I love Beau and his extremely informed commentaries. I can highly recommend to anyone interested to check out Beau of the Fifth Column on YT.
Woo Hoo!! It would be best if it was a red t-shirt.
I'd buy one right now, but I'd be afraid to wear it where I live!
Believe it or not Beau lives in Alabama.
I’m trying to heart this! Very funny.
Yes, love that t-shirt. Unfortunately I live in a deep red state.
Please remember, before becoming Corporate Fascists' & Libertarians' 'useful idiot', TheRump won the '16 GOP primary by being Putin's 'useful idiot' to defeat Hillary and shred both NATO and the US State Dep't, with an assist from Russian 'Order of Friendship' medalist, Tillerson
D_amn, well said. This is exactly how it will play out for Trumps supporters. Following Trump (who perpetrates as wealty) who is only a tool of the truly wealthy, corporate interests and billionaire class. Staying idol is not an option! We have to apposed this iteration of violence, terrorism & intimidation, based on lies, by pushing back and exposing the BS. Allowing the sunlight of truth to sanitize their lies.
We have ALREADY seen Bunkerboy abandon HIS OWN FAMILY in order to save his own ample rear! It is truly baffling how all his liddle drones STILL think he cares about them, eh? [sic]
Except for the ones who are snitching their pink little butts off to the FBI and any Federal officer who will stand still long enough to hear their woes. And - drum roll please - I know who is snitching on Trump! EVERY ONE OF THEM! Jared! Ivanka! Don Junior and Eric! any one who doesn't want to go the Stoney Lonesome is chattering behind the walls.
Unfortunately Americans are very forgiving. Most of his useful-idiots will survive!
Yes, they may survive after they get voted out.
Sorry, but a long diatribe will follow. I cannot resist it. Its intended Journey is thru the Power of Movies to its Destination: to request Professor Reich, & his frequent Red-Diaper Baby collaborator co-produce a new Citizen Kane: perhaps Citizens Cain & Abel, with brothers Don & Freddy competing over whether their Sacrifices earn their Heavenly father's love.
Thank you, Terri, and Thank you, Professor Reich for showing the steps linking the Corporatocracy's anti-Communist hysteria, bullying, anti-semitism, the ACLU's reticence, McCarthy, Nixon, Cohn, TheRump, Murdoch, Stone, Anderson, Reagan, and today's predicament. Thank you also for mentioning the moderate GOP politicians, and how far today's QOP has shifted to the right.
Part of enabling that rightward shift is that, after LBJ sacrificed the Democrats' Southern base via voting rights, Democrats thought their only recourse to electoral success was to pander to the so-called 'Reagan Democrats', and shift their party towards the 'center', thereby reshifting this 'center'. (Yes: Hurray for Bernie's efforts to shift it back)
Re: RR's wonderful story, one of my first thoughts is that it didn't quite give sufficient emphasis to McCarthy's attacks on 'Commie', 'Liberal', 'Semitic' Hollywood, to destroy movies' power over Americans. As my thoughts went to powerful movies, I pondered what could become a new, powerful Citizen Kane, and how fitting it would be for Red Diaper Baby, Josh Kornbluth, to have a hand in this.
It’s HUAC, with one “A.”
Right you are. Thank you.
Love your Dad Robert!
Being told he wasn’t welcome, his reaction to it is the anthesis of America. He definitely had the qualities I look for in following someone. He had balls! The Apple didn’t fall far from the tree either! Love you too Robert!
Michael. I like your praise of Dr. Reich's dad. He surely did have courage and his presence in the neighborhood may well have turned some folks there into better citizens and more decent people. How can we foster more such courage? Maybe we need to find ways to reward it in children as well as adults, even in small acts of courage.
All politics are local.
My dad switched parties in 1955. He had been head of Veterans for Eisenhower in 1952 in Pa, and when there were local political problems, ran for DA as a Democrat and won.
We had two branches in the Republican Party, the Lincolnians and the Hamiltonians. Statewide the Republicans had a political boss and controlled all jobs via a spoils system. My dad had been the head of the WPA in our county, controlled by a Republican Party boss, even when in law school, and after he became a lawyer had been appointed an assistant DA before the war. After Pearl Harbor he enlisted. After the war he was commander of the American Legion, and had been a Republican candidate for judge in the 1953 primaries.
Virtually all of my family, my neighbors and my classmates' families were petit bourgeois professionals, small businessmen and Lincolnian Republicans.
When my dad switched parties, he became the enemy of the Hamiltonian head of the Republican Party, who had become the state wide boss. The boss was a neighbor. I knew him from the golf course. I probably caddied for him a couple of times. He was a manufacturer, and had been president of the National Association of Manufacturers, chair of the board of directors at Penn State.
When my dad ran, and later the Republicans started a whisper campaign. Dozens of my classmates, predominantly Presbyterians, reported to me that their parents had gotten a call to oppose any "other," Jews or Catholics, and were asked not to shop at non WASP businesses.
At age 13, I quit my membership in Boy Scouts, Builders (Demolay) and similar groups because I could sense the hostility of some former friends.
Today, most of the Lincolnians oppose Trump. Many have switched parties. Most of those Hamiltonians' families remain registered Republicans. That whisper campaign is the same as Trump's dog whistle to the racist collective subconscious of many of his cultists.
Trump's attraction within the party reminds me of Joe Pewism in Pa and to what happened to my dad. Trump demands loyalty and obedience.
Seeing the term wasp reminds me of the good old days. I was in college and had to ask my Jewish girlfriend what it meant. Also MCP. Her friend blurted out more chocolate pie. OK, that sounds nice. It was a while before “male chauvinist pig”was revealed.
Sorry you had to experience having “former friends” at 13. Almost everyone has racial and cultural biases that need to be processed as we become conscious adults. Sadly we are seeing people who never did the work coming out of the woodwork. I have had the “former friend”experience and hope the “former country” experience can be avoided.
I started school at age 4 at a Polish Catholic School. I was the only Jew. We had to go to the cloakroom during catechism. My parents pulled me out when I called the Rabbi "Father Lipschitz."
In the 3rd grade in public school I had a teacher who used me as demonstrative evidence to show "racial differences" in science class. I'm sure that she, like my dad, had to take eugenics in college, and apparently I was the only Jew in her classes. I have BTW, blue eyes and at the time had sandy hair. Probably the nose and beady eyes gave me away. She probably missed the horns, tail and cloven hoofs.
In high school my home room teacher read the NT John passages indicting the Jews for the death of Jesus. Daily.
But I never had to fight my way home every day. It could have been a lot worse. If anything gave me an advantage. My brother and I wound up representing some of the same people who I'm sure heard that dog whistle.
OMG that’s awful. I’m so sorry that happened to you, Daniel. Obviously you’re tough and have dealt with it but yeesh that’s disgusting.
Penn State has some VERY creepy stuff they do. The alumni are part of it. The football child rape ring didn’t surprise me when it surfaced.
He passed away many years before...
Paterno was another issue. He belonged to a parish that had to pay for child molestation lawsuits long before the football team was implicated. Big Republican. Big hypocrite.
The entire state had been controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad and companies like Sun Oil in Philadelphia and Gulf Oil/Alcoa in Pittsburgh. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/scaifemain050299.htm
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/02/scaife200802
Ed Reich was a mensch. There's just not enough menschen in America these days.
For several years, I have understood the far-right to be a group of self-interested, I dare say, fascists out to control the country for their own benefit. The part I hadn’t fully grasped prior to reading and rereading this morning’s newsletter is that the current nightmare scenario that, for me, started with Trump, in 2016, taking over the Republican Party portended a future people had been trying to build for generations. I imagine, then as now, we have to make sure the American people know that the stakes are bigger and far more critical than simply a struggle between left and right. Rather, the concept of government “of, by, and for the people” seemingly safely sheltered in law, isn’t.
Totally agree with your comment, Barbara Jo. The far right self-interested fascists are out to control the country for their own benefit. They wear various labels at various times. Controlling the country for their own benefit was exactly what the enslaving southern planters intended to do, and they launched a war to get there way. This greedy evil has been at work since the founding of the country. “ The love of money is the root of all evil.”
JennSH, While I fully appreciate your comment, I merely would note that I mostly have viewed our history through the lens of social movements wherein we have met with repeated frustration and failure before making significant progress toward their goals. My one hope is that this trajectory holds.
Yes, and if you look even further back it’s the same throughout history: the Medicis, the Borgias, the Romans, Alexander the “Great,” the Crusades, etc.
interesting! "In the last days men will become lovers of themselves (selfish/greedy)... " Apparently, 'last days' doesn't necessarily mean the end of the world. But it clearly applies to the End of an Empire of end of an Era, end of sports dynasty and even the end of U.S. Democracy! Each destroyed due to selfishness/greed. https://www.bible.com/bible/compare/2TI.3.1-3
The end of civilization, that’s for sure.
Yes, that appears to be coming soon, much sooner than most people think.
Sometimes I think it’s already here.
ABSOLUTELY!
But he laundered money for his friends so effectively! Doesn’t that account for something? They were the folk that matter! The Cult understands this. Why can’t we?
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Samm, Though I don’t have your first-hand experience, I, too, am well aware. The part I can’t figure out is how your reply relates to my comment.
Thanks Dr. Reich for sharing your recollection of the McCarthy hearings. My dad had a similar response to McCarthy as did your dad. He never forgave McCarthy for tearing the country apart over a non-issue and was frustrated that "liberals" did not stand up to the schoolyard bully. Clearly courage wasn't prevalent back then just as it isn't common today in the Republican party that is again trying to tear the country apart. When I hear chunks of the McCarthy hearings, I am shocked that the members of the committee interrogating witnesses took so long to call McCarthy out for his appalling behavior and accusations. Roy Cohn was just the kind of critter Donald Trump would be drawn to and whom Cohn would court. They were cut from the same cloth: cheating, lying, and deception as their modus operandi. McCarthy was rather ignorant of so many things and it was clear just listening to him, but our nation just went along. I was so disappointed when in history class, I learned that Truman even bowed to the insanity. McCarthy got a lot of ordinary citizens on his side thinking there were Communists around every corner. I don't get it. It seems they preferred McCarthy's fascism, which they had so recently fought, to Communism (which they knew nothing substantial about). I suspect it is that same level of ignorance of reality that draws ordinary citizens in the millions to Trump, a man well-trained by Cohn and others as a bully. We all need to find ways to stop our current racist, misogynistic, homophobic bully before he does any more damage than he has already done.
Ruth Sheets ; I think people were afraid of the bullies, who could label a person 'communist' and the person could be 'blacklisted' and unable to even get a job. Many people lived through the Depression and warned their children about extreme poverty. Fear was real, and I remember even as a small child, hearing people say they would not discuss politics or religion. Talk about putting a damper on Democracy!
I lived for many years in a very conservative area of the Midwest. Because of my southern accent, people often assumed I was an ignorant hick or hillbilly. I grew up on a farm in a small, rural community, so I guess I do qualify as a hick, but I am a college educated hick. I never discussed politics with the local folks. I was never going to change their minds. I had almost daily examples of their prejudices, that were examples of their hypocrisy. In this insular community, these folks never had any reason to doubt their political thinking because most people thought the same way. These “good” people escorted Black people out of town. But they weren’t prejudiced in their minds.
Lots of smart liberal people have southern accents, Jenn. Very small-minded of people to judge you for that.
Your comment says a "mouthful". Similar situation with my anti-Democrat friends. They're all good people, except when they're not, which they don't see. I see little cracks and flaws that have led to their current "bright red" views, but we all have cracks and flaws. They have good intentions, so how can I blame them for not seeing clearly and allowing themselves to be brainwashed? They're probably saying the same about me. Those whom I blame are the powerful, the purposely misleading brainwashers, like Trump, who use their advantage for self-serving and harm. It does take a lot of explaining to myself, though, about how I manage to hold onto old friendships with some who now subscribe to the red devil -- although none of them will admit they'd vote for him. They just make it clear that we "socialists" are trying to destroy the country. I remember my Tennessee grandmother trying to describe to me, a young Northerner, how the horrific Civil War divided families, with brothers in each army. I've come to understand. I just don't see that we've made enough progress. I wonder if there shouldn't be two countries -- one composed of the self-serving leaders and those who need to be led -- by their God whom they fear, by ego-driven TV stars, and by mentally unbalanced pillow salesmen; the other, by those who perhaps aren't so either greedy or insecure. Of course, then when life looks better here, they'd want to invade and rule us. The only hope, I guess is to discover the two faulty genes -- for despots and pathological followers -- and banish them. Soon.
It may come to that, Mo.
Good idea about banishing the bad genes! Maybe the National Institutes of Health can use that new crisper technology to root out authoritarianism, sadism, and masochism.
JennSH from NC ; They most likely could not see the forest for the trees. In a world where people do not speak easily with each other it is easy to perpetuate myths. Up here in the Northeast, we could think of ourselves as not racist, and really feel that we are not. As people get more integrated and work together and even live near each other, there could be a 'thawing out' process. It takes time, and willingness from both sides. But if people are willing, it's a start. I bet it's a ;lot more difficult for the very rich. They truly have a 'bubble' and can avoid interacting with the 'others' ; the poor, which are the majority, of all races, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and birthplaces.
I wouldn't be too hard on the Left in the 50s. The anti-communist right held many levers of power and people could be blacklisted and ruined at the drop of a hat. The FBI was a constant threat and the House Unamerican Activities Committee invented the "crime" of "premature anti-Facism" to criminalize anyone who opposed Hitler before December, 1941. There were some incredible people who resisted, but most people needed to find some way to support their families. It wasn't until the Kennedy administration that things really began to change.
That’s right: my father went to Spain in 1937 to fight against Hitler and Mussolini. When he came back to the USA in 1939, he couldn’t get his old job back in the steel mill — so he started a small neighborhood grocery store. In the early 1950s, when the secret police came snooping, he wasn’t harmed because, of course, he worked for himself. In contrast, many members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade lost their jobs just like the screen writers known as the Hollywood Ten. I recommend the movie “Trumbo,” which tells that story.
I suspect it was the money aspect that made the difference. Communists want to share it equally, at least in theory. Under fascism you can still be rich.
You didn’t mention the other name that Bob cited; that of J Edgar Hoover who kept a file on literally everybody and who never hesitated to throw around whatever “dirt” he might have had in order to have them do whatever he needed to have done. Old J Edgar had quite a history and a bit of a life that would have been looked at sideways in the ‘50s had he not built up his reputation so much as to have it overlooked then. And of course Cohn died of AIDS which tells us that he was living a serious secret life at the time. Oh yes. The ‘50s society here in the States was quite something.
That reminds me how the right is seeing pedophiles around every corner. While I know they exist, I'm quite sure they're a very small proportion of the population. And the right is also panicked about communists again, when there has been virtually no sign of communism in America for decades.
Thank you for this lesson. The roots of Trumpism are older and more nefarious than I had realized. Nixon, Stone, Cohn, Murdoch, and Trump are part of a cadre of subversives out for money and power at any cost. Their wealth has shielded them from the law. Maybe if TFG is finally indicted their corrupting grip on power will finally be loosed.
And don't forget J. Edgar Hoover, one of the most corrosive human beings to ever hold high government office.
Carmen, it's amazing how much power we allowed pathetic human beings to gain and for the most part, it has been with impunity. That needs to stop. Each successful evasion of the law encourages others in their wealth class to ratchet up their game and a whole lot of people and our nation's integrity are harmed.
I agree. It takes way too long to go after these elitist "thugs". As an example, tRump leaves the white house in January of 2021 with top secret U.S. classified documents, and I read the DOJ was NEGOTIATING WITH HIS LAWYERS shortly thereafter for the return of these sensitive documents??? They should have issued the search warrant within the month! We MUST stop coddling these UNAMERICAN human beings. Is it because these lawbreakers are, or claim to be, wealthy, or is/were in a prestigious government position that the law-abiding civil servants are timid to act swiftly? Remember, just like in business, if you fire someone for misconduct, EVERYBODY in the organization becomes aware and you see them on pins and needles for, at least, a few weeks because of the fear they might be next. This ACTION sends a STRONG MESSAGE to EVERYONE doing or considering doing illegal acts!! If you do NOT indict UNAMERICANS, such as tRump, others who may be even MORE NEFARIOUS (DeSantis?) boldly move forward as he sees there will be NO PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES!! And remember that the FCC, which should be a watchdog of public media, appears to be unable to hold KNOWINGLY LYING "news" stations to account for their misdeeds (FAUX, Infowars, etc.). It should NOT be private citizens who must sue for personal defamation (ex: Alex Jones and his Infowars lies about Sandy Hook atrocity) to bring these UNAMERICAN corporations down. OUR FCC should aggressively take on this responsibility to hold these corporations ACCOUNTABLE! The media plays a HUGE role in the brainwashing propaganda fed to the masses.
Thank you, Dr. Reich, for sharing your family's history and the connections between these nefarious people who support one another in their UNAMERICAN pursuits (McCarthy, Nixon, Reagan, Cohn, tRump, Murdock). As President Biden recently said, "The U.S. Constitution begins with the words, We the People". This means ALL of the people, not just the wealthiest, power thirsty, in it for themselves group.
Heart.
IMHO the media has been intimidated and became a co-conspirator as they gave Trump zillions of dollars in free publicity.
This goes back to the accusation that Jews controlled the media. Thus the allegations about the NYT and network television, and "Hollywood," which were the subjects of HUAC investigations during 194s and the McCarthy era.
"In 1947, the committee held nine days of hearings into alleged communist propaganda and influence in the Hollywood motion picture industry. After conviction on contempt of Congress charges for refusal to answer some questions posed by committee members, "The Hollywood Ten" were blacklisted by the industry. Eventually, more than 300 artists – including directors, radio commentators, actors, and particularly screenwriters – were boycotted by the studios. Some, like Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Alan Lomax, Paul Robeson, and Yip Harburg, left the U.S or went underground to find work. Others like Dalton Trumbo wrote under pseudonyms or the names of colleagues. Only about ten percent succeeded in rebuilding careers within the entertainment industry.["
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_blacklist
They’re still doing it.
Perhaps, following your late father, you have the makings of a book about all these people entitled SOBS. It might do good by encouraging Americans to follow integrity and ideals (such as they might already have been taught in school) instead of people like this.
And so began the close relationship of the mafia and Donald Trump.
Great history that I can vouch for, from Eisenhower to McCarthyism, Edgar Hoover and for sure Nixon (first President I voted for was John Kennedy). Young as I was back then I could decipher the good from the evil. What’s really surprising is how far back the corruption (or take over of America) has been going on. It’s interesting that you mention Ayn Rand whose “Fountainhead” (Paul Ryan made his people read it) was published. I doubt many Americans are aware of her history, her perspective and that her heroes were based on a real live murderer. The real kicker with her is how the Republicans, more than ever, think as she did - everything for oneself regardless of the consequences to others. This being displayed more than ever today by those following Trump. Trump, what the Republicans have waited for, for sometime now. Trump, the Antichrist!
Such a fascinating personal story and shameful history. It breaks my heart that the peace and serenity of this country is destroyed by people like McCarthy and Cohn and Stone and Bannon and Trump etc. They are all bullies without a shred of integrity.
It astounds me that people like them gain such power and amass supporters. What makes someone support and respect a bully?
It seems like those of us kind, compassionate, honest, open-minded pragmatists could and should stand up sooner to people like this before they get a foothold and stir up such unnecessary hate and chaos and vitriol.
I wonder why we don’t... why are we letting the mass of modern-day Mccarthy’s win elections today? Why aren’t we standing up as the majority that we are and saying “enough”?
I hope we do in the midterms. We have to - otherwise, we are in for an era much darker than McCarthyism....
Thanks for this educational, thoughtful piece...
What a fascinating read Mr Reich. If your father were alive today I do wonder what he would have to say about what has become of America.
Derek Wessner ; Probably "Son of a B!tch !" loudly! I yell similar things at my TV when certain people appear.
Same, and yeah most likely.
Laurie. I do remember being told in "good company" you weren't supposed to discuss religion or politics. That was a problem for me because they along with history were and are my favorite topics. I broke that rule regularly as did my dad and a couple of my sisters. I do know too as you describe, that fear was real and being blacklisted was no joke. The atmosphere made it possible for anyone who didn't like their neighbor due to race, religion, or any other reason, could report them as Communists and sometimes, it stuck and people were threatened. People who bowed to McCarthy never even considered that his and their behavior was totally against what America was supposed to stand for. The Trumpers and Trumpettes now are doing the same thing, think about what they are doing, as little as possible.
I never thought of that rule of politeness in the 50s/60s as stemming from the McCarthy era (and its antisemitism, not to mention the anti-Catholic backlash after McCarthy's fall). But it makes perfect sense. (If still, alas, a good idea at Thanksgiving.)
And be careful what you say now days to because the new communist label has become "Domestic Terrorist"!
I’m not so sure. In everything I’ve seen, domestic terrorists are acknowledged as embittered young rightwing white men. Pretty much all the mass shootings and mass murders (like the Murrah building bombing) are perpetrated by white men on the racist fringe.
Really? Well what I see is anyone who sees these people for what they are and says so gets put on the FBI's monitor lists and if you openly disagree with say "the bombing and warmongering" they call you a "Domestic Terrorist". I guess it may depend who and where you are saying such things?
I continue to noodle on how come Americans accepted the rabid vitriol of people like McCarthy and Bilbo and Nixon. At what point did Americans turn off their critical thinking and fail to turn away in disgust from these slavering fomenters?
Racist collective subconscious.
I think fearmongering had a lot to do with it, Martha. Russia—the communists—had the bomb and could destroy us. I remember as a kid being scared to death of that. Then when Brown vs Board of Education and the Voting Rights Act came around, white people freaked out just the way they’re doing now. Those kinds of fears can warp people’s minds.
Well, but I'd ask you how come people let themselves get scared of nonsense, instead of thinking it out?
I wish I knew. Some people are just more skeptical and independent than others. It also depends on your peer group. Most people don’t like the idea of being ostracized.
The way it looks to me, this shows a distinct lack of cultural regard for mental leadership, independence, and critical thinking. It also shows an utter disregard for the wellbeing of society and the world.
I agree.
Nice to hear a first hand account of McCarthyism. Shocking but accurate to see the parallels between that time and our current politics. The best defense against gaslighting is education. I hope Democrats can protect K-12 public education from privatization. And find a way to reduce the cost of college tuition. Great article!
I support the principles of Progressive Democracy articulated by Prof Reich and Senator Bernie Sanders.
I am 83 and remember it all yet we are at this juncture again. Trump is not the main issue, his followers are. He just taps into a reservoir of left overs from the junkyard of our history. we need a new USA.
Yes! Thank you for recounting this very history. Yes, this very shameful McCarthy Era and the tie to Trumpism. Yes. And post again and again until all who are able can “hear“ it. The evaporation of Trump and the “falling dominoes“ are awaited with bated breath. Yes.