Just watched a documentary series about the Roman Empire. Interesting story about Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BCE. He attempted a land reform to deal with the homeless situation, and to reverse the plundering of public land by the wealthy elite. Dude was brutally murdered by hired assassins. Fast forward to Emiliano Zapata. Too much is never enough for the obscenely rich. Whether they are Southern plantation owners or Petro billionaires or Pharma kings, their ceaseless urgency to retain all of their plunder never lags, even at the cost of the social structure itself. Communist revolutions like those in Russia and Cuba were only successful because of the stubborn greed and insensitivity of the oligarchy. They bring revolution upon themselves. How they hated FDR for trying to fix an America their insatiable greed had destroyed.
“I don’t think anybody should doubt his influence,” McCarthy said. “I was just talking to [Trump] tonight, helping get those final votes.”
Washington, — "In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the US Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald Trump said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did." “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterward by McCarthy. McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump’s supporters and begged Trump to call them off." https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/12/politics/trump-mccarthy-shouting-match-details/index.html
Did Trump suborn perjury? Apparently, based on what he said on Jan 7, 2021, McCarthy was a witness against Trump.
Was support by Trump another quid pro quo, obstruction of justice incident that needs to be heard by a grand jury?
It's true that wealth inequity remains a central fact of American life, and it's driven largely by fundamental issues built in to our political system. Perhaps Dr. Reich could remind us what percent of America's wealth is owned by the top 1%. As I recall, it's about a third, but Dr. Reich would know better than I.
I remain unpersuaded by the chronic whiney rant of Democratic Party culture that we are tragic victims, and it's always somebody else's fault, and never our fault. To take a more objective look could we please reserve some time for talking about all the Democratic Party politicians who have sucked up to Wall Street and the other super rich?
Who specifically does Dr. Reich consider to be part of the oligarchy? Let's identify them, and find out if you and I are buying their products. If we are, then you and I aren't victims, we're fools, and hypocrites. Let's place primary focus on that which we have the most control over, our own behavior.
I get that tossing red meat to the base is a very common political tactic, and that it works at getting people out to the polls. But if we're going to always tell a totally one sided story that always leaves out our own failures and mistakes, and always places blame elsewhere in a hysterical manner, then why should voters choose us over the MAGAs?
Do you want to see a durable Democratic Party majority in America? That's going to require peeling off some of the Republicans who haven't lost their minds. There are millions of such people all over the country. We need to present ourselves as the honest party, the responsible party, the emotionally mature party, the adults who can be trusted with the nation's future. And that requires us to stop acting like red meat MAGAs.
What are we doing wrong that we can fix? Why are we always in danger of losing to the cartoon character Donald Dumpster? What is it about our message that doesn't resonate with so many Americans?
If all we've got in the way of answer to such questions is the claim that those whose votes we need are idiots, then it's us that are the idiots.
This doesn't even take into consideration the Supreme Court. The SC is a total tool of the oligarchs, maintaining their power by supporting every line item on their agenda to maintain power at all costs. They continually make decisions in the interests of big corporations and the wealthy by not making them responsible for the climate change they have amply helped to create, the huge disparity in income they have created and stripping away of voter rights, among their other decisions. It's depressing ☹️
GENIAL. What further breakdown does anyone need on the matter? This is like a full chemical analysis down to its most basic components. It is a dissection of all the parts laid down on the table in full view. It is the complete autopsy of the living and breathing system that comprise the forces which link the financial powers that be with the propaganda they need to operate as functionally and stealth-fully as possible. If we hadn't quite seen it before, let's read that over again and again. This is, or should be, public education. Talk about knowing who the "enemy" is! This is IT; it couldn't be more masterfully or definitively done for us. Ah, what thought and language will do! Thank you.
Just follow the money you’ll find the crime. I find it amusingly sad that McCarthy talks of using subpoenas when he and the rest of his ilk refused to honor the ones sent to them by the January 6th committee.
Dr. Reich, what can we "small fry" do to combat this when so many of us are focused on equally important issues such as voting rights and climate change? Is there anything we deep blue Californians can do to warn people in states that have primarily state and federal Republican legislators? I (at 73) must admit to being frightened on behalf of our young Americans.
Citizens United must be overturned. The gerrymandering of our voting districts must be constantly defeated. And all of us must affirm the values we wish to see in our culture - honesty, decency, kindness, and the willingness to help those in need. What goes around, comes around. The Maga Extremists will encounter their own creations at some point. I just hope they can be contained.
Somehow, someway, someday. Campaign finance reform. Until then things have little chance in a true transformation. But that’s a big ditch to fill. Until then it’s a grifters game, less so for democrats but not completely. Most people know this, but somehow politicians think we are all blind out here. Why there are many more independents now than ever.
Insightful analysis. What is presented front and center is the tendency of the capitalist system to use extractive means to deplete a resource base and then move on to the next depletion opportunity. That works as long as there is a next opportunity. When not, it leads to system collapse.
Oligarchic depletion of the U.S. government resource base by continuing to run up debt may lead to low taxes with specular subsidies, contracts, and payments in the near term. But, at some time the system will reach a tipping point and unravel, especially around the Dollar as reserve currency in a global financial system.
One only needs to look at the course charted by the British Empire to see a potential progression of events. It reached its height in 1922 after a disastrous war. By 1940 it was in a state of rapid decline in the face of global turmoil leading to the loss of nearly all colonies. By 1945 the Pound Sterling was no longer the global reserve currency.
Rather than far flung colonies around the globe, the U.S. is built on an internal colonization of resource areas. Unlike many British colonies, state boundaries do not clearly define naturally occurring resource and ethnic areas. An unraveling would be painful and the resulting reconfiguration of regions hard to fathom.
Time to take their asses out! Take out their puppets. Take out their politicians. Take out their judges. Make these bastards feel pain. This is a global assault on humanity. The “love of money”...
Who was the last person to turn down appointment to the Supreme Court after being confirmed?
I thought Robert Reich's writing today was excellent."It’s between the oligarchy — corporate and Wall Street monied interests — and everybody else."
it's interesting.The other day on right-wing MAGa radio the host railed against Amazon and generally the power of Corporations who hold Monopoly or near Monopoly power.I swear to God,he sounded like Robert Reich.Except of course he didn't use words like antitrust-----that would be
Democratic-speak.
But I don't think things will change until the conditions which have brought us to this present Point are changed.
And chief among such "conditions" are the Supreme Court rulings which have weakened, upended, the people's voting power upon which everything else rests.
Once again we are led back to the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs FEC. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained And it is the Republican Party that has stood repeatedly against attempts to right or ameliorate this wrong. In the Missouri 2nd District my representative Wagner https://www.annwagnerforcongress.net/ voted against HR1 which expands voting rights, changes campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, and bans partisan gerrymandering.Getting rid of citizens united.Getting rid of citizens united is obviously not a real high priority with voters.
the last person to decline appointment to the Supreme Court was Roscoe Conkling in 1882-----he was a really big deal in our nation's history. the book We The Corporations which details how American businesses won their civil rights,points to Roscoe as the guy who argued before The Supreme Court that the word "persons" in the 14th Amendment ,which he Roscoe had helped to draft, was meant to include corporations,including Southern Pacific Railroad, which he was much biased toward. Santa Clara County vs Southern Pacific Railroad
A more truthful name for SCOTUS is Supporting Corporations of the United States.
Uh, WOW! Or, should I say, "OH, SHIT!" I don't know that I've read any article quite as depressing as this one. Informative, yes. Necessary, undoubtedly. Depressing, overwhelmingly so.
Here's what is so daunting to me about this article. I'm a 65-year-old retired public school educator. I can make small donations to candidates, I can write letters and postcards, I can put yard signs out, and do other small things to work toward the political ends I hope to see come about. But, your article today pretty much told me, "You're helpless. Fight all you want, but there really isn't much you can do to stop these big-money bulldozers from doing what they want."
I guess I'll just keep fighting the fights I can, but after reading this I have a sense of dread more than I have in quite sometime...and that is saying a lot.
Just watched a documentary series about the Roman Empire. Interesting story about Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BCE. He attempted a land reform to deal with the homeless situation, and to reverse the plundering of public land by the wealthy elite. Dude was brutally murdered by hired assassins. Fast forward to Emiliano Zapata. Too much is never enough for the obscenely rich. Whether they are Southern plantation owners or Petro billionaires or Pharma kings, their ceaseless urgency to retain all of their plunder never lags, even at the cost of the social structure itself. Communist revolutions like those in Russia and Cuba were only successful because of the stubborn greed and insensitivity of the oligarchy. They bring revolution upon themselves. How they hated FDR for trying to fix an America their insatiable greed had destroyed.
“I don’t think anybody should doubt his influence,” McCarthy said. “I was just talking to [Trump] tonight, helping get those final votes.”
Washington, — "In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the US Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald Trump said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did." “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterward by McCarthy. McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump’s supporters and begged Trump to call them off." https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/12/politics/trump-mccarthy-shouting-match-details/index.html
Did Trump suborn perjury? Apparently, based on what he said on Jan 7, 2021, McCarthy was a witness against Trump.
Was support by Trump another quid pro quo, obstruction of justice incident that needs to be heard by a grand jury?
It's true that wealth inequity remains a central fact of American life, and it's driven largely by fundamental issues built in to our political system. Perhaps Dr. Reich could remind us what percent of America's wealth is owned by the top 1%. As I recall, it's about a third, but Dr. Reich would know better than I.
I remain unpersuaded by the chronic whiney rant of Democratic Party culture that we are tragic victims, and it's always somebody else's fault, and never our fault. To take a more objective look could we please reserve some time for talking about all the Democratic Party politicians who have sucked up to Wall Street and the other super rich?
Who specifically does Dr. Reich consider to be part of the oligarchy? Let's identify them, and find out if you and I are buying their products. If we are, then you and I aren't victims, we're fools, and hypocrites. Let's place primary focus on that which we have the most control over, our own behavior.
I get that tossing red meat to the base is a very common political tactic, and that it works at getting people out to the polls. But if we're going to always tell a totally one sided story that always leaves out our own failures and mistakes, and always places blame elsewhere in a hysterical manner, then why should voters choose us over the MAGAs?
Do you want to see a durable Democratic Party majority in America? That's going to require peeling off some of the Republicans who haven't lost their minds. There are millions of such people all over the country. We need to present ourselves as the honest party, the responsible party, the emotionally mature party, the adults who can be trusted with the nation's future. And that requires us to stop acting like red meat MAGAs.
What are we doing wrong that we can fix? Why are we always in danger of losing to the cartoon character Donald Dumpster? What is it about our message that doesn't resonate with so many Americans?
If all we've got in the way of answer to such questions is the claim that those whose votes we need are idiots, then it's us that are the idiots.
This doesn't even take into consideration the Supreme Court. The SC is a total tool of the oligarchs, maintaining their power by supporting every line item on their agenda to maintain power at all costs. They continually make decisions in the interests of big corporations and the wealthy by not making them responsible for the climate change they have amply helped to create, the huge disparity in income they have created and stripping away of voter rights, among their other decisions. It's depressing ☹️
GENIAL. What further breakdown does anyone need on the matter? This is like a full chemical analysis down to its most basic components. It is a dissection of all the parts laid down on the table in full view. It is the complete autopsy of the living and breathing system that comprise the forces which link the financial powers that be with the propaganda they need to operate as functionally and stealth-fully as possible. If we hadn't quite seen it before, let's read that over again and again. This is, or should be, public education. Talk about knowing who the "enemy" is! This is IT; it couldn't be more masterfully or definitively done for us. Ah, what thought and language will do! Thank you.
Thank you Robert for being the only person that really understands what is really going on in our country.
Just follow the money you’ll find the crime. I find it amusingly sad that McCarthy talks of using subpoenas when he and the rest of his ilk refused to honor the ones sent to them by the January 6th committee.
Dr. Reich, what can we "small fry" do to combat this when so many of us are focused on equally important issues such as voting rights and climate change? Is there anything we deep blue Californians can do to warn people in states that have primarily state and federal Republican legislators? I (at 73) must admit to being frightened on behalf of our young Americans.
Citizens United must be overturned. The gerrymandering of our voting districts must be constantly defeated. And all of us must affirm the values we wish to see in our culture - honesty, decency, kindness, and the willingness to help those in need. What goes around, comes around. The Maga Extremists will encounter their own creations at some point. I just hope they can be contained.
Somehow, someway, someday. Campaign finance reform. Until then things have little chance in a true transformation. But that’s a big ditch to fill. Until then it’s a grifters game, less so for democrats but not completely. Most people know this, but somehow politicians think we are all blind out here. Why there are many more independents now than ever.
Insightful analysis. What is presented front and center is the tendency of the capitalist system to use extractive means to deplete a resource base and then move on to the next depletion opportunity. That works as long as there is a next opportunity. When not, it leads to system collapse.
Oligarchic depletion of the U.S. government resource base by continuing to run up debt may lead to low taxes with specular subsidies, contracts, and payments in the near term. But, at some time the system will reach a tipping point and unravel, especially around the Dollar as reserve currency in a global financial system.
One only needs to look at the course charted by the British Empire to see a potential progression of events. It reached its height in 1922 after a disastrous war. By 1940 it was in a state of rapid decline in the face of global turmoil leading to the loss of nearly all colonies. By 1945 the Pound Sterling was no longer the global reserve currency.
Rather than far flung colonies around the globe, the U.S. is built on an internal colonization of resource areas. Unlike many British colonies, state boundaries do not clearly define naturally occurring resource and ethnic areas. An unraveling would be painful and the resulting reconfiguration of regions hard to fathom.
Time to take their asses out! Take out their puppets. Take out their politicians. Take out their judges. Make these bastards feel pain. This is a global assault on humanity. The “love of money”...
Who was the last person to turn down appointment to the Supreme Court after being confirmed?
I thought Robert Reich's writing today was excellent."It’s between the oligarchy — corporate and Wall Street monied interests — and everybody else."
it's interesting.The other day on right-wing MAGa radio the host railed against Amazon and generally the power of Corporations who hold Monopoly or near Monopoly power.I swear to God,he sounded like Robert Reich.Except of course he didn't use words like antitrust-----that would be
Democratic-speak.
But I don't think things will change until the conditions which have brought us to this present Point are changed.
And chief among such "conditions" are the Supreme Court rulings which have weakened, upended, the people's voting power upon which everything else rests.
Once again we are led back to the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs FEC. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained And it is the Republican Party that has stood repeatedly against attempts to right or ameliorate this wrong. In the Missouri 2nd District my representative Wagner https://www.annwagnerforcongress.net/ voted against HR1 which expands voting rights, changes campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, and bans partisan gerrymandering.Getting rid of citizens united.Getting rid of citizens united is obviously not a real high priority with voters.
the last person to decline appointment to the Supreme Court was Roscoe Conkling in 1882-----he was a really big deal in our nation's history. the book We The Corporations which details how American businesses won their civil rights,points to Roscoe as the guy who argued before The Supreme Court that the word "persons" in the 14th Amendment ,which he Roscoe had helped to draft, was meant to include corporations,including Southern Pacific Railroad, which he was much biased toward. Santa Clara County vs Southern Pacific Railroad
A more truthful name for SCOTUS is Supporting Corporations of the United States.
Uh, WOW! Or, should I say, "OH, SHIT!" I don't know that I've read any article quite as depressing as this one. Informative, yes. Necessary, undoubtedly. Depressing, overwhelmingly so.
Here's what is so daunting to me about this article. I'm a 65-year-old retired public school educator. I can make small donations to candidates, I can write letters and postcards, I can put yard signs out, and do other small things to work toward the political ends I hope to see come about. But, your article today pretty much told me, "You're helpless. Fight all you want, but there really isn't much you can do to stop these big-money bulldozers from doing what they want."
I guess I'll just keep fighting the fights I can, but after reading this I have a sense of dread more than I have in quite sometime...and that is saying a lot.
This is so depressing. Is there nothing we the people can do to keep the uber rich from buying America?
Those corporations made a deal with the devil. When the debt ceiling collapses so, too, does their wealth.