The working....what? Years ago, I tied my star to Bernie Sanders' wagon and there it has remained. His message was (is) always the same: the disparity of wealth in the US is literally and figuratively killing us, the poor and working class souls are getting steadily poorer and paying more in taxes; the wealthy breezing along. Bernie offered the same message everywhere he went, even when he visited the Lakota people or stopped by in Chicago or when he went to the Arena in San Jose, California. Or when he dropped in on the gang at SNL. He was always Bernie and he put the welfare of ordinary people at the top of his agenda. When he was considered too socialist (or whatever) for the Dems, he was left with a loyal band of supporters who are--as far as I know--still a loyal band of supporters. But officialdom moved on to Biden and, well, so did I as we faced a crisis. We still face a crisis and it is the same crisis: the two organized parties insist on raising money for campaigns, they want big war-chest s to take on those viewed as the enemy. They plan on spending (wasting) a lot of money campaigning and rallying and promoting their chosen leader. But, you know, when you come right down to it, all the this folderole will not change a thing. What would have changed our current plight are people who are willing to look truth in the eye and stop fighting and start facing our manifold challenges. Does either party want to govern or are they both more into an endless cycle of fund-raising, campaigning, and (increasingly) going violent if they don't get their way? Now Trump has decided that he wants to reconfigure the presidency into a ceremonial position with no responsibility...this is incredible but I guess the object of government is not to serve the needs of the people governed but to provide a backdrop for a Grand Spectacle....are we heading down the same road that led to Louis XVI and La Guillotine?
I'm not quite sure the Democratic party can ever recover from letting Wall St. off the hook for the last financial crisis. For so many people, that was the nail in the coffin, the indisputable evidence that they are too broken to continue, too attached to the corporate cash funnel. We needed those responsible to be frog-marched publicly to prison for the rest of their lives. Instead, they took even more of our tax dollars so those bankers could get their bonuses, gave us poorly constructed, weak regulations, and confirmed that no amount of documentation of crimes committed will cause the wealthy to pay in America, even with Dems in charge.
My view through the prism - the Vietnam War created MORE lasting animosity between those that were drafted vs. those that had college deferments than just about anything else. THAT whole "Blue collar" distrust of rich kids that could dodge the draft and not be sent "In Country" IMO created a huge and lasting schism. I had many friends that were sent out there and came back with varying degrees of f*cked up-edness physically and psychologically. But moreover with far reaching financial and medical effects screwing families up in very profound and material ways over an arc of three generations or more. [I can certainly attest to that - even though I'm of a later generation. ]. .
Most of my friends in the manufacturing communities (working men and women) still in large measure have this basic visceral level of hate and mistrust of well monied ruling (educated) elites esp. from the "Left" that somehow (patronizingly) know 'Better" what it is that THEY really want or more specifically NEED. (Rightly or wrongly- its still present.).
The one way that people can really drag themselves out of the sh*t is with FREE higher education and FREE Health care as well as drug pricing that is not predatory and exploitative.
Telling someone they need "More" democracy is a little abstract and unhelpful for most people.
Give people something that will tangibly and materially improve their lives.
Child care is important but the OTHER pieces need to be in place so people can actually advance and (who knows) in time, the REAL - US economy (not the stock market) can actually start to thrive. You know - like other 'Developed" nations [facepalm].
What RR is saying here really chimes with me.
I'm totally OK with knocking down the Democratic party and building - IT - BACK Better
^^^ That's a lot of projection - (projective identification) - if you think about it.
"Build Back Better !" ,
Nooooo
The Democratic "Party" NEEDS to be (Built Back Better) - rebuilt mostly from scratch so that it actually stands for something so there IS a CREDIBLE FOUNDATION to then further build upon
I have been aware of the Dems Betrayal since I came back from Viet Nam! It's like they HATE WORKING FAMILIES AND UNIONS because they've had the Majority a couple of times and you'd think they could REPEAL TAFT-HARTLEY IF THEY CARED ABOUT WORKERS! NOPE! Plus, as proof about how bad it is, there was a Graph the Late talk show Ed Schultz displayed that showed the decline of UNION MEMBERSHIP that EXACTLY MIRRORS THE LEVEL OF DIMINISHING WORKING FAMILY WEALTH! It's clear where our wealth is going! BILLIONAIRES ARE STEALING 40 YEARS WORTH OF productivity gains by workers!
Born and bred Republican until the wheels came off in 2008, I voted for Obama without ever even hearing him speak. I’m not sure what else he could have done given the cards he was dealt. The same goes for Biden now given the mess Trump left as well as Biden’s quest for this mythical bipartisanship. In my subsequent political wanderings as an Independent, it’s only been the progressive democrats that seem to be working for the things that make any sense to me, in particular Bernie Sanders. My regret now is that I wasn’t a registered Democrat in the 2016 primaries so I could vote for him. Maybe my newfound faith in the Progressive Caucus is to end up going bust as well, but I believe that they are only ones that will push for the changes needed for a more equitable and prosperous country. Again, putting my money where my mouth is, I no longer donate to the DNC but instead to Justice Democrats.
I have long been troubled by all of these inconsistencies and contradictions. But I doubted my concerns because I trusted the wisdom and integrity of our Democratic leadership, and I was not hearing anyone who was challenging it -- except perhaps Bernie Sanders. Dr. Reich's comments finally ring loud and true, and lay bare the deeply rooted duplicity underlying it all. Thank you.
In my country we would say that you are telling a truth larger than a temple. The Democratic Party has been holding hands with big money for decades. You have pointed it out so clearly. Yet the Republican party holds their hands even stronger. I remember Trump accusing the Democrats of sending jobs overseas and that he would bring them back. Well, he was partly right, the Dems were responsible, but so were the Republicans. Both parties are responsible and what were once vibrant manufacturing towns like Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburg and Gary Indiana are hollowed out ghost towns. There's plenty of blame to go around. And Biden is well on his way in the holding hands game. You are well aware. FDR must be turning in his grave. And now he cant even muster the will to get two corrupt members of his party to give some crumbs to the working class. With the greatest respect, I scratch my head and wonder how someone as brilliant and conscientious as you can still be a part of this party. That is something I just don't understand.
My read since Trump 2016 is that people vote their identity. Period. Nothing else matters. And I have to say I've been slow on the uptake given the evidence not only for this but for related phenomena. I'll give just two examples. When countries go to war (in a way just an extreme form of voting), the battle cry on both sides is always the existential threat to our very way of life. Our way of life even trumps our actual lives. Modern psychology keeps re-confirming that we make all or almost all of our important and seemingly reasoned decisions with our lower brain stem and then rationalize that decision without knowing that is what we are doing.
I think Dems should be looking after the real needs of citizens, and so should the GOP, because that is a critical feature of any humane government. But I don't think that wins most elections. People have to feel at a very organic, non-rational level that they are voting for their cultural identity. We see this too in such other forms of "voting" as people disowning their own children due to some difference in values that are held as defining. We humans even disown our own children over identity politics. How much more proof do we need that this is what blows past all other considerations?
So, as many build back better jobs as possible should be filled by working class people in red states because god knows they can't run their own economies, and because the least abstract self-interest in politics is one's own job. If they know they have a job because of Biden and they know they may lose that job because of the next GOP asshole, that might affect their vote. But additionally, Dems must reach people's identities. The question is, if one is not doing that based on religious and racial bigotry, how is it to be done?
In my parent's generation, it was about being a post-WWII American, which is perhaps one of the reasons LBJ's Great Society appeal resonated enough to have some impact. Today, with so little faith left in America in general and in government in particular (for those left of the radical right), that isn't going to do it. Being the post-WWII good guys isn't our national identity anymore, if we even have one at all. I don't know what will reach the masses, but there are people who have spent their adult lives studying this sort of thing (sociologists, historians, political scientists), and people who know how to sell abstract things like identity and emotion (marketing).
So, my take is, by all means let's please keep trying to do what's best for people, but let's stop imagining that this makes a compelling impression on a culture that is increasingly sociopathic. We need to play identity politics because that is the only kind of politics there is. The great trick is to figure out a form of identity politics that will really draw people without playing on bigotry, but on things that are positive that people still identify with outside of the "liberal elite" college-educated lefties. If we are so educated, can't we figure this out? Aren't a lot of us sociologists, political scientists, historians, and marketers?
Democrats need to realize that republicans target the amygdala by messaging fear the most powerful motivator. Democrats use intellectual arguments to target the cortex which is woefully weaker than the primal fight or flight response. Democrats need to use fear of rising republican fascism with every message and breath or fascism will win.
You need to shout your talk from the roof tops! No one, not even democratic leaders like Bernie have summed it up as well as you have. Somehow, your messages need to get out to the working class people. Once they understand what is happening to them, they will have the ability to defend their interests. They may feel all of these things you mention, but they don't have the language to enable them to make effective arguments. You or your deputy need to get out to these rural communities and spread the word to the people that are affected. WORDS DO MATTER!
You're damned right Democrats abandoned the working class years ago, and I place the blame initially with Bill Clinton, Al Gore and other conservative, Southern, white Democrats (The New Democrats) who thought abandoning FDR's substantial legacy would attract red "Democratic" voters who embraced Reagan.
In addition to embracing Reagan's neoliberal governing philosophy, the Clinton Administration greatly increased the carseral state, made the poor destitute through Welfare Reform, and offshored much of our manufacturing base through trade treaties
Such betrayals are expected from the GOP, but when such actions are perpetrated by "Democrats" I begin to understand the term" two parties, one tent."
Thank you for your thoughts/wisdom. I'm an appreciative student. But can you imagine what we would be talking about tonight if McAuliffe had squeaked out a win in Virginia on Tuesday? I'm sorry to be so pessimistic, but I really fear there will never be another fair election. Thank goodness our Democracy was saved in 2020 because conservatives did not have all their people in place. They do now! Poll watchers to intimidate. Biased election officials to turn loses into wins. Legislatures ready to claim fraud and demand endless audits. The promise to persecute "Election Crimes" (Florida 's new idea just tonight). We can analyze what the Dems are doing wrong, what we need to change, how to get money out of politics, how we can reach out better to the working class, etc. etc. etc. Without the power to make changes at the polls, isn't it all futile,
Every congress critter who submits bills written by donars or votes for those same bills and accepts money from corporations needs to be called on it come election time. Primary Opponents should hammer the points to the voters that the sitting congress critter it the reason we don't have lower drug prices, improved health care, a living wage and affordable housing. Add in climate changes, poor infrastructure like roads, water pipes and clean air and water.
Point out the traitors of the working class and vote another candidate in.
That was one of the criticisms of Hillary Clinton when she was running for president. The Democrats went to fundraisers held for wealthy patrons. She did not show up in rural areas. No big bucks there.
If I receive one more e-mail from a Democratic candidate soliciting my support by trying to scare me with the looming Republican menace, I just may have to give up. If Democrats really want to hang on to, or even expand control of Congress, it’s easy: just deliver on the policies that got them elected in the first place. But so far, a year into the current administration,
- No aggressive response to assault on voting rights
- No accountability for seditionists inside Congress and out
(in fact, Gates laughing about the havoc they’ll cause upon regaining the House)
- No universal healthcare
- No student loan forgiveness
- No nixing the filibuster
- No Supreme Court expansion (or followup on vetting improprieties)
- No halt in weapons sales to genocidal regimes
- NY Trump family investigation apparently shut down
Liberal/Progressive as I am, I can understand why conservatives might characterize Dems as weak, frightened, wimps who can’t get anything done.
I voted my paycheck. As a member of the IBEW for 50 years, I voted for the party that would make workers' wages a living and prosperous wage. Over the years, the Republicans always either Froze Wages, Like Nixon or were anti-Union like Trump so the only party that was left that could win was the Democrats. I voted for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020 primaries and the progressive Democratic party, that really supports unions and a higher minimum wage than the poverty minimum wage offered today, never seem to win.
The working....what? Years ago, I tied my star to Bernie Sanders' wagon and there it has remained. His message was (is) always the same: the disparity of wealth in the US is literally and figuratively killing us, the poor and working class souls are getting steadily poorer and paying more in taxes; the wealthy breezing along. Bernie offered the same message everywhere he went, even when he visited the Lakota people or stopped by in Chicago or when he went to the Arena in San Jose, California. Or when he dropped in on the gang at SNL. He was always Bernie and he put the welfare of ordinary people at the top of his agenda. When he was considered too socialist (or whatever) for the Dems, he was left with a loyal band of supporters who are--as far as I know--still a loyal band of supporters. But officialdom moved on to Biden and, well, so did I as we faced a crisis. We still face a crisis and it is the same crisis: the two organized parties insist on raising money for campaigns, they want big war-chest s to take on those viewed as the enemy. They plan on spending (wasting) a lot of money campaigning and rallying and promoting their chosen leader. But, you know, when you come right down to it, all the this folderole will not change a thing. What would have changed our current plight are people who are willing to look truth in the eye and stop fighting and start facing our manifold challenges. Does either party want to govern or are they both more into an endless cycle of fund-raising, campaigning, and (increasingly) going violent if they don't get their way? Now Trump has decided that he wants to reconfigure the presidency into a ceremonial position with no responsibility...this is incredible but I guess the object of government is not to serve the needs of the people governed but to provide a backdrop for a Grand Spectacle....are we heading down the same road that led to Louis XVI and La Guillotine?
I'm not quite sure the Democratic party can ever recover from letting Wall St. off the hook for the last financial crisis. For so many people, that was the nail in the coffin, the indisputable evidence that they are too broken to continue, too attached to the corporate cash funnel. We needed those responsible to be frog-marched publicly to prison for the rest of their lives. Instead, they took even more of our tax dollars so those bankers could get their bonuses, gave us poorly constructed, weak regulations, and confirmed that no amount of documentation of crimes committed will cause the wealthy to pay in America, even with Dems in charge.
My view through the prism - the Vietnam War created MORE lasting animosity between those that were drafted vs. those that had college deferments than just about anything else. THAT whole "Blue collar" distrust of rich kids that could dodge the draft and not be sent "In Country" IMO created a huge and lasting schism. I had many friends that were sent out there and came back with varying degrees of f*cked up-edness physically and psychologically. But moreover with far reaching financial and medical effects screwing families up in very profound and material ways over an arc of three generations or more. [I can certainly attest to that - even though I'm of a later generation. ]. .
Most of my friends in the manufacturing communities (working men and women) still in large measure have this basic visceral level of hate and mistrust of well monied ruling (educated) elites esp. from the "Left" that somehow (patronizingly) know 'Better" what it is that THEY really want or more specifically NEED. (Rightly or wrongly- its still present.).
The one way that people can really drag themselves out of the sh*t is with FREE higher education and FREE Health care as well as drug pricing that is not predatory and exploitative.
Telling someone they need "More" democracy is a little abstract and unhelpful for most people.
Give people something that will tangibly and materially improve their lives.
Child care is important but the OTHER pieces need to be in place so people can actually advance and (who knows) in time, the REAL - US economy (not the stock market) can actually start to thrive. You know - like other 'Developed" nations [facepalm].
What RR is saying here really chimes with me.
I'm totally OK with knocking down the Democratic party and building - IT - BACK Better
^^^ That's a lot of projection - (projective identification) - if you think about it.
"Build Back Better !" ,
Nooooo
The Democratic "Party" NEEDS to be (Built Back Better) - rebuilt mostly from scratch so that it actually stands for something so there IS a CREDIBLE FOUNDATION to then further build upon
~ Obviously.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile - I'll try to dig up the actual article that Prof. Reich cites and sit down and try and read it - lol.
I have been aware of the Dems Betrayal since I came back from Viet Nam! It's like they HATE WORKING FAMILIES AND UNIONS because they've had the Majority a couple of times and you'd think they could REPEAL TAFT-HARTLEY IF THEY CARED ABOUT WORKERS! NOPE! Plus, as proof about how bad it is, there was a Graph the Late talk show Ed Schultz displayed that showed the decline of UNION MEMBERSHIP that EXACTLY MIRRORS THE LEVEL OF DIMINISHING WORKING FAMILY WEALTH! It's clear where our wealth is going! BILLIONAIRES ARE STEALING 40 YEARS WORTH OF productivity gains by workers!
Born and bred Republican until the wheels came off in 2008, I voted for Obama without ever even hearing him speak. I’m not sure what else he could have done given the cards he was dealt. The same goes for Biden now given the mess Trump left as well as Biden’s quest for this mythical bipartisanship. In my subsequent political wanderings as an Independent, it’s only been the progressive democrats that seem to be working for the things that make any sense to me, in particular Bernie Sanders. My regret now is that I wasn’t a registered Democrat in the 2016 primaries so I could vote for him. Maybe my newfound faith in the Progressive Caucus is to end up going bust as well, but I believe that they are only ones that will push for the changes needed for a more equitable and prosperous country. Again, putting my money where my mouth is, I no longer donate to the DNC but instead to Justice Democrats.
I have long been troubled by all of these inconsistencies and contradictions. But I doubted my concerns because I trusted the wisdom and integrity of our Democratic leadership, and I was not hearing anyone who was challenging it -- except perhaps Bernie Sanders. Dr. Reich's comments finally ring loud and true, and lay bare the deeply rooted duplicity underlying it all. Thank you.
In my country we would say that you are telling a truth larger than a temple. The Democratic Party has been holding hands with big money for decades. You have pointed it out so clearly. Yet the Republican party holds their hands even stronger. I remember Trump accusing the Democrats of sending jobs overseas and that he would bring them back. Well, he was partly right, the Dems were responsible, but so were the Republicans. Both parties are responsible and what were once vibrant manufacturing towns like Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburg and Gary Indiana are hollowed out ghost towns. There's plenty of blame to go around. And Biden is well on his way in the holding hands game. You are well aware. FDR must be turning in his grave. And now he cant even muster the will to get two corrupt members of his party to give some crumbs to the working class. With the greatest respect, I scratch my head and wonder how someone as brilliant and conscientious as you can still be a part of this party. That is something I just don't understand.
My read since Trump 2016 is that people vote their identity. Period. Nothing else matters. And I have to say I've been slow on the uptake given the evidence not only for this but for related phenomena. I'll give just two examples. When countries go to war (in a way just an extreme form of voting), the battle cry on both sides is always the existential threat to our very way of life. Our way of life even trumps our actual lives. Modern psychology keeps re-confirming that we make all or almost all of our important and seemingly reasoned decisions with our lower brain stem and then rationalize that decision without knowing that is what we are doing.
I think Dems should be looking after the real needs of citizens, and so should the GOP, because that is a critical feature of any humane government. But I don't think that wins most elections. People have to feel at a very organic, non-rational level that they are voting for their cultural identity. We see this too in such other forms of "voting" as people disowning their own children due to some difference in values that are held as defining. We humans even disown our own children over identity politics. How much more proof do we need that this is what blows past all other considerations?
So, as many build back better jobs as possible should be filled by working class people in red states because god knows they can't run their own economies, and because the least abstract self-interest in politics is one's own job. If they know they have a job because of Biden and they know they may lose that job because of the next GOP asshole, that might affect their vote. But additionally, Dems must reach people's identities. The question is, if one is not doing that based on religious and racial bigotry, how is it to be done?
In my parent's generation, it was about being a post-WWII American, which is perhaps one of the reasons LBJ's Great Society appeal resonated enough to have some impact. Today, with so little faith left in America in general and in government in particular (for those left of the radical right), that isn't going to do it. Being the post-WWII good guys isn't our national identity anymore, if we even have one at all. I don't know what will reach the masses, but there are people who have spent their adult lives studying this sort of thing (sociologists, historians, political scientists), and people who know how to sell abstract things like identity and emotion (marketing).
So, my take is, by all means let's please keep trying to do what's best for people, but let's stop imagining that this makes a compelling impression on a culture that is increasingly sociopathic. We need to play identity politics because that is the only kind of politics there is. The great trick is to figure out a form of identity politics that will really draw people without playing on bigotry, but on things that are positive that people still identify with outside of the "liberal elite" college-educated lefties. If we are so educated, can't we figure this out? Aren't a lot of us sociologists, political scientists, historians, and marketers?
Democrats need to realize that republicans target the amygdala by messaging fear the most powerful motivator. Democrats use intellectual arguments to target the cortex which is woefully weaker than the primal fight or flight response. Democrats need to use fear of rising republican fascism with every message and breath or fascism will win.
You need to shout your talk from the roof tops! No one, not even democratic leaders like Bernie have summed it up as well as you have. Somehow, your messages need to get out to the working class people. Once they understand what is happening to them, they will have the ability to defend their interests. They may feel all of these things you mention, but they don't have the language to enable them to make effective arguments. You or your deputy need to get out to these rural communities and spread the word to the people that are affected. WORDS DO MATTER!
You're damned right Democrats abandoned the working class years ago, and I place the blame initially with Bill Clinton, Al Gore and other conservative, Southern, white Democrats (The New Democrats) who thought abandoning FDR's substantial legacy would attract red "Democratic" voters who embraced Reagan.
In addition to embracing Reagan's neoliberal governing philosophy, the Clinton Administration greatly increased the carseral state, made the poor destitute through Welfare Reform, and offshored much of our manufacturing base through trade treaties
Such betrayals are expected from the GOP, but when such actions are perpetrated by "Democrats" I begin to understand the term" two parties, one tent."
Thank you for your thoughts/wisdom. I'm an appreciative student. But can you imagine what we would be talking about tonight if McAuliffe had squeaked out a win in Virginia on Tuesday? I'm sorry to be so pessimistic, but I really fear there will never be another fair election. Thank goodness our Democracy was saved in 2020 because conservatives did not have all their people in place. They do now! Poll watchers to intimidate. Biased election officials to turn loses into wins. Legislatures ready to claim fraud and demand endless audits. The promise to persecute "Election Crimes" (Florida 's new idea just tonight). We can analyze what the Dems are doing wrong, what we need to change, how to get money out of politics, how we can reach out better to the working class, etc. etc. etc. Without the power to make changes at the polls, isn't it all futile,
Prof. Reich?
Points to keep hammering home.
Every congress critter who submits bills written by donars or votes for those same bills and accepts money from corporations needs to be called on it come election time. Primary Opponents should hammer the points to the voters that the sitting congress critter it the reason we don't have lower drug prices, improved health care, a living wage and affordable housing. Add in climate changes, poor infrastructure like roads, water pipes and clean air and water.
Point out the traitors of the working class and vote another candidate in.
That was one of the criticisms of Hillary Clinton when she was running for president. The Democrats went to fundraisers held for wealthy patrons. She did not show up in rural areas. No big bucks there.
If I receive one more e-mail from a Democratic candidate soliciting my support by trying to scare me with the looming Republican menace, I just may have to give up. If Democrats really want to hang on to, or even expand control of Congress, it’s easy: just deliver on the policies that got them elected in the first place. But so far, a year into the current administration,
- No aggressive response to assault on voting rights
- No accountability for seditionists inside Congress and out
(in fact, Gates laughing about the havoc they’ll cause upon regaining the House)
- No universal healthcare
- No student loan forgiveness
- No nixing the filibuster
- No Supreme Court expansion (or followup on vetting improprieties)
- No halt in weapons sales to genocidal regimes
- NY Trump family investigation apparently shut down
Liberal/Progressive as I am, I can understand why conservatives might characterize Dems as weak, frightened, wimps who can’t get anything done.
I voted my paycheck. As a member of the IBEW for 50 years, I voted for the party that would make workers' wages a living and prosperous wage. Over the years, the Republicans always either Froze Wages, Like Nixon or were anti-Union like Trump so the only party that was left that could win was the Democrats. I voted for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020 primaries and the progressive Democratic party, that really supports unions and a higher minimum wage than the poverty minimum wage offered today, never seem to win.