I will add that the “u-turn” affected American healthcare which became almost solely about making money rather than healing people and preventing sickness.
It also affected the health and wellbeing of average citizens because the quality of food declined significantly. People were working harder for less money and longer hours and went from affording healthy food and eating home-cooked meals to less expensive & faster processed foods & fast food from restaurants, both of which are designed in a laboratory for the purpose of making rich people richer and not the health of the people consuming the food.
I will also add that section 4 of this Substack Post is one of the biggest reasons next to mis/disinformation tactics and misogyny & sexism which cost Hillary Clinton a significant number of votes, as many people feared another Financial Center made catastrophe due to deregulation and more decline due to corporation power over people.
The 2016 election choices seemed to many as two bad choices and didn’t see much difference between either candidate - in terms of positive change for people over corporations. People who had a better grasp of Trump’s history and his character knew he was the worst choice and voted for Hillary Clinton as the lesser of two evils.
While there is no denying that Democratic Party helped continue Republican Party efforts to favor the wealthy and their industries, at least the crisis with losing American Democracy has helped wake up people like Joe Biden. Joe Biden was as Centrist as they get until he and some other Democrats and non-Trumpist Republicans finally saw how necessary it was to redistribute the wealth and power towards the New Deal heyday direction in order to prevent America from becoming like Russia with its oligarchy and its ultra-passive, hopeless, citizenry.
I’m not saying he’s perfect, but despite never having an adequate majority in Congress and with the power Corporations have over government, he really has helped started turning America around for the better for the people.
If the DNC persists in Biden vs Trumpty the Mobster, all will be lost. The youth & those of us thoroughly disgusted with the two party system , its lies, it's too little, too late, continuous wars, allowing the nazis, white supremacist structures to continue to destroy'we the people', women as fetal baskets in many states, kill the basket, it's too much in climate chaos, migration overruns with no common good for US citizens, and daily multi species extinction. We must have the vigor of Bernie or Elizabeth Warren. Dump the Congress and every lobbyist. Rank choice vote from each state depending on population from our state legislators, a new governing group for 'we the people'. Bring bright young college educated students back to work in Congress writing our new laws and overturning every mechanism of Richy Rich and the Corporations. Wake up.
I think the reason Joe Biden won against Bernie and Elizabeth Warren (my original choice) is because they come across as too Liberal and too anti Corporation.
We have too many ultra Conservatives with power and Corporations have extraordinary power over government and people. For now, we need to practice diplomacy, which I’ve heard it said that it’s the art of backing away from a barking dog while saying “nice doggie” until you can get a big enough stick.
Like I said, he’s not perfect, but he has exceeded my expectations despite my wanting Elizabeth Warren and in the face of ultra Conservatives & Corporations power.
We could be the “big stick”, but religions (who’ve have a symbiotic relationship with the elite since antiquity), media bias, foreign (and domestic) mis/disinformation attacks, and poor education, have caused apathy, people ignorant of true American history, civics, & politics, and divided citizens who would normally want the same things.
I suspect that if the nobility in France could have done to the peons what the wealthy elite here did to regular Americans, there would never have been a Revolution or Reign of Terror.
Maybe we do need a peaceful revolution. Maybe for our hope of rekindling democracy, we must be willing to go to the streets. AS Martin Luther King wrote and lived, some of us will die in this struggle for equity, inclusion, and goodness. If we could do this, perhaps our Congress would begin to turn their heads to us instead of richy rich. If it is only 30% maga, it is 70% us. Some of us support trumpty ,as he makes money for them, but they can be shamed into right thinking and blamed if necessary as social democracy is restored.
Vicki, I do agree with you, that it will take a type of “revolution“ to bring about the change we need. However, we also need a vision to fire up the people and give us a goal to work towards. I do not think that a return to pre-Reagan capitalism will Raise much excitement.
There are many Republicans voters (right leaning Centrists who are not white nationalists or ultra conservatives) who do not want Corporations to have so much power over them.
In my opinion, they’ve just bought the media and foreign mis/disinformation attacks which are anti-LGBTQIA+ , anti-POC, anti-immigrant, Liberalism = Socialism.
Old people can incrementalize. They hope to die before the consequences of their generation catch up with them. The young are left with the future. You are so fixated on B vs T, you see no other opportunity.
Vicki, I understand your desire to find another way. I don’t think it will happen before this next election. I hope you realize that not voting for Trump and voting for a third party is really just a vote for Trump. As an “old” person I can assure you that I hope to see change back to a strong middle class before I die. . During my lifetime, It has been heartbreaking to watch the decline of our democracy and the devastation of our planet. I, and many others , like Dr. Reich have done all we can to push for the needed changes only to see many accomplishments reversed. These are complex issues with many moving parts. Discriminating against “old”people just hurts peoples feelings. Your statement hurt me. have grown up in JaneCrow USA, From your statement, I am guessing you have no idea what it was like for girls 70years ago and on up to now. It now seems that discriminatory and derogatory statements against age are the only acceptable form of discrimination. Yes, a few of my generation, those on Wall Street, running big corporations, narcissistic billionaires, those making laws, and reversing laws in favor of the rich caused the current problems, but most of this has happened since the 80’s when some your generation were also in these positions, but many were also protesting, voting , and working to stop this affront to democracy and the common good. Please stop and think before you make a statement that includes an entire group of people, and please try and respect that with age can come experience and wisdom. If you look to the right old people they can be very helpful.
Agreed, that should be the primary talking or yelling point in the next election. I can see bumper stickers that would say “Democracy or Fascism, your choice.“
Except every time someone is asked who, besides Biden, I hear crickets.
We went through this and I remember it too well. Bernie (I like him as a senator but pres, not so much and his age and socialism are engrained on him) we've seen how that plays out. I wanted Klobuchar (and that didn't go so well). Warren is super and that didn't work. Magas are going after Joe's age while their own dictator/sociopath is just 4 years younger and a lot heavier (so in worse shape certainly mentally).
Yes, Congress should be writing new laws but in fascism we just have one blasted party left and they don't function with passing bills unless you have the 2nd party around. And, that 2nd party lost its mind to the orange obese sociopath.
Ralph Nader continues to do super good work calling out the rot of our government. He has a radio show on our local radio. I am certain you can hear it, if you look for it..
Start your dream by running for office; preferably a local one and work your way up so you can experience how the sausage is made on the local level. Learn how our government works. Learn how to marshall your thoughts and present a logical argument to people. Right now you sound like Steve Bannon. All you want to do is tear everything down and begin again. Not saying that this can’t be done but you are fighting well over 200 years of history, laws, court decisions and a population that, whether you like it or not, is quite centrist. This is why the likes of Warren and Sanders will never get anywhere with the general population at this point. It sounds to me as though you know little about how very large institutions are created and run. Get some experience, read a lot, listen to those who have been in the game for a while so you can get an idea what you will be encountering when you play with the power brokers. Burning down the house will only leave you unhoused with a family to take care of and your insurance policy lapsed because you didn’t pay your dues. Good luck.
I have held public office. I am furious that those who chose to work and be in politics have destroyed everything I was taught, I worked for. The lived values the US espoused are gone. A nasty place has evolved . I do want to tear it down and redraw the lines. You sound like a bunch of sheep.
Further, Poland is reversing their few years of a Trumpty type loser. They are taking bold steps, dumping state TV, rebuilding human systems. I am old enough to recall before we shot each other in the grocery store. Before the politicians lied to our faces, doing give always to richy rich and corporations out the quiet back door.
Vicki, I read past your 4:13am comment and Lisa's responce to see where you were going and found I generally agreed. Why I followed the thread was because I wanted to see if the "If the DNC persists..." comment was just a sound bite laundry list by a troll ment to alienate any and all. I also wondered if you had actually read the Reich piece these comments follow. I now think you are pulling-your-hair-out frustrated. Totally fair. Change and repair of this mess we have become can't happen fast enough for me.
But massive and immediate repair and change for a behemoth the likes of the U.S. is not going to happen. (And if it did the outcome could not be predetermined.)
As Reich says in this piece, "Joe Biden is as close to a progressive populist as we have come in the last half-century..." He is not radical, but he knows the terrain. He has been working hard, given the Congress and SCOTUS he has to deal with, to make change. Is this the time, given the devil at the door, to disaffect a massive voting block to oppose Biden, or just blow the whole thing up (a strategy the Freedom Caucas seems to embrace)?
A small side on the Biden age nail being pounded. Biden is one year younger than Sanders. They have both served in the federal government for eons. (Check them out on Politifact.)
Do you think there would be such an age argument from younger voters if Bernie had been the 2020 nominee? Do you think he could have gotten the presidency? Do you think he would have gotten farther on legislation or with decisions made by SCOTUS on his policies?
I look forward to a day when younger politicians can debate the degree and direction of a more progressive agenda in Congress and a less hampered POTUS.
Sanders could not get past the money, privilege and power that the US is now soaked in, on the way to human extinction. We knew very well in the 1960s where we were going and ignored it. It is not about his age per se for me, but I think he is impaired and there are many making decisions behind the scenes. NONE are willing to do more than they have... It's not enough. I am reading in other venues that the youth are not going in the Reich direction. They fully witness the utter failure of our generation. I hate to claim to even be a part of it, as I have taken the road less traveled, but clearly, without taking responsibility, do we expect the kids to die in the front of the revolution that is desperately needed? Why can't we the old ones, pay the price of our failure, rather than leaving it all to them? So many cowards. Integrity as a word only, not as a model. Clearly, I touched nerves as many have written defensively. I am sorry more can not see beyond the past.
In summation, as that is all I am good for, when EVERYTHING became profit-driven, "The American Dream" was ANNIHILATED.
Healthcare is the worst from my experiences, as my traumatic brain injury caused BOTH my poor parents to lose their jobs and contemplate bankruptcy! LUCKILY, we are now economically more than okay and are fixing our aging house left and right! Hard work DOES pay off . . . eventually.
I think your summary is accurate, but you left out the role of the Supreme court. The Citizens United decision was a huge blow to representative democracy since it helped flood our elections with "dark money." The rest is history, which has mostly been downhill. Have we reached the point of no return?
No Ron, but I’m afraid that if the USSC decides in favor of overriding the Chevron Doctrine this session that might be. The doctrine allows government agencies like the FDA, OSHA, and EPA to interpret laws that follow under their jurisdiction given their expertise in their disciplines. By doing away with the doctrine enforcement and interpretation would rest with the courts and lawyers using their limited or non-existent expertise to make major decisions affecting these agencies.
Overturning the Chevron doctrine is just the kind of ruling this court might do. Perhaps they will put some limits on their ruling so the government executive branch isn't completely neutered. These people on the court are assholes. They reflect the problem.
Ron, I believe what we have reached is a tipping point where it will be near impossible, or even impossible to return to the “good old days.“ We need a new vision and an improved economic democratic system to hold as our inspiration for the future. For myself, I see that possibility in a theory called “Economic Democracy .“
Experience shows the ones who made the mess can NOT fix it. Bernie held the new vision. It includes changing human relationships to earth, each other, and other species. Bernie has a vision for the future as does Elizabeth Warren, AOC, etc.. it is not their age, it is their vision.
This is why we must imagine new structures, dump the rotten ones, as Poland is currently doing after their Trumpty reality check. The young must be the implementers. It is their future. We, the Boomers in our well off position chose greed, materialism, power, prestige. The young must return to life nurturing values. White supremacy must be given a proper funeral and turned out of every government structure.
The structure that has evolved is poisonous, death causing & has given rise to ‘good folk going bad’.
I am looking forward to next week's concluding contribution to this series. I think many of us are sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to hear some solid pathways back to a functioning democracy of the people by the people and for the people that will not perish from the earth under the current assault by the ultra-wealthy and faux populists.
Well, Dr. Reich did give a bunch of ideas of policies on which Democrats should campaign under his section on what progressive populism would look like in today's edition.
Yes, I hope the destruction of the news industry including the loss of integrity in the networks is explained since it is what turned the people against democracy.
All on point. You are correct. Biden hasn't painted a vision, or addressed the underlying cause of Trump's unwavering 30%, systemic wealth inequality. Left or right, we can all agree we're getting screwed. Focusing on that common ground with your radicalized family and friends (if you're talking) is essential. Additional storm clouds are on the horizon, though, with climate change which will throttle the economy, regardless. This will further endanger a lurch into fascist leadership. Terrifying times.
Yes, they vote against their own interests. But why? I would argue poor education and of course a completely corrupt right-wing media. Biden's Build Back Better never happened. It was reduced to the Inflation Reduction Act thanks to a completely corrupted Republican Party and Manchin and Synema. I wrote about it. https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/the-inflation-act-climate-change
I think the biggest problem with addressing that group is how to stop the mis/disinformation and the biased media narratives.
We cannot stop everything they complain about (social security & disability being used by non-Whites, Obamacare, immigration, women’s independence, abortion, POC’s existence, etc) because the people who want to control their votes & voices will only find something else to scare and anger them.
How do you stop the media being biased when media is protected by the Constitution?
How do you stop the mis/disinformation attacks on social media without stepping on the Constitution if social media companies won’t voluntarily stop them?
How do you get religions to stop being political without freaking people out?
This is a major concern I have- the storm cloud of climate change. It's possible the challenges of climate change could galvanize the country into a WWII type response but that looks increasingly unlikely given the severity of the polarization, at least in part driven by climate change (immigration). Climate CRISIS may be driving more political dysfunction than we are aware of, but I'm not researching that now. The mind reels at the thought of what happens politically if/when climate crisis gets really really bad.
I was one of the small contributors to Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign for president. I also collected petition signatures to get him on the ballot here in Indiana, and made telephone calls and knocked on doors for him. His positive populism, always working and advocating for ordinary people, appealed to me. However, the Democratic Party establishment absolutely did not want him as president, and the corporate news media disparaged him as a silly old man with pie-in-the-sky notions. I suspect that Biden would not have taken the anti-plutocrat actions described if it had not been for Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and the congressional progressive caucus.
Republicans have managed to promote for president two charismatic individuals, an actor and a facile con artist, who have led the country down a path of greed and selfishness. We really need a younger Bernie Sanders now.
We do need a younger version of Bernie Sanders but that person hasn’t appeared and there’s not enough time till November if he or she did. Our only realistic option this election is Biden who has done much better than I ever hoped.
There are some out there, but don’t have wide exposure. Governor Wes Moore of MD is one, very bright and appearing to lead MD out of the doldrums it has existed in for the last several decades.
Don't know anything about Moore, but I really like his fellow Marylander, Jamie Raskin. I also like Warren, Merkley & Whitehouse a lot, & there a number of promising younger people. Besides AOC, we have Jasmine Crockett, Greg Casar & Max Frost (who would have to wait until 2032 before he's eligible to run for President).
Clinton seemed to appear out of nowhere and he catapulted to the top rapidly during the debates. Remember him and his charts? He towered over Ross, a billionaire businessman, literally and figuratively. I originally was leaning towards Ross. (Later I learned Ross was very dictatorial. strict & inflexible)
I have a somewhat different view of the situation.
A recent RAND Corporation study of wealth and income inequality in America makes it very clear that there has been a quiet, sub rosa class war in the United States waged by the American oligarchy against the average working people of America since the early 1970s. This “reverse distribution” of income and wealth upwards, really a massive $2.5 TRILLION annual theft — and THEFT is not too strong a word for it — by the American oligarchy from the average working people of America explains why so many Americans are struggling financially, flat broke, working multiple low wage, often part time jobs, are mired deeply in debt, and it explains much of the social unrest and discontent in America over the last 50 years.
In the early 1970s, the far right wing backlash and counterrevolution to the reforms of the New Deal, the post-WWII era, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Great Society began. It started with the infamous Powell Memorandum to the US Chamber of Commerce of 1971 that served as a blueprint of how the American oligarchy could undermine the power that the American middle class had gained for itself and restore the primacy the oligarchy had prior to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The American oligarchy has followed the instructions of the Powell Memorandum closely for 50 years now, regained the power and influence it had lost, and shifted the political discourse and struggle in America dramatically to the right.
In 1973, began the Great Uncoupling of increases in American wages and salaries from increases in corporate productivity and profitability. Except for measly, grudging pay increases to cover inflation, and to be told that they were lucky they still had jobs, the average working people of America ceased to share in the tremendous wealth that their labor created for the bosses and the shareholders. Fifty years is a LONG time to go without a REAL pay increase, and it explains much of the social discontent in America in the years since.
Much of this reactionary counterrevolution occurred quietly and secretly, through profound, but stealthy economic moves that occurred in corporate executive suites and boardrooms, and in right wing scholarly studies and propaganda coming out of the work of a small, but dedicated cadre of right wing academics, and out of a network of right wing propaganda mills masquerading as “think tanks,” and most effectively and tellingly, in the huge sums of money that the American oligarchy used to first undermine moderate center-right conservative politicians in the Republican Party, then to buy off business oriented politicians in the Democratic Party and push the “party of the people” hard to the right. There is today no real, effective leftist political party in America, other than the small, vocal, but outnumbered and largely neutralized “progressive” wing of the Democratic Party.
Sad to say, but most average working people in America have been kept in the dark about what was happening, like frogs in a pot of water that was being heated slowly, but surely, until it was too late to respond effectively. Also, caught up in the day-to-day struggle to make a living, which became increasingly more difficult as the years went by, the average working people of America were simply too distracted and exhausted to pay much attention to politics and its effects on their socioeconomic standing.
Today, the American oligarchy has pretty much succeeded in defanging and neutralizing the American political process as any sort of realistic threat to their power and wealth. The pathetic and limited choice at the election polls is, sadly, between two right wing bourgeois political parties: the neoliberal corporatist Democrats and the reactionary, increasingly fascist and bat shit crazy Republicans. Any “reforms” offered to the beleaguered working people of America are generally tepid, underfunded, incremental half measures at best. More often than not, the bourgeois blowhards of Washington, DC expend a great deal of energy creating political heat, without necessarily generating much political light or real action. Political gridlock and inaction isn’t just the result — it’s pretty much the intention.
Any REAL reform here in the United States will only occur when millions of Americans take to the streets participating in mass demonstrations and general strikes that paralyze America, bring the American oligarchy to its knees, and their bourgeois politicians to the bargaining table offering the REAL reforms and meaningful government policy changes that the American people so desperately need and want.
Bert Wolfe said, "Any REAL reform here in the United States will only occur when millions of Americans take to the streets participating in mass demonstrations and general strikes that paralyze America, bring the American oligarchy to its knees, and their bourgeois politicians to the bargaining table offering the REAL reforms and meaningful government policy changes that the American people so desperately need and want."
The first part of your comment is similar to what Reich has been teaching and the synopsis would make a good flyer. I agree with your conclusion. Each election has given us hope that new leaders will bring the needed change and extends the exploitation of the people for four more years. I agree with your conclusion.
Regarding your last sentence, notice how dangerous protesting has gotten in the last few years? To the point where in many cities it’s now legal to drive into protest groups and that said groups now have to stay in certain areas or risk arrest or worse?
I noticed I had to either sign in or have a special link provided to “like” or comment in TR’s newsletters. I don’t for Mary Trump or Gary Olsen. I sometimes do for Thom Hartmann now.. So it looks like they are trying to take precautions. Maybe it’s Trump’s friend Putin who is responsible.
I wish that everyone in America could read this post. It makes so much sense and gives us a direction to go in. So much of the political, social, and environmental bad news that we hear every day just leaves people feeling hopeless, helpless, and angry. Here is the problem, how we got here, and how to get out of it.
Passage of Germany’s Enabling Act, The rise of Hitler, Reichstag fire, Dachau concentration camp completed, Gestapo created, non-nazi parties were forbidden, etc.
Fast forward. Today we’re looking at a would be President who kept a book about Hitler and his speeches next to his bed.
Looking at 1933, could we just avoid repeating everything except what FDR said and did?
Unlike Reich, mainstream Democrats have failed to recognize the anti-establishment sentiment that took over 3/4 of the electorate by 2016. Even Republicans got it, although with a reckless & dangerous faux populist in Trump.
The ideas Reich lays out under what progressive populism would look like are exactly what we need & what Democrats should run on if they want to really help the American people & if they want to win. Thank-you for delineating the things we need to stand for & do to bring back a thriving middle class & strong democracy!
First, thank you for citing John Kenneth Galbraith, one of the best mid 20th century voices for sound economic policy and an economist that makes the science both accessible and entertaining.
I find it ironic that Republican candidates/incumbents love saying small business is the backbone of our economic society all the while supporting the deregulation and support of mega businesses that will ensure small businesses’ inability to compete on a level playing field.
The small business of the R’s is not the idyllic 1950s small town with a tree-lined Main Street. It is essentially economic share cropping using tools such as franchises to suck money from the masses. I have worked on local economic development for over two decades. We have a constant battle to change the understanding from one of trying to build a franchise-ville to having a local wealth building set of businesses. I have to use all my fingers and toes to count the aspiring small business owners that have been bankrupted in our small community by economic share cropping.
The progressive populism as espoused by the lifetime work of Bernie Sanders and the unfulfilled Build Back Better program advocated by Biden, and favored by a majority of US residents, was smashed by opposition outside of and within the Democratic Party. The oligarchy’s control of both major parties is devastating to our democratic aspirations and to a majority of the people. The ultimate distraction is the continued push for world dominance through arms production and sales and the continuous wars. The corruption of Congress, and the highest Court of the Land, along with a constant pervasive and persuasive propaganda machine and mass financial inequities have resulted in a confused and desperate populace, ready to return to power a wannabe dictator. And half the voters no longer participate in elections, tired of the choices put before them, picking the lesser of two evils. Meanwhile our Government is at a standstill on many critical matters, especially on quickly addressing the evolving devastations of
global warming.
Is there any visionary leader who can possibly turn the tide? Maybe. Look for the person who is the most discredited and defiled by organized politics and the big corporations, who is unconventional and black balled by the two party system and powers that be. No it is not Bernie this time.
Every candidate has faults. I would gladly overlook a few if that person was staunchly in favor of fighting against the vast power of the military industrial complex and the corporate takeover of our government.
Unfortunately, we can’t expect much from Joe Biden as he promised the oligarchs that “nothing will fundamentally change under a Biden Administration.” Biden won’t do anything that will upset the oligarchs.
Thank you so much Robert Reich for clearly and explicitly laying out the facts and numbers that have been blank spaces in my mind. Evere since we lost a second term of Jimmy Carter as President, I have been disillusioned by politics and it's control over our lives. Politics that have become increasingly controlled by money and that money is funneled away from the "common good" .
The "common good" is what could bring about a better America and the 🌍
Americans don't want to do what they need to do. Not by a long shot. Real, charismatic leadership can blow through this but Biden doesn't have it. If the party as a whole had it things might work out but it's not there. Even I think of abortion and transsexuals when I think of Democrats, a catastrophic failure of messaging. I never liked Clinton. I thought we should get a Yankee president once a generation or so. Obama was my guy. Imagine my disappointment, though I thought I understood why he failed. That we were well into the hostage crisis by then, the result of the Rummy/Cheney/Buchanan faction under Reagan and then the troll invasion under Gingrich. These are our Huns.
We were a shotgun wedding, North and South, and the South has had a gun to America's head ever since. Leave us alone in our racist shithole or we'll blow it all up. Then came desegregation. We fucked with the wrong racists because, by this time, the racism was institutionalized and mostly unconscious. To say it was entrenched fails to get it. This was denial unto death on a mass scale. The stuff of the anti-vaccine fanatics who got Corona and died still uttering Fox nonsense like some nut with a suicide vest counting virgins as his head spins through space. That level of insanity isn't alien to us at all. It's running the country in the form of Trump. We're one big Kochist, laissez-faire fûhrerbunker.
What to do.
Firstly, recognize a society built on energy subsidies isn't a model for anything. Europeans loosed on a continent of unexploited natural resources, we have now run out of continents to plunder. Wait, we can string this out for a while on Mideast oil. Anybody's oil. Anything but grow up and live like adults. Meanwhile, the rich people are convinced they can become so rich they're immune to the inevitable crash. But they need brownshirts. Enforcers. Those racist southerners should work. Rednecks should work. Throw them a bone. Delegate throwing them bones to professional bone throwers. Go fixate on making money and reducing the country to rubble.
So it can't fight back. Set timer for 30 years. You're inconceivably rich. Really inconceivably. The country and certainly the social contract are increasingly a ruin. Success! Uh, oh. Remember those rednecks? They've grown into a movement and, the uppity idiots, now want to run things. This is a little scary. So, here we are, Hatfields on one side, McCoys on the other, and the old slaveholders circling the wagons around their virtual encampments and -- no shit -- building bunkers. Do we see how insane this is? We need a complete reinvention or we're toast. Hold on, the boomers might make it through before the thing falls apart. So, fuck it. Elect Bluto president again. But remember the Cadillac. You're stupid enough to loan the frat boys the Cadillac?
And it gets demolished? That's on you. That's on us. Who would be stupid enough to entrust something you care about to the absolute worst people ever? We would.
@Margaret. Look in the mirror. Before ANY reforms can be made, need to win. The best example I can give is FDR who in 1932 did not disclose his policies to end the depression.
Brilliant, Robert. A brilliant analysis of the history of our economy. Finally, you’re naming names associated with the greedy deeds of politicians. I’ve noticed a lack of that in your previous blogs - especially the traitorous Democrats who sold us for 30 pieces of silver. You finally give due credit to the greatest politician in modern times. Bernie Sanders. He’s a saint! Please continue to point him out to constituents so they can tell the difference between the lies and truths spoken by the others.
I will add that the “u-turn” affected American healthcare which became almost solely about making money rather than healing people and preventing sickness.
It also affected the health and wellbeing of average citizens because the quality of food declined significantly. People were working harder for less money and longer hours and went from affording healthy food and eating home-cooked meals to less expensive & faster processed foods & fast food from restaurants, both of which are designed in a laboratory for the purpose of making rich people richer and not the health of the people consuming the food.
I will also add that section 4 of this Substack Post is one of the biggest reasons next to mis/disinformation tactics and misogyny & sexism which cost Hillary Clinton a significant number of votes, as many people feared another Financial Center made catastrophe due to deregulation and more decline due to corporation power over people.
The 2016 election choices seemed to many as two bad choices and didn’t see much difference between either candidate - in terms of positive change for people over corporations. People who had a better grasp of Trump’s history and his character knew he was the worst choice and voted for Hillary Clinton as the lesser of two evils.
While there is no denying that Democratic Party helped continue Republican Party efforts to favor the wealthy and their industries, at least the crisis with losing American Democracy has helped wake up people like Joe Biden. Joe Biden was as Centrist as they get until he and some other Democrats and non-Trumpist Republicans finally saw how necessary it was to redistribute the wealth and power towards the New Deal heyday direction in order to prevent America from becoming like Russia with its oligarchy and its ultra-passive, hopeless, citizenry.
I’m not saying he’s perfect, but despite never having an adequate majority in Congress and with the power Corporations have over government, he really has helped started turning America around for the better for the people.
If the DNC persists in Biden vs Trumpty the Mobster, all will be lost. The youth & those of us thoroughly disgusted with the two party system , its lies, it's too little, too late, continuous wars, allowing the nazis, white supremacist structures to continue to destroy'we the people', women as fetal baskets in many states, kill the basket, it's too much in climate chaos, migration overruns with no common good for US citizens, and daily multi species extinction. We must have the vigor of Bernie or Elizabeth Warren. Dump the Congress and every lobbyist. Rank choice vote from each state depending on population from our state legislators, a new governing group for 'we the people'. Bring bright young college educated students back to work in Congress writing our new laws and overturning every mechanism of Richy Rich and the Corporations. Wake up.
I think the reason Joe Biden won against Bernie and Elizabeth Warren (my original choice) is because they come across as too Liberal and too anti Corporation.
We have too many ultra Conservatives with power and Corporations have extraordinary power over government and people. For now, we need to practice diplomacy, which I’ve heard it said that it’s the art of backing away from a barking dog while saying “nice doggie” until you can get a big enough stick.
Like I said, he’s not perfect, but he has exceeded my expectations despite my wanting Elizabeth Warren and in the face of ultra Conservatives & Corporations power.
@Lisa. Exceeded my expectations, also.
The predatory corporations aren't "conservatives." They could care less who is in office as long as they profit.
Who said "a rising tide lifts all boats?"
Ans. JFK.
If Biden could sue for price fixing and price gouging, every sector would benefit except energy.
If Medicare is expanded, every sector would benefit except private insurance.
Measures like these are popular -- even with the rich.
Agree about predatory companies not being conservatives. That’s why I specified ultra conservatives *and* corporations. 😉
Maybe, we the people are the 'big stick'.
We could be the “big stick”, but religions (who’ve have a symbiotic relationship with the elite since antiquity), media bias, foreign (and domestic) mis/disinformation attacks, and poor education, have caused apathy, people ignorant of true American history, civics, & politics, and divided citizens who would normally want the same things.
I suspect that if the nobility in France could have done to the peons what the wealthy elite here did to regular Americans, there would never have been a Revolution or Reign of Terror.
Maybe we do need a peaceful revolution. Maybe for our hope of rekindling democracy, we must be willing to go to the streets. AS Martin Luther King wrote and lived, some of us will die in this struggle for equity, inclusion, and goodness. If we could do this, perhaps our Congress would begin to turn their heads to us instead of richy rich. If it is only 30% maga, it is 70% us. Some of us support trumpty ,as he makes money for them, but they can be shamed into right thinking and blamed if necessary as social democracy is restored.
Vicki, I do agree with you, that it will take a type of “revolution“ to bring about the change we need. However, we also need a vision to fire up the people and give us a goal to work towards. I do not think that a return to pre-Reagan capitalism will Raise much excitement.
Biden beat Bernie with big money donations and the entrenched power of the Democratic Party. Reich explains it in this article.
not sure which Republicans you were referring to when you said they saw the need for wealth redistribution in your earlier post.
There are many Republicans voters (right leaning Centrists who are not white nationalists or ultra conservatives) who do not want Corporations to have so much power over them.
In my opinion, they’ve just bought the media and foreign mis/disinformation attacks which are anti-LGBTQIA+ , anti-POC, anti-immigrant, Liberalism = Socialism.
okay, I though maybe your were referring to R's in Congress. That was a headscratcher.
Ah, sorry for the confusion.
Democracy vs Fascism.
Human Extinction vs the hope of a new day dawning for common good.
That's a vote for fascism by default.
Old people can incrementalize. They hope to die before the consequences of their generation catch up with them. The young are left with the future. You are so fixated on B vs T, you see no other opportunity.
Vicki, I understand your desire to find another way. I don’t think it will happen before this next election. I hope you realize that not voting for Trump and voting for a third party is really just a vote for Trump. As an “old” person I can assure you that I hope to see change back to a strong middle class before I die. . During my lifetime, It has been heartbreaking to watch the decline of our democracy and the devastation of our planet. I, and many others , like Dr. Reich have done all we can to push for the needed changes only to see many accomplishments reversed. These are complex issues with many moving parts. Discriminating against “old”people just hurts peoples feelings. Your statement hurt me. have grown up in JaneCrow USA, From your statement, I am guessing you have no idea what it was like for girls 70years ago and on up to now. It now seems that discriminatory and derogatory statements against age are the only acceptable form of discrimination. Yes, a few of my generation, those on Wall Street, running big corporations, narcissistic billionaires, those making laws, and reversing laws in favor of the rich caused the current problems, but most of this has happened since the 80’s when some your generation were also in these positions, but many were also protesting, voting , and working to stop this affront to democracy and the common good. Please stop and think before you make a statement that includes an entire group of people, and please try and respect that with age can come experience and wisdom. If you look to the right old people they can be very helpful.
Even old people don’t “hope to die”. Thanks for the display of ageism.
Agreed, that should be the primary talking or yelling point in the next election. I can see bumper stickers that would say “Democracy or Fascism, your choice.“
Except every time someone is asked who, besides Biden, I hear crickets.
We went through this and I remember it too well. Bernie (I like him as a senator but pres, not so much and his age and socialism are engrained on him) we've seen how that plays out. I wanted Klobuchar (and that didn't go so well). Warren is super and that didn't work. Magas are going after Joe's age while their own dictator/sociopath is just 4 years younger and a lot heavier (so in worse shape certainly mentally).
Yes, Congress should be writing new laws but in fascism we just have one blasted party left and they don't function with passing bills unless you have the 2nd party around. And, that 2nd party lost its mind to the orange obese sociopath.
Remember Ralph Nader ?
Ralph Nader continues to do super good work calling out the rot of our government. He has a radio show on our local radio. I am certain you can hear it, if you look for it..
He’s still around and I believe has a new book out.
Start your dream by running for office; preferably a local one and work your way up so you can experience how the sausage is made on the local level. Learn how our government works. Learn how to marshall your thoughts and present a logical argument to people. Right now you sound like Steve Bannon. All you want to do is tear everything down and begin again. Not saying that this can’t be done but you are fighting well over 200 years of history, laws, court decisions and a population that, whether you like it or not, is quite centrist. This is why the likes of Warren and Sanders will never get anywhere with the general population at this point. It sounds to me as though you know little about how very large institutions are created and run. Get some experience, read a lot, listen to those who have been in the game for a while so you can get an idea what you will be encountering when you play with the power brokers. Burning down the house will only leave you unhoused with a family to take care of and your insurance policy lapsed because you didn’t pay your dues. Good luck.
I have held public office. I am furious that those who chose to work and be in politics have destroyed everything I was taught, I worked for. The lived values the US espoused are gone. A nasty place has evolved . I do want to tear it down and redraw the lines. You sound like a bunch of sheep.
Further, Poland is reversing their few years of a Trumpty type loser. They are taking bold steps, dumping state TV, rebuilding human systems. I am old enough to recall before we shot each other in the grocery store. Before the politicians lied to our faces, doing give always to richy rich and corporations out the quiet back door.
Vicki, I read past your 4:13am comment and Lisa's responce to see where you were going and found I generally agreed. Why I followed the thread was because I wanted to see if the "If the DNC persists..." comment was just a sound bite laundry list by a troll ment to alienate any and all. I also wondered if you had actually read the Reich piece these comments follow. I now think you are pulling-your-hair-out frustrated. Totally fair. Change and repair of this mess we have become can't happen fast enough for me.
But massive and immediate repair and change for a behemoth the likes of the U.S. is not going to happen. (And if it did the outcome could not be predetermined.)
As Reich says in this piece, "Joe Biden is as close to a progressive populist as we have come in the last half-century..." He is not radical, but he knows the terrain. He has been working hard, given the Congress and SCOTUS he has to deal with, to make change. Is this the time, given the devil at the door, to disaffect a massive voting block to oppose Biden, or just blow the whole thing up (a strategy the Freedom Caucas seems to embrace)?
A small side on the Biden age nail being pounded. Biden is one year younger than Sanders. They have both served in the federal government for eons. (Check them out on Politifact.)
Do you think there would be such an age argument from younger voters if Bernie had been the 2020 nominee? Do you think he could have gotten the presidency? Do you think he would have gotten farther on legislation or with decisions made by SCOTUS on his policies?
I look forward to a day when younger politicians can debate the degree and direction of a more progressive agenda in Congress and a less hampered POTUS.
2024 is not that day.
Sanders could not get past the money, privilege and power that the US is now soaked in, on the way to human extinction. We knew very well in the 1960s where we were going and ignored it. It is not about his age per se for me, but I think he is impaired and there are many making decisions behind the scenes. NONE are willing to do more than they have... It's not enough. I am reading in other venues that the youth are not going in the Reich direction. They fully witness the utter failure of our generation. I hate to claim to even be a part of it, as I have taken the road less traveled, but clearly, without taking responsibility, do we expect the kids to die in the front of the revolution that is desperately needed? Why can't we the old ones, pay the price of our failure, rather than leaving it all to them? So many cowards. Integrity as a word only, not as a model. Clearly, I touched nerves as many have written defensively. I am sorry more can not see beyond the past.
In summation, as that is all I am good for, when EVERYTHING became profit-driven, "The American Dream" was ANNIHILATED.
Healthcare is the worst from my experiences, as my traumatic brain injury caused BOTH my poor parents to lose their jobs and contemplate bankruptcy! LUCKILY, we are now economically more than okay and are fixing our aging house left and right! Hard work DOES pay off . . . eventually.
I think your summary is accurate, but you left out the role of the Supreme court. The Citizens United decision was a huge blow to representative democracy since it helped flood our elections with "dark money." The rest is history, which has mostly been downhill. Have we reached the point of no return?
No Ron, but I’m afraid that if the USSC decides in favor of overriding the Chevron Doctrine this session that might be. The doctrine allows government agencies like the FDA, OSHA, and EPA to interpret laws that follow under their jurisdiction given their expertise in their disciplines. By doing away with the doctrine enforcement and interpretation would rest with the courts and lawyers using their limited or non-existent expertise to make major decisions affecting these agencies.
Overturning the Chevron doctrine is just the kind of ruling this court might do. Perhaps they will put some limits on their ruling so the government executive branch isn't completely neutered. These people on the court are assholes. They reflect the problem.
True!
Ron, I believe what we have reached is a tipping point where it will be near impossible, or even impossible to return to the “good old days.“ We need a new vision and an improved economic democratic system to hold as our inspiration for the future. For myself, I see that possibility in a theory called “Economic Democracy .“
Experience shows the ones who made the mess can NOT fix it. Bernie held the new vision. It includes changing human relationships to earth, each other, and other species. Bernie has a vision for the future as does Elizabeth Warren, AOC, etc.. it is not their age, it is their vision.
This is why we must imagine new structures, dump the rotten ones, as Poland is currently doing after their Trumpty reality check. The young must be the implementers. It is their future. We, the Boomers in our well off position chose greed, materialism, power, prestige. The young must return to life nurturing values. White supremacy must be given a proper funeral and turned out of every government structure.
The structure that has evolved is poisonous, death causing & has given rise to ‘good folk going bad’.
I am looking forward to next week's concluding contribution to this series. I think many of us are sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to hear some solid pathways back to a functioning democracy of the people by the people and for the people that will not perish from the earth under the current assault by the ultra-wealthy and faux populists.
Well, Dr. Reich did give a bunch of ideas of policies on which Democrats should campaign under his section on what progressive populism would look like in today's edition.
Yes, I hope the destruction of the news industry including the loss of integrity in the networks is explained since it is what turned the people against democracy.
All on point. You are correct. Biden hasn't painted a vision, or addressed the underlying cause of Trump's unwavering 30%, systemic wealth inequality. Left or right, we can all agree we're getting screwed. Focusing on that common ground with your radicalized family and friends (if you're talking) is essential. Additional storm clouds are on the horizon, though, with climate change which will throttle the economy, regardless. This will further endanger a lurch into fascist leadership. Terrifying times.
That unwavering 30% vote against their own economic and physical health.
The MAGATs' Achilles heel is not politics, it's culture. Ask how they can support someone who stole from kids with cancer and disabled veterans?
And you missed Biden's Build Back Better Act.
Yes, they vote against their own interests. But why? I would argue poor education and of course a completely corrupt right-wing media. Biden's Build Back Better never happened. It was reduced to the Inflation Reduction Act thanks to a completely corrupted Republican Party and Manchin and Synema. I wrote about it. https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/the-inflation-act-climate-change
also, poverty makes it more difficult to vote. Both for its impact on education as well as creating practical difficulties.
The Build Back Better Act is still his vision. He is not superman.
But why? HATE!! RACISM! Collective racist subconscious.
FEAR too. The right wing media wants them to think that Democrats and "Others" hate them and are coming to get them.
I think the biggest problem with addressing that group is how to stop the mis/disinformation and the biased media narratives.
We cannot stop everything they complain about (social security & disability being used by non-Whites, Obamacare, immigration, women’s independence, abortion, POC’s existence, etc) because the people who want to control their votes & voices will only find something else to scare and anger them.
How do you stop the media being biased when media is protected by the Constitution?
How do you stop the mis/disinformation attacks on social media without stepping on the Constitution if social media companies won’t voluntarily stop them?
How do you get religions to stop being political without freaking people out?
This is a major concern I have- the storm cloud of climate change. It's possible the challenges of climate change could galvanize the country into a WWII type response but that looks increasingly unlikely given the severity of the polarization, at least in part driven by climate change (immigration). Climate CRISIS may be driving more political dysfunction than we are aware of, but I'm not researching that now. The mind reels at the thought of what happens politically if/when climate crisis gets really really bad.
Wait until the Supreme Court gets done with Chevron. If it goes the way everyone thinks, the roll downhill will be a quick one.
I was one of the small contributors to Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign for president. I also collected petition signatures to get him on the ballot here in Indiana, and made telephone calls and knocked on doors for him. His positive populism, always working and advocating for ordinary people, appealed to me. However, the Democratic Party establishment absolutely did not want him as president, and the corporate news media disparaged him as a silly old man with pie-in-the-sky notions. I suspect that Biden would not have taken the anti-plutocrat actions described if it had not been for Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and the congressional progressive caucus.
Republicans have managed to promote for president two charismatic individuals, an actor and a facile con artist, who have led the country down a path of greed and selfishness. We really need a younger Bernie Sanders now.
We do need a younger version of Bernie Sanders but that person hasn’t appeared and there’s not enough time till November if he or she did. Our only realistic option this election is Biden who has done much better than I ever hoped.
Dance with the one you came with.
go to war with the Army you have
I’m still angry with Manchin and his vote against Build Back Better.
I sincerely believe Manchin is some kind of mole for the oligarchs!
I am, too.
There are some out there, but don’t have wide exposure. Governor Wes Moore of MD is one, very bright and appearing to lead MD out of the doldrums it has existed in for the last several decades.
Don't know anything about Moore, but I really like his fellow Marylander, Jamie Raskin. I also like Warren, Merkley & Whitehouse a lot, & there a number of promising younger people. Besides AOC, we have Jasmine Crockett, Greg Casar & Max Frost (who would have to wait until 2032 before he's eligible to run for President).
Don’t know all the names you mentioned, but also like Mallory McMorrow of MI, Eric Swalwell, and Chris Van Hollen of MD.
Wes Moore is no Bernie Sanders.
Clinton seemed to appear out of nowhere and he catapulted to the top rapidly during the debates. Remember him and his charts? He towered over Ross, a billionaire businessman, literally and figuratively. I originally was leaning towards Ross. (Later I learned Ross was very dictatorial. strict & inflexible)
Yes he was on TV the other day and I heard he was quite impressive. Interesting career and he's only 45.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Moore
I have a somewhat different view of the situation.
A recent RAND Corporation study of wealth and income inequality in America makes it very clear that there has been a quiet, sub rosa class war in the United States waged by the American oligarchy against the average working people of America since the early 1970s. This “reverse distribution” of income and wealth upwards, really a massive $2.5 TRILLION annual theft — and THEFT is not too strong a word for it — by the American oligarchy from the average working people of America explains why so many Americans are struggling financially, flat broke, working multiple low wage, often part time jobs, are mired deeply in debt, and it explains much of the social unrest and discontent in America over the last 50 years.
In the early 1970s, the far right wing backlash and counterrevolution to the reforms of the New Deal, the post-WWII era, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Great Society began. It started with the infamous Powell Memorandum to the US Chamber of Commerce of 1971 that served as a blueprint of how the American oligarchy could undermine the power that the American middle class had gained for itself and restore the primacy the oligarchy had prior to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The American oligarchy has followed the instructions of the Powell Memorandum closely for 50 years now, regained the power and influence it had lost, and shifted the political discourse and struggle in America dramatically to the right.
In 1973, began the Great Uncoupling of increases in American wages and salaries from increases in corporate productivity and profitability. Except for measly, grudging pay increases to cover inflation, and to be told that they were lucky they still had jobs, the average working people of America ceased to share in the tremendous wealth that their labor created for the bosses and the shareholders. Fifty years is a LONG time to go without a REAL pay increase, and it explains much of the social discontent in America in the years since.
Much of this reactionary counterrevolution occurred quietly and secretly, through profound, but stealthy economic moves that occurred in corporate executive suites and boardrooms, and in right wing scholarly studies and propaganda coming out of the work of a small, but dedicated cadre of right wing academics, and out of a network of right wing propaganda mills masquerading as “think tanks,” and most effectively and tellingly, in the huge sums of money that the American oligarchy used to first undermine moderate center-right conservative politicians in the Republican Party, then to buy off business oriented politicians in the Democratic Party and push the “party of the people” hard to the right. There is today no real, effective leftist political party in America, other than the small, vocal, but outnumbered and largely neutralized “progressive” wing of the Democratic Party.
Sad to say, but most average working people in America have been kept in the dark about what was happening, like frogs in a pot of water that was being heated slowly, but surely, until it was too late to respond effectively. Also, caught up in the day-to-day struggle to make a living, which became increasingly more difficult as the years went by, the average working people of America were simply too distracted and exhausted to pay much attention to politics and its effects on their socioeconomic standing.
Today, the American oligarchy has pretty much succeeded in defanging and neutralizing the American political process as any sort of realistic threat to their power and wealth. The pathetic and limited choice at the election polls is, sadly, between two right wing bourgeois political parties: the neoliberal corporatist Democrats and the reactionary, increasingly fascist and bat shit crazy Republicans. Any “reforms” offered to the beleaguered working people of America are generally tepid, underfunded, incremental half measures at best. More often than not, the bourgeois blowhards of Washington, DC expend a great deal of energy creating political heat, without necessarily generating much political light or real action. Political gridlock and inaction isn’t just the result — it’s pretty much the intention.
Any REAL reform here in the United States will only occur when millions of Americans take to the streets participating in mass demonstrations and general strikes that paralyze America, bring the American oligarchy to its knees, and their bourgeois politicians to the bargaining table offering the REAL reforms and meaningful government policy changes that the American people so desperately need and want.
Bert Wolfe said, "Any REAL reform here in the United States will only occur when millions of Americans take to the streets participating in mass demonstrations and general strikes that paralyze America, bring the American oligarchy to its knees, and their bourgeois politicians to the bargaining table offering the REAL reforms and meaningful government policy changes that the American people so desperately need and want."
The first part of your comment is similar to what Reich has been teaching and the synopsis would make a good flyer. I agree with your conclusion. Each election has given us hope that new leaders will bring the needed change and extends the exploitation of the people for four more years. I agree with your conclusion.
If Trump is president that would result in a slaughter. He will outlaw protesting!
It must be done now....
Some cities and towns already have.
Regarding your last sentence, notice how dangerous protesting has gotten in the last few years? To the point where in many cities it’s now legal to drive into protest groups and that said groups now have to stay in certain areas or risk arrest or worse?
Great comment. For confirmation, read this: https://www.getmoneyoutmd.org/corruption
There is a “Robert Reich imposter commenting. I have reported all so far. Beware. Do NOT follow the directions of the imposter (investments).
That hustle has shown up on Beau of the Fifth Column, as well. He periodically reminds the viewer that it's not him and he >never< uses Telegram.
I had the same issue yesterday, having several intrusions of that ilk so I did report them all.
Reported and blocked.
Maybe that’s what the imposter WANTS us to do; “block” him. That way we wouldn’t be able to receive RR’s newsletters, correct?
No, if you check his (4) followers you’ll see it’s obviously not the real RR.
How do you report and block? I don't know how.
Tap on the photo then the 3 dots top right of the next screen.
Thank you. I didn’t know that. Learn something new every day…🙂
Don’t we all. Something needs to be done about this imposter but Substack has so far not acted.
I noticed I had to either sign in or have a special link provided to “like” or comment in TR’s newsletters. I don’t for Mary Trump or Gary Olsen. I sometimes do for Thom Hartmann now.. So it looks like they are trying to take precautions. Maybe it’s Trump’s friend Putin who is responsible.
Apparently he is hacking into RR’s account. How else could he use his name & picture? Maybe RR needs to change his password?
I agree.
and I was hoping to make MILLIONS !
I wish that everyone in America could read this post. It makes so much sense and gives us a direction to go in. So much of the political, social, and environmental bad news that we hear every day just leaves people feeling hopeless, helpless, and angry. Here is the problem, how we got here, and how to get out of it.
We need a hero to show up to lead the way.
So I looked up the year 1933.
The Great Depression.
Passage of Germany’s Enabling Act, The rise of Hitler, Reichstag fire, Dachau concentration camp completed, Gestapo created, non-nazi parties were forbidden, etc.
Fast forward. Today we’re looking at a would be President who kept a book about Hitler and his speeches next to his bed.
Looking at 1933, could we just avoid repeating everything except what FDR said and did?
Unlike Reich, mainstream Democrats have failed to recognize the anti-establishment sentiment that took over 3/4 of the electorate by 2016. Even Republicans got it, although with a reckless & dangerous faux populist in Trump.
The ideas Reich lays out under what progressive populism would look like are exactly what we need & what Democrats should run on if they want to really help the American people & if they want to win. Thank-you for delineating the things we need to stand for & do to bring back a thriving middle class & strong democracy!
First, thank you for citing John Kenneth Galbraith, one of the best mid 20th century voices for sound economic policy and an economist that makes the science both accessible and entertaining.
I find it ironic that Republican candidates/incumbents love saying small business is the backbone of our economic society all the while supporting the deregulation and support of mega businesses that will ensure small businesses’ inability to compete on a level playing field.
Biden is doing some things to help small business but of course I couldn't tell you what they are without looking it up and it gets no media play.
The small business of the R’s is not the idyllic 1950s small town with a tree-lined Main Street. It is essentially economic share cropping using tools such as franchises to suck money from the masses. I have worked on local economic development for over two decades. We have a constant battle to change the understanding from one of trying to build a franchise-ville to having a local wealth building set of businesses. I have to use all my fingers and toes to count the aspiring small business owners that have been bankrupted in our small community by economic share cropping.
The progressive populism as espoused by the lifetime work of Bernie Sanders and the unfulfilled Build Back Better program advocated by Biden, and favored by a majority of US residents, was smashed by opposition outside of and within the Democratic Party. The oligarchy’s control of both major parties is devastating to our democratic aspirations and to a majority of the people. The ultimate distraction is the continued push for world dominance through arms production and sales and the continuous wars. The corruption of Congress, and the highest Court of the Land, along with a constant pervasive and persuasive propaganda machine and mass financial inequities have resulted in a confused and desperate populace, ready to return to power a wannabe dictator. And half the voters no longer participate in elections, tired of the choices put before them, picking the lesser of two evils. Meanwhile our Government is at a standstill on many critical matters, especially on quickly addressing the evolving devastations of
global warming.
Is there any visionary leader who can possibly turn the tide? Maybe. Look for the person who is the most discredited and defiled by organized politics and the big corporations, who is unconventional and black balled by the two party system and powers that be. No it is not Bernie this time.
Every candidate has faults. I would gladly overlook a few if that person was staunchly in favor of fighting against the vast power of the military industrial complex and the corporate takeover of our government.
Among the people who appear to fit your criteria are Warren, Whitehouse, Merkley, Schiff, Raskin & AOC.
Jamie Raskin would be a great choice !
True but he has had some significant health issues.
Yes, but he has gone a long way towards recovering from them, & has looked quite vigorous.
Yes, but there are independent candidates that fit the criteria also, who are actively campaigning.
Hard to dispute the concept but who’s going to deliver it? Is Biden capable or even willing to take up the struggle - and if not him, then who?
Four years of Trump (or any other republican) will only see the prize moved much farther away...
Come on USA, the world need you!
He's the best since LBJ. Give the guy a break.
He may well be but the questions remain - is he capable or even willing to take up the battle, especially as he needs the plutocracy?
Democracy v Fascism.
Unfortunately, we can’t expect much from Joe Biden as he promised the oligarchs that “nothing will fundamentally change under a Biden Administration.” Biden won’t do anything that will upset the oligarchs.
Exactly my point ... so what’s the answer @Robert Reich?
Thank you so much Robert Reich for clearly and explicitly laying out the facts and numbers that have been blank spaces in my mind. Evere since we lost a second term of Jimmy Carter as President, I have been disillusioned by politics and it's control over our lives. Politics that have become increasingly controlled by money and that money is funneled away from the "common good" .
The "common good" is what could bring about a better America and the 🌍
Americans don't want to do what they need to do. Not by a long shot. Real, charismatic leadership can blow through this but Biden doesn't have it. If the party as a whole had it things might work out but it's not there. Even I think of abortion and transsexuals when I think of Democrats, a catastrophic failure of messaging. I never liked Clinton. I thought we should get a Yankee president once a generation or so. Obama was my guy. Imagine my disappointment, though I thought I understood why he failed. That we were well into the hostage crisis by then, the result of the Rummy/Cheney/Buchanan faction under Reagan and then the troll invasion under Gingrich. These are our Huns.
We were a shotgun wedding, North and South, and the South has had a gun to America's head ever since. Leave us alone in our racist shithole or we'll blow it all up. Then came desegregation. We fucked with the wrong racists because, by this time, the racism was institutionalized and mostly unconscious. To say it was entrenched fails to get it. This was denial unto death on a mass scale. The stuff of the anti-vaccine fanatics who got Corona and died still uttering Fox nonsense like some nut with a suicide vest counting virgins as his head spins through space. That level of insanity isn't alien to us at all. It's running the country in the form of Trump. We're one big Kochist, laissez-faire fûhrerbunker.
What to do.
Firstly, recognize a society built on energy subsidies isn't a model for anything. Europeans loosed on a continent of unexploited natural resources, we have now run out of continents to plunder. Wait, we can string this out for a while on Mideast oil. Anybody's oil. Anything but grow up and live like adults. Meanwhile, the rich people are convinced they can become so rich they're immune to the inevitable crash. But they need brownshirts. Enforcers. Those racist southerners should work. Rednecks should work. Throw them a bone. Delegate throwing them bones to professional bone throwers. Go fixate on making money and reducing the country to rubble.
So it can't fight back. Set timer for 30 years. You're inconceivably rich. Really inconceivably. The country and certainly the social contract are increasingly a ruin. Success! Uh, oh. Remember those rednecks? They've grown into a movement and, the uppity idiots, now want to run things. This is a little scary. So, here we are, Hatfields on one side, McCoys on the other, and the old slaveholders circling the wagons around their virtual encampments and -- no shit -- building bunkers. Do we see how insane this is? We need a complete reinvention or we're toast. Hold on, the boomers might make it through before the thing falls apart. So, fuck it. Elect Bluto president again. But remember the Cadillac. You're stupid enough to loan the frat boys the Cadillac?
And it gets demolished? That's on you. That's on us. Who would be stupid enough to entrust something you care about to the absolute worst people ever? We would.
Thanks, but we need inspiration not pessimism.
Democracy or Fascism.
@Margaret. Look in the mirror. Before ANY reforms can be made, need to win. The best example I can give is FDR who in 1932 did not disclose his policies to end the depression.
Close enough to the way >I've< seen it since Reagan.
Brilliant, Robert. A brilliant analysis of the history of our economy. Finally, you’re naming names associated with the greedy deeds of politicians. I’ve noticed a lack of that in your previous blogs - especially the traitorous Democrats who sold us for 30 pieces of silver. You finally give due credit to the greatest politician in modern times. Bernie Sanders. He’s a saint! Please continue to point him out to constituents so they can tell the difference between the lies and truths spoken by the others.