This is Prof. Robert Reich at his best, conjuring up 50 years of perspective on these issues to frame a clear and cogent argument for fundamental reforms. I live in The Netherlands where the difference between the top salaries and the frontline wages has remained at 7x over many years because there is a fair tax system that protects the commons and cares for the least fortunate. No system is perfect, yet all the scaremongering over the years that top talent would leave is rubbish, as people want to live in a society that puts a priority on human dignity and fairness. I left the US to teach at a European University when Ronald Reagan became president and it is obvious to see from a distance the slide in the US towards inequality. I hope that more people listen to Robert's words and choose for a different path. There are many socio-economic models that show the way.
Tom Cummings, co-author, Nine Visions of Capitalism
Accept for the fact that capitalism cannot exist without cruelty and exploitation. Children are mining cobalt and lithium. There's a massive homelessness crisis. Foxconn, the manufacturers of IPhones had to hang up suicide nets. The fashion industry is rife with slave labor.
Capitalism is cruel and barbaric. Always has been and it's collapse is imminent.
Unregulated industrial/crony capitalism & corporatism is barbaric. Well-regulated capitalism mixed with democratic socialism along with progressive taxation like they have in Europe or we had from FDR-LBJ works much better & is far more compassionate. How can we reinstate & permanently maintain that kind of society?
Jaime, In support of your statement, note the following figures from 1947-2004 that report real family income growth by quintile:
From 1947-73, the growth for the lowest 5th was 116%; for the top 5th 84.8%.
From 1973-2000, the growth for the lowest 5th was 12.1%; for the top 5th 66.9%.
From 2000-05, the growth for the lowest 5th was -7.8%; for the top 5th -0.9%.
Source: Economic Policy Institute, 2008
As for reinstating and maintaining a more equitable distribution for increasingly large numbers of people whom I imagine today feel oppressed and marginalized by a runaway rampant capitalism, I say elect increasingly more progressive Democrats, who, for a start, will pass the 90% of Build Back Better that was cut from the edited down Inflation Reduction Act and also will repeal the Trump tax cuts.
Great post, Barabara. Thanks for the data. I particularly note that, in spite over their overwhelming greed, even the top fifth weren't doing that well. Those at the top did best when the rest of us were succeeding too.
Exactly! By focusing on the working & middle classes, we can improve the standard of living for all of us. More people have more spending money, which helps small local businesses, increasing competition & opportunities for local employment. We all win.
It worked so well for Americans for about 40 years, boosting us to the top in the world in so many measures of prosperity & well-being until Reagan. Since then, we've been on a steady decline.
Fay, Thank you for your reply. Interestingly, my take is a bit different. In my view, the figures from FDR-LBJ indicate an impressively equitable distribution of our nation’s wealth. Starting with the Reagan years, the figures suggest a period of increasingly, unevenly distributed opportunity and prosperity. Lastly, at the start of the millennium, likely due both to shifts in manufacturing from high- to low-wage countries and also to rapid technological change, while everyone is hurt, the least among us (low-skilled workers) are hurt most.
Boom Boom, I think you are right about this. However, when a lot of Democrats and progressives have been elected, it has been to clean up huge messes Republicans either caused or allowed to happen. The expectation has been that these newly-elected progressives/Democrats will clean up the mess very quickly, given about 2 years tops. When it was not possible to clean up something that took many years to create, that fast, Republicans were put back in office claiming they could do better, but of course could not since they had caused the problems in the first place and had no intention of doing anything to "fix" anything. The filibuster kept things from getting done. It is a ridiculous cycle, but our media is soooo desperate to appear "balanced" that they are often the problem, certainly not any kind of solution lately, particularly the media on the online platforms and Fox Not Nearly News.
Jasmine, The principal point of my comment was to report data that supported Jaime’s statement regarding a more equitable distribution of our nation’s wealth “from FDR-LBJ.” I haven’t the slightest idea what prompted your reply.
Just because it can work for you in your country, that means you can just forget about the slaves around the world that enable it to work in your country, seriously🙄
no government has to regulate capitalism buy simply making sure there is true competition and no monopolies of limited number of companies in any area.
OK Tom, when is that going to happen? The Cons eliminated the Sherman anti-trust government regulations to prevent monopolies. It's why why we're neck deep in the shit we're in!
Our species learns nothing from history. Capitalism has an horrific track record yet people keep defending it😐 Its destroyed our planet and put humans on the endangered species list.
I don’t call the economic systems used by many of those exploitive countries‘capitalism’ The US allows our companies to use cheap foreign labor, to our shame. But public pressure has forced some companies , such as Nike, to clean up their act . Legislation would be even more effective
Corporate democrats exist because so many Democrat voters don’t bother to exercise their rights. Outnumbered Democrats have too often bent to the system, for lack of support. Get the people informed and involved, and we can get ourselves another FDR
The red wave did not happen in Red State AZ. What does that say to you? Is says to me that there's hope. That people are smarter than we might give them credit for. Keep telling the truth and keep saying it loudly! I really think most people want positive change but they don't know how to get it done.
And that will prevent slave labor in the rest of the world? Where's your empathy for them? Capitalism cannot exist without exploitation and poverty🤦♀️
Paul, I would note that increasing numbers of progressives from all age groups, rather than supporting the DNC, increasingly are post carding, letter writing, phone banking, canvassing, and the like for organizations backing electable progressives.
I hope you're right. On the other hand, my sense is that a significant number of young people gave up after Bernie was sabotaged by the DNC twice. I hope I'm wrong. By the way, regarding this latest about raygun stealing the election from Carter by keeping the Iran captives locked up. Was this the first "coup" by the repugnants? number two would have been shrub in 2000. these facts have all been discussed extensively over the years by chomsky, hedges, and others.
It’s not that simple. Some states are so ‘red’ that electing ANY democrat is a miracle. Manchin is an example. Red states seem to accept greed and corporate influence readily, and that includes the democrats. Blue states are fighting voter lethargy, and the barrage of right wing false news. A progressive has two strikes against him before s(he) even begins. We can only keep fighting to return to the programs of FDR. Right now we have a full time job trying to stop the claims of democrats being Socialists/Marxists.
Linda, I find both your analysis and proposals spot on, particularly your last point regarding Republicans labeling Democrats as Socialists. I would note, as we have learned with “wokeism,” we might start by pressing offenders to define Socialism to ensure we’re on the same page. I expect we will hear a good bit of stammering that in no way will reflect the Democrat’s project to level the effects of capitalism by wedding it to social democratic institutions aimed at containing its excesses and moderating its self-serving impulses. Nor will we hear about the effort to establish a modicum of social and economic justice for large numbers of people today who feel oppressed and marginalized by a runaway, rampant capitalism.
I don't have to go far from home to see greed. Kroger has reduced manned check out lines to one thereby encouraging us peons to self check. Less workers and modernization should lead to lower prices. The old trickle down theory, right? It doesn't and hasn't. Now I have to be more cautious traversing the shopping isles. Why? Because those grocery checkers have morphed into speed demons pushing carts destined for grocery pick up. The shelves aren't stocked well because stockers numbers are reduced. What choice do we as the consumer have? Prices still high and wages and benefits for those few that are employed are low. Greed is rampant in our society!!
I always get into the line with the clerk. And I'll patiently stand there until it is my turn. I refuse to use automated checkout.
As the line at that single checkout counter gets longer and longer and longer, Kroger and others may get the message that customers made angry by the lack of checkers will take their business elsewhere.
Tom, yes, maybe if the lines are too long, they will take their business to smaller local groceries. They don't have as much variety, but often have better quality since they have to work harder to keep customers. Might be worth the slightly higher prices.
And farmers' markets! Lots of variety; good quality, most of it organic and/or pesticide-free; say hey to the same folks every week, look 'em in the eye and give 'em their money. 😎
There was a time when helpers put all of the gasoline into our tanks. That was a long time ago. Now we all fill our own tanks with gas and think it normal. True, gas is a single commodity, unlike groceries. Still, I assume the grocery consultants expect us all to get over our tantrums and settle for self-checkout in time. And the invention of bar codes make it a reasonable expectation.
Me too! I won't participate in the reduction of jobs for actual people, so I wait as well. Not just Kroger, most grocery stores and pharmacies. But you'll never see me at a self-checkout.
My feeling is that if a machine can do a certain job well, it is no longer a respectable and worthwhile job for a human to do. Let the machines have it and get on with the creative ventures we humans still have a lock on (for a short while longer). Get on with designing the robotic machines that will someday replace all of our functions, including the creative ones. I hope we can design a love of pets into those robots.
Yes, similar with Fred Meyer, which was taken over by Kroger. A lot less friendly now. It also pushes customers to self checkout, but I still use the ones with clerks. I used to go there weekly but now it's bimonthly because I dislike going there now.
She’s probably on dozens of boards like that. They would never associate with “us “peons. They live in entirely different world, and they like it that way. They would commit suicide in less than a week if they had to live like most Americans . sorry ,they might last two weeks.
Jaime, back about 35 years ago, I liked shopping at Kroger. They were friendly and had decent prices. Something happened since then, after I moved north. I keep hearing stories of their less-than-caring attitude. Too bad for those who don't have a grocery store choice and have to shop Kroger or another store with the same lousy values.
This really is a case that should not have been allowed. Kroger was making money. Another case of we are losing competition and Biden is in charge why did he not stop it.
Please check your sources. Living in Michigan I am very aware of the Meijer business.
From a "Google" moments ago;
Kroger does not own Meijer. Meijer is one of the largest privately-owned grocery chains in America. Kroger, by comparison, is the largest grocery chain in the US and the 2nd largest retailer aside from Walmart.
Please check your eyes! I said "Fred Meyer", which is a grocery chain in the Pacific Northwest, taken over by Kroger early this century, & full of Kroger brand products.
Paul, yes, greed is rampant in the huge corporations. Our society almost sees it as a virtue rather than one of the deadly sins. How did that happen or has it always been that way?
Renee, the problem with a Wall Street part 2 with Gordon becoming a serious philanthropist who learns to live as a normal person would never sell. People these days want anti-heroes who are awful people who get what they want because really, they have a decent heart. It is just that everyone else is so bad, they have to compete with it, or something like that ("Breaking Bad" or "The Sopranos," and more). I'd watch it, but it wouldn't make the kind of money movie-makers count as essential.
How do you like the grocery chains old trick to rearrange all the products in the isles once a year in the hopes that you might add a new product while you’re racking your brain /eyes to find the old ones.
Their last rearrangement, which was practically total & really confounded me, & made the store less shopper friendly & me feel lost, is what prompted me to greatly curtail my patronage of Fred Meyer.
That is one of two things that drive me crazy at Costco. The other is moving inventory I've just decided to buy, out of the store. Poof! Gone! Never to return.
I decided a while back not to go to Costco - Not to go to Walmart - Whatever BIG BOX store is out there - it’s not going to get my money. Employees are not treated well in different ways, the little brick and mortar‘s lose money in my supporting big box stores. I want to support employees of small, organic groceries. Where I live, I go to El Cerrito Natural grocery store! It is partially employ-owned.. There’s Rainbow grocery in SF… In Marin, there’s Good Earth Natural grocery.
Jaime, your question about how we can have a society that maintains the best of several economic systems meshed well together is a good one. There are pieces of many different models that have worked in the past that could be reinstated if we had the will to do so. Right now, the addiction of our wealthiest to the money and power they can accumulate is keeping us from making more positive moves toward curbing global warming and the other pains of our society. Another challenge is how often people who actually have a moral compass bow to those who have none, as President Biden has to the fossil fuelers by approving the "Willow Project" and not declaring an environmental emergency, and allowing people with an inability to think broadly in positions of authority when appointed by a proud money-power addict (Powell at the Fed, for example). How do we break through this wall of money-power addicts who see themselves alone as worthy of power and the rest of us as their minions?
Yes! THAT is why countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark and all the countries around like have a near ONE HUNDRED PERCENT life satisfaction! Last I checked, the United Shtaysh is hovering around the mid to low FOURTIES. [sic]
The scandinavian countries are so much smaller than the US. I have given thought to how the system in Denmark (<6 million) would scale up in application to 350 million and it is hard to conceive. Plus, the population of Denmark is more alike one another than the diverse population in the US. The mind boggles. We could do a lot better, but there is so much bad attitude in the US for sharing the load. I heard so many complaints like "I don't want to pay for someone else's pregnancy, drug treatment, mental illness, etc. regarding Obamacare that it made me sick. The same people buy car insurance. Go figure.
I rely on SS because I did not money-grub my whole life. In hindsight there's a part of me that regrets not money grubbing. When my savings run out I am going to be up shot creek. Through no fault of my own I have (genetic) diabetes and fungal pneumonia infection (choice of geography and breathing). If I went back to work (at age 72) I would probably get sick and die. So, work and die or retire and die. Nice choices.
Because most Americans do not understand that medical insurance works EXACTLY like car insurance and home insurance and many other shared risk enterprises.
And somehow, the selfishness and poor attitude about helping others and sharing the load, has apparently caught on with the socially irresponsible MAGAs.
Greed is the root cause of most of the cruelty on earth, and greed is a basic part of human nature. The urge to have and consume more resources has been both a driver of human progress and a source of human misery, and no form of human government, religion, or economy that I know of has been able to eliminate it. Where there are humans, we will see cruelty, destruction and exploitation just as we see good will, curiosity and progress. What we have in America today is increasingly a political system that allows corporations to externalizations costs and internalize profits. We can change that if enough of us decide to do it.
Well, not quite. We covered this in Anthropology class in college. There HAVE been societies where the link between wealth and power was successfully broken. One example (but not the only) was the Native Americans of the northwest coast. In their society, social status was determined not by how much "stuff" you had, but by how much you gave away to others. When someone accumulated a lot of "stuff" (AKA "wealth"), they held a "potlatch festival", where they literally gave away everything they had, right down to the shirt on their back. Afterwards, someone would give them a shirt, someone else might give them a knife, etc, the basic necessities of life in their culture, and the cycle would begin again. When the person had managed to accumulate another batch of "stuff", they would hold another potlatch. A person gained influence by how much they contributed to the rest of the group, not by how much wealth they had. It was a fundamental difference in the values of the society, and successfully prevented the corrosive effects of excessive inequality on their society.
This kind of society exists (or existed?) in islands in the Pacific, too. Polynesia or Micronesia. Of course, the arrival of Europeans always disrupts such societies.
NO, they are greedy for POWER and PRESTIGE. Money just buys them that.
Merely stamping one’s foot and saying that there’s no capitalist system that can work does not make it so. Merely looking at the world and seeing the REAL and DEVASTATING destruction of lives spent in slave labor to capitalists does not men it MUST me that way -- only that we have left our planet to function that way and we allow capitalism to take advantage of it.
If anyone on this thread insists that capitalism MUST include the enslavement and mistreatment of people at the bottom of the economic system, what is your solution? You insist people accept your premise -- to what end? What’s your preferred system, then? Say something useful.
I agree the greed is about money. Not that a sack of gold does anything for you. It is what it can buy that causes greed. Is a basic Chevrolet the same as the best Mercedes? Of course not. I have been in them both. Took more "greed" to get the Mercedes. And yes we are greedy for food. We are mammals. Food is one of the two drivers of all mammals. I like lobster better than peanut butter. But I eat a lot more peanut butter. Actually like it. So before you continue with your utterances, I hope you spend some time really studying the issue and articulate your thoughts much better than you are doing so far.
Jasmine, what you are fixated on is unregulated, laissez-faire capitalism such as dominated the 19th century. The flawed concept that Adam Smith's "invisible hand" would naturally maximize social good is what Republicans are promoting when they treat regulation as if it is evil. Sensible regulation is required to keep planes from falling from the skies, pharmaceuticals safe and effective, industrial plants from poisoning us all, and zillions of other things necessary in an advanced modern economy. The issue we face is the unfettered power of wealth, further unleashed by SCOTUS' 2010 decision in the Citizens United case giving unlimited political propaganda protection under the First Amendment. As long as US political campaigns remain dominated by high dollar donors all the problems we face will continue. Remember that the alternative to private enterprise is governmental control of the economy, which is inherently ineffective. Rational regulation of private enterprise requires an educated electorate but look at the numbers of people who irrationally believe Trump when he tells them he won the 2020 election. Other examples are too numerous to mention.
Why? Because money empowers them to buy all the food, possess all the goods to an excessive degree. Excess is the key word here. Enough of anything to live a healthy life with a secure future is what we all have a right to. Those who greedily consume not only what they truly need, but hoard all they want--wealth for wealth's sake--make fair distribution of goods difficult or impossible for others. who are forced to suffer going without those goods they truly need for themselves and their families. That is abuse of capitalism. I call it "capitalism without a conscience" and immoral behavior. It is no surprise that there are those who fall into the trap of thinking communism is the answer. That has been tried and failed. Today, former communists are some of the world's most corrupt and powerful billionaires on the world's stage. It is true: the inherent tendency of the human person to greed at the root of economic injustice--no matter what the form of government. But any government that prevents the abuse of capitalism is the government that provides economic justice for all.
Start by remodeling American Econ 101 courses taught in every American University, which have becomes courses in the ideology of self-interest only. Democratic socialism in Europe, and the FDR-LBJ styled New Deal Order saw the key role of the other(shared with others, that which reasoned people could go along with)-interest. The Econ 101 courses (and these are taught in high schools, and, even alluded to in some elementary courses) encourage self-interest only excessive greed, in effect creating in every round a new generation of greed b_____ds.
Gary, I like your idea of revamping Econ courses at every level. The account of economics you describe is not what I learned in my college econ courses. I learned that economics was for the benefit of the community and the nation (we didn't make it to the world level back then). I would like to see more community-centered education regarding economics, money, and business/entrepreneurism too. We could do that.
Bringing community back into view within the economic framework is what is needed ... as done in Dual Interest Theory in Metaeconomics ... Palgrave running the e-book on sale right now, at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-50601-8
People have to wake up and realize how they're being led astray but the wealthy. For me that's the bottom line. They have to have that "Emperor has no clothes" epiphany and the rise up, call their congress persons, vote in sensible caring people. If the people lead the leaders will follow.
Never forget that the Europeans have been the most ruthless and barbaric people to have ever walked upright on the Earth. I have seen firsthand remnants of that myself. They are also still living off the treasures and wealth they managed to steal from the native countries they invaded centuries ago. I wouldn't be tossing any
Yes, as another of my comments implies, but that was then & this is now. They have learned, at least to some extent, to be more responsive to their citizens' rights, health, happiness & prosperity. Much better than the US government.
That I'm not 100% sure of. There are some here in the US who appear to be trying to move things in a positive direction. Sadly, many of the powerful companies are multinational. There may be some reasons to be positive about the future. It's all about keeping the pressure on the leaders of the country and big corporations. We get what we demand.
Yes, & French citizens are a lot more demanding than we are, & they've gotten a lot more. It appears they may have lost their battle to keep their retirement age, from going up from 62 to 64, but will we fight as hard to keep our retirement age from going up to 68, or even 70?
You are right, humans often use capital and power to exploit people and commit cruel acts. And there are many critiques of our current economic system designed (through compound interest rates)to make the rich richer and empty the pockets of the less fortunate. Yet dark capitalism is the work of maladapted humans who use money to manipulate an economic system that fundamentally depends on trust, fair play and an evolution of the rules to meet each of our needs for life and livelihood in a just world. One can easily point to enlightened counter examples - Patagonia, the B Corp movement, GABV.org and many many companies and financial institutions working toward a better future. There are many forms of capital formation, investment and gift money in the world that can develop healthy forms of capital such as social capital, trust capital, human capital, infrastructure capital and commons capital. These are the building blocks of a healthy thriving society, and many people are working hard to eliminate the damage to people and the environment. They all depend on continuous values formation and reconciliation and legislation that comes from civil public discourse and protected voting rights (not lobbying special interest factories) and a fundamental belief in human dignity for all. I am not convinced we have many alternatives to the conscious use of money and healthy use of capital with proper guard rails to meet the emerging challenges we face.
I don't have one. But nature does. This is end stage capitalism. Capitalism has destroyed the planet. Nature is fighting back and she will win. If we had started dismantling this barbaric system 100 years ago, we may have stood a chance 😔 Not now. We're in the midst of the 6th great extinction and humans are on the endangered species list. The oligarchs who caused this, know this, and they are making preparations for it.
POLITICALLY ": go to a companies website & read--or call the CEO office and request a copy of-- their
MISSION STATEMENT--
many have none . Then make the effort to contact the company and tell them why you are shopping there or not
(eg: walgreens 🚫 because of the policy on mifipristone.
look @ their corp pac FEC
pages -- walgreens's has an
agenda i cannot figure out:
2020 campaign = $ ~ 30K
more to house Dems / ~$25K
more to gop senate)
punchline : be a walking advertisement via iMessage on your shirt the blue square pin on your lapel, SHOP politically, including HABITAT, made copies of possible funding opportunities from package labels (eg: cascadian farms ➡️ the nature conservancy) ... I begin to ramble-- when I guess the word of the day is Rumble
Can you unpack this a bit. You’re making quite a lot of sense.
All societies use money as a medium of exchange, separate from their ideology, which may or may not be capitalist. It’s the lack of regulation that has led to this crisis. Have you read Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears?
gee--several wonderful comments about the different types of "capitalism"--but it doesn't seem everyone is hearing that. I prefer to distinguish dark capitalism from free market enterprise and corporations that give back--
Forbes list of 100 altruistic corporations is a little little bit like what I mean
Really, what will stop them from continuing their bullshit? because majorities don’t matter in this country anymore and in our fragmented divided country I don’t see an end to it. Now, maybe if we had some untimely dea---. The justice system is so rigged towards the wealthy they will never be dealt with in anyjustifiable manner. We waited too long to deal with this ,it’s 50 years of this crap.We find it is too late.
What will stop them? Start with reestablishing and enforcing voting rights, rejecting the concept of “corporations are people,” limiting contributions to political candidates, and enforcing civil rights for all people. Let’s try that and see how it we look in 5-10 years.
Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater! Capitalism incentivizes Motivates and produces the goods (in the broadest sense) we want. However, pure capitalism, which we see run amok in our society today demeans and diminishes our humanity and concern for each other. It is immoral and unethical. We need desperately to balance capitalism with equality and democracy to find the right mix for a better more humanistic society.
I have always been a proponent of humane capitalism, but almost none of it exists. Like the term, “United States”,”humane capitalism “is a huge oxymoron.
Capitalism isn't perfect but has the capability of being practiced humanely and fairly. I don't believe it is capable of doing that without strong regulation to ensure fairness and desirable behavior. The direction it is moving in now, increasingly deregulated with industrialists as the main influencers and benefactors of our lawmakers, makes it impossible to foster capitalism that is humane or just.
You mentioned "pure capitalism" but I respectfully disagree that what we are seeing practiced now is actually pure. Pure capitalism allows for the demand shown in market activity to determine the prices asked for and paid in that marketplace without significant pricing interference. The ebb and flow between the demand and supply continuously sets and resets pricing. Our current system doesn't do this and allows wealthy and connected participants to have outsized influence on the basis for the prices offered, allowed or determined in different markets. Subsidies, tax laws, whether or not certain societal or environmental costs are required to be figured in pricing calculations, when markets are allowed to operate, at what point rapid price moves in a market are dangerous and so on, all effect how markets behave and set their prices. There are plenty of the current laws and rules which put a thumb on the scale for the wealthy and connected, giving them unequal weighting in how market strike prices are determined. Dr. Reich alluded to some of the ways in today's essay and his books are even more informative on this topic.
So, you get labor markets with operating terms legislatively dictated by CEOs, that pay executives obscenely, even when they blow up their banks and companies, but barely give pay raises to the hands actively generating the productivity enriching those companies. An environment that makes it acceptable to raise interest rates to "cause pain" in labor markets to "cool off wage pressure" when working people get raises and the investment class alarms about inflation. However, when the same power players are hurt by rising rates; i.e. executives and investors at SVB, Signature, Credit Suisse and other interest sensitive banks, it suddenly becomes acceptable to consider that the pace of interest rate hikes is too fast, should possibly reverse or it could *gasp!* harm the markets.
Industrial titans are fans of free-market capitalism when the rules tilt the table in their favor, conditions keep labor inexpensive, everything is sunny and they're easily meeting or beating optimistic analyst forecasts. When things head south, they become ardent socialists demanding government largesse to bail them out of their mistakes. I don't root for market panic. Yet, until I see a situation where large, corporate players make massive existential mistakes and have to settle through bankruptcy proceedings, not get sudden infusions of Fed money to prop them up, I don't accept our system as truly capitalist, much less a pure version of it.
I’m seeing that our current system is more akin to oligarchy than to democratic republicanism. The worst of it leans into the primates’ tendency to seek to dominate. The American system of children‘s education has been dismantled since the 1970s and the average person hasn’t noticed our systems breaking down over the past fifty years. So, here we are. Thanks for allowing me to get that off my chest.
You're not wrong about this country looking more oligarchic. In discussions I've had with a few people about this latest banking crisis, we've noted the fact that the "too big to fail banks" are beneficiaries, as small and midsized bank customers flee to them for safety, knowing that the Fed is backstopping the big guys at all costs. Everywhere you look; telecom, food companies, auto manufacturers, device manufacturers, grocery stores and more, all industries seem to be getting whittled down to no more than 3 or 4 national players. Completely appreciate the analogy of primate dominance when discussing executive mindsets, the acknowledgment of our declining systems, as well as yours and Robin's responses. All that you vented resonates. Lastly, I'm very grateful you both read through my WALL OF TEXT. One day I hope to successfully express my thoughts more succinctly.
Much obliged for your response, C., most genuinely. I see that we’re all relating our observations and experiences of the many-faceted decline of our brief American history, being undone by the misfortune of human nature. Nothing new for this species, right?
Capitalism CANNOT exist without exploitation and poverty🤦♀️ There is no such thing as humanely allowing someone to starve to death because they can't AFFORD TO BUY FOOD.
Jasmine, while I do acknowledge that capitalism hasn't existed without exploitation and poverty, the same is also true of many, if not all other, economic systems that I am aware of. Communism and Socialism, for example, also existed in all iterations with exploitation, poverty and often starvation.
I have no particular aversion to Socialism; in theory it would work beautifully and equitably distribute goods and services to all, leaving no one without. However, anything run by people tends to be subject to the whims of those running the program. In practice, 'some have been more equal than others' and the empowered allocated most of the benefits to themselves, with meager scraps sprinkled to everyone else.
I am not wedded to capitalism but I feel that, when its operation and pricing aren't distorted by laws that prefer certain very successful industries or participants in industries, it is the system best equipped to distribute goods and services in a way that can be more fair. Those that use more, spend more to buy more. If prices are not artificially inflated or subsidized, the price for those goods is higher or lower to reflect scarcity relative to current demand. There is definitely a discussion that can be had about setting basic needs provisions, or a universal basic income to ensure dignified subsistence but that is a different topic.
My main point is that all economic concepts currently known are vulnerable to abuse and none are perfect. Capitalism, as it is now practiced, is stacked by connected players to ensure they are preferred and enriched at the expense, dignity and safety of others. This stacking is from the contamination of market workings by laws and norms shaped by corporate lobbyists. As Dr. Reich mentioned, the system can be changed based on what we buy, what businesses we support and what the representatives we choose write into law.
I ask you the following in honest curiosity: if people don't use capitalism to allocate resources to meet their needs, what method is your suggestion? My own imagination on this is shaded by my own experiences and biases, and I'm truly interested to hear your alternative solution.
No money YOU DIE. That's CRUEL AND BARBARIC. You disgust me defending it🤮 I hope you never have to struggle. Capitalism is a PYRAMID SCHEME. A con game. It WILL COLLAPSE in on itself.
It generally seems the case that more of us on these comment threads agree than disagree. The $64K question for me is, how do we awaken the other nearly half of the country still under the spell of trickle down fairy tales?
Tell that to the children mining the cobalt used to make cellphones and EVs🤦♀️ Tell that to the slaves in the mining industry. The fashion industry. The tourist industry. Capitalism is cruel and barbaric. IT CANNOT WORK WITHOUT EXPLOITATION AND POVERTY.
To greatly varying degrees.. And you can always fact check the news you see on TV. I read RSN daily. They are totally Reader Supported News. They don't bow to corporate interests. And there are others.
CAPITALISM IS CRUEL AND BARBARIC. IT CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT EXPLOITATION AND POVERTY. STOP DEFENDING IT🤮 It's destroyed the environment and put humans on the endangered species list. Humans are too stupid to live.
you are exactly correct. there is so much depraved greed and cruelty associated with capitalism, starting with mercantilism in the 15th and 16th centuries. of course this brought us slavery on an industrial scale. and let us not forget the british east india company, probably the antecedent to all arguments (specious) for incorporation and it's legal protections from most norms of morality. ooops, did i conflate morality and legality. my bad.
Capitalism is horrific. I can't believe people are still trying to defend it and not actively learning how to dismantle it. Indigenous people thrived without it. Capitalists want us to forget that.
Based on my understanding, although seemingly more socialist than capitalist, the Netherlands, admirably in my view, has taken on certain characteristics from both socialist and capitalist ideological models. Admittedly, a system, partially but not entirely, based on private rather than public ownership and control of commercial enterprises, the country’s distribution of resources, wedded to social democratic institutions, is, by mutual consent and for the general welfare, substantially more regulated and equitable than in the States.
Daniel, My purpose in writing mostly was to portray the social and economic system I understand operates in the Netherlands. Am I to presume your point is to suggest a causal relationship between the country’s present system and its former colonial possessions?
Something I've noticed in the comments is that countries with smaller populations than ours can have both government and private sector working in harmony for the greater good for all. Those countries with huge areas of land and populations don't seem to work as well for all. Perhaps the United States of America would work better if we did split into 4 to 10 smaller, self sustaining countries, some in alliance with each other.
Fay, While I think you’re right that smaller, more homogeneously populated countries more readily can combine both socialist and capitalist ideologies, I don’t agree the answer rests with dividing up our country. Notwithstanding the different set of challenges a larger, more pluralistic democracy must contend with, still, let’s not forget had the 90% of BBB that was dropped from the edited down Inflation Reduction Act been implemented, quoting Bernie Sanders, that would have made Biden “the most progressive President since FDR.”
I imagine none of us will forget, while the full Biden agenda, in 21, had passed in the House, the legislation, that only could pass in the Senate through budget reconciliation, failed to pass by 2 votes. Accordingly, were we, in 24, to retake the House, add a few more progressive seats to the narrow majority we currently hold in the Senate, and also hold the Presidency, we could sign into law extraordinary initiatives relative to education, climate, healthcare, the economy, criminal justice, immigration, and the like.
lulie, I understand, far from a socialist planned economy, Denmark is a market economy with a robust social welfare system providing generous unemployment, free health care and higher education, and heavily subsidized childcare.
An older friend of mine has been going to Spain for about 15/20 years. She dreads coming home to all this hate and division. I Lift my lamp beside these media wars.
The cause and the cure are one and the same. The Voting public, which is either caught up in the bread and circus provided us by our corporate controlled government and our corporate media. Distracted by a culture war that the right and the media have created, by sports , reality TV and celebrity gossip.
Their beds are warm and comfortable, their stomachs full, their minds full of self righteousness, easily angered, full of angst and fear. Those that could change the situation, are for the most part, little more than lemmings being led over a cliff.
Those that are conscious and concerned, can only sit on the sideline and point out
The dangerous road ahead,
This is a contest between the amygdale and the pre frontal cortex. The amygdale is the lizard brain, that is easily frightened and knows only fight or flight. It is well manipulated by pulpit and press (religion and media) to serve it’s masters, the 1% like Peter Thiel, Pete Petersen, Barre Seid (dec), Leonard Leo and hundreds of others, who are like sharks .
Sharks need to keep swimming, otherwise they suffocate and die, our social sharks need to keep control of money, otherwise they lose power and social control.
The pre frontal cortex is the place were reasoning takes place, where information, including threats are evaluated and the best course of action is decided upon, known as critical reasoning.
Walking through a rocky desert and you hear the rattle of a snake, you don’t have time to use your critical reasoning, the amygdale takes over and you suddenly become super human.
The amygdale is the tool used, and effectively, through the ages by despots, authoritarians, the ruling class, Kings, Queens, Emperors, preachers, priests, rabbis, imams, corporations. and since Guttenberg, the press to effectively control the hive mind, and by such the hive’s behavior.
The lemming fascists control the politics and the electoral votes ( if SCOTUS sides with the fascists in Moore V Harper .. the independent state legislature case that will enable the state legislature to select the electors in the general election) democracy is dead.
Out of 98 partisan legislative chambers, Republicans control 57 chambers. Democrats control 41 in 2023. In total, Republicans control 22 states and Democrats control 17, with state control defined as a state where the upper chamber, lower chamber, and governor seat are all held by the same party. 10 states have divided government.
How do we turn around those idiots, who believe that their familial, social control and quality of life are being threatened by brown people, LGBT, feminists (bumper sticker word for women who demand self sovereignty , equal rights and pay). Because that is where the battle lines are drawn.
It is these fearful patriarchs amygdala that is being stoked and stroked by the "sharks", and it is they who stormed the Capitol and it is they who see Donald John Trump as their avatar and stand ready to commit more violence and overthrow the government in his name, but in their own self interest.
Kudos, William! Stress overload is defined as an important stress that continues for more than 30 days and where you feel you have little or no control to resolve the situation. (Sound like our nation/world right now?)
That is all it takes for the stress hormones overwhelm the prefrontal cortex and activate the amygdala. Fear, anger and freezing result, along with inability to control emotions, make or follow on plans, or change plans to integrate new information.
The last few years have put millions in stress overload. Is there a cure? You start by removing the source(s) of the stress. You make sure that basic needs are met and calm restored. (Yeah, sure)
I used to train human service staff to stop mentally diagnosing people experiencing homelessness as all being mentally ill and to start seeing them as victims of stress overload. The problem? The staff themselves were often experiencing the same stress symptoms, the same amygdala-driven emotional and cognitive limitations.
Helping people see the source of stress as less important and empowering them to take steps... (yeah? Sure?)
Actually, the calm competence of the Biden Administration is a good counter, but the flood of angry and fearful social media kinda overwhelms any cognitive benefits. So. Now what?
Thank you for expanding my knowledge and insight. Homeless is not just stress overload. The economic/financial system of capitalism as is practiced in the west, has produced homeless people and families as they have lost their means of survival and forced onto the streets, and that creates stress. Stress did not create homelessness and I know that you know that and agree.
Yes homelessness causes stress overload,but stress overload does not cause homelessness.
Americans and America are , as a whole, greedy, needy,and lack a conscience. Wrapped up in narcissism, anger, fear, self righteousness, belief.
I guess I should have stated that -- for those who might have misunderstood cause vs effect. Capitalism/greed and discrimination, along with the inability of both political parties to maintain (let alone strengthen) the safety net: those are the causes. Attributing homelessness to mental illness does not help anyone but the oligarchs and politicians.
I like the article but it’s the same o same o .50 years of FDR and then 50 years of Reaganism and now we’re supposed to be going back more to a liberal bent.But honestly I don’t see that happening because now every law is rigged to favor the Oligarch ,as Robert Reich mentioned. Add to this the maga morons and the fact that majorities By design Were never intended to have much of a say in this country. Now throw in citizens united, and the fact that the Supreme Court was packed by a Senate which is disproportionately constructed against majority rule. Add to that gerrymandering by both parties(because fairness was never a rule of politics) so there is very little hope of change without a total revolt by the people in this country,or a whole lot of untimely deaths of the rich and powerful.
Our species doesn't learn from history. Capitalism has an horrific track record and people are still defending it😐 Capitalism breeds fascism because psychopaths created it. Nazis protested a drag queen story hour in Ohio😳 Putin is committing genocide in Ukraine and Syria. The Israeli government has been committing genocide against the Palestinians for decades. The US invaded Iraq for oil. The wealth inequality in the US is worse than what it was prior to the French Revolution. The oligarchs have and continue to destroy the environment. They know the end of their reign is coming and they are making preparations for it.
I have not read your book. But the real culprit here is lack of competition at the highest levels. Three companies split up over 80% of the defense budget. One basic oil company and it is not state run. Conagra well every bit of food goes through them one way or another. Three big lumber companies control over 80% of the peoples timber. Yes most of the lumber you buy at home depot or Lowes is from national forest that the big three don't pay much for. One railroad. If you had true competition at the top. Those companies would have to pay a fair wage and cut profits to gain market share and low productivity cost. So if this is in your book everyone should buy it. If not rewrite it. Oh and the big divergence happened under Regan. But people were stupid thinking rich people were going to suddenly start acting differently and be benevolent. When has that ever happened. But people are stupid with short memories and grew up with a lot of prejudice in their hearts. So they do stupid things
Tom, thank you for making the case for paying attention.
Are we so sure we don’t deserve a part of the glory that can come from a true , strong and regulated government that is controlled by and with fair and equal voting and with regulations that are simply the boundaries we set for our own existence. With that regulation comes order and no society is sustainable without that order. Together , as in a strong union, we share the information , the issues, the policies that affect us and together we search for the best form of order.
With that in mind we must educate our young people by showing them how that order is obtained. Being on the cell phone helps erode any kind of order. We have to be on the same “call”. Show young people how powerful their freedom is when it is backed up with laws that actually are equal for all. When you run a red light you get a ticket.... the ticket is color blind. When you commit treason you are sent to prison. If our society is not shown how this gains our own freedom then it will fall apart. And it is. Don’t kid yourself.
We also must show our government bodies that they are held accountable for carrying through on our so called perfect union. Not the Supreme Court or the DOJ or the Senate or the House is there for “just a few” ,or are they?Teach our youth how to tell the difference. Our youth can already see the difference . They feel the difference through educational discrepancies and through wage discrepancies and through boundaries that are not secure for them to succeed.
Come on “parents”, teachers, doctors, media , human beings. Talk straight and share the glory of what could be in this country. Don’t let greed and power be our boundaries. Let opportunity, great training, accountability , community and safety through well earned pensions and strong unions be our goal posts! Let us age in peace and know that our youngsters will share that right!
Let’s share the facts and SHOW our young people the joys of that goal.
And kick the ass of all those bullies who think this planet is just for them!
You are absolutely correct. Biden's economic rescue plans actually benefit corporations and the 1%, otherwise they would never have passed. His pharmaceutical cost reductions have a sunset and are tightly targeted., otherwise they would never have passed. The probably lack enforcement teeth as well. Like so many laws (spitting on sidewalk as well), but just mentioning this poses the danger of aiding and abetting the enemy or being accused of a right wing troll.
Here is my point.
Populism has a bad rep, because the only populism we have seen is right wing populism, be it William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long, or Father Coughlin.
We haven't seen real populism, the populism evidenced in the Sanders movement (not necessarily by Bernie, but the movement).
Left wing populism is the populism of the commons, the commons that Thom has talked and talks about. It is placing limitations on corporations and those who run corporations and profit from their operations. It is reinstating the corporate death penalty, it is charging corporate officers with crimes committed by the corporations. It is ensuring that the commons (roads, utilities, parks, fire, police, prisons, military) are not privatized.
It is ensuring that all citizens of this country have, if they choose, a dry place to sleep, and don't die from disease, hypothermia and starvation.
It is having a tax policy that ensures that a person is rewarded for their work and risk, but not so insanely that it creates a social stabilizing wealth gap and a permanent under class, of what is in India called "untouchables"
Any politician who dare sticks his head above the crowd and proposes such things, will find his head chopped off (figuratively)
America has its own caste system, though not formally or informally recognized
Indian society was divided into five castes:
Brahmins: the priestly caste. After their religious role decreased they became the caste of officialdom. in America it is the 1%
Kshatriya: warrior caste. ..., in America not the military, but those who protect and maintain the Brahmins, the Tucker Carlsons, the chattering nabobs of the corporate media.
Vaisya: the commoner caste. ... Our politicians, like those elected to the House of Representatives, state and local political office. In America this caste, and most of their children, gravitate to what is perceived as the ruling or dominant political party, like Nimarata Nikki Haley (née Randhawa)
Sudras: represented the great bulk of the Indian population. ... the average American who works, then curls up in front of the TV and computer (tablet or cell phone)
Untouchables: descendants of slaves or prisoners.- prisoners, marginalized peoples who an't find a job, live outdoors, not of their own design,
In the later medieval period, feudalism began to diminish in England with the eventual centralization of government that began around the first quarter of the fourteenth century, and it remained in decline until its eventual abolition in England with the Tenures Abolition Act 1660.
It is thought that the industrial revolution started in 1760, but it had it's beginnings with the decline of feudalism, which started earlier with the rise of a class called Freemen. These were men (sorry, but women then as now, were considered property of men), who had served as foot soldiers in Williams invading force in 1066, it was the Normans who brought feudalism to England.
Anglo Saxon England was hierarchical, the lowest rank of nobility was the elderman (the whisper of which is our alderman and his peers) below him were deigns, ceorls, kotselta's, geburs and finally slaves.
There were no class of serfs, tied to the land and the lord of the manor was in Norman England. The Various plaques which swept through the land, created a shortage of labor, resulting in the gradual end of feudalism and the rise of the freeman. The freeman was a tradesman, a mason, tinker, a potter, a carpenter, a fuller, a waulker (walker) a lister or litster (a dyer) , a ferror (iron or steelmaker).
The birth of capitalism can be marked by the creation of the Dutch East India Company in 1602, the first Joint venture stock company in the world, Formed by a group of investors that were then called adventurers, who banded together to form an enterprise which would produce profits which would be shared by all in relation to their investment.
The English soon followed with their own joint stock adventure, the Virginia Company of London and the Virginia Company of Plymouth.The latter was the seed of the United States and representative democracy (the Charter of 1619), the latter was a bust never got off the ground. Plymouth, Mass. was named for Plymouth, England which is the port of embarkation of the 60 Puritans who joined the 32 Brownists (extremist puritans) or saints as they called themselves, whom later we call pilgrims, embarked on the Mayflower, a Dutch hired fluyt, one of three to bear the name. A fluyt is a cargo ship steered by a tiller.
In the interval between the decline of serfdom and the rise of the Industrial revolution, was born capitalism (the joint stock company), which employed labor as indentured servants, or if skilled, under an agreement, which could be severed at either end.
This was also the interregnum, in which freemen fled to the commercial centers (cities) in large numbers seeking to improve their lives. Which resulted in an excess of unskilled labor, and thus set the stage for Dickensian wage slavery, which is making a rebound, now that some states have legalized child labor. We are on the backslide, defying social gravity as we slowly slide back into a form of neo feudalism. Not tied to the land but a society of barons, deigns, ceorls, and geburs.
We can learn from the indigenous people who were thriving until the Europeans invaded. This is why capitalists are hell bent on erasing their history. Sharing and caring instead of ownership and competition.
I really appreciate how it first mentions the Fed rate hikes. I was griping about that when the collapse first happened. Everyone's been trying to foist the responsibility off on the bank management, of late. I'm no bank management lover, but I don't think anyone could have predicted the Fed's policies would end up decimating the value of the securities they invested in at the time of the investment.
These people are clever. Call it reverse psychology. They are using "woke" as a distraction to hide the fact that the run on SVB was initiated by Peter Thiel (billionaire founder of Paypal and Leonard Leo).
Now why did they want SVB to fail, because SVB was donating to Democratic politicians and financing liberal start ups and causes.
Bank reserves are time deposits and Treasury and corporate bonds (see USCODE 12).
Banks loan out money on the basis of their reserves. The bank was acting prudently by investing in long term bonds, as they pay the higher interest rates and provide for a better return on investment, for the investors, than short term bonds.
Long Term bonds can only be redeemed at a significant loss, not even face value.
When billionaires like Thiel and Leo, make a demand to withdraw billions, the bank has to draw on its reserves, but those reserves are tied up in long term bonds, which they can only sell at a loss, provided they can find a buyer.
The problem is the repeal of Glass Steagall signed by Bill Clinton and the repeal of Dodd Frank signed by Trump.
The problem is that we have the best government money can buy
Corruption is not a Republican monopoly. This is a tale of the corrupting influence where money is considered speech. Thom should catalog the trail from Marbury v Madison to Citizens United in a
Short form.
Here are the Democrats who voted to repeal Dodd Frank (deregulate banks),Dodd Frank was already a weak piece of regulation. The excuse given is that they were in peril , which is nonsense. The only thing they were in peril of was losing lobbyist money
Sherrod is one of the good guys A man with integrity. He has to be good he keeps getting re elected in crimson Ohio.
As Thom points out, the real problem is money in politics, and the fact that politicians in general, do not run for re election because of public service, but because of it's perks and the road to riches.
As of 2020, over half of the members of Congress were millionaires and the median net worth of members was approximately $1 million. The original documents for each member's disclosure are publicly available on a database website, maintained by OpenSecrets.org
It is also the perks, the connections,and when they leave or retire they get jobs as lobbyist making millions or wind up in on a board of directors for some corporation.
It is about building a Humane Capitalism, as pointed to in my Metaeconomics: Tempering Excessive Greed book. And, Adam Smith would approve --- Smith would be a MetaEcon!
I doubt the Republicans getting elected even know how to spell "Smith," let alone know what he'd approve of, or could even read what you've written about it.
Thank you, Tom Cummings. CORRECT! I continue to reiterate, Mr. Reich should post his daily writings up in multiple social media sites. We will "like, comment, and share" his truthful words an they will reach millions of Americans. Instead of them listening and reading daily mis-information and sucking off the teat of falseness. Give many something to read about and possibly let it sink in and register. I guess I can copy and share but I am not a Professor who fills the halls to Standing Room Only (SRO) in the University of California, Berkeley. Be well. JDF
What kills me is I married a Dutch guy, but because I had minor children from my first marriage, he had to come here. If only I could have moved there! All of our lives would have been better. I still wish my entire family could relocate to the Netherlands.
How can we (more people) choose differently? What choices do we have? I feel completely powerless. What can I do? All I feel I can do is vote. I want to do more. I am depressed, terrified, and appalled! We are trying the best we can with the options (so few) that we have.
True. But what we can do is to stop playing along. Silence is consent. I don't mean stand on a soap box or carry a sign (the corporate establishment loves non violent protests, they see them for what they are, a pressure relief valve. People show up, vent their spleen and then after a round of self congratulations go home thinking that they did some, like those fools in the Occupy movement, they achieved nothing, but sure made themselves feel important Lots of kudos and acceptance from the peers.)
Stand your ground, with acquaintances and family, prepare to be separated from even divorce them. Silence is consent.
I have never played along and things are still the same. Standing my ground is my middle name and things are still the same. My little tribe of 3 wants to do more. What could it be? I sometimes describe my life as being like the ocean waves bashing on the rocks. Eventually the waves turn the rocks to sand. I wish I had the longevity of the ocean. In the meantime, there must be more we can do. Maybe there isn't.
I agree with occupy thing same thing for never again movement. Thomas than Kavanlaugh what happened to never again. cut there money off and you will see how fast they move. Women are the most picked on in our country and a women of color well they really have it hard. Women need to just say enough is enough and stop the cycle. If that means shut it all down then shut it down. Money will not let that happen. Once the women as a real issue comes up they will break. They always do. Just ask Jimmie Hoffa if you can find him. he got big business to pay truckers a living wage.
write your elected officials. Short e mails there attention span is very limited especially if hundred dollar bills are not waving in front of them. Next get you like minded friends to join in. Each send separate e mails. Copy and paste is ok but if each is a little different that is better. Swamp them with paper. I mean all of them. Your city council (if you have one) mayor (if you have one) state and fed. house representatives and senators and your states similar people your governor. E mail all of them. The more they get the more worried they get. When you are about to give up think of your kids if you have any, grandkids if you have any, loved ones which you have a lot of. So you can do a lot more than vote. But keep voting.
Elected representatives don't even read your emails. I wrote my congress critter a number of emails, none of which were answered, Finally I got a call from an intern, about an email I wrote concerning a power outage that affected his whole district. The outage was caused because the private equity firm that bought the public utility was delaying maintenance, and I had a video to prove it. His intern called to show concern, but nothing ever happened, because theat private equity firm is also a contributor to his campaign.
Right after the Loma Prieta quake of Oct 17, 1989, I wrote Diane Feinstein and suggested that she sponsor a bill to ensure that all homes had automatic cut off valves for their gas lines, and that existing homes be retrofied at tax payer expense.
(Fires always follow earthquakes because of broken gas lines).
I received a b.s. response about it being too expensive, then two years later, a law was passed requiring automatic shut off valves for gas lines
Excellent tutorial from Dr. Reich and follow up critique from you, Tom. Let us spread the facts among our citizenry and press it with those at the levers of government action.
Your point about socio-economic models that show the way can be demonstrated analytically using dual interest theory in the new Metaeconomics: It is about striking good balance in the joint and non-separable self & other(shared widely, like the Viking economies deciding against poverty)-interest, and, writ large, again like in the Viking economies, good balance in the joint Market & Government, both inclusive. American framing puts all emphasis on self-interest, and, the system is failing because of it.
Upon further reflection, how is it that our universities have become gymnasiums for professional athletes ‽ How is it we've come to value athletes higher than anyone who works for a living ‽
Two things would help this issue,#1, publicly financed political campaigns like they do in Europe and Australia/New Zealand,and,#2,tax these fat cat a**holes back to the Stone Age.
I for one am very tired of our politicians working for the highest bidder and to Hell with their actual constituents.Also that corporate interests matter more than actual People.
I think President Theodore Roosevelt was pretty damn smart when he warned way back in 1910 that “a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power” could destroy American democracy. It’s happening right before our eyes! What can we do to save our Democracy?
VOTE!!! We The People have the power to reign in these miscreants. The Republican party is showing itself as what it has become since Reagan - an avenue of repression against the common person. And it is become even more destructive with time, because we've allowed it to. The time is NOW, absolutely NOW, to use our voting power to let them know this will no longer be tolerated. And not just on the National level; we need to address the corruption on the State level as well. I'm from Ohio, and the Republican party here believes it can do whatever it wants, whenever it wants, because We The People have failed in Ohio to monitor and vote accordingly. The time is NOW, and voting is our weapon.
Voting will never solve the problem. The majority of voters are low information voters and have no clue. Thank our corrupted K-12 system. If you want to see what a union has done to erode this great nation, just look at the public teachers union. Actual listen to what Randi says to the teachers versus what she says to the public and you will understand how power corrupts. I have four K-12 teachers in my nephew/neice hierarchy and three believe that they are truly discriminated against in income. Two of those failed in business before becomeing teachers. And they do get two months off each summer. It is their choice. They care about the students, but the erosion of discipline and parent involvement has left them out on a limb. They are required to dumb down their classroom to the lowest common denominator. Very sad. Most high school graduates could not pass the eighth grade exam giving in 1900. They know nothing about history except that the US is a corrupt nation that commits wars of aggression (the Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan) etc. I have two grand-daughters by marriage who did not know about WWI at all, did not know it even occurred, and could not articulate WWII when they were junior and senior in high school. Sad. But they are on top of LGBQT and how Black people have been so mistreated. One told me that the only time there were slaves were Africans in Europe and America. I asked if the Romans had slaves and they knew NOTHING about the history of Rome. That is what we get when Unions run the schools.
Get real. Unions in education got teachers what little they have in the way of wages , Hours and working conditions. remember, the administrators of school districts are responsible for what is taught. they are no different than the bosses of industry. The Majority of them look at themselves as better than teachers and are paid far more with better perks. Now many of them come from industry. I taught in the Detroit area for 37 years so I speak with some experience from a personal point of view. anecdotal stories about nieces and nephews don’t resonate much with me. it’s interesting you didn’t mention about the private and charter schools and academies that are trying to Shanghai public education. For instances billionaire Betsy DeVos ,Trumps industrial pic for Secretary of Education, oh I’ll bet she loves unions.
Mr. Rohl, I am WITH you, sir! My defense of unions will come, but not until we have addressed the dire issues facing us by Republican shenanigans. If we don't vote them out - on ALL levels - unions won't matter anymore. Our unions have been under attack since Reagan, and one look at the remnants of our middle-class underscores the damage done. I just didn't think we should go on that tangent at this critical moment, is all.
Lynn's, 'Tucker/Murdoch indoctrination syndrome' is pretty evident. She's right about one thing though, voters will never fix our problems-so long as substantial numbers are conditioned to believe the BS Tucker feeds them, on a daily basis.
Could you imagine if you tried to teach critical thinking, and the forms of propaganda to every student in America? In half the states in America you would be run out of town on a rail, it just wouldn’t be patriotic to have a mind of your own.
Respectfully, Lynn, voting is our ONLY solution. And if we have to take our neighbors by the hand, slowly draw the picture of the downward spiral we're now in, and BEG them to get to the polls and do the right thing, then that is what we MUST do. We are at the precipice in this country, and I for one will do everything to pull us back, and turn us around to be again facing in the correct direction. At this point in time, the issue of schools, and the unions (?), need to be put aside for another day. Soon, for certain, but not now. We are facing a different, more perilous danger at the moment, and we must not lose focus, or we are all doomed.
You're assuming, Daniel, that when we vote for a candidate, we can trust that that candidate, if elected, will fulfill his/her promises and do the things we voted for. In my nearly 50-year experience of (never Republican) voting, that assumption has been proven overwhelmingly wrong. As I mentioned above, Biden just violated a key promise by approving the Willow project. And if I'm angry about what Biden did and vote for someone else next time, the same thing will happen. It's like Lucy with the football.
You and I have been voting together all this time!! And, if you were to ask my wife, you'd know just how cynical I really am. About ALL politicians. But it has taken me this long to realize it's my own fault. I've been falling into their trap of listening to the TV ads, and, shame on me, voting accordingly. But I've had an awakening, due to a few true patriots who hold/held office. People like Katie Porter, and former Rep. Adam Kinziger. And even Liz Cheney, with whom I disagreed on most policy matters, but applauded her stance against 45's treason. Just try to swallow hard, and stay with us, as we find the correct people to actually represent us. (I say correct, because I can't bring myself to type Right!!)
We'll only get the choices we're allowed to have. Dennis Kucinich was my hero for years here in Cleveland, until HIS OWN PARTY gerrymandered him out, because he wouldn't bow to the corporations. I don't want to say it's hopeless, but in my heart of hearts, I kinda think it is. Were I able to emigrate, I would have been gone in 2000 when GWB stole the election.
i believe the school board runs the schools, & BROWARD COUNTY, F-F-Florida ( ! ) is extraordinarily progressive, has its own educational television channel BECON where are your nieces and nephews can learn about indigenous peoples of this continent, Titus, Greece, slavery et al
There is a big blue wave 🌊 taking over the Florida coast--it's a wipe out for DeSantis
I don't believe that voting will solve this country’s problems, both for the reason Lynn lists, and because having a majority in power doesn't mean anything anymore. Obama had a bullet-proof majority for two years. Did we get universal healthcare? No, we got the ACA, a huge giveaway to Big Insurance. Did we get abortion codified? Nope. Drug price controls? Nope. Gun control? No. And on and on.
The things most people in this country want won't come about by voting, because too many politicians in both parties are corporate-owned. Biden had majorities in both houses for two years, and could have gotten much more legislation passed had the filibuster been ousted at the beginning. But it wasn't. And two DINOs held up BBB and other key bills. Now, Biden has violated his, "No more drilling on public lands. Period." promise, though that was a campaign plank, and he was elected by a majority of voters. Meanwhile, the minority (until January) GOP and corporate owners have thrown a wrench into everything.
Bottom line is that, until corporate ownership of politicians is outlawed, voting on the national level is mostly just going through the motions. We can't believe campaign promises when Big Corp is calling the shots.
Then, if not by voting, how? We The People need to work harder to vet who we are voting for! Go to campaign appearances, ask questions and DEMAND answers! Don't let them off with the usual double-speak. I know how tough that can be, and our daily time demands keep most of us from being able to do these things. But look where it's gotten us. And if we don't do this NOW, it WILL be too late! Don't give up; don't give in! That's exactly what they want, what they've been aiming for the past 40+ years. Please, for everyone's sake, VOTE!! Get grandma to go with you to vote, get your 18 year-old to go with you to vote for the first time. We need numbers, and we need people to help vet the available candidates so we with so little time can help get the country back on the right track. We need your help, Denise, and we're all here to help rid you of your rightful pessimism.
I always vote. I can't foresee ever not voting. But at the same time, I realize how ineffective a vehicle it is. We can only cast ballots for the candidates the DNC/RNC select; they make sure of that. By definition, then, any name on the ballot represents someone who's bought. I very much wanted to vote for Bernie in 2016, but the DNC saw to it that he wasn't nominated. Then, in 2020, when Bernie was pushed out again, the mantra was, "holding Biden's feet to the fire" to get a public healthcare option, $15 minimum wage, no drilling on public land, and so on. We see how all of that turned out. Demanding answers gets us exactly zero. The vast majority of elected officials do what the donors tell them to do.
What's the alternative to voting? I don't know. But casting ballots isn't getting us to where we need to be. If you read news from the 1970s, you'll see complaints about the same issues we're still facing today.
Trump is the most dishonest man on the planet. He is incapable of saying anything that doesn’t make him look good, regardless how idiotic it sounds. He lies constantly. He dreams of a fascist America with him as “Hitler”.
You’re on the wrong link here Jerry boy. You’re just doing it for harassment sake because you Aren’t changing anybody’s mind. Truthfully, I know you’re just being sarcastic. Nobody’s that dumb and to add Santos that beautiful patriots name was definitely the coup de grace.
Keith, In answer to your question, one thing we can do is to broadly and repeatedly debunk the legitimacy of the myths Reich references that mirror three common, albeit contradictory, beliefs about the United States.
Or, as former US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said (or is alleged to have said): "We can have democracy in this country, or great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, but we can't have both."
Keith Olson ; Maybe mother nature will help. It's getting worse out there all the time.political speeches and education don't reach those with closed minds. A tree blown onto your roof may get attention!
And so much turbulence when flying. I have never had to clean up and sit down early or stay seated for the entire flight and not serve due to inclement weather and turbulence more than I have had to in the last 5 to 10 years. I’ve been a flight attendant for 27 years and we used to get up when the wheels came off the ground and didn’t sit down ‘til the landing gear came down. I’ve lost track of how many times I can’t stay standing in the galley to pour drinks and I am told “Flight attendants take your seats.”
Eileen G : Very obvious changes, broken record flooding, wind, fire storms everywhere! Very 😨 scary! My husband's brother has a cabin in the Sierras where the snow was 13 feet deep! Nobody had ever seen anything like it! There were places with 16 feet!
The key to a healthy, vigorous, economy, as both Roosevelts and Adam Smith recognized, is higher taxes on the wealthy. To believe otherwise is to have swallowed Ayn Rand's bullshit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8m8cQI4DgM.
I believe Adam Smith realized that his economic system would over-reward (if you doubt this, I give you Exhibit A, Mark Zuckerberg), so to protect the free market, and with it the worker, he advocated progressive taxation. Higher taxes on the wealthy would have three effects.
1) It would directly address the over-rewarding by making it possible to build schools and infrastructure like roads, bridges and canals.
2) This recycling of money would put money in the hands of workers, so they could buy the products produced by the factories they worked in, so everyone wins.
3) It would prevent the wealthy from developing the power necessary to buy governments and distort the market.
Sadly, we have now been led to believe that the "Free market" is actually the freedom of the wealthy to do whatever they please, whereas its true meaning is the exact opposite.
What did Reagan do to disrupt a healthy economy? Why, he followed Ayn Rand and cut taxes on the wealthy (interesting that she despised him), while also busting the unions.
There is also some evidence that putting the highest income earners into significantly higher tax brackets may reduce the disparity in pay between CEOs and ordinary workers. The reason is that if executives know that higher compensation puts them into a higher tax bracket, they will be less likely to demand higher and higher compensation, because they see all or most of the extra going to taxes.
Yes, the rich must be taxed at higher rates...ALL of their income. If not, you get games like taking pay in stock options that get held and cashed out after the statute says they are eligible for the lower capital gains tax instead of income tax. It seems to me that all income over the prescribed dollar amounts should get taxed at the higher rate, regardless of where it comes from.
The opportunities for electing people with the same egalitarianism required for Roosevelt-style fiscal policy, seems completely remote in 2023! Perhaps impossible? This seems to be a decade of obscene obfuscation of Fact, Evidence, Truth & Integrity in many Democratic governments but it’s particularly disturbing watching America unravel at such grassroots cultural & political levels. American paranoia for Socialist-Democratic policy is just so baffling.
Michelle Pitman : The educational system mirrors the media. People are afraid of Socialist Democracy because there has been negative stories about socialism, with many equating it with communism. Fear was the enemy named long ago, and is the enemy today, along with ignorance.
I think it’s long past time to start making the rich and and major corporations pay their fair share. It’s also long past time to break up these large monopolies that are controlling prices and gouging consumers. It’s time for a major overhaul at the government level. Of course that would require taking the money out of politics.
It’s time to base representation in government on the population of each state. People in Wyoming,Montana and other low populated states should not be able to control the majority while they are actually in the minority. Religion needs to be removed from politics completely.
where is this extreme wealth coming from? the workers, as you rightly note, robert, but it also is coming from increasing exploitation and destruction of nature herself. even as the wealthy grow ever-richer, the rest of us are driven into never-ending debt, homelessness, and despair, and the planet that is being shared with us is being destroyed whilst the uber-rich seek to escape their mess to start over on another planet and leave us to suffer for their social, financial and environmental crimes.
The physical environment is not the only landscape subject to exploitation ("the commons" is a concept that can extend to cyberspace, spiritual life - even the mind!); kudos for noting the pattern...
I would also recommend the book The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy by Christopher Leonard, which details even more how the Fed's Quantitative Easing almost ensured that banks and investors would take on riskier investments. The economy is going to go through major withdrawal symptoms as the Fed tries to wean us away from their Easy Money. It won't be pretty.
Easy Money was an excellent program. It left me terrified about “what’s next”, however, especially from my kids/grandchildren’s perspective. If we do not get equity in our system, judicially, and taxation wise, we WILL lose democracy. This next election cycle is it, folks. The above discussion about the statehouse numbers says it all. Ds will be a useless vestige if we all are subjected to state-level Dobbs systems. Watch the movie Women Talking. Fear, Fight, Vote, Win.
"It was once thought acceptable to own and trade human beings, to take the land of indigenous people by force, to put debtors in prison, and to exercise vast monopoly power." It still is, obviously.
Personally I don't worry about those Fox viewers. Their power is diminishing as we write. My focus is on the people coming up behind them....their replacements....the Millenials/Zoomers/Alphas. So far so good.
Yes. it does look like America's youth isn't lost in a fairy tale past like so many in my generation are. But, we have to keep the levers of power out of these psycho's hands until the generational shift occurs.
I think it is high time people started reading Katl Marx again, with sn open mind. No need to read the parts about revolutions and stuff, jyst read how he predicted "today" a hekkuva long time ago, and got the cspitslists almost perf3ctly right.
Socialism is NOT the enemy. Minds taught to be closed are!
The sad Truth Today is that pretty much EVERYBODY is easily replaceable. For every competent employee anywhere in an organization that dies suddenly, moves too far away to continue with the job, becomes physically and/or emotionally disabled, etc., there are 10, 20, 50 others willing to step into that job. They don't even have to be enticed with promises of higher pay. Just the prospect of a stable job with adequate benefits is enough to start a feeding frenzy among the applicants. Whereas, all the wealthy need to get into their high-paying jobs is a well-placed relative or friendly peer to recommend them for the job. Actual competence is secondary to being well-connected. And the vast overwhelming majority of working stiffs are NOT well-connected.
I am retired from the insurance field. Worked carrier side as a commercial marine underwriter and agency side. On the carrier side, you saw examples of folks up the food chain, having well placed friends finding them a well paying job on the corporate side, even after being fired elsewhere for poor performance & disastrous results working with those working in his division. The rumors in one example were, that numerous folks, upon hearing about the hire, called the U.S. division's ceo's office to register their concerns & displeasure. Then the word from on high, was that this person was placed in a position where no one would be working for him. That appeased most folks. But have seen and heard of that more often than not. Connections often mattering more than true competence.
Will and Ariel Durant, appended their 10 volume series "The History of Civilization" with a short "essay" entitled "The Lessons of History." They note that historically concentration of wealth "regularly occurs in history" and that "the concentration may reach a point where the strength of number in the many poor rivals the strength of ability in the few rich; then the unstable equilibrium generates a critical situation, which history has diversely met by legislation redistributing wealth or by revolution distributing poverty."
We should all understand that our society cannot long endure great gaps of wealth inequality, and that there should be dignity, pride, and economic well being associated with all the various jobs that keep us together,
“To violate law is to win the admiration of half the populace, who secretly envy anyone who can outwit this ancient enemy; to violate custom is to incur almost universal hostility. For custom arises out of the people, whereas law is forced upon them from above.”
Love your ironclad myths, Prof. Reich. The GOP has built their facade of financial savvy on these vacuous talking points, said with confidence that deflects any conscious thought.
It’s time that America ended it’s recent history of catering to the #OverPrivileged. No more blank-check handouts to the #UpTrodden. Capitalism can be done honorably without the zero-sum mentality of the GOP which seems to have this secret mantra: “Move all the money to us!”
“The standard conservative explanation for why inequality has widened is that individuals are paid what they’re “worth” — and that a few Americans at the top are now worth extraordinary sums while most Americans are not.”
“Worker” is and has always been a pejorative term, whether in Marxist or Capitalist rhetoric: the very word implies “commodity,” one that’s infinitely interchangeable, and of which there is an inexhaustible supply. The only difference between the two is that Capitalism also needs its workers to be consumers of the products other workers make or provide, so they have to have some disposable income if only so the owners of the factories and businesses, and those who invest in those businesses, can see profit.
It’s not worth at all, but PERCEIVED worth, or value.
Ours is a society that has always rewarded talent — or, again, perceived talent — far more than actual labor. Looking at two obvious pools of perceived talent, movie stars and professional athletes, the immense salaries and profit participations they receive are based on their perceived value to movie studios and team owners (in many cases, both stars and athletes are offered huge paydays not because signing them to a contract confers a direct advantage to the employer — added box office gross for a movie, or improved performance of a team — but to merely keep them from selling their services to a competitor of the studio or team. Their value, therefore, is exclusively relative to the particular industry in which they toil; if one were to try to calculate what I call their societal value, it is more or less nil (granted, if the movies or sports vanished overnight, the world would be a somehat duller place, but we’d endure. If, however, forty percent of the world’s garbage collectors suddenly disappeared, we’d all be up to our necks in filth, vermin and disease-bearing ticks and fleas, and civilization would truly and literally collapse).
The problem doesn’t lie with the movie stars and athletes; they’d be fools not to take the money thrown at them, and they are, in total, only a few thousand, made millionaires by billionaires (something that also describes the hyena pundits paid to spew lies on Fox). But it’s those billionaires who are manipulating the very perception of wealth and what might be called the propriety of wealth. Using the media they control they skew those perceptions to their benefit and the detriment of almost everybody else.
As with many things, Oscar Wilde crafted the perfect turn of phrase, though he used it as the definition of a cynic: one who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing. By this definition, ours is the most cynical society in history, and it’s the billionaires who are moving heaven and earth to make sure it stays that way.
I love your reference to garbage workers. They are part of our essential workers who couldn’t even take off for COVID. I have always felt all essential workers should be rewarded with living wages with a little left over to save. They make our lives and the lives of the wealthy better,so reward them. I think we should be paying educators and scientists higher wages than athletes and movie stars. They are preparing the next generation of leaders and essential workers for all of us. Our priorities of worth and importance are all screwed up. As a final note, tax the churches. They have become nothing but political tools at this point.
reading this a few days late; too bad we cannot just request permission from the families, get some DNA, use our industrial and scientific might and bring back leaders from both sides of the divide to shake up the ones we have not or the ones trying to seize power in 2024
This is Prof. Robert Reich at his best, conjuring up 50 years of perspective on these issues to frame a clear and cogent argument for fundamental reforms. I live in The Netherlands where the difference between the top salaries and the frontline wages has remained at 7x over many years because there is a fair tax system that protects the commons and cares for the least fortunate. No system is perfect, yet all the scaremongering over the years that top talent would leave is rubbish, as people want to live in a society that puts a priority on human dignity and fairness. I left the US to teach at a European University when Ronald Reagan became president and it is obvious to see from a distance the slide in the US towards inequality. I hope that more people listen to Robert's words and choose for a different path. There are many socio-economic models that show the way.
Tom Cummings, co-author, Nine Visions of Capitalism
Accept for the fact that capitalism cannot exist without cruelty and exploitation. Children are mining cobalt and lithium. There's a massive homelessness crisis. Foxconn, the manufacturers of IPhones had to hang up suicide nets. The fashion industry is rife with slave labor.
Capitalism is cruel and barbaric. Always has been and it's collapse is imminent.
Unregulated industrial/crony capitalism & corporatism is barbaric. Well-regulated capitalism mixed with democratic socialism along with progressive taxation like they have in Europe or we had from FDR-LBJ works much better & is far more compassionate. How can we reinstate & permanently maintain that kind of society?
Jaime, In support of your statement, note the following figures from 1947-2004 that report real family income growth by quintile:
From 1947-73, the growth for the lowest 5th was 116%; for the top 5th 84.8%.
From 1973-2000, the growth for the lowest 5th was 12.1%; for the top 5th 66.9%.
From 2000-05, the growth for the lowest 5th was -7.8%; for the top 5th -0.9%.
Source: Economic Policy Institute, 2008
As for reinstating and maintaining a more equitable distribution for increasingly large numbers of people whom I imagine today feel oppressed and marginalized by a runaway rampant capitalism, I say elect increasingly more progressive Democrats, who, for a start, will pass the 90% of Build Back Better that was cut from the edited down Inflation Reduction Act and also will repeal the Trump tax cuts.
Great post, Barabara. Thanks for the data. I particularly note that, in spite over their overwhelming greed, even the top fifth weren't doing that well. Those at the top did best when the rest of us were succeeding too.
Exactly! By focusing on the working & middle classes, we can improve the standard of living for all of us. More people have more spending money, which helps small local businesses, increasing competition & opportunities for local employment. We all win.
It worked so well for Americans for about 40 years, boosting us to the top in the world in so many measures of prosperity & well-being until Reagan. Since then, we've been on a steady decline.
cd we all do a trumpian pledge: "everybody race raise your r ✋& repeat after me... I swear to VOTE ..."
FOR DROPPING THE WORD
>>>CLASS<<< from future reference to income level, poverty, homelessness--
It sticks until it is spelled
cast, from which one cannot escape. i make the first vow
(publicly) 😉
Fay, Thank you for your reply. Interestingly, my take is a bit different. In my view, the figures from FDR-LBJ indicate an impressively equitable distribution of our nation’s wealth. Starting with the Reagan years, the figures suggest a period of increasingly, unevenly distributed opportunity and prosperity. Lastly, at the start of the millennium, likely due both to shifts in manufacturing from high- to low-wage countries and also to rapid technological change, while everyone is hurt, the least among us (low-skilled workers) are hurt most.
I think both of your interpretations of the data are valid & not contradictory.
Where's your empathy for the people who are enslaved RIGHT NOW AROUND THE WORLD? CAPITALISM CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT EXPLOITATION AND POVERTY.
First fix the Masters of all the Universal greed by voting them out and electing Progressive Liberal representatives that can change the status quo!
Boom Boom, I think you are right about this. However, when a lot of Democrats and progressives have been elected, it has been to clean up huge messes Republicans either caused or allowed to happen. The expectation has been that these newly-elected progressives/Democrats will clean up the mess very quickly, given about 2 years tops. When it was not possible to clean up something that took many years to create, that fast, Republicans were put back in office claiming they could do better, but of course could not since they had caused the problems in the first place and had no intention of doing anything to "fix" anything. The filibuster kept things from getting done. It is a ridiculous cycle, but our media is soooo desperate to appear "balanced" that they are often the problem, certainly not any kind of solution lately, particularly the media on the online platforms and Fox Not Nearly News.
Off subject, are you boom boom Mancini’s boxer?
Jasmine, The principal point of my comment was to report data that supported Jaime’s statement regarding a more equitable distribution of our nation’s wealth “from FDR-LBJ.” I haven’t the slightest idea what prompted your reply.
Just because it can work for you in your country, that means you can just forget about the slaves around the world that enable it to work in your country, seriously🙄
Petit bourgeois farmers and shopkeepers are not your enemies.
no government has to regulate capitalism buy simply making sure there is true competition and no monopolies of limited number of companies in any area.
OK Tom, when is that going to happen? The Cons eliminated the Sherman anti-trust government regulations to prevent monopolies. It's why why we're neck deep in the shit we're in!
Our species learns nothing from history. Capitalism has an horrific track record yet people keep defending it😐 Its destroyed our planet and put humans on the endangered species list.
You cannot successfully regulate psychopaths🤦♀️
I don’t call the economic systems used by many of those exploitive countries‘capitalism’ The US allows our companies to use cheap foreign labor, to our shame. But public pressure has forced some companies , such as Nike, to clean up their act . Legislation would be even more effective
Which isn't going to happen unless Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren gets elected!
the DNC doesn't support progressive democrats. corporate dems have to be ousted first. money always wins
Corporate democrats exist because so many Democrat voters don’t bother to exercise their rights. Outnumbered Democrats have too often bent to the system, for lack of support. Get the people informed and involved, and we can get ourselves another FDR
The red wave did not happen in Red State AZ. What does that say to you? Is says to me that there's hope. That people are smarter than we might give them credit for. Keep telling the truth and keep saying it loudly! I really think most people want positive change but they don't know how to get it done.
And that will prevent slave labor in the rest of the world? Where's your empathy for them? Capitalism cannot exist without exploitation and poverty🤦♀️
Paul, I would note that increasing numbers of progressives from all age groups, rather than supporting the DNC, increasingly are post carding, letter writing, phone banking, canvassing, and the like for organizations backing electable progressives.
Me and my girlfriends here in red county Cochise AZ are doing this.
I hope you're right. On the other hand, my sense is that a significant number of young people gave up after Bernie was sabotaged by the DNC twice. I hope I'm wrong. By the way, regarding this latest about raygun stealing the election from Carter by keeping the Iran captives locked up. Was this the first "coup" by the repugnants? number two would have been shrub in 2000. these facts have all been discussed extensively over the years by chomsky, hedges, and others.
It’s not that simple. Some states are so ‘red’ that electing ANY democrat is a miracle. Manchin is an example. Red states seem to accept greed and corporate influence readily, and that includes the democrats. Blue states are fighting voter lethargy, and the barrage of right wing false news. A progressive has two strikes against him before s(he) even begins. We can only keep fighting to return to the programs of FDR. Right now we have a full time job trying to stop the claims of democrats being Socialists/Marxists.
Linda, I find both your analysis and proposals spot on, particularly your last point regarding Republicans labeling Democrats as Socialists. I would note, as we have learned with “wokeism,” we might start by pressing offenders to define Socialism to ensure we’re on the same page. I expect we will hear a good bit of stammering that in no way will reflect the Democrat’s project to level the effects of capitalism by wedding it to social democratic institutions aimed at containing its excesses and moderating its self-serving impulses. Nor will we hear about the effort to establish a modicum of social and economic justice for large numbers of people today who feel oppressed and marginalized by a runaway, rampant capitalism.
Exactly.
I don't have to go far from home to see greed. Kroger has reduced manned check out lines to one thereby encouraging us peons to self check. Less workers and modernization should lead to lower prices. The old trickle down theory, right? It doesn't and hasn't. Now I have to be more cautious traversing the shopping isles. Why? Because those grocery checkers have morphed into speed demons pushing carts destined for grocery pick up. The shelves aren't stocked well because stockers numbers are reduced. What choice do we as the consumer have? Prices still high and wages and benefits for those few that are employed are low. Greed is rampant in our society!!
I always get into the line with the clerk. And I'll patiently stand there until it is my turn. I refuse to use automated checkout.
As the line at that single checkout counter gets longer and longer and longer, Kroger and others may get the message that customers made angry by the lack of checkers will take their business elsewhere.
As do I-I prefer the human contact and like to support the employees as well..
✅
Tom, yes, maybe if the lines are too long, they will take their business to smaller local groceries. They don't have as much variety, but often have better quality since they have to work harder to keep customers. Might be worth the slightly higher prices.
And farmers' markets! Lots of variety; good quality, most of it organic and/or pesticide-free; say hey to the same folks every week, look 'em in the eye and give 'em their money. 😎
There was a time when helpers put all of the gasoline into our tanks. That was a long time ago. Now we all fill our own tanks with gas and think it normal. True, gas is a single commodity, unlike groceries. Still, I assume the grocery consultants expect us all to get over our tantrums and settle for self-checkout in time. And the invention of bar codes make it a reasonable expectation.
I also use the line with a human clerk. If I am forced to self check I will leave the store without purchasing anything.
✅
Me too! I won't participate in the reduction of jobs for actual people, so I wait as well. Not just Kroger, most grocery stores and pharmacies. But you'll never see me at a self-checkout.
My feeling is that if a machine can do a certain job well, it is no longer a respectable and worthwhile job for a human to do. Let the machines have it and get on with the creative ventures we humans still have a lock on (for a short while longer). Get on with designing the robotic machines that will someday replace all of our functions, including the creative ones. I hope we can design a love of pets into those robots.
Yes, similar with Fred Meyer, which was taken over by Kroger. A lot less friendly now. It also pushes customers to self checkout, but I still use the ones with clerks. I used to go there weekly but now it's bimonthly because I dislike going there now.
Elaine Chao, Mitch McConnell's wife, is on the Kroger's board of directors. That explains much, I would think.
She’s probably on dozens of boards like that. They would never associate with “us “peons. They live in entirely different world, and they like it that way. They would commit suicide in less than a week if they had to live like most Americans . sorry ,they might last two weeks.
Jaime, back about 35 years ago, I liked shopping at Kroger. They were friendly and had decent prices. Something happened since then, after I moved north. I keep hearing stories of their less-than-caring attitude. Too bad for those who don't have a grocery store choice and have to shop Kroger or another store with the same lousy values.
This really is a case that should not have been allowed. Kroger was making money. Another case of we are losing competition and Biden is in charge why did he not stop it.
We do not have a 'Unitary Executive' aka dictator. Legislation is written by legislators.
Just how much power do you think a president has??
Please check your sources. Living in Michigan I am very aware of the Meijer business.
From a "Google" moments ago;
Kroger does not own Meijer. Meijer is one of the largest privately-owned grocery chains in America. Kroger, by comparison, is the largest grocery chain in the US and the 2nd largest retailer aside from Walmart.
Please check your eyes! I said "Fred Meyer", which is a grocery chain in the Pacific Northwest, taken over by Kroger early this century, & full of Kroger brand products.
Paul, yes, greed is rampant in the huge corporations. Our society almost sees it as a virtue rather than one of the deadly sins. How did that happen or has it always been that way?
It was during the Reagan "Greed Is Good" era. I thought it was just a temporary, passing phase. Little did I know.
A deadly sin, indeed. Thom Hartman refersrs to the ultra-rich as the morbidly wealthy. Sounds about right.
We need a new Gordon Gecko movie where he heavily recants and becomes a philanthropist.
Renee, the problem with a Wall Street part 2 with Gordon becoming a serious philanthropist who learns to live as a normal person would never sell. People these days want anti-heroes who are awful people who get what they want because really, they have a decent heart. It is just that everyone else is so bad, they have to compete with it, or something like that ("Breaking Bad" or "The Sopranos," and more). I'd watch it, but it wouldn't make the kind of money movie-makers count as essential.
Nothing new under the sun.
For MONEY. It's the GREEDY CEOS AND SHAREHOLDERS causing this🤦♀️
How do you like the grocery chains old trick to rearrange all the products in the isles once a year in the hopes that you might add a new product while you’re racking your brain /eyes to find the old ones.
Their last rearrangement, which was practically total & really confounded me, & made the store less shopper friendly & me feel lost, is what prompted me to greatly curtail my patronage of Fred Meyer.
That is one of two things that drive me crazy at Costco. The other is moving inventory I've just decided to buy, out of the store. Poof! Gone! Never to return.
But I love shopping there anyway.
I decided a while back not to go to Costco - Not to go to Walmart - Whatever BIG BOX store is out there - it’s not going to get my money. Employees are not treated well in different ways, the little brick and mortar‘s lose money in my supporting big box stores. I want to support employees of small, organic groceries. Where I live, I go to El Cerrito Natural grocery store! It is partially employ-owned.. There’s Rainbow grocery in SF… In Marin, there’s Good Earth Natural grocery.
The trick that really irritates me is when they redo the packaging, shrink it, and raise the price😐 You know, the new and improved look🤮
Jaime, your question about how we can have a society that maintains the best of several economic systems meshed well together is a good one. There are pieces of many different models that have worked in the past that could be reinstated if we had the will to do so. Right now, the addiction of our wealthiest to the money and power they can accumulate is keeping us from making more positive moves toward curbing global warming and the other pains of our society. Another challenge is how often people who actually have a moral compass bow to those who have none, as President Biden has to the fossil fuelers by approving the "Willow Project" and not declaring an environmental emergency, and allowing people with an inability to think broadly in positions of authority when appointed by a proud money-power addict (Powell at the Fed, for example). How do we break through this wall of money-power addicts who see themselves alone as worthy of power and the rest of us as their minions?
Yes! THAT is why countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark and all the countries around like have a near ONE HUNDRED PERCENT life satisfaction! Last I checked, the United Shtaysh is hovering around the mid to low FOURTIES. [sic]
The scandinavian countries are so much smaller than the US. I have given thought to how the system in Denmark (<6 million) would scale up in application to 350 million and it is hard to conceive. Plus, the population of Denmark is more alike one another than the diverse population in the US. The mind boggles. We could do a lot better, but there is so much bad attitude in the US for sharing the load. I heard so many complaints like "I don't want to pay for someone else's pregnancy, drug treatment, mental illness, etc. regarding Obamacare that it made me sick. The same people buy car insurance. Go figure.
Cynthia: Our best model is Social Security, social insurance, which is highly popular, except with some Republican and Libertarian politicians. About 90% of beneficiaries support Social Security. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2023/02/08/americans-evaluate-social-security-medicare-poll
in 2021 a poll showed 83% of all voters wanted to expand Medicare.
The problem in the US is that we have domestic and foreign influential interests that do not want the country to do well.
Our greedy corporations lobby our greedy politicians to keep them from voting for fairer policies that would ensure more equality.
I rely on SS because I did not money-grub my whole life. In hindsight there's a part of me that regrets not money grubbing. When my savings run out I am going to be up shot creek. Through no fault of my own I have (genetic) diabetes and fungal pneumonia infection (choice of geography and breathing). If I went back to work (at age 72) I would probably get sick and die. So, work and die or retire and die. Nice choices.
Car insurance is required by government. ;~|
State government.
Because most Americans do not understand that medical insurance works EXACTLY like car insurance and home insurance and many other shared risk enterprises.
And somehow, the selfishness and poor attitude about helping others and sharing the load, has apparently caught on with the socially irresponsible MAGAs.
MAGAs actually vote contrary to their own interests.
The US scores lower on ALL measures of human well-being than the more socialist leaning countries.
Nope. Money is the root cause of all ills on this planet. Capitalism CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT EXPLOITATION, CRUELTY, AND POVERTY.
The mining, fashion, and agricultural industries are rife with slavery.
Greed is the root cause of most of the cruelty on earth, and greed is a basic part of human nature. The urge to have and consume more resources has been both a driver of human progress and a source of human misery, and no form of human government, religion, or economy that I know of has been able to eliminate it. Where there are humans, we will see cruelty, destruction and exploitation just as we see good will, curiosity and progress. What we have in America today is increasingly a political system that allows corporations to externalizations costs and internalize profits. We can change that if enough of us decide to do it.
Well, not quite. We covered this in Anthropology class in college. There HAVE been societies where the link between wealth and power was successfully broken. One example (but not the only) was the Native Americans of the northwest coast. In their society, social status was determined not by how much "stuff" you had, but by how much you gave away to others. When someone accumulated a lot of "stuff" (AKA "wealth"), they held a "potlatch festival", where they literally gave away everything they had, right down to the shirt on their back. Afterwards, someone would give them a shirt, someone else might give them a knife, etc, the basic necessities of life in their culture, and the cycle would begin again. When the person had managed to accumulate another batch of "stuff", they would hold another potlatch. A person gained influence by how much they contributed to the rest of the group, not by how much wealth they had. It was a fundamental difference in the values of the society, and successfully prevented the corrosive effects of excessive inequality on their society.
This is what we need. The Maharishi said, "When (people) meet to give, everyone gets 100%. When people meet to get, no one gets anything."
Kahlil Gibran wrote: True poverty is having nothing to give.
We didn't cover that society in.my anthropology class, but I love the concept! Brilliant idea.
This kind of society exists (or existed?) in islands in the Pacific, too. Polynesia or Micronesia. Of course, the arrival of Europeans always disrupts such societies.
No it really isn't🤣 No one is greedy for food🤦♀️ Or plants🤣 THEY'RE GREEDY FOR MONEY.
NO, they are greedy for POWER and PRESTIGE. Money just buys them that.
Merely stamping one’s foot and saying that there’s no capitalist system that can work does not make it so. Merely looking at the world and seeing the REAL and DEVASTATING destruction of lives spent in slave labor to capitalists does not men it MUST me that way -- only that we have left our planet to function that way and we allow capitalism to take advantage of it.
If anyone on this thread insists that capitalism MUST include the enslavement and mistreatment of people at the bottom of the economic system, what is your solution? You insist people accept your premise -- to what end? What’s your preferred system, then? Say something useful.
I agree the greed is about money. Not that a sack of gold does anything for you. It is what it can buy that causes greed. Is a basic Chevrolet the same as the best Mercedes? Of course not. I have been in them both. Took more "greed" to get the Mercedes. And yes we are greedy for food. We are mammals. Food is one of the two drivers of all mammals. I like lobster better than peanut butter. But I eat a lot more peanut butter. Actually like it. So before you continue with your utterances, I hope you spend some time really studying the issue and articulate your thoughts much better than you are doing so far.
Jasmine, what you are fixated on is unregulated, laissez-faire capitalism such as dominated the 19th century. The flawed concept that Adam Smith's "invisible hand" would naturally maximize social good is what Republicans are promoting when they treat regulation as if it is evil. Sensible regulation is required to keep planes from falling from the skies, pharmaceuticals safe and effective, industrial plants from poisoning us all, and zillions of other things necessary in an advanced modern economy. The issue we face is the unfettered power of wealth, further unleashed by SCOTUS' 2010 decision in the Citizens United case giving unlimited political propaganda protection under the First Amendment. As long as US political campaigns remain dominated by high dollar donors all the problems we face will continue. Remember that the alternative to private enterprise is governmental control of the economy, which is inherently ineffective. Rational regulation of private enterprise requires an educated electorate but look at the numbers of people who irrationally believe Trump when he tells them he won the 2020 election. Other examples are too numerous to mention.
Money is what they are GREEDY FOR🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
Why? Because money empowers them to buy all the food, possess all the goods to an excessive degree. Excess is the key word here. Enough of anything to live a healthy life with a secure future is what we all have a right to. Those who greedily consume not only what they truly need, but hoard all they want--wealth for wealth's sake--make fair distribution of goods difficult or impossible for others. who are forced to suffer going without those goods they truly need for themselves and their families. That is abuse of capitalism. I call it "capitalism without a conscience" and immoral behavior. It is no surprise that there are those who fall into the trap of thinking communism is the answer. That has been tried and failed. Today, former communists are some of the world's most corrupt and powerful billionaires on the world's stage. It is true: the inherent tendency of the human person to greed at the root of economic injustice--no matter what the form of government. But any government that prevents the abuse of capitalism is the government that provides economic justice for all.
Start by remodeling American Econ 101 courses taught in every American University, which have becomes courses in the ideology of self-interest only. Democratic socialism in Europe, and the FDR-LBJ styled New Deal Order saw the key role of the other(shared with others, that which reasoned people could go along with)-interest. The Econ 101 courses (and these are taught in high schools, and, even alluded to in some elementary courses) encourage self-interest only excessive greed, in effect creating in every round a new generation of greed b_____ds.
Gary, I like your idea of revamping Econ courses at every level. The account of economics you describe is not what I learned in my college econ courses. I learned that economics was for the benefit of the community and the nation (we didn't make it to the world level back then). I would like to see more community-centered education regarding economics, money, and business/entrepreneurism too. We could do that.
Bringing community back into view within the economic framework is what is needed ... as done in Dual Interest Theory in Metaeconomics ... Palgrave running the e-book on sale right now, at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-50601-8
People have to wake up and realize how they're being led astray but the wealthy. For me that's the bottom line. They have to have that "Emperor has no clothes" epiphany and the rise up, call their congress persons, vote in sensible caring people. If the people lead the leaders will follow.
pitchforks
Never forget that the Europeans have been the most ruthless and barbaric people to have ever walked upright on the Earth. I have seen firsthand remnants of that myself. They are also still living off the treasures and wealth they managed to steal from the native countries they invaded centuries ago. I wouldn't be tossing any
laurels in their direction.
Yes, as another of my comments implies, but that was then & this is now. They have learned, at least to some extent, to be more responsive to their citizens' rights, health, happiness & prosperity. Much better than the US government.
That I'm not 100% sure of. There are some here in the US who appear to be trying to move things in a positive direction. Sadly, many of the powerful companies are multinational. There may be some reasons to be positive about the future. It's all about keeping the pressure on the leaders of the country and big corporations. We get what we demand.
Yes, & French citizens are a lot more demanding than we are, & they've gotten a lot more. It appears they may have lost their battle to keep their retirement age, from going up from 62 to 64, but will we fight as hard to keep our retirement age from going up to 68, or even 70?
You are right, humans often use capital and power to exploit people and commit cruel acts. And there are many critiques of our current economic system designed (through compound interest rates)to make the rich richer and empty the pockets of the less fortunate. Yet dark capitalism is the work of maladapted humans who use money to manipulate an economic system that fundamentally depends on trust, fair play and an evolution of the rules to meet each of our needs for life and livelihood in a just world. One can easily point to enlightened counter examples - Patagonia, the B Corp movement, GABV.org and many many companies and financial institutions working toward a better future. There are many forms of capital formation, investment and gift money in the world that can develop healthy forms of capital such as social capital, trust capital, human capital, infrastructure capital and commons capital. These are the building blocks of a healthy thriving society, and many people are working hard to eliminate the damage to people and the environment. They all depend on continuous values formation and reconciliation and legislation that comes from civil public discourse and protected voting rights (not lobbying special interest factories) and a fundamental belief in human dignity for all. I am not convinced we have many alternatives to the conscious use of money and healthy use of capital with proper guard rails to meet the emerging challenges we face.
Thank you!
I still have some faith that not all capitalism need be dark capitalism.
Vince in Grand Rapids
Capitalism is cruel and barbaric. It cannot exist without exploitation and poverty.
So your solution is??????
Don't engage with Jasmine Wolfe. She is not a real person
I don't have one. But nature does. This is end stage capitalism. Capitalism has destroyed the planet. Nature is fighting back and she will win. If we had started dismantling this barbaric system 100 years ago, we may have stood a chance 😔 Not now. We're in the midst of the 6th great extinction and humans are on the endangered species list. The oligarchs who caused this, know this, and they are making preparations for it.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff
Thanks for your comments . If you have the inclination & time , I have some questions. If not then just thanks.
How do I find “ companies & financial institutions working towards a better future “ ?
Can I invest in them through a traditional broker ( mine is Merrill Lynch)?
I buy Patagonia. Someone more savy than me isn’t
impressed with “ the B Corp “.
I went to the GABV.org site but none of the banks are in my area so I wouldn’t know how to support them.
I’m a retired Public Health Nurse with limited financial knowledge but with strong convictions .
great! as i have said "SHOP
POLITICALLY ": go to a companies website & read--or call the CEO office and request a copy of-- their
MISSION STATEMENT--
many have none . Then make the effort to contact the company and tell them why you are shopping there or not
(eg: walgreens 🚫 because of the policy on mifipristone.
look @ their corp pac FEC
pages -- walgreens's has an
agenda i cannot figure out:
2020 campaign = $ ~ 30K
more to house Dems / ~$25K
more to gop senate)
punchline : be a walking advertisement via iMessage on your shirt the blue square pin on your lapel, SHOP politically, including HABITAT, made copies of possible funding opportunities from package labels (eg: cascadian farms ➡️ the nature conservancy) ... I begin to ramble-- when I guess the word of the day is Rumble
Can you unpack this a bit. You’re making quite a lot of sense.
All societies use money as a medium of exchange, separate from their ideology, which may or may not be capitalist. It’s the lack of regulation that has led to this crisis. Have you read Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears?
wow--your comment made it to card stock paper and five condo lobbies in miami!
thank you.
gee--several wonderful comments about the different types of "capitalism"--but it doesn't seem everyone is hearing that. I prefer to distinguish dark capitalism from free market enterprise and corporations that give back--
Forbes list of 100 altruistic corporations is a little little bit like what I mean
Really, what will stop them from continuing their bullshit? because majorities don’t matter in this country anymore and in our fragmented divided country I don’t see an end to it. Now, maybe if we had some untimely dea---. The justice system is so rigged towards the wealthy they will never be dealt with in anyjustifiable manner. We waited too long to deal with this ,it’s 50 years of this crap.We find it is too late.
What will stop them? Start with reestablishing and enforcing voting rights, rejecting the concept of “corporations are people,” limiting contributions to political candidates, and enforcing civil rights for all people. Let’s try that and see how it we look in 5-10 years.
Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater! Capitalism incentivizes Motivates and produces the goods (in the broadest sense) we want. However, pure capitalism, which we see run amok in our society today demeans and diminishes our humanity and concern for each other. It is immoral and unethical. We need desperately to balance capitalism with equality and democracy to find the right mix for a better more humanistic society.
I have always been a proponent of humane capitalism, but almost none of it exists. Like the term, “United States”,”humane capitalism “is a huge oxymoron.
Capitalism isn't perfect but has the capability of being practiced humanely and fairly. I don't believe it is capable of doing that without strong regulation to ensure fairness and desirable behavior. The direction it is moving in now, increasingly deregulated with industrialists as the main influencers and benefactors of our lawmakers, makes it impossible to foster capitalism that is humane or just.
You mentioned "pure capitalism" but I respectfully disagree that what we are seeing practiced now is actually pure. Pure capitalism allows for the demand shown in market activity to determine the prices asked for and paid in that marketplace without significant pricing interference. The ebb and flow between the demand and supply continuously sets and resets pricing. Our current system doesn't do this and allows wealthy and connected participants to have outsized influence on the basis for the prices offered, allowed or determined in different markets. Subsidies, tax laws, whether or not certain societal or environmental costs are required to be figured in pricing calculations, when markets are allowed to operate, at what point rapid price moves in a market are dangerous and so on, all effect how markets behave and set their prices. There are plenty of the current laws and rules which put a thumb on the scale for the wealthy and connected, giving them unequal weighting in how market strike prices are determined. Dr. Reich alluded to some of the ways in today's essay and his books are even more informative on this topic.
So, you get labor markets with operating terms legislatively dictated by CEOs, that pay executives obscenely, even when they blow up their banks and companies, but barely give pay raises to the hands actively generating the productivity enriching those companies. An environment that makes it acceptable to raise interest rates to "cause pain" in labor markets to "cool off wage pressure" when working people get raises and the investment class alarms about inflation. However, when the same power players are hurt by rising rates; i.e. executives and investors at SVB, Signature, Credit Suisse and other interest sensitive banks, it suddenly becomes acceptable to consider that the pace of interest rate hikes is too fast, should possibly reverse or it could *gasp!* harm the markets.
Industrial titans are fans of free-market capitalism when the rules tilt the table in their favor, conditions keep labor inexpensive, everything is sunny and they're easily meeting or beating optimistic analyst forecasts. When things head south, they become ardent socialists demanding government largesse to bail them out of their mistakes. I don't root for market panic. Yet, until I see a situation where large, corporate players make massive existential mistakes and have to settle through bankruptcy proceedings, not get sudden infusions of Fed money to prop them up, I don't accept our system as truly capitalist, much less a pure version of it.
I’m seeing that our current system is more akin to oligarchy than to democratic republicanism. The worst of it leans into the primates’ tendency to seek to dominate. The American system of children‘s education has been dismantled since the 1970s and the average person hasn’t noticed our systems breaking down over the past fifty years. So, here we are. Thanks for allowing me to get that off my chest.
You're not wrong about this country looking more oligarchic. In discussions I've had with a few people about this latest banking crisis, we've noted the fact that the "too big to fail banks" are beneficiaries, as small and midsized bank customers flee to them for safety, knowing that the Fed is backstopping the big guys at all costs. Everywhere you look; telecom, food companies, auto manufacturers, device manufacturers, grocery stores and more, all industries seem to be getting whittled down to no more than 3 or 4 national players. Completely appreciate the analogy of primate dominance when discussing executive mindsets, the acknowledgment of our declining systems, as well as yours and Robin's responses. All that you vented resonates. Lastly, I'm very grateful you both read through my WALL OF TEXT. One day I hope to successfully express my thoughts more succinctly.
Much obliged for your response, C., most genuinely. I see that we’re all relating our observations and experiences of the many-faceted decline of our brief American history, being undone by the misfortune of human nature. Nothing new for this species, right?
Would you mind expanding a little more about children’s education being dismantled?
Capitalism CANNOT exist without exploitation and poverty🤦♀️ There is no such thing as humanely allowing someone to starve to death because they can't AFFORD TO BUY FOOD.
Jasmine, while I do acknowledge that capitalism hasn't existed without exploitation and poverty, the same is also true of many, if not all other, economic systems that I am aware of. Communism and Socialism, for example, also existed in all iterations with exploitation, poverty and often starvation.
I have no particular aversion to Socialism; in theory it would work beautifully and equitably distribute goods and services to all, leaving no one without. However, anything run by people tends to be subject to the whims of those running the program. In practice, 'some have been more equal than others' and the empowered allocated most of the benefits to themselves, with meager scraps sprinkled to everyone else.
I am not wedded to capitalism but I feel that, when its operation and pricing aren't distorted by laws that prefer certain very successful industries or participants in industries, it is the system best equipped to distribute goods and services in a way that can be more fair. Those that use more, spend more to buy more. If prices are not artificially inflated or subsidized, the price for those goods is higher or lower to reflect scarcity relative to current demand. There is definitely a discussion that can be had about setting basic needs provisions, or a universal basic income to ensure dignified subsistence but that is a different topic.
My main point is that all economic concepts currently known are vulnerable to abuse and none are perfect. Capitalism, as it is now practiced, is stacked by connected players to ensure they are preferred and enriched at the expense, dignity and safety of others. This stacking is from the contamination of market workings by laws and norms shaped by corporate lobbyists. As Dr. Reich mentioned, the system can be changed based on what we buy, what businesses we support and what the representatives we choose write into law.
I ask you the following in honest curiosity: if people don't use capitalism to allocate resources to meet their needs, what method is your suggestion? My own imagination on this is shaded by my own experiences and biases, and I'm truly interested to hear your alternative solution.
I'm now pretty sure that "Jasmine Wolfe" is not a real person
No money YOU DIE. That's CRUEL AND BARBARIC. You disgust me defending it🤮 I hope you never have to struggle. Capitalism is a PYRAMID SCHEME. A con game. It WILL COLLAPSE in on itself.
I don’t disagree with you. You have given pure capitalism, a more benign interpretation than I was referring to.
It generally seems the case that more of us on these comment threads agree than disagree. The $64K question for me is, how do we awaken the other nearly half of the country still under the spell of trickle down fairy tales?
Capitalism is cruel and barbaric. It always has been. It always will be. Stop defending it 🤮
ROFL. And you prefer what in return? Despotism. The Romans were cruel. How about Communism? You prefer Lenin and Stalin? Think before you speak.
You really mean ,Think the way” I do “before you speak.
Don't engage with "Jasmine Wolfe". I'm pretty sure she's not a real person
Why ,you don’t agree with common sense.
Tell that to the children mining the cobalt used to make cellphones and EVs🤦♀️ Tell that to the slaves in the mining industry. The fashion industry. The tourist industry. Capitalism is cruel and barbaric. IT CANNOT WORK WITHOUT EXPLOITATION AND POVERTY.
Don't forget the agricultural system is rife with underpaid or no paid labor.
Yep. Every industry is.
Great! What is it going to be replaced with?
Common sense laws against exploitation. oh, we couldn’t do that it would make the capitalist play by rules. No, that would mean regulations/rules.
Why does anything need to replace it?
You're being ridiculous and I'm not engaging with you anymore.
Good. Read this instead 😊
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff
MEDIA MUST CHANGE ((
our cable media is corporate
CORPORATE DICTATES WHAT/WHOM /HOW
TO REPORT THE NEWS
YES I'M INCLUDING CNN, MSNBC, not just Fox
To greatly varying degrees.. And you can always fact check the news you see on TV. I read RSN daily. They are totally Reader Supported News. They don't bow to corporate interests. And there are others.
False. Regulated capitalism works for us but it requires constant vigilance and honest governance.
CAPITALISM IS CRUEL AND BARBARIC. IT CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT EXPLOITATION AND POVERTY. STOP DEFENDING IT🤮 It's destroyed the environment and put humans on the endangered species list. Humans are too stupid to live.
No it doesn't🤣 If you're idea of working is HOMELESSNESS AND FORCED STARVATION seek help.
you are exactly correct. there is so much depraved greed and cruelty associated with capitalism, starting with mercantilism in the 15th and 16th centuries. of course this brought us slavery on an industrial scale. and let us not forget the british east india company, probably the antecedent to all arguments (specious) for incorporation and it's legal protections from most norms of morality. ooops, did i conflate morality and legality. my bad.
Capitalism is horrific. I can't believe people are still trying to defend it and not actively learning how to dismantle it. Indigenous people thrived without it. Capitalists want us to forget that.
Based on my understanding, although seemingly more socialist than capitalist, the Netherlands, admirably in my view, has taken on certain characteristics from both socialist and capitalist ideological models. Admittedly, a system, partially but not entirely, based on private rather than public ownership and control of commercial enterprises, the country’s distribution of resources, wedded to social democratic institutions, is, by mutual consent and for the general welfare, substantially more regulated and equitable than in the States.
Their wealth, in large part, stems from the fact that they were an imperialist power.
Daniel, My purpose in writing mostly was to portray the social and economic system I understand operates in the Netherlands. Am I to presume your point is to suggest a causal relationship between the country’s present system and its former colonial possessions?
Something I've noticed in the comments is that countries with smaller populations than ours can have both government and private sector working in harmony for the greater good for all. Those countries with huge areas of land and populations don't seem to work as well for all. Perhaps the United States of America would work better if we did split into 4 to 10 smaller, self sustaining countries, some in alliance with each other.
Fay, While I think you’re right that smaller, more homogeneously populated countries more readily can combine both socialist and capitalist ideologies, I don’t agree the answer rests with dividing up our country. Notwithstanding the different set of challenges a larger, more pluralistic democracy must contend with, still, let’s not forget had the 90% of BBB that was dropped from the edited down Inflation Reduction Act been implemented, quoting Bernie Sanders, that would have made Biden “the most progressive President since FDR.”
I imagine none of us will forget, while the full Biden agenda, in 21, had passed in the House, the legislation, that only could pass in the Senate through budget reconciliation, failed to pass by 2 votes. Accordingly, were we, in 24, to retake the House, add a few more progressive seats to the narrow majority we currently hold in the Senate, and also hold the Presidency, we could sign into law extraordinary initiatives relative to education, climate, healthcare, the economy, criminal justice, immigration, and the like.
Marjorie Taylor Greene likes that idea.
i've been thinking about emigrating to Denmark myself !
lulie, I understand, far from a socialist planned economy, Denmark is a market economy with a robust social welfare system providing generous unemployment, free health care and higher education, and heavily subsidized childcare.
Exactly why my bags are packed
An older friend of mine has been going to Spain for about 15/20 years. She dreads coming home to all this hate and division. I Lift my lamp beside these media wars.
The cause and the cure are one and the same. The Voting public, which is either caught up in the bread and circus provided us by our corporate controlled government and our corporate media. Distracted by a culture war that the right and the media have created, by sports , reality TV and celebrity gossip.
Their beds are warm and comfortable, their stomachs full, their minds full of self righteousness, easily angered, full of angst and fear. Those that could change the situation, are for the most part, little more than lemmings being led over a cliff.
Those that are conscious and concerned, can only sit on the sideline and point out
The dangerous road ahead,
This is a contest between the amygdale and the pre frontal cortex. The amygdale is the lizard brain, that is easily frightened and knows only fight or flight. It is well manipulated by pulpit and press (religion and media) to serve it’s masters, the 1% like Peter Thiel, Pete Petersen, Barre Seid (dec), Leonard Leo and hundreds of others, who are like sharks .
Sharks need to keep swimming, otherwise they suffocate and die, our social sharks need to keep control of money, otherwise they lose power and social control.
The pre frontal cortex is the place were reasoning takes place, where information, including threats are evaluated and the best course of action is decided upon, known as critical reasoning.
Walking through a rocky desert and you hear the rattle of a snake, you don’t have time to use your critical reasoning, the amygdale takes over and you suddenly become super human.
The amygdale is the tool used, and effectively, through the ages by despots, authoritarians, the ruling class, Kings, Queens, Emperors, preachers, priests, rabbis, imams, corporations. and since Guttenberg, the press to effectively control the hive mind, and by such the hive’s behavior.
The lemming fascists control the politics and the electoral votes ( if SCOTUS sides with the fascists in Moore V Harper .. the independent state legislature case that will enable the state legislature to select the electors in the general election) democracy is dead.
Out of 98 partisan legislative chambers, Republicans control 57 chambers. Democrats control 41 in 2023. In total, Republicans control 22 states and Democrats control 17, with state control defined as a state where the upper chamber, lower chamber, and governor seat are all held by the same party. 10 states have divided government.
How do we turn around those idiots, who believe that their familial, social control and quality of life are being threatened by brown people, LGBT, feminists (bumper sticker word for women who demand self sovereignty , equal rights and pay). Because that is where the battle lines are drawn.
It is these fearful patriarchs amygdala that is being stoked and stroked by the "sharks", and it is they who stormed the Capitol and it is they who see Donald John Trump as their avatar and stand ready to commit more violence and overthrow the government in his name, but in their own self interest.
I think you mean to say, “amygdala” but you’ve been spellchecked into a mistake?
Kudos, William! Stress overload is defined as an important stress that continues for more than 30 days and where you feel you have little or no control to resolve the situation. (Sound like our nation/world right now?)
That is all it takes for the stress hormones overwhelm the prefrontal cortex and activate the amygdala. Fear, anger and freezing result, along with inability to control emotions, make or follow on plans, or change plans to integrate new information.
The last few years have put millions in stress overload. Is there a cure? You start by removing the source(s) of the stress. You make sure that basic needs are met and calm restored. (Yeah, sure)
I used to train human service staff to stop mentally diagnosing people experiencing homelessness as all being mentally ill and to start seeing them as victims of stress overload. The problem? The staff themselves were often experiencing the same stress symptoms, the same amygdala-driven emotional and cognitive limitations.
Helping people see the source of stress as less important and empowering them to take steps... (yeah? Sure?)
Actually, the calm competence of the Biden Administration is a good counter, but the flood of angry and fearful social media kinda overwhelms any cognitive benefits. So. Now what?
Thank you for expanding my knowledge and insight. Homeless is not just stress overload. The economic/financial system of capitalism as is practiced in the west, has produced homeless people and families as they have lost their means of survival and forced onto the streets, and that creates stress. Stress did not create homelessness and I know that you know that and agree.
Yes homelessness causes stress overload,but stress overload does not cause homelessness.
Americans and America are , as a whole, greedy, needy,and lack a conscience. Wrapped up in narcissism, anger, fear, self righteousness, belief.
I guess I should have stated that -- for those who might have misunderstood cause vs effect. Capitalism/greed and discrimination, along with the inability of both political parties to maintain (let alone strengthen) the safety net: those are the causes. Attributing homelessness to mental illness does not help anyone but the oligarchs and politicians.
Outstanding comment.
I like the article but it’s the same o same o .50 years of FDR and then 50 years of Reaganism and now we’re supposed to be going back more to a liberal bent.But honestly I don’t see that happening because now every law is rigged to favor the Oligarch ,as Robert Reich mentioned. Add to this the maga morons and the fact that majorities By design Were never intended to have much of a say in this country. Now throw in citizens united, and the fact that the Supreme Court was packed by a Senate which is disproportionately constructed against majority rule. Add to that gerrymandering by both parties(because fairness was never a rule of politics) so there is very little hope of change without a total revolt by the people in this country,or a whole lot of untimely deaths of the rich and powerful.
Our species doesn't learn from history. Capitalism has an horrific track record and people are still defending it😐 Capitalism breeds fascism because psychopaths created it. Nazis protested a drag queen story hour in Ohio😳 Putin is committing genocide in Ukraine and Syria. The Israeli government has been committing genocide against the Palestinians for decades. The US invaded Iraq for oil. The wealth inequality in the US is worse than what it was prior to the French Revolution. The oligarchs have and continue to destroy the environment. They know the end of their reign is coming and they are making preparations for it.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff
Few are willing to live and let live.
I have not read your book. But the real culprit here is lack of competition at the highest levels. Three companies split up over 80% of the defense budget. One basic oil company and it is not state run. Conagra well every bit of food goes through them one way or another. Three big lumber companies control over 80% of the peoples timber. Yes most of the lumber you buy at home depot or Lowes is from national forest that the big three don't pay much for. One railroad. If you had true competition at the top. Those companies would have to pay a fair wage and cut profits to gain market share and low productivity cost. So if this is in your book everyone should buy it. If not rewrite it. Oh and the big divergence happened under Regan. But people were stupid thinking rich people were going to suddenly start acting differently and be benevolent. When has that ever happened. But people are stupid with short memories and grew up with a lot of prejudice in their hearts. So they do stupid things
The earth is beyond being able to support capitalism. There is no there there anymore.
Exactly.
Tom, thank you for making the case for paying attention.
Are we so sure we don’t deserve a part of the glory that can come from a true , strong and regulated government that is controlled by and with fair and equal voting and with regulations that are simply the boundaries we set for our own existence. With that regulation comes order and no society is sustainable without that order. Together , as in a strong union, we share the information , the issues, the policies that affect us and together we search for the best form of order.
With that in mind we must educate our young people by showing them how that order is obtained. Being on the cell phone helps erode any kind of order. We have to be on the same “call”. Show young people how powerful their freedom is when it is backed up with laws that actually are equal for all. When you run a red light you get a ticket.... the ticket is color blind. When you commit treason you are sent to prison. If our society is not shown how this gains our own freedom then it will fall apart. And it is. Don’t kid yourself.
We also must show our government bodies that they are held accountable for carrying through on our so called perfect union. Not the Supreme Court or the DOJ or the Senate or the House is there for “just a few” ,or are they?Teach our youth how to tell the difference. Our youth can already see the difference . They feel the difference through educational discrepancies and through wage discrepancies and through boundaries that are not secure for them to succeed.
Come on “parents”, teachers, doctors, media , human beings. Talk straight and share the glory of what could be in this country. Don’t let greed and power be our boundaries. Let opportunity, great training, accountability , community and safety through well earned pensions and strong unions be our goal posts! Let us age in peace and know that our youngsters will share that right!
Let’s share the facts and SHOW our young people the joys of that goal.
And kick the ass of all those bullies who think this planet is just for them!
🤣😂🤣
The ruling class would never allow that. Biden is a neo liberal capitalist🤮 He broke a strike and okayed more oil drilling in Alaska.
You are absolutely correct. Biden's economic rescue plans actually benefit corporations and the 1%, otherwise they would never have passed. His pharmaceutical cost reductions have a sunset and are tightly targeted., otherwise they would never have passed. The probably lack enforcement teeth as well. Like so many laws (spitting on sidewalk as well), but just mentioning this poses the danger of aiding and abetting the enemy or being accused of a right wing troll.
Here is my point.
Populism has a bad rep, because the only populism we have seen is right wing populism, be it William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long, or Father Coughlin.
We haven't seen real populism, the populism evidenced in the Sanders movement (not necessarily by Bernie, but the movement).
Left wing populism is the populism of the commons, the commons that Thom has talked and talks about. It is placing limitations on corporations and those who run corporations and profit from their operations. It is reinstating the corporate death penalty, it is charging corporate officers with crimes committed by the corporations. It is ensuring that the commons (roads, utilities, parks, fire, police, prisons, military) are not privatized.
It is ensuring that all citizens of this country have, if they choose, a dry place to sleep, and don't die from disease, hypothermia and starvation.
It is having a tax policy that ensures that a person is rewarded for their work and risk, but not so insanely that it creates a social stabilizing wealth gap and a permanent under class, of what is in India called "untouchables"
Any politician who dare sticks his head above the crowd and proposes such things, will find his head chopped off (figuratively)
America has its own caste system, though not formally or informally recognized
Indian society was divided into five castes:
Brahmins: the priestly caste. After their religious role decreased they became the caste of officialdom. in America it is the 1%
Kshatriya: warrior caste. ..., in America not the military, but those who protect and maintain the Brahmins, the Tucker Carlsons, the chattering nabobs of the corporate media.
Vaisya: the commoner caste. ... Our politicians, like those elected to the House of Representatives, state and local political office. In America this caste, and most of their children, gravitate to what is perceived as the ruling or dominant political party, like Nimarata Nikki Haley (née Randhawa)
Sudras: represented the great bulk of the Indian population. ... the average American who works, then curls up in front of the TV and computer (tablet or cell phone)
Untouchables: descendants of slaves or prisoners.- prisoners, marginalized peoples who an't find a job, live outdoors, not of their own design,
In the later medieval period, feudalism began to diminish in England with the eventual centralization of government that began around the first quarter of the fourteenth century, and it remained in decline until its eventual abolition in England with the Tenures Abolition Act 1660.
It is thought that the industrial revolution started in 1760, but it had it's beginnings with the decline of feudalism, which started earlier with the rise of a class called Freemen. These were men (sorry, but women then as now, were considered property of men), who had served as foot soldiers in Williams invading force in 1066, it was the Normans who brought feudalism to England.
Anglo Saxon England was hierarchical, the lowest rank of nobility was the elderman (the whisper of which is our alderman and his peers) below him were deigns, ceorls, kotselta's, geburs and finally slaves.
There were no class of serfs, tied to the land and the lord of the manor was in Norman England. The Various plaques which swept through the land, created a shortage of labor, resulting in the gradual end of feudalism and the rise of the freeman. The freeman was a tradesman, a mason, tinker, a potter, a carpenter, a fuller, a waulker (walker) a lister or litster (a dyer) , a ferror (iron or steelmaker).
The birth of capitalism can be marked by the creation of the Dutch East India Company in 1602, the first Joint venture stock company in the world, Formed by a group of investors that were then called adventurers, who banded together to form an enterprise which would produce profits which would be shared by all in relation to their investment.
The English soon followed with their own joint stock adventure, the Virginia Company of London and the Virginia Company of Plymouth.The latter was the seed of the United States and representative democracy (the Charter of 1619), the latter was a bust never got off the ground. Plymouth, Mass. was named for Plymouth, England which is the port of embarkation of the 60 Puritans who joined the 32 Brownists (extremist puritans) or saints as they called themselves, whom later we call pilgrims, embarked on the Mayflower, a Dutch hired fluyt, one of three to bear the name. A fluyt is a cargo ship steered by a tiller.
In the interval between the decline of serfdom and the rise of the Industrial revolution, was born capitalism (the joint stock company), which employed labor as indentured servants, or if skilled, under an agreement, which could be severed at either end.
This was also the interregnum, in which freemen fled to the commercial centers (cities) in large numbers seeking to improve their lives. Which resulted in an excess of unskilled labor, and thus set the stage for Dickensian wage slavery, which is making a rebound, now that some states have legalized child labor. We are on the backslide, defying social gravity as we slowly slide back into a form of neo feudalism. Not tied to the land but a society of barons, deigns, ceorls, and geburs.
We can learn from the indigenous people who were thriving until the Europeans invaded. This is why capitalists are hell bent on erasing their history. Sharing and caring instead of ownership and competition.
https://thenib.com/invisible-hand-to-the-rescue/
That gives "talk to the hand" a whole new meaning! LOL!
I really appreciate how it first mentions the Fed rate hikes. I was griping about that when the collapse first happened. Everyone's been trying to foist the responsibility off on the bank management, of late. I'm no bank management lover, but I don't think anyone could have predicted the Fed's policies would end up decimating the value of the securities they invested in at the time of the investment.
These people are clever. Call it reverse psychology. They are using "woke" as a distraction to hide the fact that the run on SVB was initiated by Peter Thiel (billionaire founder of Paypal and Leonard Leo).
Now why did they want SVB to fail, because SVB was donating to Democratic politicians and financing liberal start ups and causes.
Bank reserves are time deposits and Treasury and corporate bonds (see USCODE 12).
Banks loan out money on the basis of their reserves. The bank was acting prudently by investing in long term bonds, as they pay the higher interest rates and provide for a better return on investment, for the investors, than short term bonds.
Long Term bonds can only be redeemed at a significant loss, not even face value.
When billionaires like Thiel and Leo, make a demand to withdraw billions, the bank has to draw on its reserves, but those reserves are tied up in long term bonds, which they can only sell at a loss, provided they can find a buyer.
The problem is the repeal of Glass Steagall signed by Bill Clinton and the repeal of Dodd Frank signed by Trump.
The problem is that we have the best government money can buy
Corruption is not a Republican monopoly. This is a tale of the corrupting influence where money is considered speech. Thom should catalog the trail from Marbury v Madison to Citizens United in a
Short form.
Here are the Democrats who voted to repeal Dodd Frank (deregulate banks),Dodd Frank was already a weak piece of regulation. The excuse given is that they were in peril , which is nonsense. The only thing they were in peril of was losing lobbyist money
https://www.businessinsider.com/democratic-senators-who-voted-2018-bill-regulations-silicon-valley-bank-2023-3
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Tom Carper (D-DE)
Chris Coons (D-DE)
Bob Corker (R-TN)
Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Maggie Hassan (D-NH)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
Doug Jones (D-AL)
Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Angus King (I-ME)
Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO) rewarded by being hired as an “analyst” for MSNBC
Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Gary Peters (D-MI)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Thanks for the info. I'm relieved to see my boy Sherrod didn't appear on that list!
Sherrod is one of the good guys A man with integrity. He has to be good he keeps getting re elected in crimson Ohio.
As Thom points out, the real problem is money in politics, and the fact that politicians in general, do not run for re election because of public service, but because of it's perks and the road to riches.
As of 2020, over half of the members of Congress were millionaires and the median net worth of members was approximately $1 million. The original documents for each member's disclosure are publicly available on a database website, maintained by OpenSecrets.org
It is also the perks, the connections,and when they leave or retire they get jobs as lobbyist making millions or wind up in on a board of directors for some corporation.
It is about building a Humane Capitalism, as pointed to in my Metaeconomics: Tempering Excessive Greed book. And, Adam Smith would approve --- Smith would be a MetaEcon!
CAPITALISM CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT EXPLOITATION AND POVERTY 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
How would you define "humane capitalism"?
I doubt the Republicans getting elected even know how to spell "Smith," let alone know what he'd approve of, or could even read what you've written about it.
Thank you, Tom Cummings. CORRECT! I continue to reiterate, Mr. Reich should post his daily writings up in multiple social media sites. We will "like, comment, and share" his truthful words an they will reach millions of Americans. Instead of them listening and reading daily mis-information and sucking off the teat of falseness. Give many something to read about and possibly let it sink in and register. I guess I can copy and share but I am not a Professor who fills the halls to Standing Room Only (SRO) in the University of California, Berkeley. Be well. JDF
What kills me is I married a Dutch guy, but because I had minor children from my first marriage, he had to come here. If only I could have moved there! All of our lives would have been better. I still wish my entire family could relocate to the Netherlands.
I do, too. So sad.
How can we (more people) choose differently? What choices do we have? I feel completely powerless. What can I do? All I feel I can do is vote. I want to do more. I am depressed, terrified, and appalled! We are trying the best we can with the options (so few) that we have.
True. But what we can do is to stop playing along. Silence is consent. I don't mean stand on a soap box or carry a sign (the corporate establishment loves non violent protests, they see them for what they are, a pressure relief valve. People show up, vent their spleen and then after a round of self congratulations go home thinking that they did some, like those fools in the Occupy movement, they achieved nothing, but sure made themselves feel important Lots of kudos and acceptance from the peers.)
Stand your ground, with acquaintances and family, prepare to be separated from even divorce them. Silence is consent.
I have never played along and things are still the same. Standing my ground is my middle name and things are still the same. My little tribe of 3 wants to do more. What could it be? I sometimes describe my life as being like the ocean waves bashing on the rocks. Eventually the waves turn the rocks to sand. I wish I had the longevity of the ocean. In the meantime, there must be more we can do. Maybe there isn't.
I agree with occupy thing same thing for never again movement. Thomas than Kavanlaugh what happened to never again. cut there money off and you will see how fast they move. Women are the most picked on in our country and a women of color well they really have it hard. Women need to just say enough is enough and stop the cycle. If that means shut it all down then shut it down. Money will not let that happen. Once the women as a real issue comes up they will break. They always do. Just ask Jimmie Hoffa if you can find him. he got big business to pay truckers a living wage.
write your elected officials. Short e mails there attention span is very limited especially if hundred dollar bills are not waving in front of them. Next get you like minded friends to join in. Each send separate e mails. Copy and paste is ok but if each is a little different that is better. Swamp them with paper. I mean all of them. Your city council (if you have one) mayor (if you have one) state and fed. house representatives and senators and your states similar people your governor. E mail all of them. The more they get the more worried they get. When you are about to give up think of your kids if you have any, grandkids if you have any, loved ones which you have a lot of. So you can do a lot more than vote. But keep voting.
Elected representatives don't even read your emails. I wrote my congress critter a number of emails, none of which were answered, Finally I got a call from an intern, about an email I wrote concerning a power outage that affected his whole district. The outage was caused because the private equity firm that bought the public utility was delaying maintenance, and I had a video to prove it. His intern called to show concern, but nothing ever happened, because theat private equity firm is also a contributor to his campaign.
Right after the Loma Prieta quake of Oct 17, 1989, I wrote Diane Feinstein and suggested that she sponsor a bill to ensure that all homes had automatic cut off valves for their gas lines, and that existing homes be retrofied at tax payer expense.
(Fires always follow earthquakes because of broken gas lines).
I received a b.s. response about it being too expensive, then two years later, a law was passed requiring automatic shut off valves for gas lines
Excellent tutorial from Dr. Reich and follow up critique from you, Tom. Let us spread the facts among our citizenry and press it with those at the levers of government action.
Your point about socio-economic models that show the way can be demonstrated analytically using dual interest theory in the new Metaeconomics: It is about striking good balance in the joint and non-separable self & other(shared widely, like the Viking economies deciding against poverty)-interest, and, writ large, again like in the Viking economies, good balance in the joint Market & Government, both inclusive. American framing puts all emphasis on self-interest, and, the system is failing because of it.
For your consideration: https://youtu.be/FuK2agxkS3Q
Hell! How 'bout the pro's ‽
Upon further reflection, how is it that our universities have become gymnasiums for professional athletes ‽ How is it we've come to value athletes higher than anyone who works for a living ‽
Actually, 110+ years of perspective!
Two things would help this issue,#1, publicly financed political campaigns like they do in Europe and Australia/New Zealand,and,#2,tax these fat cat a**holes back to the Stone Age.
I for one am very tired of our politicians working for the highest bidder and to Hell with their actual constituents.Also that corporate interests matter more than actual People.
Thank Citizens United for that.
Actually I think the thanks should go to our corrupt SCOTUS.
I think President Theodore Roosevelt was pretty damn smart when he warned way back in 1910 that “a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power” could destroy American democracy. It’s happening right before our eyes! What can we do to save our Democracy?
Same now as then. Tax....the....Rich.
VOTE!!! We The People have the power to reign in these miscreants. The Republican party is showing itself as what it has become since Reagan - an avenue of repression against the common person. And it is become even more destructive with time, because we've allowed it to. The time is NOW, absolutely NOW, to use our voting power to let them know this will no longer be tolerated. And not just on the National level; we need to address the corruption on the State level as well. I'm from Ohio, and the Republican party here believes it can do whatever it wants, whenever it wants, because We The People have failed in Ohio to monitor and vote accordingly. The time is NOW, and voting is our weapon.
Voting will never solve the problem. The majority of voters are low information voters and have no clue. Thank our corrupted K-12 system. If you want to see what a union has done to erode this great nation, just look at the public teachers union. Actual listen to what Randi says to the teachers versus what she says to the public and you will understand how power corrupts. I have four K-12 teachers in my nephew/neice hierarchy and three believe that they are truly discriminated against in income. Two of those failed in business before becomeing teachers. And they do get two months off each summer. It is their choice. They care about the students, but the erosion of discipline and parent involvement has left them out on a limb. They are required to dumb down their classroom to the lowest common denominator. Very sad. Most high school graduates could not pass the eighth grade exam giving in 1900. They know nothing about history except that the US is a corrupt nation that commits wars of aggression (the Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan) etc. I have two grand-daughters by marriage who did not know about WWI at all, did not know it even occurred, and could not articulate WWII when they were junior and senior in high school. Sad. But they are on top of LGBQT and how Black people have been so mistreated. One told me that the only time there were slaves were Africans in Europe and America. I asked if the Romans had slaves and they knew NOTHING about the history of Rome. That is what we get when Unions run the schools.
Get real. Unions in education got teachers what little they have in the way of wages , Hours and working conditions. remember, the administrators of school districts are responsible for what is taught. they are no different than the bosses of industry. The Majority of them look at themselves as better than teachers and are paid far more with better perks. Now many of them come from industry. I taught in the Detroit area for 37 years so I speak with some experience from a personal point of view. anecdotal stories about nieces and nephews don’t resonate much with me. it’s interesting you didn’t mention about the private and charter schools and academies that are trying to Shanghai public education. For instances billionaire Betsy DeVos ,Trumps industrial pic for Secretary of Education, oh I’ll bet she loves unions.
Mr. Rohl, I am WITH you, sir! My defense of unions will come, but not until we have addressed the dire issues facing us by Republican shenanigans. If we don't vote them out - on ALL levels - unions won't matter anymore. Our unions have been under attack since Reagan, and one look at the remnants of our middle-class underscores the damage done. I just didn't think we should go on that tangent at this critical moment, is all.
Lynn's, 'Tucker/Murdoch indoctrination syndrome' is pretty evident. She's right about one thing though, voters will never fix our problems-so long as substantial numbers are conditioned to believe the BS Tucker feeds them, on a daily basis.
Could you imagine if you tried to teach critical thinking, and the forms of propaganda to every student in America? In half the states in America you would be run out of town on a rail, it just wouldn’t be patriotic to have a mind of your own.
Thank you, Richard. I get it now; Faux Entertainment drivel.
Respectfully, Lynn, voting is our ONLY solution. And if we have to take our neighbors by the hand, slowly draw the picture of the downward spiral we're now in, and BEG them to get to the polls and do the right thing, then that is what we MUST do. We are at the precipice in this country, and I for one will do everything to pull us back, and turn us around to be again facing in the correct direction. At this point in time, the issue of schools, and the unions (?), need to be put aside for another day. Soon, for certain, but not now. We are facing a different, more perilous danger at the moment, and we must not lose focus, or we are all doomed.
You're assuming, Daniel, that when we vote for a candidate, we can trust that that candidate, if elected, will fulfill his/her promises and do the things we voted for. In my nearly 50-year experience of (never Republican) voting, that assumption has been proven overwhelmingly wrong. As I mentioned above, Biden just violated a key promise by approving the Willow project. And if I'm angry about what Biden did and vote for someone else next time, the same thing will happen. It's like Lucy with the football.
You and I have been voting together all this time!! And, if you were to ask my wife, you'd know just how cynical I really am. About ALL politicians. But it has taken me this long to realize it's my own fault. I've been falling into their trap of listening to the TV ads, and, shame on me, voting accordingly. But I've had an awakening, due to a few true patriots who hold/held office. People like Katie Porter, and former Rep. Adam Kinziger. And even Liz Cheney, with whom I disagreed on most policy matters, but applauded her stance against 45's treason. Just try to swallow hard, and stay with us, as we find the correct people to actually represent us. (I say correct, because I can't bring myself to type Right!!)
We'll only get the choices we're allowed to have. Dennis Kucinich was my hero for years here in Cleveland, until HIS OWN PARTY gerrymandered him out, because he wouldn't bow to the corporations. I don't want to say it's hopeless, but in my heart of hearts, I kinda think it is. Were I able to emigrate, I would have been gone in 2000 when GWB stole the election.
i believe the school board runs the schools, & BROWARD COUNTY, F-F-Florida ( ! ) is extraordinarily progressive, has its own educational television channel BECON where are your nieces and nephews can learn about indigenous peoples of this continent, Titus, Greece, slavery et al
There is a big blue wave 🌊 taking over the Florida coast--it's a wipe out for DeSantis
are you really anti-union ?
EVERY VEHICLE Should be posting an 8 1/2 x 11 educational on their left rear car window!
Thank you! 🤬
I don't believe that voting will solve this country’s problems, both for the reason Lynn lists, and because having a majority in power doesn't mean anything anymore. Obama had a bullet-proof majority for two years. Did we get universal healthcare? No, we got the ACA, a huge giveaway to Big Insurance. Did we get abortion codified? Nope. Drug price controls? Nope. Gun control? No. And on and on.
The things most people in this country want won't come about by voting, because too many politicians in both parties are corporate-owned. Biden had majorities in both houses for two years, and could have gotten much more legislation passed had the filibuster been ousted at the beginning. But it wasn't. And two DINOs held up BBB and other key bills. Now, Biden has violated his, "No more drilling on public lands. Period." promise, though that was a campaign plank, and he was elected by a majority of voters. Meanwhile, the minority (until January) GOP and corporate owners have thrown a wrench into everything.
Bottom line is that, until corporate ownership of politicians is outlawed, voting on the national level is mostly just going through the motions. We can't believe campaign promises when Big Corp is calling the shots.
Then, if not by voting, how? We The People need to work harder to vet who we are voting for! Go to campaign appearances, ask questions and DEMAND answers! Don't let them off with the usual double-speak. I know how tough that can be, and our daily time demands keep most of us from being able to do these things. But look where it's gotten us. And if we don't do this NOW, it WILL be too late! Don't give up; don't give in! That's exactly what they want, what they've been aiming for the past 40+ years. Please, for everyone's sake, VOTE!! Get grandma to go with you to vote, get your 18 year-old to go with you to vote for the first time. We need numbers, and we need people to help vet the available candidates so we with so little time can help get the country back on the right track. We need your help, Denise, and we're all here to help rid you of your rightful pessimism.
I always vote. I can't foresee ever not voting. But at the same time, I realize how ineffective a vehicle it is. We can only cast ballots for the candidates the DNC/RNC select; they make sure of that. By definition, then, any name on the ballot represents someone who's bought. I very much wanted to vote for Bernie in 2016, but the DNC saw to it that he wasn't nominated. Then, in 2020, when Bernie was pushed out again, the mantra was, "holding Biden's feet to the fire" to get a public healthcare option, $15 minimum wage, no drilling on public land, and so on. We see how all of that turned out. Demanding answers gets us exactly zero. The vast majority of elected officials do what the donors tell them to do.
What's the alternative to voting? I don't know. But casting ballots isn't getting us to where we need to be. If you read news from the 1970s, you'll see complaints about the same issues we're still facing today.
I live in TX and voting doesn’t change a thing because the Republicans have gerrymandered control of the election outcome. I still vote anyway!
Trump is the most dishonest man on the planet. He is incapable of saying anything that doesn’t make him look good, regardless how idiotic it sounds. He lies constantly. He dreams of a fascist America with him as “Hitler”.
I hope that was meant as sarcasm. Trump gave the wealthy huge tax cuts and more loopholes to get out of paying anything to support our economy.
You’re on the wrong link here Jerry boy. You’re just doing it for harassment sake because you Aren’t changing anybody’s mind. Truthfully, I know you’re just being sarcastic. Nobody’s that dumb and to add Santos that beautiful patriots name was definitely the coup de grace.
Keith, In answer to your question, one thing we can do is to broadly and repeatedly debunk the legitimacy of the myths Reich references that mirror three common, albeit contradictory, beliefs about the United States.
Or, as former US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said (or is alleged to have said): "We can have democracy in this country, or great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, but we can't have both."
Wealth Inequality is Inequality, especially obscene wealth against flatlined wages and tent cities.
Keith Olson ; Maybe mother nature will help. It's getting worse out there all the time.political speeches and education don't reach those with closed minds. A tree blown onto your roof may get attention!
And so much turbulence when flying. I have never had to clean up and sit down early or stay seated for the entire flight and not serve due to inclement weather and turbulence more than I have had to in the last 5 to 10 years. I’ve been a flight attendant for 27 years and we used to get up when the wheels came off the ground and didn’t sit down ‘til the landing gear came down. I’ve lost track of how many times I can’t stay standing in the galley to pour drinks and I am told “Flight attendants take your seats.”
Eileen G : Very obvious changes, broken record flooding, wind, fire storms everywhere! Very 😨 scary! My husband's brother has a cabin in the Sierras where the snow was 13 feet deep! Nobody had ever seen anything like it! There were places with 16 feet!
You’re right. You can’t fool or bullshit Mother Nature.
garhardt Rohl ; or buy her or father time off!
The Earth will be fine but we won’t be able to live on it. We’re screwing it up for ourselves.
The key to a healthy, vigorous, economy, as both Roosevelts and Adam Smith recognized, is higher taxes on the wealthy. To believe otherwise is to have swallowed Ayn Rand's bullshit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8m8cQI4DgM.
I believe Adam Smith realized that his economic system would over-reward (if you doubt this, I give you Exhibit A, Mark Zuckerberg), so to protect the free market, and with it the worker, he advocated progressive taxation. Higher taxes on the wealthy would have three effects.
1) It would directly address the over-rewarding by making it possible to build schools and infrastructure like roads, bridges and canals.
2) This recycling of money would put money in the hands of workers, so they could buy the products produced by the factories they worked in, so everyone wins.
3) It would prevent the wealthy from developing the power necessary to buy governments and distort the market.
Sadly, we have now been led to believe that the "Free market" is actually the freedom of the wealthy to do whatever they please, whereas its true meaning is the exact opposite.
What did Reagan do to disrupt a healthy economy? Why, he followed Ayn Rand and cut taxes on the wealthy (interesting that she despised him), while also busting the unions.
To hell with Reagan. Tax....the....Rich.
Bernie is right.
There is also some evidence that putting the highest income earners into significantly higher tax brackets may reduce the disparity in pay between CEOs and ordinary workers. The reason is that if executives know that higher compensation puts them into a higher tax bracket, they will be less likely to demand higher and higher compensation, because they see all or most of the extra going to taxes.
Good point.
Yes, the rich must be taxed at higher rates...ALL of their income. If not, you get games like taking pay in stock options that get held and cashed out after the statute says they are eligible for the lower capital gains tax instead of income tax. It seems to me that all income over the prescribed dollar amounts should get taxed at the higher rate, regardless of where it comes from.
Well said.
Superb articulation of the issue. My question is when will we collectively learn the lesson of not repeating such mistakes.
An overseas observer of American politics here.
The opportunities for electing people with the same egalitarianism required for Roosevelt-style fiscal policy, seems completely remote in 2023! Perhaps impossible? This seems to be a decade of obscene obfuscation of Fact, Evidence, Truth & Integrity in many Democratic governments but it’s particularly disturbing watching America unravel at such grassroots cultural & political levels. American paranoia for Socialist-Democratic policy is just so baffling.
Michelle Pitman : The educational system mirrors the media. People are afraid of Socialist Democracy because there has been negative stories about socialism, with many equating it with communism. Fear was the enemy named long ago, and is the enemy today, along with ignorance.
Willful ignorance!
I think it’s long past time to start making the rich and and major corporations pay their fair share. It’s also long past time to break up these large monopolies that are controlling prices and gouging consumers. It’s time for a major overhaul at the government level. Of course that would require taking the money out of politics.
It’s time to base representation in government on the population of each state. People in Wyoming,Montana and other low populated states should not be able to control the majority while they are actually in the minority. Religion needs to be removed from politics completely.
where is this extreme wealth coming from? the workers, as you rightly note, robert, but it also is coming from increasing exploitation and destruction of nature herself. even as the wealthy grow ever-richer, the rest of us are driven into never-ending debt, homelessness, and despair, and the planet that is being shared with us is being destroyed whilst the uber-rich seek to escape their mess to start over on another planet and leave us to suffer for their social, financial and environmental crimes.
This reminds me of a movie from the recent past: Elysium. Does anyone else find this movie disturbingly prescient?
oh thanks! never heard of it, but it's on my must watch radar now.
The physical environment is not the only landscape subject to exploitation ("the commons" is a concept that can extend to cyberspace, spiritual life - even the mind!); kudos for noting the pattern...
Hold on to your whatever’s, it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.
This two-hour documentary ‘Age of Easy Money’ on PBS is an excellent complement to Professor Bob’s insights.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/
I would also recommend the book The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy by Christopher Leonard, which details even more how the Fed's Quantitative Easing almost ensured that banks and investors would take on riskier investments. The economy is going to go through major withdrawal symptoms as the Fed tries to wean us away from their Easy Money. It won't be pretty.
Easy Money was an excellent program. It left me terrified about “what’s next”, however, especially from my kids/grandchildren’s perspective. If we do not get equity in our system, judicially, and taxation wise, we WILL lose democracy. This next election cycle is it, folks. The above discussion about the statehouse numbers says it all. Ds will be a useless vestige if we all are subjected to state-level Dobbs systems. Watch the movie Women Talking. Fear, Fight, Vote, Win.
Thanks for the info on the PBS documentary. I'll check it out.
Excellent link to Frontline, one of my favorite programs from PBS.
Saved me during the GWB administration. I became addicted to Will Lyman's narration.
"It was once thought acceptable to own and trade human beings, to take the land of indigenous people by force, to put debtors in prison, and to exercise vast monopoly power." It still is, obviously.
Now, how do we get these facts in front of all those glassy eyed FOX viewers?
Personally I don't worry about those Fox viewers. Their power is diminishing as we write. My focus is on the people coming up behind them....their replacements....the Millenials/Zoomers/Alphas. So far so good.
Yes. it does look like America's youth isn't lost in a fairy tale past like so many in my generation are. But, we have to keep the levers of power out of these psycho's hands until the generational shift occurs.
Give 'em Bernie as a Democratic candidate. A large number of Trump voters (the polls suggest about a quarter of them) would vote for Bernie if he ran.
I think it is high time people started reading Katl Marx again, with sn open mind. No need to read the parts about revolutions and stuff, jyst read how he predicted "today" a hekkuva long time ago, and got the cspitslists almost perf3ctly right.
Socialism is NOT the enemy. Minds taught to be closed are!
The sad Truth Today is that pretty much EVERYBODY is easily replaceable. For every competent employee anywhere in an organization that dies suddenly, moves too far away to continue with the job, becomes physically and/or emotionally disabled, etc., there are 10, 20, 50 others willing to step into that job. They don't even have to be enticed with promises of higher pay. Just the prospect of a stable job with adequate benefits is enough to start a feeding frenzy among the applicants. Whereas, all the wealthy need to get into their high-paying jobs is a well-placed relative or friendly peer to recommend them for the job. Actual competence is secondary to being well-connected. And the vast overwhelming majority of working stiffs are NOT well-connected.
I am retired from the insurance field. Worked carrier side as a commercial marine underwriter and agency side. On the carrier side, you saw examples of folks up the food chain, having well placed friends finding them a well paying job on the corporate side, even after being fired elsewhere for poor performance & disastrous results working with those working in his division. The rumors in one example were, that numerous folks, upon hearing about the hire, called the U.S. division's ceo's office to register their concerns & displeasure. Then the word from on high, was that this person was placed in a position where no one would be working for him. That appeased most folks. But have seen and heard of that more often than not. Connections often mattering more than true competence.
Will and Ariel Durant, appended their 10 volume series "The History of Civilization" with a short "essay" entitled "The Lessons of History." They note that historically concentration of wealth "regularly occurs in history" and that "the concentration may reach a point where the strength of number in the many poor rivals the strength of ability in the few rich; then the unstable equilibrium generates a critical situation, which history has diversely met by legislation redistributing wealth or by revolution distributing poverty."
We should all understand that our society cannot long endure great gaps of wealth inequality, and that there should be dignity, pride, and economic well being associated with all the various jobs that keep us together,
Ben, we been reading the same pages....
“To violate law is to win the admiration of half the populace, who secretly envy anyone who can outwit this ancient enemy; to violate custom is to incur almost universal hostility. For custom arises out of the people, whereas law is forced upon them from above.”
--Will and Ariel Durant, The Lessons of History
Love your ironclad myths, Prof. Reich. The GOP has built their facade of financial savvy on these vacuous talking points, said with confidence that deflects any conscious thought.
It’s time that America ended it’s recent history of catering to the #OverPrivileged. No more blank-check handouts to the #UpTrodden. Capitalism can be done honorably without the zero-sum mentality of the GOP which seems to have this secret mantra: “Move all the money to us!”
“The standard conservative explanation for why inequality has widened is that individuals are paid what they’re “worth” — and that a few Americans at the top are now worth extraordinary sums while most Americans are not.”
“Worker” is and has always been a pejorative term, whether in Marxist or Capitalist rhetoric: the very word implies “commodity,” one that’s infinitely interchangeable, and of which there is an inexhaustible supply. The only difference between the two is that Capitalism also needs its workers to be consumers of the products other workers make or provide, so they have to have some disposable income if only so the owners of the factories and businesses, and those who invest in those businesses, can see profit.
It’s not worth at all, but PERCEIVED worth, or value.
Ours is a society that has always rewarded talent — or, again, perceived talent — far more than actual labor. Looking at two obvious pools of perceived talent, movie stars and professional athletes, the immense salaries and profit participations they receive are based on their perceived value to movie studios and team owners (in many cases, both stars and athletes are offered huge paydays not because signing them to a contract confers a direct advantage to the employer — added box office gross for a movie, or improved performance of a team — but to merely keep them from selling their services to a competitor of the studio or team. Their value, therefore, is exclusively relative to the particular industry in which they toil; if one were to try to calculate what I call their societal value, it is more or less nil (granted, if the movies or sports vanished overnight, the world would be a somehat duller place, but we’d endure. If, however, forty percent of the world’s garbage collectors suddenly disappeared, we’d all be up to our necks in filth, vermin and disease-bearing ticks and fleas, and civilization would truly and literally collapse).
The problem doesn’t lie with the movie stars and athletes; they’d be fools not to take the money thrown at them, and they are, in total, only a few thousand, made millionaires by billionaires (something that also describes the hyena pundits paid to spew lies on Fox). But it’s those billionaires who are manipulating the very perception of wealth and what might be called the propriety of wealth. Using the media they control they skew those perceptions to their benefit and the detriment of almost everybody else.
As with many things, Oscar Wilde crafted the perfect turn of phrase, though he used it as the definition of a cynic: one who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing. By this definition, ours is the most cynical society in history, and it’s the billionaires who are moving heaven and earth to make sure it stays that way.
I love your reference to garbage workers. They are part of our essential workers who couldn’t even take off for COVID. I have always felt all essential workers should be rewarded with living wages with a little left over to save. They make our lives and the lives of the wealthy better,so reward them. I think we should be paying educators and scientists higher wages than athletes and movie stars. They are preparing the next generation of leaders and essential workers for all of us. Our priorities of worth and importance are all screwed up. As a final note, tax the churches. They have become nothing but political tools at this point.
reading this a few days late; too bad we cannot just request permission from the families, get some DNA, use our industrial and scientific might and bring back leaders from both sides of the divide to shake up the ones we have not or the ones trying to seize power in 2024