Thank you, former Secretary Reich, for reminding us of a time when sanity was expected in Congress. Then Gingrich, Rove, and GW Bush changed the playing field, recognizing that if you lie, demonize, and forget all integrity you effectively get to shoot at a basket 2 inches wider than the one you have to defend.
And after all the horrid paths from those days that have led us here, thank you for giving us all hope based on truth, humanity, and an eye on how youth and Black women are bringing forth a better future as the current facade of #RepubloFascism starts to implode.
I'm glad that you recovered from your bout with Covid and were able to gather with your Dream Team. They look like a fine bunch of folks.
I appreciate all that the whole group of you tried to do way back then, and all that you succeeded at doing. You and your efforts stand as exemplars and examples of priorities that represent high ideals that won't be forgotten, even if we have backslipped in more recent times. If enough of We the People will do our parts as engaged citizens, we will be able to reclaim OUR government and get OUR elected and appointed representatives to again work for all of us, for the greater good. Then we will be able to recover lost ground and perhaps even make more progress to help OUR democracy and OUR country evolve towards even higher ideals that will hopefully be harder to slip back from.
And after all this time, I appreciate your continued dedication to and involvement in helping inspire and guide We the People onward.
Myself and many others were fighting alongside you. But we failed big time. We will be remembered as generation F. We failed democracy and we failed our planet, but mostly we failed future generations. They will never forget and likely never forgive us.
But there is road back to redemption. We can unrig our system by overturning Citizens United and the ending corporate personhood and money as speech SCOTUS nightmare that gave away our Constitution and power to the super rich to use against us.
Your speech that upset the WH was being honest and forthcoming. It accurately warned us of dark days to come. Now that we are here where the sun shines for some, and it is perpetual darkness for many, can we get back to seeing some cooperative light at the tunnel’s end in our government? Congrats on all you and your colleagues achieved back then and for your Substack reminding all to keep talking, read and revisit references, the Berkley course and common good gifts. Fingers crossed and nose to the grindstone to you and those of us trying to make sense of it all, as well as progress and hope for the future.
Interesting that Clinton was upset with a prescient speech. He must have known it was true. We can infer that he was already under the influence of corporate donors, and in that light, NAFTA and Chinese accession to the WTO was no surprise, nor was his failure to stand firm on Glass-Steagall.
You are a beacon on light, an inspiration. Because of you I have been “sounding the alarms” and trying to remind those of consequence of the “common good” and how important their actions are for our democracy and our country.
Thank you for your brilliant thoughts and taking the time to share them.
Any big changes we are likely to make are to be "long games." One does not shift institutions overnight. And the erosion of sanity makes for a shapeshifting challenge; when wild leaps of imagination replace the hard-scape reality of living our lives, what is it we respond to?
30 years is a handsome amount of time for your team to be associated. It makes me think of some of my colleagues with whom I count the time associated in decades.
Your fighting the Good Fight is immensely encouraging me to fight the same fight. (Remembering to dance along the way.)
Thank you Mr Reich, for your great work - past, present, and future. I am an old fogey like you and many who are responding to you. May you live a much longer and even more productive life so you my continue to hold up the light for young
Thank you. To you and your team, past present and future. A million times, thank you. We trust, respect and honor your efforts, on behalf of us all. We've all done our various versions of walking the walk and talking the talk, but you (all of you) have been at the forefront and cutting edge. Hats off. Much appreciation. What a journey......
Once upon a time in America when civility reigned and common was the cause. I’m afraid we can never return to a time when community included all members not just those who are like us. The splintering of our country continues to drive a wedge into the heart of our democracy. Community can only exist when we are alike or in proximity. Because of the internet, we are splintered even further into evermore specific groups. The concept of community is becoming obsolete and as a consequence we must be ever vigilant against media manipulation of our thought processes. We must adapt and adjust lest we perish in a sea of misinformation and disinformation. Our decision making processes have been corrupted and co-opted to fit the power elites agenda. Our vision has been blurred. Our voices have been muted by noise deliberately placed to interfere with our perceptions of power. In a sense, we are living in a pseudo reality created by elites.
"The storm I warned of is now upon us.” Yes, and it has been building for some time. But now that it is here and shows no sign of abatement, what can be done?
The current captain of our ship is a man who is exhibiting good judgement and actions, but one half of his crew not only refuses to work, but they wish to accuse the captain as the source of the storm rather than work together towards solutions.
I am not being a pessimist when I say that now is the time to prepare for the storm we are now in to intensify. It is possible that our vessel that has been adequate for over 200 years might need to radically changed to keep us afloat during times of dramatic change. The time to plan for that change is now. We all need to be willing to have our “I Have a Dream” moment and be willing to dream, design and build a socio-economic system to replace a system that is now designed to serve the wealthy. Certain rules of civility of human behavior were assumed at the time of the creation of the Constitution. These rules of civility have been torn to shreds by the politicians who no longer serve their voters nor the Common Good.
If the House of Representatives cannot function at a time of crisis, the functionality of our form of Democracy must be questioned. We are facing a series of planetary conflicts that could lead to world war and yet we have a government that is currently unable to legislate. We are the wealthiest country in the world yet we cannot provide the most basic of necessities of food, clothing, appropriate housing, education and medical care for a growing percentage of the population.If we continue to react to the dangerous antics of the radical Republicans we lose precious time and attention to creating a new blueprint for our society and our government.
It is time for the best and brightest, most ethical to begin the process of designing an ideal governance and economic system for the benefit of our children and generations to come. Currently poisoned politics leading to a planet poisoned also by a collapsing climate is not a viable option. We must envision and implement a better system now. The consequences of inaction must not be permitted. So for the moment, yes we must vote Blue, but that is not the solution, it only buys us a few more years. We must lay the foundation for a better society now. It was done over 200 years ago, it can be done again.
Thank you, former Secretary Reich, for reminding us of a time when sanity was expected in Congress. Then Gingrich, Rove, and GW Bush changed the playing field, recognizing that if you lie, demonize, and forget all integrity you effectively get to shoot at a basket 2 inches wider than the one you have to defend.
And after all the horrid paths from those days that have led us here, thank you for giving us all hope based on truth, humanity, and an eye on how youth and Black women are bringing forth a better future as the current facade of #RepubloFascism starts to implode.
I'm glad that you recovered from your bout with Covid and were able to gather with your Dream Team. They look like a fine bunch of folks.
I appreciate all that the whole group of you tried to do way back then, and all that you succeeded at doing. You and your efforts stand as exemplars and examples of priorities that represent high ideals that won't be forgotten, even if we have backslipped in more recent times. If enough of We the People will do our parts as engaged citizens, we will be able to reclaim OUR government and get OUR elected and appointed representatives to again work for all of us, for the greater good. Then we will be able to recover lost ground and perhaps even make more progress to help OUR democracy and OUR country evolve towards even higher ideals that will hopefully be harder to slip back from.
And after all this time, I appreciate your continued dedication to and involvement in helping inspire and guide We the People onward.
From one old fogey to another!
Myself and many others were fighting alongside you. But we failed big time. We will be remembered as generation F. We failed democracy and we failed our planet, but mostly we failed future generations. They will never forget and likely never forgive us.
But there is road back to redemption. We can unrig our system by overturning Citizens United and the ending corporate personhood and money as speech SCOTUS nightmare that gave away our Constitution and power to the super rich to use against us.
Fight like never before for the We the People Amendment with movetoamend.org and for AB83 with moneyoutvotersin.org
Let’s save democracy just in time to save our planet and our legacy
Your speech that upset the WH was being honest and forthcoming. It accurately warned us of dark days to come. Now that we are here where the sun shines for some, and it is perpetual darkness for many, can we get back to seeing some cooperative light at the tunnel’s end in our government? Congrats on all you and your colleagues achieved back then and for your Substack reminding all to keep talking, read and revisit references, the Berkley course and common good gifts. Fingers crossed and nose to the grindstone to you and those of us trying to make sense of it all, as well as progress and hope for the future.
Bravo Dream Team
Keep hope Alive.
There is no night for the brightness of peace and love.
Caption for the Dream Team photo:
Danger! Critical mass of intelligence, compassion, and dedication to justice.
Interesting that Clinton was upset with a prescient speech. He must have known it was true. We can infer that he was already under the influence of corporate donors, and in that light, NAFTA and Chinese accession to the WTO was no surprise, nor was his failure to stand firm on Glass-Steagall.
You are a beacon on light, an inspiration. Because of you I have been “sounding the alarms” and trying to remind those of consequence of the “common good” and how important their actions are for our democracy and our country.
Thank you for your brilliant thoughts and taking the time to share them.
Any big changes we are likely to make are to be "long games." One does not shift institutions overnight. And the erosion of sanity makes for a shapeshifting challenge; when wild leaps of imagination replace the hard-scape reality of living our lives, what is it we respond to?
30 years is a handsome amount of time for your team to be associated. It makes me think of some of my colleagues with whom I count the time associated in decades.
Your fighting the Good Fight is immensely encouraging me to fight the same fight. (Remembering to dance along the way.)
You were prescient. NAFTA, as it was constructed, and allowing China into the WTO had adverse consequences to labor which were easily foreseeable.
Thank you Mr Reich, for your great work - past, present, and future. I am an old fogey like you and many who are responding to you. May you live a much longer and even more productive life so you my continue to hold up the light for young
Thank you. To you and your team, past present and future. A million times, thank you. We trust, respect and honor your efforts, on behalf of us all. We've all done our various versions of walking the walk and talking the talk, but you (all of you) have been at the forefront and cutting edge. Hats off. Much appreciation. What a journey......
You tried. That is more than most, even if you did not accomplish as much as you hoped to.
Admirable !!
Once upon a time in America when civility reigned and common was the cause. I’m afraid we can never return to a time when community included all members not just those who are like us. The splintering of our country continues to drive a wedge into the heart of our democracy. Community can only exist when we are alike or in proximity. Because of the internet, we are splintered even further into evermore specific groups. The concept of community is becoming obsolete and as a consequence we must be ever vigilant against media manipulation of our thought processes. We must adapt and adjust lest we perish in a sea of misinformation and disinformation. Our decision making processes have been corrupted and co-opted to fit the power elites agenda. Our vision has been blurred. Our voices have been muted by noise deliberately placed to interfere with our perceptions of power. In a sense, we are living in a pseudo reality created by elites.
"The storm I warned of is now upon us.” Yes, and it has been building for some time. But now that it is here and shows no sign of abatement, what can be done?
The current captain of our ship is a man who is exhibiting good judgement and actions, but one half of his crew not only refuses to work, but they wish to accuse the captain as the source of the storm rather than work together towards solutions.
I am not being a pessimist when I say that now is the time to prepare for the storm we are now in to intensify. It is possible that our vessel that has been adequate for over 200 years might need to radically changed to keep us afloat during times of dramatic change. The time to plan for that change is now. We all need to be willing to have our “I Have a Dream” moment and be willing to dream, design and build a socio-economic system to replace a system that is now designed to serve the wealthy. Certain rules of civility of human behavior were assumed at the time of the creation of the Constitution. These rules of civility have been torn to shreds by the politicians who no longer serve their voters nor the Common Good.
If the House of Representatives cannot function at a time of crisis, the functionality of our form of Democracy must be questioned. We are facing a series of planetary conflicts that could lead to world war and yet we have a government that is currently unable to legislate. We are the wealthiest country in the world yet we cannot provide the most basic of necessities of food, clothing, appropriate housing, education and medical care for a growing percentage of the population.If we continue to react to the dangerous antics of the radical Republicans we lose precious time and attention to creating a new blueprint for our society and our government.
It is time for the best and brightest, most ethical to begin the process of designing an ideal governance and economic system for the benefit of our children and generations to come. Currently poisoned politics leading to a planet poisoned also by a collapsing climate is not a viable option. We must envision and implement a better system now. The consequences of inaction must not be permitted. So for the moment, yes we must vote Blue, but that is not the solution, it only buys us a few more years. We must lay the foundation for a better society now. It was done over 200 years ago, it can be done again.
Thank you for everything you do. I feel so energized to work for the good you espouse in your writings.