thank you so very much, professor reich, for this informative, thoughtful and insightful series of essays. i eagerly look forward to your next "online book". Please keep us thinking and informed.
i am curious how your fight back against one of your bullies went? as a girl who was bullied -- my bullies openly told me they would hunt me down and rape me, and they also hit me with their car, knocking me into a muddy ditch, when i was riding my bike to school -- i never had the courage to fight back.
GrrlScientist, thank you for your moving story. The problem was not that you lacked courage; it was that you had to live in a system that was not designed to protect you, its citizen. There will always be bullies looking to prey on the weak, it is not the fault of the victims. In your case it was the lack of the system to provide safe passage to and from school. No one should ever have to live under the threat of rape, injury or death. The system, the school district, was at fault for being unwilling to provide safety to all of its students.
I have no truck with bullies. Having said that on my 17th birthday I stood 5'1 1/2 inches tall, weighed 103 lbs, and was never bullied, not at least since 4th grade.
My mother (single mom w/3 kids) made me stand on my own two feet, and when I ran in the house to escape a tormentor, she made me go outside and face him.
I rapidly learned to take care of myself, she refused to allow me to play the victim. When I couldn't physically beat the opponent, I scared the shit out of him, and wore him down, by refusing to stay down, and got back up.
Bullies don’t like resistance. When I was 12 years old, my family moved to a new town, and the local bullies tried me out as the new kid in the 7th grade. I had no previous experiencing in street fighting, and so I can’t explain how I managed to fend off the bully designated by his gang to harass me. However, after a successful resistance during which I had my glasses knocked off but kept fighting, they stopped challenging me.
Better to lose a fight than to retreat, losing self-respect. Of course, the importance of the fight must be calculated. Sometimes it’s best to walk away without being cowed.
Lets see what happens when these cases get to our Supreme Court. We are all “hoping” that they will uphold justice, even with the threats to their safety and the safety of their families. And, of course there are potentially huge financial rewards for being “loyal” to the president who put some of them there. The Pelosi’s learned just how potent a “dogwhistle” can be. I would not like to be in the justices shoes right now… unless I was willing to settle for a luxury vacation or a new RV.
That certainly did not happen in all cases. My daughter was bullied by a gang of girls. While she was walking to school, they would dump her books or food,,surround her, taunt and push her. One time they had a bat and a stranger stopped his car and ran them off. When we complained to the police, since “no harm” was done they said they could do nothing. When we complained to the middle school principal, he said since it was not on school grounds he could do nothing, This gang ended up breaking the collar bone of another girl and still nothing was done, The systems often prefer to ignore the safety of children. The legal system, especially when it comes to the safety of women, children, and people of color is often very flawed. Why do you want to keep defending it?
First, as my 'ol pappy used to say, justice takes a kick in the ass sometimes. But most of the time it works.
Second, sorry about your problem, but did you get a lawyer? The families of the perps could be held responsible.
Third, all have a stake. If the school district took that position, their exposure could be both criminal and for civil damages. Same for the cops. Unless people hold them to account the system can't work.
Linda Querry, I dont think the courts and schools are able or willing to address off campus bullying of children by children. Its up to the family.
How many kids parents or relatives ask courts to protect children from some bullying kid?
My son told me a decade later that he was often bullied by public middle school class mates. He kept it a secret. I only became aware of it at all in one instance when by chance I happened to see him being bullied one day on his walk home from school.
I tried to teach my son simple common sense self defense and also enrolled him in a tae kwon do class and encouraged him in sports with limited success.
Bullying is characteristic of America's barbaric culture. American media and Congress cheerleads war and force and macho behaviors. As Prof. Reich said here, "Wealthier Americans bully poorer Americans. CEOs bully their workers. People with privilege and pedigree bully those without. White people bully people of color. Authoritarian leaders (Putin, Xi, Modi, Netanyahu) bully ethnic and religious minorities. Men bully women. People born in America bully immigrants."
That's a big problem. Many school bullies wait until after school & till they're off the school premises to attack the victim. It's mainly so that they can do it away from the watchful eyes of teachers, etc., but it also coincides with leaving the school jurisdiction. There should be legal protection no matter where the children go, including preventative.
The problem is Daniel, even in "progressive" School Districts, many think 'in loco parentis' ends at the edge of the school property. And no matter how many advances we have made, there are still gender differences in how the law is administered. If Robert Reich had whacked that bully with his lunch box, most schools in California would have been on his side. If GrrlScientist had complained of threatened rape a lot of school administrators would have asked how she was dressed.
So sick and the attacker made no excuses. He was resolved and spoke so matter of fact about his intentions. I am sure that there are many people just like him sadly.
For people like me, a woman and a lesbian born in 1954, the laws and social customs worked against me, not for me. As a woman I grew up being taught “my place,” what I could not do rather than what I could, that I was a second-class citizen under the thumb of men. So many opportunities were denied to girls and women of that era, in sports, in education, in jobs, in economic and physical freedom. As a gay person, I could lose my house, job, reputation, or family and it was all legal. Gay people were harassed, bullied, threatened, arrested, and assaulted, and it was not only legal but encouraged and practiced by preachers, politicians, law enforcement, and sanctimonious citizens. I had no money and no power. My only advantage was that I was white, which is to say that most people of color had it much worse than I did. Even a person’s religion could be used to discriminate against them. I was raised Catholic but essentially kicked out of the church for being gay. So don’t talk to me about the legal system.
failing ! I bet you that Trump will manage to delay at least until Election day, he will claim "INNOCENT until found guilty " .Sadly many Americans will give him the benefit of this statement and in the process if he does win the presidency they will destroy the country
in a dictatorial, fascist or totalitarian regime, self executing statutes are the norm. In a system of laws with fact finding juries, I dont believe self executing statutes are the norm. See the Colorado SCT decision.
robert ; All I know is that retired judge Michael J Luttig , a conservative's conservative, has stated that the 14th amendment, section three is self executing and does not require a conviction, as there is plenty of evidence. Another Constitutional scholar, Professor Lawrence Tribe agrees with judge Luttig. They co-authored a letter that appeared in The Atlantic. Both have repeated these views/interpretations on MSNBC in several interviews. Time is not on the side of justice as Democracy and our Republic hang in the balance. Besides ; What MAGA 'leaders' have ever cared about norms or precedents? or even decency? They force Death on Women and even girls.
I think the Colorado SCT decision was brave and right. There is no lack of evidence ; The facts are there in our faces every minute of every day. Our DOJ is paralyzed, as our prosecutors and judges are terrorized. Highly Classified documents about nuclear submarines are shared with 'business' men in Australia; and who knows where else? Time's a wasting!
Anil, so pertinent. This is exactly the point of my comments above regarding Karl Popper's The Open Society: how the freedoms of this 'openness' actually encourage those who want to destroy it. This objective is Trump's lifeline.
IIRC it was Osama bin Laden who said: "We will use your freedoms, to destroy you". Only it is not Islamists that are using our freedoms to destroy us, but our own "freedom" loving citizens. Or rather the billionaires who believe that they can thrive in any environment. https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/why-wall-street-is-surrendering-to
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation divided by a common language, over what liberty and justice is for whom.
With judge-packing, and seemingly bought-off, or cowardly judges, the legal system looks to me as a system of lawyers chasing billable hours, not justice.
Going back to a saying I read: The justice system isn't about serving justice, it's about keeping people from rioting in the streets.
For X sake. They have parents, teachers, school administrators who have a stake in their safety.
To many of us, it was the norm. We had fights every day when I was a kid.
By the time I represented them, some districts provided victims safe transportation. We had disciplinary hearings for accused bullies. Here in Baghdad By the Sea we have schools devoted to handling them. Virtually all bullies have an IEP that requires the school district to treat them.
At another time, I prosecuted juvies.
Same in domestic relations. We had people doing child custody visitations at police departments, under close supervision.
I am not an omniscient narrator, but I know what makes the cash register ring stops most of it. At one time I was either the grandfather or godfather of legal services programs. They offer free lawyers to handle all these problems..... I don't understand why people won't take advantage.....
I was also on the advisory board of a reform school, was a juvie prosecutor, etc. In Miami, we had a special court dedicated to this stuff..... my wife was a volunteer in the guardian ad litem program. https://www.facebook.com/GAL11Volunteers/
To people like my brother, who is now also retired, this stuff was money on the hoof. He represented school districts, the AFT, parents, teachers, etc. We taught school law at one time. Pennsylvania had a "local agency law" so that a lawyer who advised the district had a conflict in disciplinary cases so we were hired by other districts to avoid the conflicts.
Mr. Solomon. Yes we still have a legal system. An institution which more and more Americans lose faith in as time goes by. Merrick the Meek is: 1) afraid of the Trumpsters, or 2) he agrees with them. One or the other. It is plain to see, especially for the ordinary working stiff.
I still can't get it out of my head that he was a member of the Federalist Society and is now the chief national legal officer in the US. Obama and Biden both have a bad case of legal blindness. Garland is bad for morale. Cowards and sell-outs always are.
As for all this talk about standing up to bullies; I detect the odor of mendacity in all of these protestations to "stand up to them." I graduated high school and College in Detroit. If I had stood up to every tough guy who challenged me, I would have been dead long before today. In school I was on the wrestling team, the football team and boxed in the golden gloves. I knew the difference between wrestling and boxing on one hand and fighting on the other. I never mixed up the two. That mistake could be fatal. I saw young men fight with knives, tire irons, sticks, bottles, and hands and feet. I also saw pistols pulled out a couple times. My first inclination was always to run away from bullies. Avoidance is the best first option. The several times I could not choose this better option; I fought and got hurt as well as inflicted injuries upon my opponents. One Winter day my head was bounced off the icy earth so hard I was in a coma for 24 hours. I was partially paralyzed for 3 weeks and missed school. I almost failed a grade level. I have carried this damage for my entire life. I know the young man who did this to me felt terrible about it the rest of his life. He told me so. We both lost on that one.
Strategic retreats can often be best. Run away and live to fight another day! Or as Captain Brogan said when I was training to be a lieutenant "Attack to the rear! Then attack from behind!"
Please--- let us not be carried away with this metaphor of the "bully." Young people can be easily mislead. As for my elderly self: I prefer to pick the right strategic moment; then attack. Is this what Garland the Great is planning?
You are wrong. Many public interest law firms specialize in taking education cases. I know several of the leading experts in the field who are full time partners in law firms in DC who have a pro bono division.
When I was in private practice I won several pro bono awards myself.
Yes and no. Competing certainly is what will give you the experience to succeed. But e. g. standing up to bullies alone is a lost cause from the start and will leave c you scarred and desperate. That's not a situation to learn from. It doesn't matter if we're talking of school yard bullies or x cyber bullies.
GrrlScientist, what you endured and can speak about now shows your courage and tenacity. Those that bullied you and threatened you I hope came across someone bigger and had the crap beaten out of them!! It's nice to imagine that the bullies finally got what they deserved. Even if they didn't, you lived through it and from what I read from your posts, you became an intelligent, thoughtful human being that cares for others. Good on you, GrrlScientist!!
And if you've read the latter findings from Jane Goodall's research, primate behavior can be very nasty - too bad humans are so like the chimpanses (and I guess we share about 90% of the same gene sequences). I guess we can expect subconscious inspired bullying tendencies for the foreseeable future - about the time where sports interests switch over to creative endeavors. We'll have to deal with it for now. To bad so many lower middle class people feel so slighted that they would follow a Trump character - to help them!
The felonious bully has no desire at all to help the uninformed, misled folks who stand to lose the most from his proposed destructive policies. It's very disturbing that the indicted snake oil selling shyster is still allowed to galavant around the country threatening everyone from the Supreme Court, the Justice Department and all branches of Goverment without any consequences. This has gone way too far and it's time for the media to step up their role and let it be known that America will never be the same again if Trump gets back in the Oval Office.
Citizen J, I have a mixed reaction to mandatory voting. Are you assuming that those who vote because they are required to will be well informed, care about the issues or the character of those running, or about the impact of their votes on the country or their fellow citizens? I worry about many people voting based on the lawn signs they see or the ranting on Fox Noise etc.
At the same time I do like the idea of many more people voting.
To think any voter currently is well informed is a great leap of faith. In my experience Most Voters have one topic, idea, concept, or person in mind .
They want that one thing the rest of the ballot is usually the great Unkown.
Mandatory voting as used in Australia drives the voter consider what’s really important to them when taxes go up taxes go down will they get drafted? Will there be a war will they not be a war the citizen is then required to at least ask themselves what does candidate or law movement mean to me as an individual.
Instead of blaming somebody else for electing, the local yahoo to be in charge of whatever it becomes a personal choice . Getting people to make choices is the most important part of a republic. Most campaigns have a simple theme Bill Clinton’s it’s the economy stupid.. or 44,40 or fight. Remember the main.
I think some countries make voting compulsory, but I don't like the idea, either. I do like the idea of being automatically registered to vote on your 18th birthday though. That doesn't mean you have to vote if you're not so inclined, but it makes it easier.
I’m sorry you were so terribly bullied! I was also bullied at a younger age, elementary school age, Catholic student. A boy used to bother me constantly. One day I had it, pushed him down, sat on his back and punched him several times. He didn’t suffer any physical injuries, however he never walked on the same side of the street again, which was in Brooklyn. Coming to the current situation in our country, I have marched for women’s rights, and children, and at Post Offices. I was never involved in politics but once Dt stepped on the scene I knew I had to ‘fight’ against this evil force that caused segregation on many levels. Now as a piano teacher I encourage all of my students who happen to be girls turning 18 this year to Vote for Biden. They totally understand and importantly want to preserve women’s rights! We march forward to save our Democracy for now and generations to come.
It seems of urgent importance, in my opinion, that this country enlist academics, mental health experts, social scientists, and whatever other category of humanity to address the wide incidence of cruelty in this country - whether in the form of bullying, gun violence, gang violence, criminality, "domestic violence," cruelty and exploitation of children, TV imagery, movie content, etc. etc. It is a big problem - read the news, watch the "screens" if you aren't keeping up, notice "social media," listen to the language, even the "comedians." We are a people awash in cruelty and bullying - and rather than just decrying it and wringing our hands - just like our political decline, we must find out why and what to do about it. We need reform and change!
Whenever I read or hear about the kind of cruelty you are describing, and it is not at all uncommon or rare, I wonder what kind of person even THINKS of such stuff, let alone acts on it. When I see news images of groups of people standing around some act of violence and cruelty - on a street or public transportation - and the crowd is holding up their phones, recording the act and not doing anything to help, laughing, taunting, urging on the violence - it sickens me and frightens me; are we so barbaric and uncivilized? Why? And what to do about it?!
I do not believe that capitalism can be “reformed” once and for all. When I hear Jamie Dimon defend Trump I am further convinced of this for Dimon represents the willingness of of capitalism to be cheerleaders for authoritarianism even if it leads to fascism. Here is what Robert Reich has to say about Jamie Dimon:
The long outdated system of capitalism is picking up speed to head us off the cliff even if it means those of us that speak out will face terrible threats to our safety for speaking out. I would bet that our own Robert Reich and other “vermin" will be the first ones threatened with interment, Putin style.
Democracy must be be reformed and capitalism must be left in the dustbin of history. Capitalism is against an egalitarian economy and our current state of democracy is not defending us. We must seriously consider an Economic Democracy that can guarantee equal opportunity for all.
I would add that I am optimistic abut the future of democracy. I would also add that the true vermin to be exterminated is the system of capitalism. I am not a proponent of communism nor socialism with its centrally controlled economy. The control of the economy must be put into the hands of the local communities and the profits distributed within the communities. Cooperatives should be the driving force of the Economic Democracy and small businesses in the hands of local entrepreneur owners who circulate the profits locally. Large non-local industries must reinvest in the population at large and not to wealthy shareholders. Everyone must and can have a generous slice of the American financial pie. Capitalism has failed us, we have to face the hard truth.
Marc said, "I am not a proponent of communism nor socialism with its centrally controlled economy."
But we do have a centrally controlled economy; the 1%!
Marc also said, "Capitalism has failed us, we have to face the hard truth."
I totally agree with you. Capitalism always ends this way. You can't have both capitalism and democracy. The bullies always end up with all the power when they pay the off the regulators of the system that protects the population from them. The is the first time in human history that we have the technical ability to create an economy that really does work for everybody. Going backwards to reform capitalism by breaking up monopolies, raising taxes on the wealthy, reforming the system of paying for political campaigns, etc. is only temporary even if it can be accomplished at all.
What started as a way for kings to pay for their wars by borrowing from the rich and paying them back with interest collected from the population is not working for the 99% today and never did. We need to start over. We can take profit out of the systems that serve the people. It just takes our collective will.
In theory, they should be compatible. But history shows us that the result is always the same. I believe human nature is the reason it doesn't work. Most of us want to work, raise families, and have a "live and let live" philosophy. But a few of us have what writers in antiquity described as money/power addiction. It is an illness that requires a government by the majority to control/regulate to protect society. The problem is that the greedy parasites weasel their way into the government over time and control the system to make themselves wealthier, sucking the assets up to them and away from the population.
I would like to see Heather Cox Richardson explain how in the early U.S. corporations had to have a charter that showed a public good and how the system morphed into what we have today; corporations have the rights of humans. She may have already written about it, or maybe Thom Hartmann has.
My point is that capitalism always goes in the same direction and the people become subjects of the wealth class. That is why you can't have both capitalism and democracy.
I find it interesting that we have apparently mutually contradictory theories of both capitalism and socialism. There's a glaring omission - a well thought-out theory of "social capitalism" in want of being developed. Another great economist like Keynes to put it all together is long overdue.
On the other hand, economics is >not< political science, and economic systems should >serve< democracy - not >rule< democracy.
Yes, I agree with you. It would be very hard to do as you say, but if the people finally get fed up with the capitalism forced on us, maybe it will happen.
Marc Nevas, just like with any concept, there are innumerable ways people define capitalism. That is a problem. I just define it has commerce, sorry Robert Sir, if I have been a bad student, but I like a simplistic mainstreet definition that everyone can agree on, otherwise it's like we're all trying to pierce separate soap bubbles because people define capitalism differently, all the way from widely to just slightly.
I think of the word commerce when I think of capitalism and then, I think of goods and services, workers and employers, which makes me think of fairness, protections (for everyone in the ecosystem including the environment and protections from the actual products and services themselves), and inclusion of all people. Which leads me to, the people making the rules for the commerce system need to be fair and just people who truly believe that all people have equal human value.
So to solve our problem with wild west style capitalism/ commerce system, we need to take the reins away from the destructive, misguided ones who create immense suffering and neglect the well being of all, and give the reins to the most fair people we can find.
At the same time, we need to look within ourselves as individuals and ask if we are truly as fair, just, and inclusive as we want others to be and work on our own evolution simultaneously, as we work on the outside evolution .
M Tree commerce is trade. Trade takes the form of barter . In fact the monetary system is barter using a medium of exchange,instead of chickens, eggs and pigs.
Chickens, eggs, salt, and pigs are a medium of exchange, but they are not fungible nor divisible, so humans have settled on a social fiction called "money" originally in the form of coin then printed, and today in electronic bytes of 1's and o's.
How does one take away the reins from the destructive, misguided ones?
How does one dethrone a king?
Does America have a king? No, thought Trump has visions of becoming one
A king is really a mob boss, he doesn't even have to give orders, just express a wish or desire, like Henry II, who asked aloud, of Thomas a Beckett, who will relieve me of this troublesome priest, and four knights stepped up to do the job.
Kings (dictators) are deposed by coup, by another king (dictator) or revolution (France 1789, Russia 1917). America 1775 was not a revolution in the sense that it id not depose George III, anymore than Kenya, Rhodesia, South Africa rejecting the British Empire were revolutions.
America still has it's nobility though, but instead of gilded carriages, and your grace, bows and curtsys, they hide behind gated communities and on islands and mountain strongholds, Where their insane wealth and power are obscured, and only surfaces in "insider" rags like the Fortune 500, or some rag that caters to the rich and famous.
Their identities are obscured, even lionized and imitated like the Kennedy's and the Bush's.
And they are diversified. The kings of England lived in dread of the Barons, for if the Barons united they could and did overthrow the King.. His best chance for survival was to keep them at odds and suspicious of each other., mainly rewarding snitches.
History might be repeating itself, as our modern barons, have been reduced to currying favor with the thug who wants to be king.
These are the people who command the commerce system, and are busily at work rewriting the rules of the commerce system., in their favor (max profits) not societies.
Lee Markland, sadly, enough of us have not studied the patterns in history through a wide angle lens. Those using just their zoom lens only are asleep and we should do all we can, to wake them up to our shared peril.
Paul Olmsted, that's an interesting thought. My initial reaction is that, more manageable chunks of the problem may help us better and more efficiently wrap our heads around wisest solutions and implementation. But, I don't know for sure, just some initial thoughts.
It seems that most any governance system has positive ideals that are screwed up by bullies...perhaps our focus needs to be on their elimination (eliminating the bullies) rather than trying the same old doctrine of rotational political schemes?
Thanks to Professor Reich for his excellent work at educating us to the rottenness of shareholder Capitalism. I am skeptical that there is any better economic system than well-regulated stakeholder Capitalism. This despite all the damage that Nixon, Reagan, GWBush, Bill Clinton, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk, the Koch brothers, tRUMP, Clarence Thomas and all their disgusting ilk have done to our country over the past 40+ years. I support the approach of statespeople like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Listen carefully. They don’t denounce Capitalism writ large. They denounce the unregulated, monopolistic, corrupt form of Capitalism currently poisoning our country. Bernie calls himself a democratic socialist. What he means, I believe, is that we need a form of well regulated, stakeholder Capitalism that is always cognizant of and looking to better the lot of we, the people.
I think what we are observing is the Unacceptable Face of Capitalism, Capitalism works, but not sufficiently regulated until Joe B. started the anti-monopoly action.
JB is a great President.
SCOTUS (which has nothing to do with Capitalism) has let us down especially on the Citizen United ruling.
Also, we have through bad leadership allowed the banks to be so large that they cannot be allowed to fail. It is no longer a robust system.
Thank you, Marc. As a professor of archaeology who has studied the rise and fall of ancient civilizations (as in ancient Rome, Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, etc.), when the costs of running these societies exceeded the benefits, collapses resulted. When people's needs were no longer being met, they sought new and better alternatives to sustain themselves and threw out the old system because they no longer wanted to be exploited. The same premise applies to modern times. Thus, capitalism cannot be "moderated" because its inherent premise is to maximize profits and minimize costs at all levels. It needs to be eliminated and a new system introduced that serves the needs of everybody, not just the very rich. So, what can we do? Prout (Progressive Utilization Theory), for example, outlines a transformative plan that offers solutions, such as worker-owned cooperative businesses (look at Mondragon Corporation in Spain which employs 70,000 people --https://www.mondragon-corporation.com/en/), decentralized economic systems where local people own, manage, and run their businesses, progressive taxation, maximizing efficient production, fair and free trade, and most importantly, economic democracy. The sooner we make the transition to a better system, we can start to diminish the economic, social and political pain caused by corporate entities that only care for their owners and stockholders. We can do better!
Professor Reich, I believe you would have been a great candidate for President because you are one of the most patriotic leaders in our country! Awesome finish to your class, “ Why American capitalism is so rotten”. Americans need to reunite against these fascist bullies and become the,
“Shining light on the hill” again and show the world how to eradicate fascist bullies!
Robert: I hope you are right. I share a similar story to yours about bullying. I was bullied in Christian middle school and the Bible teacher told me that, in the same situation, Jesus would turn the other cheek. I thought that was bullshit. When the bully then pushed my sister, I knew that was enough. I hit and kept hitting until a teacher pulled me off him. I gave him two black eyes and a fat lip and he never, ever bothered me again nor did anybody else. So my question is: how much more do the American people have to take?? The next step for the Trumpiats is some sort of a coup and then it might be too late.
Good for you, Chris. And I agree with your last sentence. A Biden win will likely mean a well planned insurrection attempt…and Jamie Dimon, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos will not oppose. Quietly they will still fund the campaigns of the fascists if it means more profits for them and their shareholders. In general, oligarchs do well under fascism if they support it.
Chris, I was always getting into fights when I was young. Usually it was because one of my friends was being picked on or someone was abusing an animal. It seemed I stayed in trouble. My sister was intimidated and threatened by this jerk in high school and I remember she came home in tears. I went over to the school and jumped right on that guy. The anger I felt that someone would hurt one of my sisters was just too much. His friends pulled me off of him but I got some good whacks in!! I told him not to even look in her direction, kicked his motorcycle over and went home. He never bothered her again. All of this was just to show that while most Americans try to remain civil and work out differences in a calm fashion, when we are pushed as far to the wall as we can be pushed, we do and will come out swinging!! trump and his minions should NEVER underestimate us!!
Chris NS, I noticed on your profile that you are a '' dual citizen'' of the United States and Canada. Can you put in for Candian citizenship while still living in the United States?? I would like the opportunity to be a dual citizen of the USA and Canada if that is possible.
I am very concerned with these Fascist GQP terrorists causing all the disfunction here in the USA. I am literally surrounded by these Fascist GQP misfit voters in this community i currently live in.
www.cic.gov.ca. You can apply for permanent residency from abroad, but I believe you have to physically be in Canada for a certain amount of time in order to then apply for citizenship. Check the website and/or a Canadian Immigration Lawyer to know for certain.
Thank you very much for the information and the link to check this out. I have the financial means to get going on this as i have been saving for almost 3 years and i now have a very good credit rating. I am going to get a passport very soon and want to stay the 6 months i am allowed with the passport and while i am there, apply for citizenship. Actually, i may apply for citizenship before i go since i can apply from abroad.
I actually have more reasons to go to Canada than just the political insanity that is going on here in the USA. The weather here has began to frighten me as i know in the eastern maritime provinces, tornadoes are very rare. My home was partially destroyed by a tornado back in 2004, and just 3 years ago, a large tornado tore through just south of us and destroyed the southern half of a town near me. I am fed up with having to fear tornadoes every time a storm front blows through here. We have also been hit hard with 3 hurricanes. I love the snow too. It used to snow at least twice or 3 times a winter here, but now it doesn't snow at all. It's been 7 years since we have had a good snow event here. The heat and humidity in Summer is unbearable here too. The climate change has hit hard here already.
This series, Professor Reich, has been wonderful, especially now, as we are facing another big time of change for our nation. Your writing explains the key elements that we face. It encourages each reader to make wise choices and take action to secure a good and continuing future for ourselves, our families, our living places and our nation. I continue to be thankful for your knowledge and encouragement for each of us to understand what we need to do to secure the future for all of us. My gratitude for your wisdom!
#MAGA knowns that #Trump is their ONLY CHANCE for bullies to take over the country. They are NEVER going to give up that chance. They will murder anyone who gets in their way.
KEEP IN MIND that 30-40% of Americans WANT A DICTATORSHIP ! #MangoWanker #Mobster #Traitor #Rapisttt #GOPtraitors #Trump #Putin #Fascists #Murdoch #Reagan began the CRIMINAL GOP
Margaret, he will find it is hard to push against a stone wall and expect it to move!! We will NOT surrender our country to the likes of him or any of his sycophants!!
Me, too, Mike!! I am hoping that he will feel they have pushed him against that wall as far as he will go and will go Dark Brandon on them!! Democrats need, no they must, fight back!!
Thank you! Biden is spineless and it's so frustrating. He's also a Corporate Democrat, which means he'd much prefer "working with" Rethuglicans than Progressives.. If only we had better options. And it's scary to think about how so many other people in positions of power clearly are not standing up to Trump and preventing him from causing even more damage...unless he dies before this November, he will make sure that he's president again.
We'd have better options if they weren't all supporting Biden. This deference to the current President that is customary from fellow party members is dangerous in this case being that he might not have what it takes to defeat a monstrous opponent.
I have, by and large, really liked Reich's series and have saved them into a permanent file for reference and also to be able answer questions from folks asking for my views. This is largely a small group of friends and relatives who sometimes value my opinion.
I have to say, though, that I believe Reich errs significantly when he states that capitalism has changed from a philosophy that once placed the welfare of its workers and the communities in which it operates on anything like an equal importance with its stockholders.
History just fails to support this history of capitalism. Workers have been massacred and communities devastated by the actions of greedy capitalists throughout the history of capitalism. Sometimes the results of things like murdered workers have shocked capitalists into making minor adjustments, sometimes as a genuinely shocked moral horror, but more often, in my view, as a public relations ploy cynically adapted to avoid public outrage so strong as to force politicians to imposing restrictive measures that would impede the power of the captains of industry.
I fully realize that this writing will cause many to see me as too radical and too harsh a critic of an economic system that has reaped many benefits for our society. Those benefits are beyond question and helped us attain the high standard of living which we mostly all enjoy. Now we are faced with some real choices...do we continue down this road, abandoning some of the safeguarding efforts folks of conscience have caused to be implemented or do we choose a government where we leave the choices of how capitalism and social safeguards are left almost solely in the hands of those who govern us.
Be careful how you choose, America. You are choosing for some very vulnerable folks and for the foreseeable future.
The teachings of Jesus (not Christianity), are diametrically opposed to the bigotry, hatred, misogyny, and greed supported by Capitalists and Christian Nationalists in America.
The way things are going, the Republicans are certainly going to be in dire straits if Trump is found guilty of a felony before November. They really don't have someone charismatic enough to pull the disparate elements of the GOP together. AND appealing enough to attract more than half of all Independents.
Judging from republican behavior in avoiding every singe off-ramp, I fear the entire party will fall in behind Trump no matter what. That includes when he cries a rigged election this November. God help us if we don’t have a plan.
The Plan most likely will be to just increase Security around Washington DC. (Like that will secure the rest of the country? Duh.)
If Trump is NOT the winning candidate (for whatever reason) in November, I PREDICT that there will be 1000+ related deaths all across the country. KS Jayhawkers versus MO bushwhackers all over again, all over.
Trumpists protest that the system is rigged, and they are so angry at being treated as fools and deplorable they will celebrate bringing the whole thing down -- the facade of democracy, the broad use of our creed to mask corruption, state violence at home and abroad, and the privileging of minorities and their special suffering. They haven't been to college, and I think there's a case to be made that fact allows the "deplorable" a better view of how deep the rot goes.
How many in Congress would leave the gravy train to represent the will of their constituents to go against the big money? McConnell is a pig, but Schumer is better? Be honest now, how brave and progressive is Nancy -- standing bold to further the interests of the War Industries and the sacred right of Congresspersons to benefit from inside dealing? Dems made a big fuss over a demented House fool and liar but haven't much to say about the disgrace of Menendez.
Somehow the honesty of women will save us -- that would be Stefanik and Collins, our female UN representatives (R and D), Hillary ""he died, teehee" and Pelosi and her visit to Taiwan to stir up trouble and enrich her family. Or maybe it's the young we should trust, or the old (simply by virtue of their being old), or the Black or Hispanic (like Torres in the Bronx). The troglodytes aren't wrong about what they call "Woke-ism".
There is no grit among our Liberals -- where is the demand to release Assange and by doing so free journalism from its condition of threat? where the demand, from Democrats, to require Biden abide by the Constitution in sending us to war (as he's done so often in his career)? Where is the courage to demand a ceasefire in the midst of a pogrom, when the Biden folks declare war good for the economy and its clear as day that Biden means to ride out the geocide to get himself re-elected" Who has the guts to call out AIPAC for their chutzpah in spitting in our freedom-loving faces?
Our good professor exposes some of the surface but leaves the deep rot, much of which belongs to his own precious political party. I recommend a good slow read of Sheldon Wolin's "Democracy, Inc" (2010), new introduction by Chris Hedges, to get a true measure of how blighted -- R and D -- our system and those who know how to use it are.
The latter from sacred Islamic scripture, the hadith of al Bukhari, that is genocide, What is happening in Gaza is the same as happened in France and Germany in 1944, unless you are willing to call the landing on Normandy, and the bombing of Germany and Japan Genocide.
The NAZI's would agree with you then (and they are still among us)
You would do well to stop parroting Saudi propaganda. Muslims are not innocent babes, there religion is currently the most anti human, theocratic, misogynistic, homophobic religion on the planet, they will be overtaken by Dominionism, Christian Reconstructionism, which is powering the MAGAts.
Read the remarks from the International Court of Justice this morning. Your hostility to Islam is shameful. I have studied the Koran and admire it and used to teach it. Hamas rejected its earlier intransigent position in 2018.
Judaism, from its origins, Deuteronomy, advises killing everything that breathes among the people who inhabit the lands the Hebrews coveted. I know of no more despicable remark in any religion.
Netanyahu's invocation -- and his soldiers', too of Amalek -- disgraces the religion I was raised in. I am "parroting" the Judaic-Christian tinged Enlightenment heritage this country is all about.
Mark Twain had excellent advice about getting into shouting matches with idiots -- I try to abide by his advice.
BTW, since you studied and admire the Quran, do you also admire the beheading of 600 Jews of the Banu Qurayza in the marketplace of Medina.
Or Muhammad deflowering a girl not yet ten. Such a great man, betrothing to a 5 year old girl, who drags her doll to their wedding bed. I am talking of course of Ayesha.
How about Mo's midnite ride to Jerusalem on a chimera beast with body of a horse, wings of an eagle, head of a lion, and visits the seven levels of heaven, dickers with the moon god al Lihah for daily prayers, gets him down from 500 to 5.
So many things to admire in the Quran. Like Miryam having sex with Gabriel and begatting the prophet Jesus.
I could care less about your personal opinion, so shove it where the sun doesn't shine.
I am hostile to any and all anti human, anti free thought, misogynistic and homophobic ldeologies, and Islam is that plus.
I too have studied the Quran, as well as the haddiths and the biogrpahy of Muhammad by ibn Ishaq and outside of Dominionism (Christian Reconstruction) is the most intolerant of religions today. In fact I know so much of Islam that a Muslim called me a murtdadd (apostate).
As regards HAMAS and the 1988 Covenant, I know about the revision, but I also know and take note that they didn't repudiate it.. And that, Stephen is essential.
As regards Netanyahu and his legions of religious right, they are as evil as HAMAS.
America has Trump Israel has Netanyahu
America has MAGAts and Israel has it's right wing settlers.
And Islam has HAMAS, Hezbollah, DAESH, al Qaeda, the Wahabbi's. and the Ayatollahs of Iran.
I think I know what you mean, Margaret, but a cynic believes the world lives only by interests in cash and power, and I believe in the Constitution and the best hopes for the United States. If I were a cynic, the terrible betrayal wouldn't mean as much as it does to me --- and I bet to you, too. The people, and that includes Trump people, are increasingly in open rebellion. I would be hopeless in my outlook if they were not, given the provocation of lies, cowardice, and violence. The US has a deep tradition of orneriness -- an opposition to fancy thinking and bullying. We need more of that from the "sensible" people.
I have hope too, but everyday I am frustrated by hearing news reports thriving on Trump and right wing politicians. I believe in the Constitution, but it is very outdated and must be fixed. The government by the people needs to be responding to the needs of the people, not just the wealthy.
This troll has bugged us before. Often RR deletes its posts. It only seeks to divert serious dialogue and discussion of various points of view. Ignored it will go back under its bridge or back to Moscow or wherever.
Who is running our government? Not the people on Capitol Hill or in the White House … as of today looks like the GOP has to call Trump on a daily basis to okay everything. Trump is not even in office, nor should he be privy to any national security concerns that deal with Americans safety at this point. Trump is just a citizen like you or me. WTF is happening ? The GOP is holding up the border bill and aid to Ukraine because a total idiot sexual abuser tax cheat business failure doesn’t want Biden to get credit for a good legislative act? Why aren’t people OUTRAGED?????
The Main Stream Media, even those that are not considered radical, those that I read and view on TV have done an absolutely horrible job in dealing with these issues they oooh and aww about his domination of the race but speak little about the problems he causes and will cause if elected. They give Trump way more air time, even when talking about his problems, than they give to Biden. I guess all that CBS or the NYT care about are their bottom line.
Robert, this endeavour is very good and I would like to contribute in the new version of the common good. But I miss your friend Bernie Sanders, I miss some analytical remarks.
Looking from a distance (Europe) I need more than interest in a "stable genius" who sucks uo vitality and oxygen out of our minds. His craziness predicts an "Endlösung", after and in his election.
But we know that for a long time.
Question is: why did we let him. Why is the U.S. a willing prey for grabbing capitalists? I see a lot of clips that are astounding. Why the fear? Why panic for state interventions? Why all rational arguments stop, when the qualification "socialism" is given?
My feeling is that European social history might help. Read the Russians, Bakoenin and Kropotkin.
Read the Dutch and German social thinkers, Rosa Luxemburg, Gorter, Roland Holst.
They wrote about the market forces and how these could be restrained. It is not a subject for panic, but something that should be discussed, in stead of excitment of the intimate bodyparts of the son of the president. Work to be done...
thank you so very much, professor reich, for this informative, thoughtful and insightful series of essays. i eagerly look forward to your next "online book". Please keep us thinking and informed.
i am curious how your fight back against one of your bullies went? as a girl who was bullied -- my bullies openly told me they would hunt me down and rape me, and they also hit me with their car, knocking me into a muddy ditch, when i was riding my bike to school -- i never had the courage to fight back.
GrrlScientist, thank you for your moving story. The problem was not that you lacked courage; it was that you had to live in a system that was not designed to protect you, its citizen. There will always be bullies looking to prey on the weak, it is not the fault of the victims. In your case it was the lack of the system to provide safe passage to and from school. No one should ever have to live under the threat of rape, injury or death. The system, the school district, was at fault for being unwilling to provide safety to all of its students.
Well said!!!! We are a society. No person should ever be alone in facing victimizers.
I have no truck with bullies. Having said that on my 17th birthday I stood 5'1 1/2 inches tall, weighed 103 lbs, and was never bullied, not at least since 4th grade.
My mother (single mom w/3 kids) made me stand on my own two feet, and when I ran in the house to escape a tormentor, she made me go outside and face him.
I rapidly learned to take care of myself, she refused to allow me to play the victim. When I couldn't physically beat the opponent, I scared the shit out of him, and wore him down, by refusing to stay down, and got back up.
Bullies don’t like resistance. When I was 12 years old, my family moved to a new town, and the local bullies tried me out as the new kid in the 7th grade. I had no previous experiencing in street fighting, and so I can’t explain how I managed to fend off the bully designated by his gang to harass me. However, after a successful resistance during which I had my glasses knocked off but kept fighting, they stopped challenging me.
All you have to do is stand up for yourself, even if it means losing teeth
Better to lose a fight than to retreat, losing self-respect. Of course, the importance of the fight must be calculated. Sometimes it’s best to walk away without being cowed.
@Marc. We still have a legal system.
Lets see what happens when these cases get to our Supreme Court. We are all “hoping” that they will uphold justice, even with the threats to their safety and the safety of their families. And, of course there are potentially huge financial rewards for being “loyal” to the president who put some of them there. The Pelosi’s learned just how potent a “dogwhistle” can be. I would not like to be in the justices shoes right now… unless I was willing to settle for a luxury vacation or a new RV.
In antediluvian time, I represented school districts and we knew that we had a duty to keep students safe and took care of bullies.
The statute of limitations has run on some of the tactics I had to defend.
That certainly did not happen in all cases. My daughter was bullied by a gang of girls. While she was walking to school, they would dump her books or food,,surround her, taunt and push her. One time they had a bat and a stranger stopped his car and ran them off. When we complained to the police, since “no harm” was done they said they could do nothing. When we complained to the middle school principal, he said since it was not on school grounds he could do nothing, This gang ended up breaking the collar bone of another girl and still nothing was done, The systems often prefer to ignore the safety of children. The legal system, especially when it comes to the safety of women, children, and people of color is often very flawed. Why do you want to keep defending it?
First, as my 'ol pappy used to say, justice takes a kick in the ass sometimes. But most of the time it works.
Second, sorry about your problem, but did you get a lawyer? The families of the perps could be held responsible.
Third, all have a stake. If the school district took that position, their exposure could be both criminal and for civil damages. Same for the cops. Unless people hold them to account the system can't work.
Linda Querry, I dont think the courts and schools are able or willing to address off campus bullying of children by children. Its up to the family.
How many kids parents or relatives ask courts to protect children from some bullying kid?
My son told me a decade later that he was often bullied by public middle school class mates. He kept it a secret. I only became aware of it at all in one instance when by chance I happened to see him being bullied one day on his walk home from school.
I tried to teach my son simple common sense self defense and also enrolled him in a tae kwon do class and encouraged him in sports with limited success.
Bullying is characteristic of America's barbaric culture. American media and Congress cheerleads war and force and macho behaviors. As Prof. Reich said here, "Wealthier Americans bully poorer Americans. CEOs bully their workers. People with privilege and pedigree bully those without. White people bully people of color. Authoritarian leaders (Putin, Xi, Modi, Netanyahu) bully ethnic and religious minorities. Men bully women. People born in America bully immigrants."
That's a big problem. Many school bullies wait until after school & till they're off the school premises to attack the victim. It's mainly so that they can do it away from the watchful eyes of teachers, etc., but it also coincides with leaving the school jurisdiction. There should be legal protection no matter where the children go, including preventative.
The problem is Daniel, even in "progressive" School Districts, many think 'in loco parentis' ends at the edge of the school property. And no matter how many advances we have made, there are still gender differences in how the law is administered. If Robert Reich had whacked that bully with his lunch box, most schools in California would have been on his side. If GrrlScientist had complained of threatened rape a lot of school administrators would have asked how she was dressed.
In most districts, virtually everyone, the teacher, administrators, lawyers, judges are women.
In DC some awards were in the millions.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/paul-pelosi-hammer-attack-video-released/story?id=96675134
So sick and the attacker made no excuses. He was resolved and spoke so matter of fact about his intentions. I am sure that there are many people just like him sadly.
For people like me, a woman and a lesbian born in 1954, the laws and social customs worked against me, not for me. As a woman I grew up being taught “my place,” what I could not do rather than what I could, that I was a second-class citizen under the thumb of men. So many opportunities were denied to girls and women of that era, in sports, in education, in jobs, in economic and physical freedom. As a gay person, I could lose my house, job, reputation, or family and it was all legal. Gay people were harassed, bullied, threatened, arrested, and assaulted, and it was not only legal but encouraged and practiced by preachers, politicians, law enforcement, and sanctimonious citizens. I had no money and no power. My only advantage was that I was white, which is to say that most people of color had it much worse than I did. Even a person’s religion could be used to discriminate against them. I was raised Catholic but essentially kicked out of the church for being gay. So don’t talk to me about the legal system.
I do understand and my mother was gay but she had to hide that in her professional life. I didn't even know the truth until I was already an adult.
Yes, we all had to hide it in our professional lives if we wanted to have professional lives.
In fact, you could have been taken away from your mother if she had been found out.
My sister and aunt didn’t believe me when I told them that it was ILLEGAL to be gay in the United States until 2003.
failing ! I bet you that Trump will manage to delay at least until Election day, he will claim "INNOCENT until found guilty " .Sadly many Americans will give him the benefit of this statement and in the process if he does win the presidency they will destroy the country
Anil ; The 14th amendment section 3 does not require a conviction.
in a dictatorial, fascist or totalitarian regime, self executing statutes are the norm. In a system of laws with fact finding juries, I dont believe self executing statutes are the norm. See the Colorado SCT decision.
robert ; All I know is that retired judge Michael J Luttig , a conservative's conservative, has stated that the 14th amendment, section three is self executing and does not require a conviction, as there is plenty of evidence. Another Constitutional scholar, Professor Lawrence Tribe agrees with judge Luttig. They co-authored a letter that appeared in The Atlantic. Both have repeated these views/interpretations on MSNBC in several interviews. Time is not on the side of justice as Democracy and our Republic hang in the balance. Besides ; What MAGA 'leaders' have ever cared about norms or precedents? or even decency? They force Death on Women and even girls.
I think the Colorado SCT decision was brave and right. There is no lack of evidence ; The facts are there in our faces every minute of every day. Our DOJ is paralyzed, as our prosecutors and judges are terrorized. Highly Classified documents about nuclear submarines are shared with 'business' men in Australia; and who knows where else? Time's a wasting!
He will not win. Not legitimately, anyway.
Anil, so pertinent. This is exactly the point of my comments above regarding Karl Popper's The Open Society: how the freedoms of this 'openness' actually encourage those who want to destroy it. This objective is Trump's lifeline.
IIRC it was Osama bin Laden who said: "We will use your freedoms, to destroy you". Only it is not Islamists that are using our freedoms to destroy us, but our own "freedom" loving citizens. Or rather the billionaires who believe that they can thrive in any environment. https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/why-wall-street-is-surrendering-to
Frightful, but that, as I see it, is the likely scenario, and if it comes to pass, the blame lies on
1. The Media
2. The so called Justice System, starting with Bidens personal pick for AG.
@Daniel: it doesn't always work for everyone. Ask a woman.
Or a POC. Or a poor person. Or anyone else from a disadvantaged or discriminated group
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation divided by a common language, over what liberty and justice is for whom.
How many not wealthy or famous benefited from Me Too. How many can even afford lawyers.
Contingent fees. No recovery no fee.
Our legal system is only as good as its ability to provide a deterrent to future violence.
Our legal system is the best money can buy.
Exactly. Victims victories are object lessons.
With judge-packing, and seemingly bought-off, or cowardly judges, the legal system looks to me as a system of lawyers chasing billable hours, not justice.
Going back to a saying I read: The justice system isn't about serving justice, it's about keeping people from rioting in the streets.
Get real. Most kids don't have ability to sue.
Who wants to live where that's the norm, where you can't even go to school without vicious bullies damaging your lulife?
For X sake. They have parents, teachers, school administrators who have a stake in their safety.
To many of us, it was the norm. We had fights every day when I was a kid.
By the time I represented them, some districts provided victims safe transportation. We had disciplinary hearings for accused bullies. Here in Baghdad By the Sea we have schools devoted to handling them. Virtually all bullies have an IEP that requires the school district to treat them.
At another time, I prosecuted juvies.
Same in domestic relations. We had people doing child custody visitations at police departments, under close supervision.
You may be familiar with what did finally reach your court, but I find you very out of touch with what goes on that never reaches a court.
I am not an omniscient narrator, but I know what makes the cash register ring stops most of it. At one time I was either the grandfather or godfather of legal services programs. They offer free lawyers to handle all these problems..... I don't understand why people won't take advantage.....
I was also on the advisory board of a reform school, was a juvie prosecutor, etc. In Miami, we had a special court dedicated to this stuff..... my wife was a volunteer in the guardian ad litem program. https://www.facebook.com/GAL11Volunteers/
https://www.myfloridalegal.com/directory_listing/5C99429884102FDD85256882006ED510
To people like my brother, who is now also retired, this stuff was money on the hoof. He represented school districts, the AFT, parents, teachers, etc. We taught school law at one time. Pennsylvania had a "local agency law" so that a lawyer who advised the district had a conflict in disciplinary cases so we were hired by other districts to avoid the conflicts.
Daniel, this is the age of helicopter parents and participation trophies.
Mr. Solomon. Yes we still have a legal system. An institution which more and more Americans lose faith in as time goes by. Merrick the Meek is: 1) afraid of the Trumpsters, or 2) he agrees with them. One or the other. It is plain to see, especially for the ordinary working stiff.
I still can't get it out of my head that he was a member of the Federalist Society and is now the chief national legal officer in the US. Obama and Biden both have a bad case of legal blindness. Garland is bad for morale. Cowards and sell-outs always are.
As for all this talk about standing up to bullies; I detect the odor of mendacity in all of these protestations to "stand up to them." I graduated high school and College in Detroit. If I had stood up to every tough guy who challenged me, I would have been dead long before today. In school I was on the wrestling team, the football team and boxed in the golden gloves. I knew the difference between wrestling and boxing on one hand and fighting on the other. I never mixed up the two. That mistake could be fatal. I saw young men fight with knives, tire irons, sticks, bottles, and hands and feet. I also saw pistols pulled out a couple times. My first inclination was always to run away from bullies. Avoidance is the best first option. The several times I could not choose this better option; I fought and got hurt as well as inflicted injuries upon my opponents. One Winter day my head was bounced off the icy earth so hard I was in a coma for 24 hours. I was partially paralyzed for 3 weeks and missed school. I almost failed a grade level. I have carried this damage for my entire life. I know the young man who did this to me felt terrible about it the rest of his life. He told me so. We both lost on that one.
Strategic retreats can often be best. Run away and live to fight another day! Or as Captain Brogan said when I was training to be a lieutenant "Attack to the rear! Then attack from behind!"
Please--- let us not be carried away with this metaphor of the "bully." Young people can be easily mislead. As for my elderly self: I prefer to pick the right strategic moment; then attack. Is this what Garland the Great is planning?
One which requires money. Free ones don’t do much. Can’t do much.
You are wrong. Many public interest law firms specialize in taking education cases. I know several of the leading experts in the field who are full time partners in law firms in DC who have a pro bono division.
When I was in private practice I won several pro bono awards myself.
Yeah, let's focus on making the system safer for everyone.
I just posted an article that seems relevant to me.
https://substack.com/@vaugeha/note/c-48141881?r=14ju0h
It's a Platformer article on Wednesday's flooding of former Twitter with AI-generated porn to harass Taylor Swift.
Personal growth comes from learning and striving to overcome difficulties and problems, not being sheltered and protected.
Yes and no. Competing certainly is what will give you the experience to succeed. But e. g. standing up to bullies alone is a lost cause from the start and will leave c you scarred and desperate. That's not a situation to learn from. It doesn't matter if we're talking of school yard bullies or x cyber bullies.
Vau you say standing up to bullies is a lost cause.
Worked for me. Works for everyone else that I know of.
You left out the most important word: alone.
What I want is solidarity, siding with victims so that they can win their fight.
GrrlScientist, what you endured and can speak about now shows your courage and tenacity. Those that bullied you and threatened you I hope came across someone bigger and had the crap beaten out of them!! It's nice to imagine that the bullies finally got what they deserved. Even if they didn't, you lived through it and from what I read from your posts, you became an intelligent, thoughtful human being that cares for others. Good on you, GrrlScientist!!
And if you've read the latter findings from Jane Goodall's research, primate behavior can be very nasty - too bad humans are so like the chimpanses (and I guess we share about 90% of the same gene sequences). I guess we can expect subconscious inspired bullying tendencies for the foreseeable future - about the time where sports interests switch over to creative endeavors. We'll have to deal with it for now. To bad so many lower middle class people feel so slighted that they would follow a Trump character - to help them!
The felonious bully has no desire at all to help the uninformed, misled folks who stand to lose the most from his proposed destructive policies. It's very disturbing that the indicted snake oil selling shyster is still allowed to galavant around the country threatening everyone from the Supreme Court, the Justice Department and all branches of Goverment without any consequences. This has gone way too far and it's time for the media to step up their role and let it be known that America will never be the same again if Trump gets back in the Oval Office.
Tthe Republican Party has revealed itself to be corrupt and for sale to the highest bidder. Any moral Courage is Gone From the Institution...
WE HAVE TO SAVE OURSELVES AND THIS COUNTRY REWRITE THE CONSTITUTION REFORM OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM AND AND CRIMINAL PUNISNMENT SYSTEM ...
Mandatory VOTING ...
Praying will accomplish nothing ...
Action is required and personal sacrifice will turn the tide.
B. REMEMBER
Dread Scott
Citizen J, I have a mixed reaction to mandatory voting. Are you assuming that those who vote because they are required to will be well informed, care about the issues or the character of those running, or about the impact of their votes on the country or their fellow citizens? I worry about many people voting based on the lawn signs they see or the ranting on Fox Noise etc.
At the same time I do like the idea of many more people voting.
To think any voter currently is well informed is a great leap of faith. In my experience Most Voters have one topic, idea, concept, or person in mind .
They want that one thing the rest of the ballot is usually the great Unkown.
Mandatory voting as used in Australia drives the voter consider what’s really important to them when taxes go up taxes go down will they get drafted? Will there be a war will they not be a war the citizen is then required to at least ask themselves what does candidate or law movement mean to me as an individual.
Instead of blaming somebody else for electing, the local yahoo to be in charge of whatever it becomes a personal choice . Getting people to make choices is the most important part of a republic. Most campaigns have a simple theme Bill Clinton’s it’s the economy stupid.. or 44,40 or fight. Remember the main.
Remember, Pearl Harbor, the silent majority ..,
I think some countries make voting compulsory, but I don't like the idea, either. I do like the idea of being automatically registered to vote on your 18th birthday though. That doesn't mean you have to vote if you're not so inclined, but it makes it easier.
I feel for you, I was bullied too but I eventually fought back and gained the respect of the bullies.I guess I was plain LUCKY
I’m sorry you were so terribly bullied! I was also bullied at a younger age, elementary school age, Catholic student. A boy used to bother me constantly. One day I had it, pushed him down, sat on his back and punched him several times. He didn’t suffer any physical injuries, however he never walked on the same side of the street again, which was in Brooklyn. Coming to the current situation in our country, I have marched for women’s rights, and children, and at Post Offices. I was never involved in politics but once Dt stepped on the scene I knew I had to ‘fight’ against this evil force that caused segregation on many levels. Now as a piano teacher I encourage all of my students who happen to be girls turning 18 this year to Vote for Biden. They totally understand and importantly want to preserve women’s rights! We march forward to save our Democracy for now and generations to come.
It seems of urgent importance, in my opinion, that this country enlist academics, mental health experts, social scientists, and whatever other category of humanity to address the wide incidence of cruelty in this country - whether in the form of bullying, gun violence, gang violence, criminality, "domestic violence," cruelty and exploitation of children, TV imagery, movie content, etc. etc. It is a big problem - read the news, watch the "screens" if you aren't keeping up, notice "social media," listen to the language, even the "comedians." We are a people awash in cruelty and bullying - and rather than just decrying it and wringing our hands - just like our political decline, we must find out why and what to do about it. We need reform and change!
Whenever I read or hear about the kind of cruelty you are describing, and it is not at all uncommon or rare, I wonder what kind of person even THINKS of such stuff, let alone acts on it. When I see news images of groups of people standing around some act of violence and cruelty - on a street or public transportation - and the crowd is holding up their phones, recording the act and not doing anything to help, laughing, taunting, urging on the violence - it sickens me and frightens me; are we so barbaric and uncivilized? Why? And what to do about it?!
I do not believe that capitalism can be “reformed” once and for all. When I hear Jamie Dimon defend Trump I am further convinced of this for Dimon represents the willingness of of capitalism to be cheerleaders for authoritarianism even if it leads to fascism. Here is what Robert Reich has to say about Jamie Dimon:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/21/jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-defends-trump
The long outdated system of capitalism is picking up speed to head us off the cliff even if it means those of us that speak out will face terrible threats to our safety for speaking out. I would bet that our own Robert Reich and other “vermin" will be the first ones threatened with interment, Putin style.
Democracy must be be reformed and capitalism must be left in the dustbin of history. Capitalism is against an egalitarian economy and our current state of democracy is not defending us. We must seriously consider an Economic Democracy that can guarantee equal opportunity for all.
I would add that I am optimistic abut the future of democracy. I would also add that the true vermin to be exterminated is the system of capitalism. I am not a proponent of communism nor socialism with its centrally controlled economy. The control of the economy must be put into the hands of the local communities and the profits distributed within the communities. Cooperatives should be the driving force of the Economic Democracy and small businesses in the hands of local entrepreneur owners who circulate the profits locally. Large non-local industries must reinvest in the population at large and not to wealthy shareholders. Everyone must and can have a generous slice of the American financial pie. Capitalism has failed us, we have to face the hard truth.
Marc said, "I am not a proponent of communism nor socialism with its centrally controlled economy."
But we do have a centrally controlled economy; the 1%!
Marc also said, "Capitalism has failed us, we have to face the hard truth."
I totally agree with you. Capitalism always ends this way. You can't have both capitalism and democracy. The bullies always end up with all the power when they pay the off the regulators of the system that protects the population from them. The is the first time in human history that we have the technical ability to create an economy that really does work for everybody. Going backwards to reform capitalism by breaking up monopolies, raising taxes on the wealthy, reforming the system of paying for political campaigns, etc. is only temporary even if it can be accomplished at all.
What started as a way for kings to pay for their wars by borrowing from the rich and paying them back with interest collected from the population is not working for the 99% today and never did. We need to start over. We can take profit out of the systems that serve the people. It just takes our collective will.
1. From 1776 we've had a "mixed" economy. NOT pure capitalism.
2. Capitalism is not a political concept.
3. Got to distinguish between the little guy and the big guy. MOST workers are gig workers -- got to account for that.
4. "Controlled economy" -- Biden does not even have authority to sue price fixers and price gougers. https://www.meidastouch.com/news/josh-hawley-is-a-communist
Make me king and I'd threaten to sue to get companies in line. Arbitrage our national debt. Fund our trust funds as endowments.
Most other industrialized countries have layers of taxes -- like the VAT, wealth, inheritance etc.
It is an exercise in futility, trying to educate people that capitalism and communism are not political concepts, but economic concepts.
Both exist, today in the same environment, China is both communist and capitalist.
IMO, all of these economic concepts end up with an oligarchy.
Yup, even (especially) in fascism. Mussolini's Chamber of Deputies, was staffed by Representative s from major corporations.
You lost me this morning. You usually explain what you mean in detail.
You can have capitalism and democracy. They are not mutually exclusive.
In theory, they should be compatible. But history shows us that the result is always the same. I believe human nature is the reason it doesn't work. Most of us want to work, raise families, and have a "live and let live" philosophy. But a few of us have what writers in antiquity described as money/power addiction. It is an illness that requires a government by the majority to control/regulate to protect society. The problem is that the greedy parasites weasel their way into the government over time and control the system to make themselves wealthier, sucking the assets up to them and away from the population.
I would like to see Heather Cox Richardson explain how in the early U.S. corporations had to have a charter that showed a public good and how the system morphed into what we have today; corporations have the rights of humans. She may have already written about it, or maybe Thom Hartmann has.
My point is that capitalism always goes in the same direction and the people become subjects of the wealth class. That is why you can't have both capitalism and democracy.
I find it interesting that we have apparently mutually contradictory theories of both capitalism and socialism. There's a glaring omission - a well thought-out theory of "social capitalism" in want of being developed. Another great economist like Keynes to put it all together is long overdue.
On the other hand, economics is >not< political science, and economic systems should >serve< democracy - not >rule< democracy.
Kings fight wars to steal another kings treasure, and the freeman and serf pays for the war with his blood and sweat.
Yes, I agree with you. It would be very hard to do as you say, but if the people finally get fed up with the capitalism forced on us, maybe it will happen.
Marc Nevas, just like with any concept, there are innumerable ways people define capitalism. That is a problem. I just define it has commerce, sorry Robert Sir, if I have been a bad student, but I like a simplistic mainstreet definition that everyone can agree on, otherwise it's like we're all trying to pierce separate soap bubbles because people define capitalism differently, all the way from widely to just slightly.
I think of the word commerce when I think of capitalism and then, I think of goods and services, workers and employers, which makes me think of fairness, protections (for everyone in the ecosystem including the environment and protections from the actual products and services themselves), and inclusion of all people. Which leads me to, the people making the rules for the commerce system need to be fair and just people who truly believe that all people have equal human value.
So to solve our problem with wild west style capitalism/ commerce system, we need to take the reins away from the destructive, misguided ones who create immense suffering and neglect the well being of all, and give the reins to the most fair people we can find.
At the same time, we need to look within ourselves as individuals and ask if we are truly as fair, just, and inclusive as we want others to be and work on our own evolution simultaneously, as we work on the outside evolution .
M Tree commerce is trade. Trade takes the form of barter . In fact the monetary system is barter using a medium of exchange,instead of chickens, eggs and pigs.
Chickens, eggs, salt, and pigs are a medium of exchange, but they are not fungible nor divisible, so humans have settled on a social fiction called "money" originally in the form of coin then printed, and today in electronic bytes of 1's and o's.
How does one take away the reins from the destructive, misguided ones?
How does one dethrone a king?
Does America have a king? No, thought Trump has visions of becoming one
A king is really a mob boss, he doesn't even have to give orders, just express a wish or desire, like Henry II, who asked aloud, of Thomas a Beckett, who will relieve me of this troublesome priest, and four knights stepped up to do the job.
Kings (dictators) are deposed by coup, by another king (dictator) or revolution (France 1789, Russia 1917). America 1775 was not a revolution in the sense that it id not depose George III, anymore than Kenya, Rhodesia, South Africa rejecting the British Empire were revolutions.
America still has it's nobility though, but instead of gilded carriages, and your grace, bows and curtsys, they hide behind gated communities and on islands and mountain strongholds, Where their insane wealth and power are obscured, and only surfaces in "insider" rags like the Fortune 500, or some rag that caters to the rich and famous.
Their identities are obscured, even lionized and imitated like the Kennedy's and the Bush's.
And they are diversified. The kings of England lived in dread of the Barons, for if the Barons united they could and did overthrow the King.. His best chance for survival was to keep them at odds and suspicious of each other., mainly rewarding snitches.
History might be repeating itself, as our modern barons, have been reduced to currying favor with the thug who wants to be king.
These are the people who command the commerce system, and are busily at work rewriting the rules of the commerce system., in their favor (max profits) not societies.
Expect them to be scrapped if 45 becomes 47.
Lee Markland, sadly, enough of us have not studied the patterns in history through a wide angle lens. Those using just their zoom lens only are asleep and we should do all we can, to wake them up to our shared peril.
Are you suggesting that I haven't studied history via a wide angle lense?
Lee. Markland, oh no, absolutely not. I was referring to some of our fellow citizens. I apologize if my comment was unclear.
We should look at it from the point of view
of private goods and public goods . The system
best equipped to provide private goods can
work under capitalism ( with restrictions on monopoly power etc.)
Unfortunately, public goods get the shaft
under the way our elites rig the system.
Paul Olmsted, that's an interesting thought. My initial reaction is that, more manageable chunks of the problem may help us better and more efficiently wrap our heads around wisest solutions and implementation. But, I don't know for sure, just some initial thoughts.
It seems that most any governance system has positive ideals that are screwed up by bullies...perhaps our focus needs to be on their elimination (eliminating the bullies) rather than trying the same old doctrine of rotational political schemes?
Thanks to Professor Reich for his excellent work at educating us to the rottenness of shareholder Capitalism. I am skeptical that there is any better economic system than well-regulated stakeholder Capitalism. This despite all the damage that Nixon, Reagan, GWBush, Bill Clinton, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk, the Koch brothers, tRUMP, Clarence Thomas and all their disgusting ilk have done to our country over the past 40+ years. I support the approach of statespeople like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Listen carefully. They don’t denounce Capitalism writ large. They denounce the unregulated, monopolistic, corrupt form of Capitalism currently poisoning our country. Bernie calls himself a democratic socialist. What he means, I believe, is that we need a form of well regulated, stakeholder Capitalism that is always cognizant of and looking to better the lot of we, the people.
I think what we are observing is the Unacceptable Face of Capitalism, Capitalism works, but not sufficiently regulated until Joe B. started the anti-monopoly action.
JB is a great President.
SCOTUS (which has nothing to do with Capitalism) has let us down especially on the Citizen United ruling.
Also, we have through bad leadership allowed the banks to be so large that they cannot be allowed to fail. It is no longer a robust system.
Without Capitalism we will have mediocrity.
Thank you, Marc. As a professor of archaeology who has studied the rise and fall of ancient civilizations (as in ancient Rome, Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, etc.), when the costs of running these societies exceeded the benefits, collapses resulted. When people's needs were no longer being met, they sought new and better alternatives to sustain themselves and threw out the old system because they no longer wanted to be exploited. The same premise applies to modern times. Thus, capitalism cannot be "moderated" because its inherent premise is to maximize profits and minimize costs at all levels. It needs to be eliminated and a new system introduced that serves the needs of everybody, not just the very rich. So, what can we do? Prout (Progressive Utilization Theory), for example, outlines a transformative plan that offers solutions, such as worker-owned cooperative businesses (look at Mondragon Corporation in Spain which employs 70,000 people --https://www.mondragon-corporation.com/en/), decentralized economic systems where local people own, manage, and run their businesses, progressive taxation, maximizing efficient production, fair and free trade, and most importantly, economic democracy. The sooner we make the transition to a better system, we can start to diminish the economic, social and political pain caused by corporate entities that only care for their owners and stockholders. We can do better!
Check out The Alternative by Nick Romeo on some models being explored to help build a just economy.
Professor Reich, I believe you would have been a great candidate for President because you are one of the most patriotic leaders in our country! Awesome finish to your class, “ Why American capitalism is so rotten”. Americans need to reunite against these fascist bullies and become the,
“Shining light on the hill” again and show the world how to eradicate fascist bullies!
Robert: I hope you are right. I share a similar story to yours about bullying. I was bullied in Christian middle school and the Bible teacher told me that, in the same situation, Jesus would turn the other cheek. I thought that was bullshit. When the bully then pushed my sister, I knew that was enough. I hit and kept hitting until a teacher pulled me off him. I gave him two black eyes and a fat lip and he never, ever bothered me again nor did anybody else. So my question is: how much more do the American people have to take?? The next step for the Trumpiats is some sort of a coup and then it might be too late.
Good for you, Chris. And I agree with your last sentence. A Biden win will likely mean a well planned insurrection attempt…and Jamie Dimon, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos will not oppose. Quietly they will still fund the campaigns of the fascists if it means more profits for them and their shareholders. In general, oligarchs do well under fascism if they support it.
If you haven’t already done so read the current edition of “The Atlantic Monthly” for a probably scenario if Trumpf wins l
Do you have a link for on-line reading?
Required reading!
They did in Germany
Not likely I’m afraid but guaranteed. After all, this is their “final battle.”
Chris, I was always getting into fights when I was young. Usually it was because one of my friends was being picked on or someone was abusing an animal. It seemed I stayed in trouble. My sister was intimidated and threatened by this jerk in high school and I remember she came home in tears. I went over to the school and jumped right on that guy. The anger I felt that someone would hurt one of my sisters was just too much. His friends pulled me off of him but I got some good whacks in!! I told him not to even look in her direction, kicked his motorcycle over and went home. He never bothered her again. All of this was just to show that while most Americans try to remain civil and work out differences in a calm fashion, when we are pushed as far to the wall as we can be pushed, we do and will come out swinging!! trump and his minions should NEVER underestimate us!!
Chris NS, I noticed on your profile that you are a '' dual citizen'' of the United States and Canada. Can you put in for Candian citizenship while still living in the United States?? I would like the opportunity to be a dual citizen of the USA and Canada if that is possible.
I am very concerned with these Fascist GQP terrorists causing all the disfunction here in the USA. I am literally surrounded by these Fascist GQP misfit voters in this community i currently live in.
www.cic.gov.ca. You can apply for permanent residency from abroad, but I believe you have to physically be in Canada for a certain amount of time in order to then apply for citizenship. Check the website and/or a Canadian Immigration Lawyer to know for certain.
Thank you very much for the information and the link to check this out. I have the financial means to get going on this as i have been saving for almost 3 years and i now have a very good credit rating. I am going to get a passport very soon and want to stay the 6 months i am allowed with the passport and while i am there, apply for citizenship. Actually, i may apply for citizenship before i go since i can apply from abroad.
I actually have more reasons to go to Canada than just the political insanity that is going on here in the USA. The weather here has began to frighten me as i know in the eastern maritime provinces, tornadoes are very rare. My home was partially destroyed by a tornado back in 2004, and just 3 years ago, a large tornado tore through just south of us and destroyed the southern half of a town near me. I am fed up with having to fear tornadoes every time a storm front blows through here. We have also been hit hard with 3 hurricanes. I love the snow too. It used to snow at least twice or 3 times a winter here, but now it doesn't snow at all. It's been 7 years since we have had a good snow event here. The heat and humidity in Summer is unbearable here too. The climate change has hit hard here already.
Go for it!
Stay strong!
Not a bad idea. I, too, live in a Trumper area!
I'm thinking about the same thing...but in Norway or Costa Rica
This series, Professor Reich, has been wonderful, especially now, as we are facing another big time of change for our nation. Your writing explains the key elements that we face. It encourages each reader to make wise choices and take action to secure a good and continuing future for ourselves, our families, our living places and our nation. I continue to be thankful for your knowledge and encouragement for each of us to understand what we need to do to secure the future for all of us. My gratitude for your wisdom!
#MAGA knowns that #Trump is their ONLY CHANCE for bullies to take over the country. They are NEVER going to give up that chance. They will murder anyone who gets in their way.
KEEP IN MIND that 30-40% of Americans WANT A DICTATORSHIP ! #MangoWanker #Mobster #Traitor #Rapisttt #GOPtraitors #Trump #Putin #Fascists #Murdoch #Reagan began the CRIMINAL GOP
Looks like Germany 1939 all over again.
When you really think about it Trump would have been right at home in the party of Hitler. I wonder how far up the ranks he would have went...
No, he would only be happy as Hitler!
Danial,
I thank god or whatever goodness that may exist in this universe, that Trump was too dumb and incompetent to be Hitler.
Trump was a convenient tool used by those who are certainly competent and evil enough to carry out the dismemberment of the US.
With Citizens United in their quiver and the Supreme Court in their pockets, they have the means to do so.
Certainly his sycophants would as well.
Or even earlier...
Thank you, Professor Reich for this incisive explanation for just WTF is going on in this country and why. I so fear for this country.
Fear not, Rose!! I know in my bones that this country will survive this attack and we will be stronger and more united than ever!!! Keep the faith!!
I sure hope you are right. You know Trump will not concede the election if he loses. He will push for a civil war.
Margaret, he will find it is hard to push against a stone wall and expect it to move!! We will NOT surrender our country to the likes of him or any of his sycophants!!
Hope you are right
Don't hope, Susan, believe!!
I would have more faith if a good outcome if I saw Joe Biden ripping the republicans a new one at every turn.
Me, too, Mike!! I am hoping that he will feel they have pushed him against that wall as far as he will go and will go Dark Brandon on them!! Democrats need, no they must, fight back!!
Thank you! Biden is spineless and it's so frustrating. He's also a Corporate Democrat, which means he'd much prefer "working with" Rethuglicans than Progressives.. If only we had better options. And it's scary to think about how so many other people in positions of power clearly are not standing up to Trump and preventing him from causing even more damage...unless he dies before this November, he will make sure that he's president again.
We'd have better options if they weren't all supporting Biden. This deference to the current President that is customary from fellow party members is dangerous in this case being that he might not have what it takes to defeat a monstrous opponent.
Me too!
I have, by and large, really liked Reich's series and have saved them into a permanent file for reference and also to be able answer questions from folks asking for my views. This is largely a small group of friends and relatives who sometimes value my opinion.
I have to say, though, that I believe Reich errs significantly when he states that capitalism has changed from a philosophy that once placed the welfare of its workers and the communities in which it operates on anything like an equal importance with its stockholders.
History just fails to support this history of capitalism. Workers have been massacred and communities devastated by the actions of greedy capitalists throughout the history of capitalism. Sometimes the results of things like murdered workers have shocked capitalists into making minor adjustments, sometimes as a genuinely shocked moral horror, but more often, in my view, as a public relations ploy cynically adapted to avoid public outrage so strong as to force politicians to imposing restrictive measures that would impede the power of the captains of industry.
I fully realize that this writing will cause many to see me as too radical and too harsh a critic of an economic system that has reaped many benefits for our society. Those benefits are beyond question and helped us attain the high standard of living which we mostly all enjoy. Now we are faced with some real choices...do we continue down this road, abandoning some of the safeguarding efforts folks of conscience have caused to be implemented or do we choose a government where we leave the choices of how capitalism and social safeguards are left almost solely in the hands of those who govern us.
Be careful how you choose, America. You are choosing for some very vulnerable folks and for the foreseeable future.
The teachings of Jesus (not Christianity), are diametrically opposed to the bigotry, hatred, misogyny, and greed supported by Capitalists and Christian Nationalists in America.
The Jesus of Matthew, not the Jesus of Luke and Paul.
The way things are going, the Republicans are certainly going to be in dire straits if Trump is found guilty of a felony before November. They really don't have someone charismatic enough to pull the disparate elements of the GOP together. AND appealing enough to attract more than half of all Independents.
Judging from republican behavior in avoiding every singe off-ramp, I fear the entire party will fall in behind Trump no matter what. That includes when he cries a rigged election this November. God help us if we don’t have a plan.
The Plan most likely will be to just increase Security around Washington DC. (Like that will secure the rest of the country? Duh.)
If Trump is NOT the winning candidate (for whatever reason) in November, I PREDICT that there will be 1000+ related deaths all across the country. KS Jayhawkers versus MO bushwhackers all over again, all over.
Trumpists protest that the system is rigged, and they are so angry at being treated as fools and deplorable they will celebrate bringing the whole thing down -- the facade of democracy, the broad use of our creed to mask corruption, state violence at home and abroad, and the privileging of minorities and their special suffering. They haven't been to college, and I think there's a case to be made that fact allows the "deplorable" a better view of how deep the rot goes.
How many in Congress would leave the gravy train to represent the will of their constituents to go against the big money? McConnell is a pig, but Schumer is better? Be honest now, how brave and progressive is Nancy -- standing bold to further the interests of the War Industries and the sacred right of Congresspersons to benefit from inside dealing? Dems made a big fuss over a demented House fool and liar but haven't much to say about the disgrace of Menendez.
Somehow the honesty of women will save us -- that would be Stefanik and Collins, our female UN representatives (R and D), Hillary ""he died, teehee" and Pelosi and her visit to Taiwan to stir up trouble and enrich her family. Or maybe it's the young we should trust, or the old (simply by virtue of their being old), or the Black or Hispanic (like Torres in the Bronx). The troglodytes aren't wrong about what they call "Woke-ism".
There is no grit among our Liberals -- where is the demand to release Assange and by doing so free journalism from its condition of threat? where the demand, from Democrats, to require Biden abide by the Constitution in sending us to war (as he's done so often in his career)? Where is the courage to demand a ceasefire in the midst of a pogrom, when the Biden folks declare war good for the economy and its clear as day that Biden means to ride out the geocide to get himself re-elected" Who has the guts to call out AIPAC for their chutzpah in spitting in our freedom-loving faces?
Our good professor exposes some of the surface but leaves the deep rot, much of which belongs to his own precious political party. I recommend a good slow read of Sheldon Wolin's "Democracy, Inc" (2010), new introduction by Chris Hedges, to get a true measure of how blighted -- R and D -- our system and those who know how to use it are.
Well said, Stephan.
I was in agreement with you until you said Biden was complicit in Genocide.
There is no way that what is going on in the HAMAS Israel war genocide, and even trying to do so denigrates real genocide.
There is one condition that has to be meant to call anything genocide and that condition is intention.
And if you are willing to discuss intentions. The genocical intentions are on the part of HAMAS and Islam
Read tje 1988 HAMAS covenant, the Preamble and Art 7, paragraph 7. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp
The latter from sacred Islamic scripture, the hadith of al Bukhari, that is genocide, What is happening in Gaza is the same as happened in France and Germany in 1944, unless you are willing to call the landing on Normandy, and the bombing of Germany and Japan Genocide.
The NAZI's would agree with you then (and they are still among us)
You would do well to stop parroting Saudi propaganda. Muslims are not innocent babes, there religion is currently the most anti human, theocratic, misogynistic, homophobic religion on the planet, they will be overtaken by Dominionism, Christian Reconstructionism, which is powering the MAGAts.
Read the remarks from the International Court of Justice this morning. Your hostility to Islam is shameful. I have studied the Koran and admire it and used to teach it. Hamas rejected its earlier intransigent position in 2018.
Judaism, from its origins, Deuteronomy, advises killing everything that breathes among the people who inhabit the lands the Hebrews coveted. I know of no more despicable remark in any religion.
Netanyahu's invocation -- and his soldiers', too of Amalek -- disgraces the religion I was raised in. I am "parroting" the Judaic-Christian tinged Enlightenment heritage this country is all about.
Mark Twain had excellent advice about getting into shouting matches with idiots -- I try to abide by his advice.
BTW, since you studied and admire the Quran, do you also admire the beheading of 600 Jews of the Banu Qurayza in the marketplace of Medina.
Or Muhammad deflowering a girl not yet ten. Such a great man, betrothing to a 5 year old girl, who drags her doll to their wedding bed. I am talking of course of Ayesha.
How about Mo's midnite ride to Jerusalem on a chimera beast with body of a horse, wings of an eagle, head of a lion, and visits the seven levels of heaven, dickers with the moon god al Lihah for daily prayers, gets him down from 500 to 5.
So many things to admire in the Quran. Like Miryam having sex with Gabriel and begatting the prophet Jesus.
I could care less about your personal opinion, so shove it where the sun doesn't shine.
I am hostile to any and all anti human, anti free thought, misogynistic and homophobic ldeologies, and Islam is that plus.
I too have studied the Quran, as well as the haddiths and the biogrpahy of Muhammad by ibn Ishaq and outside of Dominionism (Christian Reconstruction) is the most intolerant of religions today. In fact I know so much of Islam that a Muslim called me a murtdadd (apostate).
As regards HAMAS and the 1988 Covenant, I know about the revision, but I also know and take note that they didn't repudiate it.. And that, Stephen is essential.
As regards Netanyahu and his legions of religious right, they are as evil as HAMAS.
America has Trump Israel has Netanyahu
America has MAGAts and Israel has it's right wing settlers.
And Islam has HAMAS, Hezbollah, DAESH, al Qaeda, the Wahabbi's. and the Ayatollahs of Iran.
A pox on all of them.
About wars an excellent read is Norman Solomon's "War Made Invisible".
Someone who is more of a cynic than me. Yes, there is rot all through our political system.
I think I know what you mean, Margaret, but a cynic believes the world lives only by interests in cash and power, and I believe in the Constitution and the best hopes for the United States. If I were a cynic, the terrible betrayal wouldn't mean as much as it does to me --- and I bet to you, too. The people, and that includes Trump people, are increasingly in open rebellion. I would be hopeless in my outlook if they were not, given the provocation of lies, cowardice, and violence. The US has a deep tradition of orneriness -- an opposition to fancy thinking and bullying. We need more of that from the "sensible" people.
I have hope too, but everyday I am frustrated by hearing news reports thriving on Trump and right wing politicians. I believe in the Constitution, but it is very outdated and must be fixed. The government by the people needs to be responding to the needs of the people, not just the wealthy.
DUMP TREASONOUS, TERRORIST, AND CON REPUBLICONS EVERYWHERE
TROLL ALERT.
How is this trolling? Repetitive, maybe, but trolling?
This troll has bugged us before. Often RR deletes its posts. It only seeks to divert serious dialogue and discussion of various points of view. Ignored it will go back under its bridge or back to Moscow or wherever.
Who?
Who is running our government? Not the people on Capitol Hill or in the White House … as of today looks like the GOP has to call Trump on a daily basis to okay everything. Trump is not even in office, nor should he be privy to any national security concerns that deal with Americans safety at this point. Trump is just a citizen like you or me. WTF is happening ? The GOP is holding up the border bill and aid to Ukraine because a total idiot sexual abuser tax cheat business failure doesn’t want Biden to get credit for a good legislative act? Why aren’t people OUTRAGED?????
We are, but Jamie Dimon, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos do not really care.
The Main Stream Media, even those that are not considered radical, those that I read and view on TV have done an absolutely horrible job in dealing with these issues they oooh and aww about his domination of the race but speak little about the problems he causes and will cause if elected. They give Trump way more air time, even when talking about his problems, than they give to Biden. I guess all that CBS or the NYT care about are their bottom line.
Great post! I love your writings. Thank you, Robert.
Robert, this endeavour is very good and I would like to contribute in the new version of the common good. But I miss your friend Bernie Sanders, I miss some analytical remarks.
Looking from a distance (Europe) I need more than interest in a "stable genius" who sucks uo vitality and oxygen out of our minds. His craziness predicts an "Endlösung", after and in his election.
But we know that for a long time.
Question is: why did we let him. Why is the U.S. a willing prey for grabbing capitalists? I see a lot of clips that are astounding. Why the fear? Why panic for state interventions? Why all rational arguments stop, when the qualification "socialism" is given?
My feeling is that European social history might help. Read the Russians, Bakoenin and Kropotkin.
Read the Dutch and German social thinkers, Rosa Luxemburg, Gorter, Roland Holst.
They wrote about the market forces and how these could be restrained. It is not a subject for panic, but something that should be discussed, in stead of excitment of the intimate bodyparts of the son of the president. Work to be done...