This is exactly what was on my mind this morning; these challenges that are brought forward by Trump and Musk are uniting people into a cogent set of resistance movements that are taking strong moral stands.
Substack has grown exponentially as a showcase for some excellent writing and a forum for discussions that unite us all. We have never before had a virtual town hall with people from all over the world connecting with each other as we face a deep moral and ethical crisis. This use of Substack is another reason for optimism that is a “game changer.” This substack is evolving into a support group as much as a place for exchange of ideas. Trolls are chased out of here because we value this forum so deeply. And Robert Reich and others leadership in the free expression of ideas is another reason for optimism.
This Substack alone has well over 600,000 subscribers! Heather Cox Richardson has over 1,500,000 subscribers. Our support as subscribers to many of these substacks is creating a viable alternative to corporate owned sources of news and opinions.
Many of us on this substack are “elders” which means we bring decades of experience and analysis going all the way back to the free speech movement, the Anti Viet Nam War movement as well as the start of the ecology movement and other progressive movements. Because of our age we are the roots of modern progressive resistance movements in the United States. Remember, It was us and our generation that ended the horrors of the Viet Nam war. It was not our ineffectual elected representatives that led the movement. It took time, and many people perished in that war, but we prevailed, not the armed might of the United States or the two faced politicians.
My college freshman daughter and I have chats about this... and how I think she will be one of today's versions of students that were involved with Kent State and related protests. History does repeat itself until people learn and they never do it seems!
It will get lower. Not for us...we are at ground zero, , but look at how young all the Republican conservative (and religious) right wing kids that love Trump and Elon are. We were the liberal hippies (I was a baby hippie who was a couple of years too young for Woodstock) that were going to change the world whose parents were the WWII/Depression generation. We have lived long enough to see the pendulum swing left and shockingly all the.way back.to the right.
It can ALWAYS get lower with those buffoonish Traitors. I am waiting for Bunkerboy to start staggering in the streets wearing nothing but a soiled pair of briefs. I'd say it's a 6.7% chance on any given day at this point! (Alzheimer's is sad, but NO ONE in history deserves it more than the ole' fatty. I mean, at least evil evil Adolf Hitler brought prosperity to the masses for a brief period!!!)
I was a Freshman. 14. I forgot what class I was in, maybe social studies when we heard it happened. The award winning picture of that young woman crying leaning over the body of one of the students, And Neil Young's song "Ohio".
Thank you, Marc. What you and others are saying on Substack inspires more and more hope. As another elder who has witnessed so much change coming out of the grassroots of America I know we aren’t a nation of wimps. We will overcome this dark episode.
Great comment Marc. I am one of those elders who took part in the Free Speech Movement as a freshman at UCB in the 60's. We demonstrated against the Vietnam War and for civil rights and reproductive rights for women. We received an excellent liberal arts education in which we learned "critical thinking skills" and also empathy which unfortunately are both so lacking now. Nonviolent, progressive resistance movements by "the people" really are effective. I still have the same moral values and fighting spirit to help save our democracy, even more so now 60 years later. Thank you Marc for your voice here.
This is going to be the revolt of the old people. RFK jr is already trying to cancel vaccines. I'm sure he plans to make Medicare/Medicaid quit paying for them. I think it is an overt plan to kill off Social Security and Medicare recipients. Avian Flu is 2-3 mutations away from becoming a human pandemic.
The outrageous part is that he is lying to the public. Wednesday he said of the measles outbreak that the 20 people hospitalized were there for quarantine purposes. The head of the hospital said they were there because they couldn't breathe.
I live in Texas, and we already have an outbreak. I just heard about New Mexico. We have an anti-vaxer in charge. I made sure my grandchildren and great-grandchildren were vaccinated.
RFK, Jr needs to focus on sugar and High Frutose Corn Syrup in food.
All hell is breaking loose in Texas and NM with a measals outbreak in an area misguided by anti-vaxxers like Kennedy. Who knew? Perhaps Kennedy needs a briefing fromtge researches at NIH, rather than Alex Jones.
Marc, you are right about the will of the people. It is the same thing with the Civil Rights movement, women's work to claim power we deserve, and the rest of the work done to make this a more perfect union. We are clearly not there yet, but each time we stand up and say "no" we move a bit closer. The rich do not want us to get anywhere close to the "more perfect union" because the place for them will be on the fringes not at the center where they seem to be now. Thanks for your thoughtful comments and to all who contribute here and throughout Substack!!
Yes, Marc, and a good prevailing example: Jane Fonda, on Nixon's enemy list, she is still thriving and speaking out at age 87 with the same gusto she had decades ago. She and other progressives will prevail to help restore our democracy! Never go a day without speaking or taking action against the goons. Cheers, Joan
I love Jane. I wrote about it recently on another Substack. I realized she's one of my favorite heros of all-time. She's Morher Jones status in my book. She's totally wonderful and beautiful. I praise Jane!
Oligarchs have little or no control over the internet. Now that “We The People” have found our voice there will always be alternative forms of worldwide communication. Everyone who owns or has access to mobile phones has in their hands the means to communicate with others around the globe. Also we now have the means to instantly make videos, and make them available world wide in a matter of minutes. Unethical and dangerous actions of Police and ICE are recorded and broadcast internationally. The civilian videos of police brutally murdering George Floyd accelerated a whole new era of instant news communication and Mainstream Media is running to catch up, but they no longer are on the forefront of all breaking news.
When this new resistance movement gets rolling, and it will, it will be the in the forefront of change. Look at how fast the Economic Blackout movement has spread and it was started by only one person on the internet.
CNN— In early February, John Schwarz, a self-described “mindfulness and meditation facilitator,” proposed a 24-hour nationwide “economic blackout” of major chains on the last day of the month. He has organized a series of purchasing boycotts...Schwarz’s call rapidly spread online. His video has been shared more than 700,000 times on Instagram and viewed 8.5 million times. Celebrities such as Stephen King, Bette Midler and Mark Ruffalo have encouraged people to participate. Reporters wrote and aired TV pieces about the boycott, propelling it further.
What you write is encouraging and I hope you are right. But hasn’t China largely muzzled digital protest? I worry that level of surpression could happen here as well. I think we must be prepared to resist and communicate in a multi-threaded fashion, using alternative, new and antique methods as well, akin to the photocopying and fax machines the Samizdat used during the days of the Soviet Union.
They may well limit communication through technology but never forget the underground railroad, the resistance of WW2 & the many other resisters to hostile regimes who managed to resist & get liberation without mobile phones or computers! People always find a way!
Michael, love of country and passion for freedom always finds a way. New ways will arise in time, though, they may not be as visible or as accessible, you, we, will find them. Because the embers of love of country and passion for freedom will never be extinguished, no matter how hard some may try.. Faith in ourselves and us is the answer.
Also, people MUST VOTE... Many are lazy and never show up to VOTE, then they complain about everything ... If you are NOT registered to VOTE, GET registered to vote.. And if YOU fail to VOTE, then don't like the outcome of the elections, YOU can shut up. If you don't VOTE, YOU don't get to whine later.
we need to take inspiration from Germany with their 84% participation in their vote last week, I seriously doubt we would be in this pickle if we had near that turnout.
Eileen, yes I agree, voting is essential. I like the idea where in some countries, it is a law that everyone has to vote. Although, not voting appears sometimes to be due to laziness, I think there are other top reasons, such as: apathy -- a giving up on the possibility of change, not understanding the importance of voting and how it affects them personally, and disdain for politics.
I worry too. Don't ever get complacent. We are living in the 21st century where we never had intrusive technology like this so we can't think of what the world went through previously. They can pick out your face from a satellite in space. Just think of Google maps and street view.. I worry when I see T-mobile ads offering free Starlink. I worry when I heard that Elon wants the FAA to use Starlink instead of their 2 billion contract with Verizon. He could take over the world's communications and turn it on and off at will when his drug addled brain doesn't like what someone says aboit him. That's what scares me. He is way too powerful. They have gotten rid of all competition. . I'll go back to 2 tin cans strung together, or morse code or smoke signals before I let him control my phone. I fear the AI being able to read this site, my emails, texts, etc. Any dissenters. They just fired a manager at Tesla for criticizing Elon using Nazi jokes. Gone. 1984.
"Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI" by Yuval Noah Harari explores humanity's relationship with information throughout history. Harari argues that information networks—whether in the form of religious texts, political systems, or digital algorithms—have always shaped human societies by connecting people and driving progress."
It is a positive that information is not so quite so tightly in the grip of consolidated mega meda companies driven by profit, and that those with valuable things to say have direct means of reaching many people without legacy media as intermediaries.
At the same time, I am concerned about this "democratization" of information and the rise of charlatans and laypeople on social media spreading disinformation, eg on health and medicine without a filtering. No simple answer, although some will say "anything goes". I don't think that is working so great. It is a topic for much debate.
Jamie Susskind has valuable things to say about some governmental controls on media, and the bigger and more powerful the platform, the more the controls.
I know when people hear the word "control" they bristle. Call it what you like.
Thank you, RR, for these 10 reasons for hope. I totally agree. The word around here is the Republican legislators are reaching out to their constituents to see what they think about DOGE. They would be spending this much time and money if they were not concerned. Musk is feeling the heat, but we can't stop.
We must reserve Musk's foolish, greed-driven DOGE game and hold him accountable! Big Tech Oligarchs can never attempt to completely take over our government and destroy our democracy. Congress MUST debate and contemplate the extraordinary, unprecedented power that has been given to the foreign born, richest man in the world. Musk cannot be allowed to further enrich himself while gutting vital domestic and foreign programs, such as the USA Ebola response that could wipe out human life if not handled correctly.
DOGE's actions could cause another financial collapse due to shady Crypto. Crypto has become the getaway vehicle of choice by international organized crime.Congress is derelict in duty if they don't fully contemplate* the possible results of cutting programs Congress has authorized to protect Americans and consumers, ensure government oversight to deliver efficient and effective services, and stabilize the World that often subsidizes American farmers and businesses.
Importantly, this story mentions Starlink taking over FAA services currently tasked to Verizon. In another recent story, Starlink is providing Verizon rural cell service. Congress must contemplate this dangerous, possible quid pro quo that would likely result in Starlink launching many more satellites to switch operational duties. Verizon would need more satellites for more cell service, and Starlink would need more satellites for FAA services. Is this the grand scam Musk is planning to enrich himself at tax payers' cost and consumers' dangers??
But no scam is complete unless without an attempted cover-up. The cover--up is done by eliminating government programs that monitor the air, ozone and stratosphere being damaged by thousands of rockets that create tremendous levels of carbon to launch rockets. Clearly, Musk's Starlink does not want those pesky scientists at NOAA monitoring the atmosphere because Musk's Starlink satellites have likely created more air pollution that all automobiles combined in the US. Musk doesn't want those pesky OSHA inspectors messing around his plants and rockets blowing up in the sky.
Clearly, Congress MUST fully contemplate Musk taking a chainsaw to USA bureaucracy because that bureaucracy has been enacted by Congress to protect US consumers, wworkers and citizens. The bureaucracy is the guardrails to protect Americans, consumers, society and our democracy.
The only reason someone would be so foolish to remove the guardrails approved by Congress is due to greed and/or disregard for other's safety. Removing the Congressionally approved bureaucratic guardrails make disasters like East Palestine Ohio trainwrecks inevitable and more disasterous across the country. This is not rocket science.
It's completely unacceptable that Musk has gone so far as to eliminate programs that ensure an effective response to a bio-terror attack with Ebola that would make COVID-19 look like allergy season.
Shutting down the CFPB is reprehensible and egregious. The CFPB has protected consumers, made government effective and held the powerful accountable. Congress must undo DOGE's attack on consumer protection driven by Big Tech's greed. The CFPB must be fully restored.
Now that Congress knows that Musk's chainsaw to bureaucracy is so dangerous to our National Security and Americans' safety, Congress must stop DOGE from making any changes to government without legislation from Congress.
Professor Reich: i am ASTOUNDED that ONLY 39% of those polled expressed strong disapproval of agent orange. SERIOUSLY?? where were these polls taken? who answered them? did the pollsters poll the respondents about who they voted for?
i noticed that a mere handful of DOGE's traitorous employees resigned because they are feeling butthurt over being part of musk's dismantling critical public services -- but only those services THEY think are critical, what about all the other services that are critical to people who are not 20yo money-worshipping monsters?
and for those of you who are reading my words, don't forget that TODAY is ECONOMIC BLACKOUT DAY where all of us (yes, even us peeps who live overseas, as it turns out!) BUY NOTHING from any ameriKKKan Big Box stores: no walmart, no target, no Amazon, no mcdonald's ... (but Costco, because they openly support DEIA, is OKAY) so just stay home instead of relying on retail therapy to save your peace of mind. it's good practice for longer boycotts that are scheduled to commence in March and April.
My heart has never understood how Trump’s approval ratings ever rose above 30%. I’ve never understood Americans. I am one, but how could we buy into this hatred and cruelty?
Through a relentless decades-long propaganda campaign on the part of Fox News and other right-wing media outlets. They captured the minds of many Americans, and the result has been devastating for our country.
It is hard to have a longterm plan when we are just now meeting the enemy face to face.
How do you plan for a regime that ‘s a shapeshifter? Slithery, greasy, and very quick? A feral Cheshire cat? A cobra that, rising up, mesmerizes its prey before striking?
There’s hope. Cats are masterful snake hunters. Their split-second ability to escape the poison f
Sadly, I listened to an American on tv during the election campaign who rattled off all the negative things about rump, then finished it by saying but I’ll vote for him because he’s not a Socialist! I grew up in NJ & studied law & politics at Moravian , what astounded me was how often people associated socialism as communism, but that is the narrative republicans want people to believe. (this began in the 1950s when unions where at their peak & the Vietnam war was sold to the people as the Domino theory of Communism taking over the world!)
Look at how rump targeted the Cuban population with this fearful communist rhetoric. Ironically he & his regime are behaving more like authoritarian communists with there oligarchs than any other time in America! I now live in a social democracy in Europe 🏴 it’s not perfect but at least you know there’s a safety net.
So people believe the narrative: democrats = radical left communists! Look how many times rump & regime says radical left when describing democrats or supporters of DEI or equal rights.
Welfare = communism
Affordable healthcare = com.
Social security = com.
Unions =com.
Public Education =com.
& all manner of public programs = communism.
So to sum this up- I believe many republicans will continue to support rump & his regime because they believe he’s a better bet than the radical left socialists (communists)
the democrats!
But maybe his recent sidings with Putin might wake them up but I fear their cognitive dissonance will make some excuse to justify that, also!
The people who have been inculcated in and wholeheartedly believe the far right wing, fascist, oligarchic propaganda they have been fed for decades are unlikely to break with the TrumpMusk autocracy until they begin to experience significant pain and suffering themselves. The suffering of what they see as “the other” is unlikely to move them in any significant numbers. But by the time they look up and realize that they are now sheep and cattle, it may well be too late.
Enjoy Scotland and don’t move an inch from there. I envy you, not only for the safety net, as ours is being engulfed in flames and the relative freedom. I envy you the rugged beauty of the country.
Thank You Michael! Been here now for almost 40 years.I am surrounded by the most beautiful scenery and people in the central belt of Scotland. Our Government isn’t perfect & our NHS struggles. But it is a happier & safer place to have been for the past 4 decades & now to grow old in.
Yes indeed! Recently my husband & I have joined the Co-operative party. Which looks more at our Labour Party & others parties working together for the common good.
You may be interested in the work of Sara Horowitz on Mutualism. She is based in NYC. Very interesting work she & colleagues are doing!
We buy into the hatred and cruelty as material wealth enables us to distance ourselves from our fellow humans. The stranger they become the more we distrust them. Our focus turns to our survival in the competition for greater wealth and the sense of safety it provides. This produces the oligarchs we see in the daily news. What we don't see is the millions of relatively wealthy people who support the oligarch and his promises.
yes, wealth enables insularity. Unless you get drafted and find yourself in a landing craft with others about to storm a beach. But now those joining the military are not typically wealthy- without the drasft there is less mxing of social classes, which was a great boon of WWII.
Well said. I see this phenomenon in my own community. The haves and the have nots tend to separate from each other, even at church, although there is a more performative act of kindness. All the church going "Christians" make themselves feel better by donating to charities and hand out food on "Supper on Saturday." It absolves them of guilt. I was one of them and almost fell into the cult.
“Obedience to Authority” is an experiment that demonstrates the susceptibility of the American Man on the Street to so-called expert opinion. Until he was proven a shyster, many people thought of Musk as an expert of some kind and Drumpf as a successful businessman.
Your comment is spot on! Recently I retired from running my own business for more than 40 years. I know that a successful business person does not declare bankruptcy six times and does not steal money from their vendors by not paying them.
I'm on board!. Made arrangements so I wouldn't have to shop for anything, including gas. Only purchase I'm making today is my weekly wing fix from my local wing joint!
Needed your pep talk. Thank you! It was a good one.
I would like to add to your list, of global positives. A relative, who lives in another country, and has always voted conservative told me yesterday, she wasn't doing that anymore in any races. But she wasn't going to tell her husband. I assured her that that was fine, she doesn't need to share how she votes with anyone. I could hardly keep from dancing a jig and yelling with joy as she made her announcement. If you knew my relative, you would know how earth shattering, in a good way, this is.
Yes, and laid off government workers who voted for Trump are now directly faced with the results of their actions. In all of these misguided actions, Trump and Musk are eroding the very support they counted on. That is one of the reasons I believe that the “Trump train” will soon be its own downfall. However, they will leave a lot of ruble and destroyed lives in their wake.
M Tree, I have the same hope as you; however I remember that it took 8 years of protests and organizing to end the Viet Nam war. However, afterwards there were deep changes in our society and a tremendous sense of empowerment among the youth that was the harbinger of many important new and powerful movements in our society.
I used to travel in a converted school bus as an organizer for the Draft Resistance League. Our means of media communication was a large ungainly mimeo machine and talks given at Universities and Colleges. but it worked. Members of our group also did a large leaflet drop at the Alameda Air Force Base in Oakland CA. All it took was hundreds of leaflets a tiny rented Piper Cub and a pilot. The top brass were shocked at the audacity of the action but were unable to act. Sometimes it takes creativity and audacity to reach out and communicate.
Yes, we had some fun. Our group set up a table INSIDE the Oakland Draft Board office for months with a sign that simply said “INFORMATION” As people entered they would come to our table first and we would lay out the options to not registering for the draft. Many would leave without registering as back then the draft board had no system to track those who had not registered. Often it was the mothers who came with their sons that made the decision to leave. Even though it was a token of resistance, maybe we saved some lives of Alameda County youths. There are many ways to be audacious in our resistance.
Amazing that the draft board let you stay set up. Now any outside group would probably be thrown out immediately. Love your audacity! - Anti Vietnam War person too
Americans have had it so good for so long they have become complacent. Many assumed that the political stability we have enjoyed over many years would continue under trump. Too bad things need to get so much worse to wake them up. Of course anyone paying attention could easily have predicted what is happening now.
Optimism would come from Democrats adopting a PLAN to really stop Trump, the Republican party, Republicans in Congress, and Musk with his DOGE who are engaged in an ongoing insurrection that violates federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383).
The PLAN begins with enacting and enforcing a new state law modeled after the federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383) in 7 states where Democrats control the state government. California could be the first state to enact and enforce the law within 90 days which would remove the 9 Republican representatives from California in the Congressional House. The House would then have a Democratic majority of 2024 to 2009 with Jefferies as Speaker of the House to control the budget and make sure Ukraine and Medicaid are fully funded and there will be no tax cuts for the rich. Maryland, New Jersey and Colorado could follow to collectively remove another 8 Republican representatives in the House and then also remove 4 conservative justices from the Supreme Court changing the Court to 3 liberals and 2 conservatives to block any more conservative Court actions favorable to Trump, Republicans, and oligarchs.
The Constitution in Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 allows members of Congress to be arrested, indicted, and convicted for the felony crime of insurrection that violates state law enforced with imprisonment up to ten years with mandatory permanent removal and prevention from holding office.
The Constitution does not establish judicial immunity for any judge including federal judges or Supreme Court Justices. Therefore, Supreme Court Justices can be arrested, indicted, and convicted for the felony crime of insurrection and enforced with imprisonment up to ten years and mandatory permanent removal and prevention from holding office.
This sounds like a great plan! I'm not a lawyer so I will take your word for it. Hopefully Gov. Newsom or Gov. Pritziker will light the fuse on this idea!
Congress must stop DOGE and publicly debate to contemplate any changes the South African born, richest man in the world with major conflicts of interest intends to do. Musk cannot be allowed to undo programs that were signed into law by Congress after the legislative process requiring House and Senate Committee approvals before full House and Senate floor votes.
One person, the richest man on the planet (with the ultimate goal of being the first TRILLIONAIRE in the World) cannot be given Carte Blanche of the US Legislative Branch to enrich himself at the cost of all Americans National security, Homeland
Security, economic security and public safety.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it give the Executive branch the ability to appoint a "Legislative King," like Musk, to overrule the the laws enacted by Congress, the legislative branch.
To do so would require a "Congressional King Act" passed by Congress and signed by the President. And that would surely be challenged and deemed completely Unconstitutional.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it give the Executive
Agree - Trump, Republicans, and oligarchs want to take America back to before 1776 with a KING (Trump as KING) and run the country as the old South which provided all the wealth to rich white men as property holders who exploited inhuman cruel slavery and treated white women as slaves
The GOP, AKA the country’s Cowards are staying silent and letting their “Destructive Duo” tear down everything that has kept America from going down the wrong path for 250 yrs! Make no mistake, it’s tyranny!
This is a great summary, Mr. Reich. I’m certain it is helpful to many who have been through an emotional roller-coaster ride these last few weeks. I know it’s good news for me to hear!
My comment has to do with “what’s still missing from the picture?” I’ll tell you my view: It’s where we are going after the dust settles. I’ve struggled a lot to reconcile the Democratic stance of possum-playing and relative quiet except for those who’ve *already* regularly had their faces all over the media - Crockett and AOC to name two. I no longer believe, for many reasons, Democrats have the ability - in vision, planning, narrative management, and mostly *execution* - to lead this country to a better place.
Your own observations support this. The town halls in *NEBRASKA* and *IOWA* are being led by *VERMONT* Senator Bernie Sanders (I)? That should tell us something quite important. There needs to be an urgent meeting of the minds from political scientists to populist leaders from both existing parties to devise a ground up overhaul of how we are going to operate this bus AFTER TRUMP AND MUSK and their ilk slink back into the woodwork. Thank you for posting - I appreciate it, and it’s great news on a Friday!
Thank you Marc N.! I’m encouraged to know there are others who see this stark reality and are talking about it. It may not appear to be a front-burner concern for many right now, but my mind plays things forward.
"The elderly, who've worked their entire lives to get $800 a month on Social Security, AREN'T bankrupting America. It's TAX-EVADING billionaires, like Musk and Trump, who are BLEEDING this country dry!" (Occupy Democrats)
Thank you, Dr. Reich, for this note of positivity! Hopefully the American public will continue to arise from their 45-year slumber and realize what a pestilential bill of goods they’ve been sold. In the meantime, my wife and I are keeping fingers crossed that our Social Security payments will arrive on Monday as scheduled.
I’m awakened by my inner alarm clock by 1:45 or earlier every morning even when I want a full nights’s sleep! Apparently there is a force in me that says this forum is too important to sleep through.
The man who prides himself on the "art of the deal" has overlooked a simple truth: if you make a raw deal with people, they will figure it out, they will remember what you did to them, and ultimately you the deal-maker will be held accountable. That day is coming.
Let's surmise that all the recent airline incidents are related to the fact he fired previous admin of the FAA.
You said, "After hundreds of nuclear weapons workers were abruptly fired, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire them." and so now I wonder how many related incidents of nuclear disasters will occur.
This is exactly what was on my mind this morning; these challenges that are brought forward by Trump and Musk are uniting people into a cogent set of resistance movements that are taking strong moral stands.
Substack has grown exponentially as a showcase for some excellent writing and a forum for discussions that unite us all. We have never before had a virtual town hall with people from all over the world connecting with each other as we face a deep moral and ethical crisis. This use of Substack is another reason for optimism that is a “game changer.” This substack is evolving into a support group as much as a place for exchange of ideas. Trolls are chased out of here because we value this forum so deeply. And Robert Reich and others leadership in the free expression of ideas is another reason for optimism.
This Substack alone has well over 600,000 subscribers! Heather Cox Richardson has over 1,500,000 subscribers. Our support as subscribers to many of these substacks is creating a viable alternative to corporate owned sources of news and opinions.
Many of us on this substack are “elders” which means we bring decades of experience and analysis going all the way back to the free speech movement, the Anti Viet Nam War movement as well as the start of the ecology movement and other progressive movements. Because of our age we are the roots of modern progressive resistance movements in the United States. Remember, It was us and our generation that ended the horrors of the Viet Nam war. It was not our ineffectual elected representatives that led the movement. It took time, and many people perished in that war, but we prevailed, not the armed might of the United States or the two faced politicians.
I was in high school when the students were shot down at Kent State. I remember those days as well.
My college freshman daughter and I have chats about this... and how I think she will be one of today's versions of students that were involved with Kent State and related protests. History does repeat itself until people learn and they never do it seems!
Now that we’ve hit rock bottom with Drumpf-Musk-Vance, people have woken up, thank goodness.
It will get lower. Not for us...we are at ground zero, , but look at how young all the Republican conservative (and religious) right wing kids that love Trump and Elon are. We were the liberal hippies (I was a baby hippie who was a couple of years too young for Woodstock) that were going to change the world whose parents were the WWII/Depression generation. We have lived long enough to see the pendulum swing left and shockingly all the.way back.to the right.
It can ALWAYS get lower with those buffoonish Traitors. I am waiting for Bunkerboy to start staggering in the streets wearing nothing but a soiled pair of briefs. I'd say it's a 6.7% chance on any given day at this point! (Alzheimer's is sad, but NO ONE in history deserves it more than the ole' fatty. I mean, at least evil evil Adolf Hitler brought prosperity to the masses for a brief period!!!)
Same here: the crying girl with a victim on the cover of Newsweek I will never forget...
I was a Freshman. 14. I forgot what class I was in, maybe social studies when we heard it happened. The award winning picture of that young woman crying leaning over the body of one of the students, And Neil Young's song "Ohio".
Thank you, Marc. What you and others are saying on Substack inspires more and more hope. As another elder who has witnessed so much change coming out of the grassroots of America I know we aren’t a nation of wimps. We will overcome this dark episode.
We must for the sake of Earth and all life!
Great comment Marc. I am one of those elders who took part in the Free Speech Movement as a freshman at UCB in the 60's. We demonstrated against the Vietnam War and for civil rights and reproductive rights for women. We received an excellent liberal arts education in which we learned "critical thinking skills" and also empathy which unfortunately are both so lacking now. Nonviolent, progressive resistance movements by "the people" really are effective. I still have the same moral values and fighting spirit to help save our democracy, even more so now 60 years later. Thank you Marc for your voice here.
Bravo Lilla!
Yea !!!!!
This is going to be the revolt of the old people. RFK jr is already trying to cancel vaccines. I'm sure he plans to make Medicare/Medicaid quit paying for them. I think it is an overt plan to kill off Social Security and Medicare recipients. Avian Flu is 2-3 mutations away from becoming a human pandemic.
The outrageous part is that he is lying to the public. Wednesday he said of the measles outbreak that the 20 people hospitalized were there for quarantine purposes. The head of the hospital said they were there because they couldn't breathe.
I live in Texas, and we already have an outbreak. I just heard about New Mexico. We have an anti-vaxer in charge. I made sure my grandchildren and great-grandchildren were vaccinated.
RFK Jr lies constantly.
RFK, Jr needs to focus on sugar and High Frutose Corn Syrup in food.
All hell is breaking loose in Texas and NM with a measals outbreak in an area misguided by anti-vaxxers like Kennedy. Who knew? Perhaps Kennedy needs a briefing fromtge researches at NIH, rather than Alex Jones.
Marc, you are right about the will of the people. It is the same thing with the Civil Rights movement, women's work to claim power we deserve, and the rest of the work done to make this a more perfect union. We are clearly not there yet, but each time we stand up and say "no" we move a bit closer. The rich do not want us to get anywhere close to the "more perfect union" because the place for them will be on the fringes not at the center where they seem to be now. Thanks for your thoughtful comments and to all who contribute here and throughout Substack!!
Brava, Ruth...BRAVA!
Yes, Marc, and a good prevailing example: Jane Fonda, on Nixon's enemy list, she is still thriving and speaking out at age 87 with the same gusto she had decades ago. She and other progressives will prevail to help restore our democracy! Never go a day without speaking or taking action against the goons. Cheers, Joan
I love Jane. I wrote about it recently on another Substack. I realized she's one of my favorite heros of all-time. She's Morher Jones status in my book. She's totally wonderful and beautiful. I praise Jane!
Yes, do not forget Heather, productive and brilliant...
And let's not forget our generation helping to pass the Civil Rights Act.
Indeed!
Marc, you are on fire today! Your posts are certain to fire us all up as well! So well said. So much appreciated!
I am merely a young man, by comparison, of 38! We WILL see the end of Trumplicanism, likely THIS year when Dear Leader passes.
Bets on if it'll be a fall, a brain hemorrhage or heart attack! My bet is on the later, as it scarfs McDonald's like it too has lowering stocks. 🤣
I hope you are rallying your young friends.
I worry about how long we will have this haven. When will the oligarchs freeze us out and shut the movement here down. Where will we go next?
Oligarchs have little or no control over the internet. Now that “We The People” have found our voice there will always be alternative forms of worldwide communication. Everyone who owns or has access to mobile phones has in their hands the means to communicate with others around the globe. Also we now have the means to instantly make videos, and make them available world wide in a matter of minutes. Unethical and dangerous actions of Police and ICE are recorded and broadcast internationally. The civilian videos of police brutally murdering George Floyd accelerated a whole new era of instant news communication and Mainstream Media is running to catch up, but they no longer are on the forefront of all breaking news.
When this new resistance movement gets rolling, and it will, it will be the in the forefront of change. Look at how fast the Economic Blackout movement has spread and it was started by only one person on the internet.
CNN— In early February, John Schwarz, a self-described “mindfulness and meditation facilitator,” proposed a 24-hour nationwide “economic blackout” of major chains on the last day of the month. He has organized a series of purchasing boycotts...Schwarz’s call rapidly spread online. His video has been shared more than 700,000 times on Instagram and viewed 8.5 million times. Celebrities such as Stephen King, Bette Midler and Mark Ruffalo have encouraged people to participate. Reporters wrote and aired TV pieces about the boycott, propelling it further.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/28/business/economic-blackout-february-28?cid=ios_app
Amazon, Target and Walmart beware, we are coming after you and eventually all those Oligarchs that support this new and terrible regime.
What you write is encouraging and I hope you are right. But hasn’t China largely muzzled digital protest? I worry that level of surpression could happen here as well. I think we must be prepared to resist and communicate in a multi-threaded fashion, using alternative, new and antique methods as well, akin to the photocopying and fax machines the Samizdat used during the days of the Soviet Union.
They may well limit communication through technology but never forget the underground railroad, the resistance of WW2 & the many other resisters to hostile regimes who managed to resist & get liberation without mobile phones or computers! People always find a way!
Yes, we can hold undercover meetings to plot our journey to freedom!
Michael, love of country and passion for freedom always finds a way. New ways will arise in time, though, they may not be as visible or as accessible, you, we, will find them. Because the embers of love of country and passion for freedom will never be extinguished, no matter how hard some may try.. Faith in ourselves and us is the answer.
Also, people MUST VOTE... Many are lazy and never show up to VOTE, then they complain about everything ... If you are NOT registered to VOTE, GET registered to vote.. And if YOU fail to VOTE, then don't like the outcome of the elections, YOU can shut up. If you don't VOTE, YOU don't get to whine later.
we need to take inspiration from Germany with their 84% participation in their vote last week, I seriously doubt we would be in this pickle if we had near that turnout.
They learned the hard way!
Eileen, yes I agree, voting is essential. I like the idea where in some countries, it is a law that everyone has to vote. Although, not voting appears sometimes to be due to laziness, I think there are other top reasons, such as: apathy -- a giving up on the possibility of change, not understanding the importance of voting and how it affects them personally, and disdain for politics.
I am realistically hopeful those who did not vote are going to realize what a terrible mistake they made. I see some signs of that already.
I’m with you!
I worry too. Don't ever get complacent. We are living in the 21st century where we never had intrusive technology like this so we can't think of what the world went through previously. They can pick out your face from a satellite in space. Just think of Google maps and street view.. I worry when I see T-mobile ads offering free Starlink. I worry when I heard that Elon wants the FAA to use Starlink instead of their 2 billion contract with Verizon. He could take over the world's communications and turn it on and off at will when his drug addled brain doesn't like what someone says aboit him. That's what scares me. He is way too powerful. They have gotten rid of all competition. . I'll go back to 2 tin cans strung together, or morse code or smoke signals before I let him control my phone. I fear the AI being able to read this site, my emails, texts, etc. Any dissenters. They just fired a manager at Tesla for criticizing Elon using Nazi jokes. Gone. 1984.
Muchael, they WILL NOT SHUT US DOWN. This (coup attempt) SHALL NOT STAND!!
They won’t shut it down. MAGAs use Substack too. I’ve seen their sites. Not as big but enough to prevent shutdowns.
They don’t need to shut Substack down to freeze the resistance out.
True there are other things they can do.
Maybe we should start an alliance with the other democracies. The Americans who support democracy align with the other countries of like-mindedness.
"Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI" by Yuval Noah Harari explores humanity's relationship with information throughout history. Harari argues that information networks—whether in the form of religious texts, political systems, or digital algorithms—have always shaped human societies by connecting people and driving progress."
It is a positive that information is not so quite so tightly in the grip of consolidated mega meda companies driven by profit, and that those with valuable things to say have direct means of reaching many people without legacy media as intermediaries.
At the same time, I am concerned about this "democratization" of information and the rise of charlatans and laypeople on social media spreading disinformation, eg on health and medicine without a filtering. No simple answer, although some will say "anything goes". I don't think that is working so great. It is a topic for much debate.
Jamie Susskind has valuable things to say about some governmental controls on media, and the bigger and more powerful the platform, the more the controls.
I know when people hear the word "control" they bristle. Call it what you like.
http://pegasusbooks.com/books/the-digital-republic-9781643139012-hardcover
Amen!!
Thank you, RR, for these 10 reasons for hope. I totally agree. The word around here is the Republican legislators are reaching out to their constituents to see what they think about DOGE. They would be spending this much time and money if they were not concerned. Musk is feeling the heat, but we can't stop.
We must reserve Musk's foolish, greed-driven DOGE game and hold him accountable! Big Tech Oligarchs can never attempt to completely take over our government and destroy our democracy. Congress MUST debate and contemplate the extraordinary, unprecedented power that has been given to the foreign born, richest man in the world. Musk cannot be allowed to further enrich himself while gutting vital domestic and foreign programs, such as the USA Ebola response that could wipe out human life if not handled correctly.
DOGE's actions could cause another financial collapse due to shady Crypto. Crypto has become the getaway vehicle of choice by international organized crime.Congress is derelict in duty if they don't fully contemplate* the possible results of cutting programs Congress has authorized to protect Americans and consumers, ensure government oversight to deliver efficient and effective services, and stabilize the World that often subsidizes American farmers and businesses.
Importantly, this story mentions Starlink taking over FAA services currently tasked to Verizon. In another recent story, Starlink is providing Verizon rural cell service. Congress must contemplate this dangerous, possible quid pro quo that would likely result in Starlink launching many more satellites to switch operational duties. Verizon would need more satellites for more cell service, and Starlink would need more satellites for FAA services. Is this the grand scam Musk is planning to enrich himself at tax payers' cost and consumers' dangers??
But no scam is complete unless without an attempted cover-up. The cover--up is done by eliminating government programs that monitor the air, ozone and stratosphere being damaged by thousands of rockets that create tremendous levels of carbon to launch rockets. Clearly, Musk's Starlink does not want those pesky scientists at NOAA monitoring the atmosphere because Musk's Starlink satellites have likely created more air pollution that all automobiles combined in the US. Musk doesn't want those pesky OSHA inspectors messing around his plants and rockets blowing up in the sky.
Clearly, Congress MUST fully contemplate Musk taking a chainsaw to USA bureaucracy because that bureaucracy has been enacted by Congress to protect US consumers, wworkers and citizens. The bureaucracy is the guardrails to protect Americans, consumers, society and our democracy.
The only reason someone would be so foolish to remove the guardrails approved by Congress is due to greed and/or disregard for other's safety. Removing the Congressionally approved bureaucratic guardrails make disasters like East Palestine Ohio trainwrecks inevitable and more disasterous across the country. This is not rocket science.
It's completely unacceptable that Musk has gone so far as to eliminate programs that ensure an effective response to a bio-terror attack with Ebola that would make COVID-19 look like allergy season.
Shutting down the CFPB is reprehensible and egregious. The CFPB has protected consumers, made government effective and held the powerful accountable. Congress must undo DOGE's attack on consumer protection driven by Big Tech's greed. The CFPB must be fully restored.
Now that Congress knows that Musk's chainsaw to bureaucracy is so dangerous to our National Security and Americans' safety, Congress must stop DOGE from making any changes to government without legislation from Congress.
#StopDOGE
#BoycottTESLA
#BoycottVERIZON
#BoycottX
Wait till the tariffs hit. Prices will go up. Plus Musk won’t be selling many Teslas in Canada. People are furious over the tariffs.
Professor Reich: i am ASTOUNDED that ONLY 39% of those polled expressed strong disapproval of agent orange. SERIOUSLY?? where were these polls taken? who answered them? did the pollsters poll the respondents about who they voted for?
i noticed that a mere handful of DOGE's traitorous employees resigned because they are feeling butthurt over being part of musk's dismantling critical public services -- but only those services THEY think are critical, what about all the other services that are critical to people who are not 20yo money-worshipping monsters?
and for those of you who are reading my words, don't forget that TODAY is ECONOMIC BLACKOUT DAY where all of us (yes, even us peeps who live overseas, as it turns out!) BUY NOTHING from any ameriKKKan Big Box stores: no walmart, no target, no Amazon, no mcdonald's ... (but Costco, because they openly support DEIA, is OKAY) so just stay home instead of relying on retail therapy to save your peace of mind. it's good practice for longer boycotts that are scheduled to commence in March and April.
My heart has never understood how Trump’s approval ratings ever rose above 30%. I’ve never understood Americans. I am one, but how could we buy into this hatred and cruelty?
Through a relentless decades-long propaganda campaign on the part of Fox News and other right-wing media outlets. They captured the minds of many Americans, and the result has been devastating for our country.
And there you have it. What was the Democratic long term strategic plan? They have no long term plan.
It is hard to have a longterm plan when we are just now meeting the enemy face to face.
How do you plan for a regime that ‘s a shapeshifter? Slithery, greasy, and very quick? A feral Cheshire cat? A cobra that, rising up, mesmerizes its prey before striking?
There’s hope. Cats are masterful snake hunters. Their split-second ability to escape the poison f
…Fangs is our model. So is their ability to stalk and be patient. Become the cat.
Or maybe we become boxers who learn to dance before delivering our own deft punches. A knockout or a TKO—both work just as well.
Maybe you can spot a plan in this non-plan thought
Preserve and protect The Constitution? Is that not plan enough?
This made me laugh since it's so true! Democrats need to get grit.
Sadly, I listened to an American on tv during the election campaign who rattled off all the negative things about rump, then finished it by saying but I’ll vote for him because he’s not a Socialist! I grew up in NJ & studied law & politics at Moravian , what astounded me was how often people associated socialism as communism, but that is the narrative republicans want people to believe. (this began in the 1950s when unions where at their peak & the Vietnam war was sold to the people as the Domino theory of Communism taking over the world!)
Look at how rump targeted the Cuban population with this fearful communist rhetoric. Ironically he & his regime are behaving more like authoritarian communists with there oligarchs than any other time in America! I now live in a social democracy in Europe 🏴 it’s not perfect but at least you know there’s a safety net.
So people believe the narrative: democrats = radical left communists! Look how many times rump & regime says radical left when describing democrats or supporters of DEI or equal rights.
Welfare = communism
Affordable healthcare = com.
Social security = com.
Unions =com.
Public Education =com.
& all manner of public programs = communism.
So to sum this up- I believe many republicans will continue to support rump & his regime because they believe he’s a better bet than the radical left socialists (communists)
the democrats!
But maybe his recent sidings with Putin might wake them up but I fear their cognitive dissonance will make some excuse to justify that, also!
The people who have been inculcated in and wholeheartedly believe the far right wing, fascist, oligarchic propaganda they have been fed for decades are unlikely to break with the TrumpMusk autocracy until they begin to experience significant pain and suffering themselves. The suffering of what they see as “the other” is unlikely to move them in any significant numbers. But by the time they look up and realize that they are now sheep and cattle, it may well be too late.
Enjoy Scotland and don’t move an inch from there. I envy you, not only for the safety net, as ours is being engulfed in flames and the relative freedom. I envy you the rugged beauty of the country.
Thank You Michael! Been here now for almost 40 years.I am surrounded by the most beautiful scenery and people in the central belt of Scotland. Our Government isn’t perfect & our NHS struggles. But it is a happier & safer place to have been for the past 4 decades & now to grow old in.
I totally agree Michael.
We need a new party that unites all who share common sense values and reverence for life.
Yes indeed! Recently my husband & I have joined the Co-operative party. Which looks more at our Labour Party & others parties working together for the common good.
You may be interested in the work of Sara Horowitz on Mutualism. She is based in NYC. Very interesting work she & colleagues are doing!
Thanks Jersey Girl in Scotland!
By destroying public schools by defunding and allowing charter for profit schools to voice the oligarch doctrine.
Ugh, charter schools, what a scam by the rich who demand control that favors their view of society.
We buy into the hatred and cruelty as material wealth enables us to distance ourselves from our fellow humans. The stranger they become the more we distrust them. Our focus turns to our survival in the competition for greater wealth and the sense of safety it provides. This produces the oligarchs we see in the daily news. What we don't see is the millions of relatively wealthy people who support the oligarch and his promises.
yes, wealth enables insularity. Unless you get drafted and find yourself in a landing craft with others about to storm a beach. But now those joining the military are not typically wealthy- without the drasft there is less mxing of social classes, which was a great boon of WWII.
Well said. I see this phenomenon in my own community. The haves and the have nots tend to separate from each other, even at church, although there is a more performative act of kindness. All the church going "Christians" make themselves feel better by donating to charities and hand out food on "Supper on Saturday." It absolves them of guilt. I was one of them and almost fell into the cult.
Julie, I am glad you are free from the cult of the privileged.
It’s easy to fall into the Christian cult without realizing it.
With you 200%
Have you seen Stanley Milgram’s film “Obedience to Authority”?
Not yet, but I will look for it.
“Obedience to Authority” is an experiment that demonstrates the susceptibility of the American Man on the Street to so-called expert opinion. Until he was proven a shyster, many people thought of Musk as an expert of some kind and Drumpf as a successful businessman.
Hi Stan...
Your comment is spot on! Recently I retired from running my own business for more than 40 years. I know that a successful business person does not declare bankruptcy six times and does not steal money from their vendors by not paying them.
All the best to everyone... GH
I'm on board!. Made arrangements so I wouldn't have to shop for anything, including gas. Only purchase I'm making today is my weekly wing fix from my local wing joint!
The only thing I'm buying today is lunch at a local restaurant owned by a local family... paid with cash. I'd be up for taking this to the next level.
Needed your pep talk. Thank you! It was a good one.
I would like to add to your list, of global positives. A relative, who lives in another country, and has always voted conservative told me yesterday, she wasn't doing that anymore in any races. But she wasn't going to tell her husband. I assured her that that was fine, she doesn't need to share how she votes with anyone. I could hardly keep from dancing a jig and yelling with joy as she made her announcement. If you knew my relative, you would know how earth shattering, in a good way, this is.
Yes, and laid off government workers who voted for Trump are now directly faced with the results of their actions. In all of these misguided actions, Trump and Musk are eroding the very support they counted on. That is one of the reasons I believe that the “Trump train” will soon be its own downfall. However, they will leave a lot of ruble and destroyed lives in their wake.
Marc, I just hope the mass awakening happens in time to avert the worst.
M Tree, I have the same hope as you; however I remember that it took 8 years of protests and organizing to end the Viet Nam war. However, afterwards there were deep changes in our society and a tremendous sense of empowerment among the youth that was the harbinger of many important new and powerful movements in our society.
I used to travel in a converted school bus as an organizer for the Draft Resistance League. Our means of media communication was a large ungainly mimeo machine and talks given at Universities and Colleges. but it worked. Members of our group also did a large leaflet drop at the Alameda Air Force Base in Oakland CA. All it took was hundreds of leaflets a tiny rented Piper Cub and a pilot. The top brass were shocked at the audacity of the action but were unable to act. Sometimes it takes creativity and audacity to reach out and communicate.
Marc, thank you for your story. It highlights how your passion and perseverance were the mother of invention.
Nice story, Marc: political action should bring fun...
Yes, we had some fun. Our group set up a table INSIDE the Oakland Draft Board office for months with a sign that simply said “INFORMATION” As people entered they would come to our table first and we would lay out the options to not registering for the draft. Many would leave without registering as back then the draft board had no system to track those who had not registered. Often it was the mothers who came with their sons that made the decision to leave. Even though it was a token of resistance, maybe we saved some lives of Alameda County youths. There are many ways to be audacious in our resistance.
Amazing that the draft board let you stay set up. Now any outside group would probably be thrown out immediately. Love your audacity! - Anti Vietnam War person too
My thought as well.
My political being was born in the days of Provo in Amsterdam (1965-1968); creativity and fun are very important and may save lives as well.
Read something about Provo...
M, it WILL!! IT IS!
We must support those who have been victimized by cruel men.
You said it, sister! The Tech Bros must be held accountable for victimizing women for the greed, power and pleasure.
Yeah!
Americans have had it so good for so long they have become complacent. Many assumed that the political stability we have enjoyed over many years would continue under trump. Too bad things need to get so much worse to wake them up. Of course anyone paying attention could easily have predicted what is happening now.
We must prevail — because the alternative is too dreadful to contemplate.
Optimism would come from Democrats adopting a PLAN to really stop Trump, the Republican party, Republicans in Congress, and Musk with his DOGE who are engaged in an ongoing insurrection that violates federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383).
The PLAN begins with enacting and enforcing a new state law modeled after the federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383) in 7 states where Democrats control the state government. California could be the first state to enact and enforce the law within 90 days which would remove the 9 Republican representatives from California in the Congressional House. The House would then have a Democratic majority of 2024 to 2009 with Jefferies as Speaker of the House to control the budget and make sure Ukraine and Medicaid are fully funded and there will be no tax cuts for the rich. Maryland, New Jersey and Colorado could follow to collectively remove another 8 Republican representatives in the House and then also remove 4 conservative justices from the Supreme Court changing the Court to 3 liberals and 2 conservatives to block any more conservative Court actions favorable to Trump, Republicans, and oligarchs.
The Constitution in Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 allows members of Congress to be arrested, indicted, and convicted for the felony crime of insurrection that violates state law enforced with imprisonment up to ten years with mandatory permanent removal and prevention from holding office.
The Constitution does not establish judicial immunity for any judge including federal judges or Supreme Court Justices. Therefore, Supreme Court Justices can be arrested, indicted, and convicted for the felony crime of insurrection and enforced with imprisonment up to ten years and mandatory permanent removal and prevention from holding office.
Thanks William...
This sounds like a great plan! I'm not a lawyer so I will take your word for it. Hopefully Gov. Newsom or Gov. Pritziker will light the fuse on this idea!
All the best... GH
Congress must stop DOGE and publicly debate to contemplate any changes the South African born, richest man in the world with major conflicts of interest intends to do. Musk cannot be allowed to undo programs that were signed into law by Congress after the legislative process requiring House and Senate Committee approvals before full House and Senate floor votes.
One person, the richest man on the planet (with the ultimate goal of being the first TRILLIONAIRE in the World) cannot be given Carte Blanche of the US Legislative Branch to enrich himself at the cost of all Americans National security, Homeland
Security, economic security and public safety.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it give the Executive branch the ability to appoint a "Legislative King," like Musk, to overrule the the laws enacted by Congress, the legislative branch.
To do so would require a "Congressional King Act" passed by Congress and signed by the President. And that would surely be challenged and deemed completely Unconstitutional.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it give the Executive
Agree - Trump, Republicans, and oligarchs want to take America back to before 1776 with a KING (Trump as KING) and run the country as the old South which provided all the wealth to rich white men as property holders who exploited inhuman cruel slavery and treated white women as slaves
The GOP, AKA the country’s Cowards are staying silent and letting their “Destructive Duo” tear down everything that has kept America from going down the wrong path for 250 yrs! Make no mistake, it’s tyranny!
Let’s show the Trumpists what a true landslide looks like by votes, lasting boycotts, and common conversation. Raise the flag if democracy!
This is a great summary, Mr. Reich. I’m certain it is helpful to many who have been through an emotional roller-coaster ride these last few weeks. I know it’s good news for me to hear!
My comment has to do with “what’s still missing from the picture?” I’ll tell you my view: It’s where we are going after the dust settles. I’ve struggled a lot to reconcile the Democratic stance of possum-playing and relative quiet except for those who’ve *already* regularly had their faces all over the media - Crockett and AOC to name two. I no longer believe, for many reasons, Democrats have the ability - in vision, planning, narrative management, and mostly *execution* - to lead this country to a better place.
Your own observations support this. The town halls in *NEBRASKA* and *IOWA* are being led by *VERMONT* Senator Bernie Sanders (I)? That should tell us something quite important. There needs to be an urgent meeting of the minds from political scientists to populist leaders from both existing parties to devise a ground up overhaul of how we are going to operate this bus AFTER TRUMP AND MUSK and their ilk slink back into the woodwork. Thank you for posting - I appreciate it, and it’s great news on a Friday!
There is a new Substack entitled “Crisis and Transition a New Way Forward” that focuses on a potential powerful Economic and Political vision for the future. Here is the link :https://crisistransition.substack.com/p/without-a-vision-the-people-perish
Thank you Marc N.! I’m encouraged to know there are others who see this stark reality and are talking about it. It may not appear to be a front-burner concern for many right now, but my mind plays things forward.
"The elderly, who've worked their entire lives to get $800 a month on Social Security, AREN'T bankrupting America. It's TAX-EVADING billionaires, like Musk and Trump, who are BLEEDING this country dry!" (Occupy Democrats)
We can do this! I'm one of many that will not be spending money on February 28th. Plus, I just cancelled our Washington Post subscription!
Yes! Me as well!
How great is it that the FAA says FAFO. This is all some of the best news, the people all over are waking up and rising up.
Thank you, Dr. Reich, for this note of positivity! Hopefully the American public will continue to arise from their 45-year slumber and realize what a pestilential bill of goods they’ve been sold. In the meantime, my wife and I are keeping fingers crossed that our Social Security payments will arrive on Monday as scheduled.
UPLIFTING.
I’ve now set my alarm for 4 AM so I can catch Robert Reich’s drops.
And then I try to get back to sleep for an hour or two.
I’m awakened by my inner alarm clock by 1:45 or earlier every morning even when I want a full nights’s sleep! Apparently there is a force in me that says this forum is too important to sleep through.
The man who prides himself on the "art of the deal" has overlooked a simple truth: if you make a raw deal with people, they will figure it out, they will remember what you did to them, and ultimately you the deal-maker will be held accountable. That day is coming.
Let's surmise that all the recent airline incidents are related to the fact he fired previous admin of the FAA.
You said, "After hundreds of nuclear weapons workers were abruptly fired, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire them." and so now I wonder how many related incidents of nuclear disasters will occur.
Take shelter people.