The best political comment I have ever heard in my life: "“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” Thanks, Ken. And thank you, Prof.
Thanks so much for your work and commentary and stubborn persistence in reminding us what is happening --what has happened --to justice in the American economy. I was finishing graduate school at Harvard while you were at lunch that day -- it's likely that a few hours later I was downstairs drinking beer with my buddies, because the Faculty Club inexplicably allowed in graduate instructors. Happy days. But not so happy was our realization of precisely what you are talking about: watching the fairly benign New Deal state be taken apart by Reagan and his ilk--while we watched, embarrassed by that presidency and irate at the wreckage of hope and opportunity he represented and brought on. And here we are.
Wonderful tribute and beautifully ‘therapeutic’ to know men like you and Galbraith are fighting the good fight! Thank you for your service to our nation!
Ken Galbraith was, of course, a Canadian by birth. His book The Scotch is a sardonic look at his roots in southwestern Ontario, and he never lost interest in Canada and Canadian politics. He made a point of praising the first budget of the New Democratic government I led in the early 1990’s , which made substantial public investments in housing, public transit, social transfers, diversity and inclusion. He wrote and phoned me often. Your memoir brings back many memories, and I was proud to welcome him in the Premier’s office when he was speaking at the University of Toronto next door. He was exactly as you described him. Bob your own voice is just as important these days and I enjoy so much your great energy and wit, as I first did when our paths crossed in Oxford many years ago. Keep it up ! Bob Rae ((now at the UN in New York).
Obviously Ken was an optimist. You are a realist Professor Reich.
There is a huge gap between the wealthy elite and the middle and lower classes. The people who can afford to pay higher taxes have instead paid politicians to help them get wealthier and pay less in taxes. Thus America has a two tiered system of justice and everyone knows this! In America everyone is created equal @ birth and that’s where it ends. Trump was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has gotten away with his despicable behavior for his entire adult life. As long as there is a two tiered system he will continue his criminal ways!
Beautifully written. Unfortunately, the loudest voices tend not to be the wisest. Greed has always pushed to the top and with a corrupt SCOTUS the fix is in. Add in equity groups buying up even social services and rural hospital lands and our demise is at hand. Eventually there will be nothing left to buy or manipulate. I miss the time when real conversation with men and women of great intelligence and social consciousness were seen as models for good. Today we're back to tribal religiosity and the day of the grifter and con.
Excellent article, Robert - almost a book of history and economics. While reading, I was glad you mentioned 'Second Gilded Age,' which a lot of historians seem to favor. I agree with the overall concept, except for one thing. Let me explain. Mark Twain devised the term Gilded Age in a sarcastic nod to the aphorism "gilding the lily," itself a sarcastic take on EXCESS. During the Civil War 1861-5, the plantation South (about 850 of the wealthiest men in the USA, running a feudal society consisting essentially half of slaves and half of feudal serf-sharecroppers except for some skilled tradesmen in a few cities. Bottom line, the North rose upon some 25 years previous of growing industrialization to an explosive industrial revolution during that war. (need to cut through a lot of history to make a point). European powers cautiously stayed neutral to see who would win, but in the end sided with the Union. The newly United states were able to launch into a big chunk of the surviving Atlantic trade triangle (minus South, minus slavery) and bring back especially toward the UK the industrial skills & resources that the North had in fact mostly heisted from the British half a century earlier (think of the Fall Line industries in New England). The South continued to produce cotton, tobacco, etc but not with outright slavery per se; rather with white and black sharecroppers in a restrictive, self-destructive madness of deconstruction during Reconstruction. Meanwhile, get this: it's been estimated that upward of 1000 of the wealthiest US families farmed at least one daughter out to the often financially distressed British great titles...think of Consuelo Vanderbilt, for example... a century later, Lady Diana Spencer's family could trace ties back with both US and UK aristocracy. Above all, the biggest surprise is that when the world was lurching toward World War Two, our President FDR (who had lived in Germany for several years as a child) united with a very special British chap... Sir Winston Churchill... whose mother Jenny Jerome was in fact a United States heiress from a billionaire New York City family. Jerome Avenue in Manhattan/Bronx is named for them; so is a mining town in Arizona (what else: Jerome, AZ). What this all points to is that after the Civil War, for several generations, the United States sort of reunited with the British empire in complex ways... and after a lot of ups and downs including the Great Depression of the 1930s, rose to historically unheard of power and wealth in a new industrial surge given to the US oligarchs as a gift of fate (or Hitler and Mussolini, the stupid European fascists). That follows a similar, somewhat lesser industrial rewind in World War One (also high factory output, wealth, etc). BUT now we come to the crucial difference that concerns me. Yes, we fought a needless war in Vietnam for all the wrong reasons (appeasing DeGaulle, who was a historical rhubarb, appeasing the McCarthy paranoids...) followed by the nation's fabric being torn apart by the South's refusal to accept integration... resulting (after the Nixon/Agnew corruption and horror) in the rise of the South... when the Southern Democrats were abruptly switched by their owners to the new Reaganist vendetta...So in 1980, Ronny Ray-Gun won by a landslide. He destroyed the Savings & Loan Industry as the first of the popular FDR reforms the corporations have been seeking to destroy... yes, Reagan was a total idiot or whatever you called him in your article, but he had that smarmy, fake Calvinist preacher tonality... two most memorable quotes briefly: "If Medicare becomes law, we will never again be a free people" (1965, during LBJ's term); and about the million poor he threw onto the streets by cutting charitable (and necessary) aid: "If they are on the streets it is because that was the choice they made." Last note quickly about Reagan: amid all the chaos and corruption (bailouts etc due to Bush corruption etc) Reagan left the biggest peacetime deficits in US history up to that time. So much for all his lies and stupidies. Now to the kicker. Yes, we are once again going through a sort of Gilded Age of excess wealth for the few and growing poverty for most of us... but the difference is that there is no British empire to hook into. Instead, we have a chaotic seeming world that more resembles the chaos at the end of the western Roman empire (for example) leading to a half millennium or more of dark ages. The Roaring (irrationally exuberant) 1920s were run by successive corrupt GOP administrations (Harding, Coolidge, Hoover) who made all the wrong decisions, ending in the Great Depression. By luck, World War Two bailed out the industrial power of the USA. If we are again on the verge of financial and social chaos as during the 1920s (indeed, with our own fascist Dump on the rise again, with his simple people, Proverbs 1, marching obediently and eagerly with their assault rifles shouting Sheep Heil!) then there will likely be no British empire to soften our fall... Instead, we may face a new dark ages enemy, if the BRIC nations can succeed in being a real counterpoint. So to sum up, I agree we're in a second Gilded Age, but I see no conquest of Hawai'i, no Spanish-American War of the 1890s, and no apparent U.S. empire to follow as happened by about 1900. Think of all that this way: historians often refer to the final chaotic century of the Roman Republic as "an empire in all but name." Pre-Caesar Rome was a democracy on which the US is in many ways modeled, along Enlightenment touches; just think of the Sergeant at Arms carrying an ancient Roman lictor's staff to the podium to signal Congress (in a rotunda much like the Pantheon) is in session. Think of the very word republic, from Latin res publica, the People's Business. The USA after 1893 was in effect an empire in all but name. After the fall of our Soviet adversaries in 1991, our oligarchs outsourced the popular jobs and rights, often based on a destructive, fanatical Calvinism that has haunted our states since before 1776. Those oligarchs are now often foreigners wearing US caps and in fact Maga hats to mislead the Simple People. Hearking back to your affectionate history of JKG, I tend to agree with your guarded worries. I have not given up yet. I am not by nature a pessimist but a fighter. I think we can still rescue our country. But we need to get the Good People to wake up, and the Simple People to follow better leadership. If the forces of Slimy Mitch and Nauseating Newt, not to mention child molester Denny Hastert (for a time GOP's 2nd in line to the Presidency) can prevail in November 2024, then that may in fact be a dark turning point in our history. Sorry this was a long post. Better a long post and a bright future than a dark past. JTC
I am struck, when reading your reflections by the enduring value of Galbraith’s (and your) work to counter two persistent and enduring myths of capitalism: Adam Smith’s Invisible hand allowing us to think that an economy will course correct without intervention, and that through reinforced selfishness we will (eventually) serve a common good (and we all know what Keynes said about the long term!) Thank you for this important reflection Prof. Reich!
It’s so sad that this sort of economic education is not taught in the junior and senior years of public high schools, even more so in our public Junior Colleges and Universities! In America, the working population, is not taught that they are the most important part of our economy! The labor of the people is not recognized as a product, worthy of a respectable price, but simply as a tool to build more wealth for those at the top!
For all intent purposes Trump skipped school altogether--
The man had his GPA sealed and locked away in a safe at Wharton School. Trump began his secondary educational experience in 1959 at the New York Military Academy. He was sent there because he was uncontrollable, and the thought line was the school would teach him structure and discipline. He floundered there until 1964 where he had a rather short stay at Kew-Forest. From there Trump started at Fordham University in 1964 and stayed until 1966. Things became a bit blurry when Mr. Trump transferred to Wharton School in 1966, he seems to have stayed there until 1968, at such time we hope he graduated. In the illustrious resume of his collections of schools attended, we find The University of Pennsylvania mentioned, why we don't really know. However, Wharton has his GPA and class records sealed and locked away from inquiring eyes. Why? The man has cheated at virtually everything since he began to speak. I personally have never known a more worthless human being. Why anyone would find comfort in supporting an idiot such as Mr. Trump is beyond me. Fools love company.
The best political comment I have ever heard in my life: "“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” Thanks, Ken. And thank you, Prof.
Thanks so much for your work and commentary and stubborn persistence in reminding us what is happening --what has happened --to justice in the American economy. I was finishing graduate school at Harvard while you were at lunch that day -- it's likely that a few hours later I was downstairs drinking beer with my buddies, because the Faculty Club inexplicably allowed in graduate instructors. Happy days. But not so happy was our realization of precisely what you are talking about: watching the fairly benign New Deal state be taken apart by Reagan and his ilk--while we watched, embarrassed by that presidency and irate at the wreckage of hope and opportunity he represented and brought on. And here we are.
I have said this before but let me say it again:
Professor Reich you are a good man. The world needs more people like you more than anything else.
Wonderful tribute and beautifully ‘therapeutic’ to know men like you and Galbraith are fighting the good fight! Thank you for your service to our nation!
Ken Galbraith was, of course, a Canadian by birth. His book The Scotch is a sardonic look at his roots in southwestern Ontario, and he never lost interest in Canada and Canadian politics. He made a point of praising the first budget of the New Democratic government I led in the early 1990’s , which made substantial public investments in housing, public transit, social transfers, diversity and inclusion. He wrote and phoned me often. Your memoir brings back many memories, and I was proud to welcome him in the Premier’s office when he was speaking at the University of Toronto next door. He was exactly as you described him. Bob your own voice is just as important these days and I enjoy so much your great energy and wit, as I first did when our paths crossed in Oxford many years ago. Keep it up ! Bob Rae ((now at the UN in New York).
Obviously Ken was an optimist. You are a realist Professor Reich.
There is a huge gap between the wealthy elite and the middle and lower classes. The people who can afford to pay higher taxes have instead paid politicians to help them get wealthier and pay less in taxes. Thus America has a two tiered system of justice and everyone knows this! In America everyone is created equal @ birth and that’s where it ends. Trump was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has gotten away with his despicable behavior for his entire adult life. As long as there is a two tiered system he will continue his criminal ways!
Beautifully written. Unfortunately, the loudest voices tend not to be the wisest. Greed has always pushed to the top and with a corrupt SCOTUS the fix is in. Add in equity groups buying up even social services and rural hospital lands and our demise is at hand. Eventually there will be nothing left to buy or manipulate. I miss the time when real conversation with men and women of great intelligence and social consciousness were seen as models for good. Today we're back to tribal religiosity and the day of the grifter and con.
Excellent article, Robert - almost a book of history and economics. While reading, I was glad you mentioned 'Second Gilded Age,' which a lot of historians seem to favor. I agree with the overall concept, except for one thing. Let me explain. Mark Twain devised the term Gilded Age in a sarcastic nod to the aphorism "gilding the lily," itself a sarcastic take on EXCESS. During the Civil War 1861-5, the plantation South (about 850 of the wealthiest men in the USA, running a feudal society consisting essentially half of slaves and half of feudal serf-sharecroppers except for some skilled tradesmen in a few cities. Bottom line, the North rose upon some 25 years previous of growing industrialization to an explosive industrial revolution during that war. (need to cut through a lot of history to make a point). European powers cautiously stayed neutral to see who would win, but in the end sided with the Union. The newly United states were able to launch into a big chunk of the surviving Atlantic trade triangle (minus South, minus slavery) and bring back especially toward the UK the industrial skills & resources that the North had in fact mostly heisted from the British half a century earlier (think of the Fall Line industries in New England). The South continued to produce cotton, tobacco, etc but not with outright slavery per se; rather with white and black sharecroppers in a restrictive, self-destructive madness of deconstruction during Reconstruction. Meanwhile, get this: it's been estimated that upward of 1000 of the wealthiest US families farmed at least one daughter out to the often financially distressed British great titles...think of Consuelo Vanderbilt, for example... a century later, Lady Diana Spencer's family could trace ties back with both US and UK aristocracy. Above all, the biggest surprise is that when the world was lurching toward World War Two, our President FDR (who had lived in Germany for several years as a child) united with a very special British chap... Sir Winston Churchill... whose mother Jenny Jerome was in fact a United States heiress from a billionaire New York City family. Jerome Avenue in Manhattan/Bronx is named for them; so is a mining town in Arizona (what else: Jerome, AZ). What this all points to is that after the Civil War, for several generations, the United States sort of reunited with the British empire in complex ways... and after a lot of ups and downs including the Great Depression of the 1930s, rose to historically unheard of power and wealth in a new industrial surge given to the US oligarchs as a gift of fate (or Hitler and Mussolini, the stupid European fascists). That follows a similar, somewhat lesser industrial rewind in World War One (also high factory output, wealth, etc). BUT now we come to the crucial difference that concerns me. Yes, we fought a needless war in Vietnam for all the wrong reasons (appeasing DeGaulle, who was a historical rhubarb, appeasing the McCarthy paranoids...) followed by the nation's fabric being torn apart by the South's refusal to accept integration... resulting (after the Nixon/Agnew corruption and horror) in the rise of the South... when the Southern Democrats were abruptly switched by their owners to the new Reaganist vendetta...So in 1980, Ronny Ray-Gun won by a landslide. He destroyed the Savings & Loan Industry as the first of the popular FDR reforms the corporations have been seeking to destroy... yes, Reagan was a total idiot or whatever you called him in your article, but he had that smarmy, fake Calvinist preacher tonality... two most memorable quotes briefly: "If Medicare becomes law, we will never again be a free people" (1965, during LBJ's term); and about the million poor he threw onto the streets by cutting charitable (and necessary) aid: "If they are on the streets it is because that was the choice they made." Last note quickly about Reagan: amid all the chaos and corruption (bailouts etc due to Bush corruption etc) Reagan left the biggest peacetime deficits in US history up to that time. So much for all his lies and stupidies. Now to the kicker. Yes, we are once again going through a sort of Gilded Age of excess wealth for the few and growing poverty for most of us... but the difference is that there is no British empire to hook into. Instead, we have a chaotic seeming world that more resembles the chaos at the end of the western Roman empire (for example) leading to a half millennium or more of dark ages. The Roaring (irrationally exuberant) 1920s were run by successive corrupt GOP administrations (Harding, Coolidge, Hoover) who made all the wrong decisions, ending in the Great Depression. By luck, World War Two bailed out the industrial power of the USA. If we are again on the verge of financial and social chaos as during the 1920s (indeed, with our own fascist Dump on the rise again, with his simple people, Proverbs 1, marching obediently and eagerly with their assault rifles shouting Sheep Heil!) then there will likely be no British empire to soften our fall... Instead, we may face a new dark ages enemy, if the BRIC nations can succeed in being a real counterpoint. So to sum up, I agree we're in a second Gilded Age, but I see no conquest of Hawai'i, no Spanish-American War of the 1890s, and no apparent U.S. empire to follow as happened by about 1900. Think of all that this way: historians often refer to the final chaotic century of the Roman Republic as "an empire in all but name." Pre-Caesar Rome was a democracy on which the US is in many ways modeled, along Enlightenment touches; just think of the Sergeant at Arms carrying an ancient Roman lictor's staff to the podium to signal Congress (in a rotunda much like the Pantheon) is in session. Think of the very word republic, from Latin res publica, the People's Business. The USA after 1893 was in effect an empire in all but name. After the fall of our Soviet adversaries in 1991, our oligarchs outsourced the popular jobs and rights, often based on a destructive, fanatical Calvinism that has haunted our states since before 1776. Those oligarchs are now often foreigners wearing US caps and in fact Maga hats to mislead the Simple People. Hearking back to your affectionate history of JKG, I tend to agree with your guarded worries. I have not given up yet. I am not by nature a pessimist but a fighter. I think we can still rescue our country. But we need to get the Good People to wake up, and the Simple People to follow better leadership. If the forces of Slimy Mitch and Nauseating Newt, not to mention child molester Denny Hastert (for a time GOP's 2nd in line to the Presidency) can prevail in November 2024, then that may in fact be a dark turning point in our history. Sorry this was a long post. Better a long post and a bright future than a dark past. JTC
I am struck, when reading your reflections by the enduring value of Galbraith’s (and your) work to counter two persistent and enduring myths of capitalism: Adam Smith’s Invisible hand allowing us to think that an economy will course correct without intervention, and that through reinforced selfishness we will (eventually) serve a common good (and we all know what Keynes said about the long term!) Thank you for this important reflection Prof. Reich!
Sweet, beautiful shares Bob, thank you so, so much for this gift to us.
It’s so sad that this sort of economic education is not taught in the junior and senior years of public high schools, even more so in our public Junior Colleges and Universities! In America, the working population, is not taught that they are the most important part of our economy! The labor of the people is not recognized as a product, worthy of a respectable price, but simply as a tool to build more wealth for those at the top!
For all intent purposes Trump skipped school altogether--
The man had his GPA sealed and locked away in a safe at Wharton School. Trump began his secondary educational experience in 1959 at the New York Military Academy. He was sent there because he was uncontrollable, and the thought line was the school would teach him structure and discipline. He floundered there until 1964 where he had a rather short stay at Kew-Forest. From there Trump started at Fordham University in 1964 and stayed until 1966. Things became a bit blurry when Mr. Trump transferred to Wharton School in 1966, he seems to have stayed there until 1968, at such time we hope he graduated. In the illustrious resume of his collections of schools attended, we find The University of Pennsylvania mentioned, why we don't really know. However, Wharton has his GPA and class records sealed and locked away from inquiring eyes. Why? The man has cheated at virtually everything since he began to speak. I personally have never known a more worthless human being. Why anyone would find comfort in supporting an idiot such as Mr. Trump is beyond me. Fools love company.
Sadly, you were right, Dr. Reich.
"starting in the late 1970s, the trend reversed itself": Do you think the Lewis Powell Memo had anything to do with that?
Dr. Galbraith was a hero of mine.
Many thanks for writing this remembrance. We mustn’t give up! Marcia Schlafmitz
Once again, thank you Dr. Reich for your articles.