The “we needed this” argument is the most comfortable lie in democratic theory. It converts preventable institutional failure into cosmic pedagogy. We didn’t need the Holocaust to learn that antisemitism was dangerous. We didn’t need Jim Crow to understand that legal apartheid was wrong. The people who “needed” the lesson were rarely the ones paying for it. It forces “us” to suffer when it was never “our” fault to begin with.
Every institution listed: the Fed, the NLRB, the FTC, the CDC; was already documented, already defended, already explained by people for decades before Trump. The information was available. The warnings were issued. The lesson was taught. The class just didn’t show up.
That’s not a civics problem. It’s a political economy problem. And “we needed Trump to understand checks and balances” is a way of not saying the harder thing: that the people with the power to stop this at every decision point chose not to, because the system was working fine for them until it wasn’t.
You make a lot of sense. And your thoughts are well organized. However, I disagree that we did not need this. I have been politically active all my life. But it seems that we did not get the civil rights act until we actually witnessed police brutality on Black marchers. We did not believe what was going on until we actually saw the police using fire hoses to break up crowds. We did not believe what was going on until we saw marchers and bus riders being beaten and killed.
Unfortunately, we tend to ignore all the visible signs until they slap us in the face and scream that we had better notice. Humans just take a damn long time to learn anything until it hits them upside the head. Sometimes we need that. Sometimes we don’t understand what we have until we start to lose it.
Okay, but we have repeated this cycle over and over and over. Now that we know that humans have a propensity to avoid hard truths until they hit us over the head, I submit that we should be doing better than we are. I know that I will eat everything that is put on my plate, so if I want to control how much I eat, I put less on my plate to begin with. In other words, for God's sake let's put more things in place to protect us from our own human foibles. No more excuses.
Kirsten, yes! It does not mean that we will not continue to be vigilant, but we do need to address why the laws that we expected all Americans to follow could be ignored by this corrupt regime! I want the next group of politicians to determine how to go about putting teeth into these laws where there is absolutely no way that someone as vile and criminal as the orange man can just ignore them and do what they want!! We have the laws; however, what good is the law when those in power do not follow them?
What was needed? The boiled frog syndrome leads to death for dependent people in the pot, when the people in charge don’t recognize the pending threat of death caused by the core problem of uncontrolled heating. But Democrats in charge didn’t recognize the pending destruction of America coming since 1971 after the Powell Memo launched the attacks on democracy, truth, civil rights and the rule of law by Republicans, corporations and billionaire oligarchs that was stealing wealth from 99% of Americans and transferring the wealth to the top 1% that was going to destroy freedom of speech, and create the core problems including affordability of housing, food, energy, education, and healthcare. Democrats were in charge from 2021 to 2025 and failed to enforce the law against insurrection on January 6, 2021, and the law advocating overthrow of the government. The failure enabled Trump to get elected in 2024 and begin installing a lawless, fascist autocracy. Democrats didn’t recognize and the solve core problems. A new generation of Democrats may get another chance at Revival in 2026 and 2028 buy they must enforce the laws, arrest, prosecute, convict and imprison the felons inclusing Trump, members of his administration, Republcans in Congress and six justices on the Supreme Court and solve the core problems. In addition, convicted felons should not be allowed to vote or hold office.
Democrats need to go on the offensive to create the kind of middle class society that people on the Left seem to want. Getting money out of politics, taxing the wealth of billionaires and trillionaires, Medicare for All etc etc. Dems can't go on just cleaning up the shit left by Repubs like the metaphor says cleaning up the crap after the parade goes by.
It would make sense to know the values of those running for office, nominated to the Supreme Court and President…but could we figure out a way to do this?
Actually, it's not that difficult. You look at their record, read their words, listen to those who know them, and investigate their campaign funding sources. A tree is known by its fruit.
I agree, but many individuals lied during their confirmation hearings, including a few Supreme Court justices, and they were able to do so without facing any consequences.
Through diligent research for the candidates you will be choosing. Go to their rallies and ask the tough questions directly. Note how they answer. Find out how their campaign is being funded.
In Republican campaigns there is no reason to ask because it is self evident. Denial of climate change is common to them all, secular and religious. They are all oil annointed.
this is what the founders envisioned and what the constitution was designed for-to protect us from the worse aspects of our nature-but these ideas were meant to be acted upon by honorable patriots-and that's the weakness this administration has exploited
Kirsten L. Held: I submit that we should be doing better than we are.
James R. Carey: I heard you all out and you’re preaching to the choir. My question? What is the Blue tsunami strategy? I have a proposal.
Referring to MAGA as right-wing is easy because we all know what it’s referring to, but the progressive newsletter community alone is not a Blue tsunami.
Have you ever been the victim of someone with an “I’m right, and anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot” attitude? If yes, then you are the victim of someone refusing to constrain their own ignorance. Have you ever been a perpetrator?
My proposed Blue tsunami strategy involves ending a practice employed in another popular newsletter from yesterday when it said, “Now it is clear that the assault on immigrants was a tool to enforce a right-wing vision of the country on the American people.” Instead, follow Chris Murphy’s vision in his book, Crisis of the Common Good when he says, “I look at the solutions, they're really not right-left solutions.”
In a practical example, a (not perfect and instead) more perfect version of the offending newsletter would say, “Now it is clear that the assault on immigrants was a tool to enforce MAGA’s unconstrained ignorance of America on the American people (or words to that effect).”
Who agrees? George Orwell did when he said, “deceptive language (like "right wing") not only corrupts thought but makes it easier to justify foolishness, atrocities, and totalitarian control.”
For the record, what is the opposite of unconstrained ignorance? Maturity.
Dems would have strengthened the border if the GOP had let them, and that would have been a very good thing, but the GOP wouldn't let it happen because they wanted a wedge issue. Trump's approach to deporting immigrants is a wedge issue and a very bad thing.
John Lawrence: no, the border was already very strong and did not need additional fortification. Why do we need to live in a fortress? This nation had open borders for most of its history, as long as white people were the only ones seeking voluntary admission. We only instituted severe immigration reatrictions when masses of non-white persons sought entry (other than Africans brought here in chains to be sold into slavery). So, if you're white, and your family has been here since, say, the mid to late 1800s, you most likely benefitted from entry through open borders. Why can you not grant that opportunity to others now?
Correct I wrote above what we saw in periods like the 1960's that we do not need to witness again. No more excuses. Things like the voting rights act are a start...
Sisyphus exemplified despair. Back then, for the poor and those disenfranchised by brutal interregional aggression, there was no hope. These are the people that philosophers such as Jesus were addressing.
Our direction needs to be focused on those who need help. We require a healthy society to do that, of course, but prosperity cannot be allowed conflict with the requirement to provide for the least of us.
That’s the thing: as you said, we’ve repeated this cycle over and over.
Capitalism is a great and marvelous invention, and has been the foundation of enormous creativity and progress. But its one major fault is that it fails to take into account that greed is limitless. And sooner or later greed will rot the very pillars of any society and ultimately bring it down. If we could redefine capitalism by adding real guardrails limiting greed and the influence of money over politics, we might have a chance. But the wealthy will never let that happen.
Except that people who say that about capitalism have only known capitalism. How many have actually studied goes indigenous societies have worked, who knew balance and harmony instead of extraction? Not many.
For tens of thousands of years all humans were communists. If you didn't share your game or fruits you were likely expelled from the clan. If Big Guys grabbed all the goods, the clan likely diminished and died out.
The cycles are well described in Prof. Peter Turchin's books - War and Peace and War is one of them. The data over centuries show that we humans tend to concentrate power and wealth and then succumb to plagues, wars, revolutions. I recommend his works.
"War and Peace" -- 1400 pages -- a verrrry long book! "War and Peace and War" - 400 pages -- also a very long book! Before I get started... is there a movie?
It took the indignities ushered in by the Amendments to the Fugitive Slave Law resulting from the Compromise of 1850 to make slavery a national issue, and a decade of strife thereafter, ending in the Civil War, for America to accept that the unfair economic advantage created by the institutionalized human trafficking of slavery is intolerable in a civilized society, despite the advantages that accrue to the few, to the envy of the many. However, slavery would not have ended when it did except for the work of a woman named Harriette Beecher Stowe, who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, depicting Uncle Tom as a better Christian than his tormentors, but primarily showing that it was the institution of slavery and not the people who were evil.
I share Professor Reich's view that the U.S. needed to go through something like what we are enduring for the sleeping giant to re-awaken: And we will need an episodic video drama series about what Minneapolis went through, featuring Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti, to help bring it home. But that alone will not be enough. We also need Jon Ossoff or Mark Kelly to find and collaborate with a next generation Ted Sorensen, who wrote ‘Profiles in Courage” with John F. Kennedy….
Except-wait a minute… what if that new ‘Profiles in Courage’ book were a streaming series that featured all of the people who have stood up to Trump, including Renee Good and Alex Petri…. The project would be gargantuan to undertake in the time before 2028, but absolutely possible, in particular with the assistance of AI. But it would take more than a single Ted Sorensen. It will take a team of writers, perhaps starting with Alex Vindman and his brother…
Oh no, 2peter. We did not need to lose beautiful people like Renee Good and Alex Pretti or any of the people harmed by this regime. We did NOT need this.
Right. And then they give themselves a pass and say, "We didn't know." I call B.S. on a lot of those people. It's more accurate to say you didn't want to know so you chose not to. I really don't like to be mean or hurt anyone's feelings. That is not my intent. What is my intent though is to stop the mollycoddling. Don't pretend that you couldn't have known. You chose not to. Those are two very different things. Until we are able to be honest with ourselves about our own human nature and put things in place to protect us from ourselves, we're doomed.
Half the country doesn’t understand global warming. Half the population failed to catch the last train to evolution. The human race is bumbling its way to extinction . There are at least three existential threats facing the survival of humanity and humanity is looking the other way. If we took full control of AI, as we should, that may be the best tool available to us to avoid extinction. But when the train is moving in reverse as fast as it is, it’s hard to contemplate a good ending.
So true. The hardest part about it all is the amount of real suffering that results from a failure to act. The irony is that I honestly believe that if we could face the reality of how far we've overshot as a species, we could work together to turn things around. Now, it will be brutally hard, but there's actually a lot of purpose and meaning (and dare I even say happiness) in facing something head on and managing the situation instead of just letting things fall apart in the worst possible ways. Instead, we're going the "every man for himself" route.
For me, the measure of ‘did we need this’ will be the voter turnout in the near future. Will the 1/3 of registered voters who didn’t show in Nov 2024, remain, increase, or (hopefully) decrease to a single digit percentage?
We need people to get out and vote. That will show exactly what people really thing and want! Sadly, Trump is trying to rig the midterms with his changes to the voting laws. Voting should be left to the states and NOT to the president. He has a clear need to control the votes because he cannot win the votes with his odd behaviors; sleeping in meetings, rants on the social media in the middle of the night, attacking people for no reason and his ridiculous and childish name calling of everyone!
Yes. Denial is one of the most powerful responses we have. Then we dig our heels into our denial. It sometimes does take a really hard slap in the face to wake up to what is real. Love your comment, Donna.
You're seen my "60 years" rant. How many other "dirty tricks" have gotten past the DNC at the same time, or in even shorter timeframes? And now we know that the DNC isn't even minimally effective now at dismantling GOP strategies once they become fully known. (There are still plenty of people in the GOP behind the scenes that are just as intelligent, evil (and patient), as Lee Atwater was.)
I agree about the Civil Rights movement of the 60s, and that's why it's one of my "60 years" examples. Unfortunately, the GOP has had some pretty serious successes as far as erasing or altering American history since then, and much of it has been around Dr. King, and the mixed Black/white racial unity that caused him to succeed. Today's American under 50 scarcely knows it ever happened.
Some of us learned about the American people when the hate distorted faces of white Southern women were shown spitting and cursing at a 6 year old black girl being escorted into a school. Or by the same hate distorted faces of white women in South Boston ( Boston !!!!) over school busing. or by reading the hate filled posts on this site. Taken in context with the Trump record we can see that there are many of us who, for whatever reason, resonate with Trump’s message because that is who they are. Until we can outnumber them ( and forget the millions who did not bother to vote in 2024 who I fear should be included in the number of pro Trump voters) we will face the incredible political defeats we have suffered lately in the Senate and House - our elected representatives.
The problem is deep and broad, and it involves the entire social, economic and political political structure of the United States, involving education, the judicial system, the institutions of capitalism, subversion of democratic principles of government and elections, and on and on. Then there are the vast problems of the techno-information age. Many of these problems are global.
The anti-democratic confluence of these forces has produced the MAGA movement, driven my tens of millions of people who present an on-going existential threat to democracy and the rule of law.
The American public is being slapped, pummeled, and beaten to a pulp, and it seems like we, as a country, are just saying “Hey, that wasn’t nice!” I can only conclude that democracy is an opiate of the masses, but not as mesmerizing as “reality tv”. I’ve lost faith in this country.
What a lot of absolute garbage. You are you insulting a respected Professor who has actually worked in Government. Trump is not a serial entrepreneur. He has bankrupted several businesses, behaved inappropriately to quite a few women and is a despicable human being. Even his own mother said that she hoped he wouldn't go into politics as he had no social skills. He's only got where he is because his Daddy was very wealthy and he was given a large amount of money when he was young. Now he seems to be suffering from dementia. And you think he is a great President?
This comment from "Deplore T." is either AI generated or from a person who I pity and hope can wake up to TRUTH. THE "T" YOU USE IN YOUR PSEUDONYMN SHOULD STAND FOR "TRUMP" - YOU CAN DO MUCH BETTER - IF YOU WAKE UP NOW - BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE...
Every time Trump has tried his hand at a traditional business it has ended up in bankruptcy. Even the casino he owned in NJ ended up bankrupt. How did that happen when the odds favor the house?!!!
Trump, Inc. is not a legitimate business, it is a brand, an extractive business model rather than a regenerative business model that is based on short term profitability over long-term sustainability. Humans are considered human resources, rather than human persons and additional natural nonrenewable resources must be continually sought by colonizing the land of other peoples.
I worked for an automobile insurance company hand coding claim folders right after graduating from high school and coded records on shipping companies filed under the Liberian flag in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa while my husband worked as Asst. Port Engineer for the Monrovia Port Management Co.
I was middle management, assistant branch manager in a commercial bank. I have also been an area manager in a commercial cleaning franchise.
I understood my function to be assuring that the employees gave an honest day's work for an honest day's pay and to represent them when upper management made unreasonable demands on them.
The branch office where I worked was robbed three times. One of the upper management people thought it would be good PR to reopen our branch as soon as the Feds had finished their work. I told my manager and area supervisor that, if they brought in floater tellers, I would stay; but my girls had just had a gun pointed at them at close range and, if they were required to stay, I would quit.
My area supervisor, a retired USAF officer, backed the home office boys off.
I quit the professional cleaning job when the owners began demanding more than three hours from the cleaners after they had already worked up to eight hours on a full-time job and took a sales job in a specialty shop selling pewter and silver items until I remarried.
I have also done clerical work in the accounting office of a lumber supply and pile driving family-owned business, been a payroll clerk for a pizza franchise and worked as a medical files clerk in an internal medicine practice.
My formal education ended at high school graduation, with the exception of a night course in Word Processing at a local business school. The rest of my educational formation was in the "School of Hard Knocks."
Whatever my business and life experiences may lack, diversity isn't among them.
I was never fired, so I guess, although I am not wealthy, merely financially comfortable as long as do not do anything stupid, I have no regrets over my career choices. I always showed up and did my best. My mother said that we should always do our best and then we should have no regrets because we can't do better than our best and we would never have to wonder if any extra effort would have made a difference.
I have taken some risks, but always after I have done a mental "risk analysis." I like to have the odds on my side, even though I can't anticipate any outcome with certitude only greater or lesser degrees of probability. I always favored long term sustainability over short term gain.
All efforts can become learning experiences. Success teaches us our strengths. Failure teaches us our limitations and it is more important to know one's limitations than one strengths when making life-changing choices.
BTW, there is a cartoon on the web where one Native American says to another, "Forget the reparation, we'll just apply for a casino license."
We SHOULDN'T have needed this; BUT, because of our finite human "faults and failings", we sometimes do need to experience the painful consequences of our actions or inaction to wake us up and "grow" us up.
Continuing to blame the perps, without realizing our own negligence, will not change anything. It is not enough to merely "do no harm," we must also "do good" although it requires personal sacrifice and perhaps even risk.
When our government was formed, people were lucky to live to their sixties! They didn't need age limits on our representatives, nature took care of it. Now we have an 80 year old president with obvious dementia and many representatives of the states that have been in office far too long! I hope all of this wakes up America to the dangers we are facing right now!
Until Trump, I was more or less consumed by foreign war atrocities and the plight of wildlife. They’re still important, but the USA is under direct threat now, and I have finally tuned in and turned on.
I agree 100%, Johan. I can honestly say that I DID understand all those things and I don't consider myself any kind of genius. Rather, I am a fairly well educated person who took responsibility for my own education about how things work and what I have to do as a citizen to help keep things in check. I think the harsh truth of the matter is that anyone who didn't see this coming for many years either failed to inform themselves and pay attention or was in denial.
They just trusted that our government would continue on as it always had! Many don't vote because they don't understand the issues. Trump is bringing the issues to everyone and not in a good way! I hope people will educate themselves and vote in the midterms and then again in 2028~
That's nice for you, Kirsten, but merely criticizing others for their lack of awareness is not helpful. What happened to teaching young people about the economy, it's different types, who it's supposed to work for and why it doesn't work for everyone? Where were the lessons on political systems, how they work, the meaning of political power and why it's important to a democracy to understand and participate in politics. Where were the lessons on the role of government, the concept of the public good and the duty of care as foundational principles of good governance? Where were the lessons on racial and gender equality, immigration, social programs, the importance of community and the idea that what we wish for ourselves, we wish for us all? This is what Professor Reich was getting at.
Yes Johan. And also others commenting on your comment who say things sucked before. Yes, they did/do. And why is that? Because of the millennia of mediocre white men gaining privileges and a sense of entitlement simply because they possess a penis. White male fragility is absolutely real and it has been the driving force for suppression of others and their self-enrichment. People with ambition know exactly how to tap into the resentment and fear that white men radiate in order to achieve their ends. And yes: some women play into that white male resentment for reasons that Denise Kandyoti defined as "Bargaining with Patriarchy" back in the 1980s. What would this world have been like had half the population, historically suppressed and oppressed by male-directed laws, had the same opportunities as the white boyz? I am haunted by the question.
Thanks, Johan, and I feel your pain, HOWEVER, I feel certain that Robert Reich was using the term "needed this" to indicate, as his words reveal, that most Americans didn't understand these things well enough AND should have known. I must strongly suggest that your use of the phrase "convenient lie" is not accurate nor helpful to our cause. It is, of course also difficult for me to always keep my disturbed emotions in check, feel it is a necessary self-discipline that I need to work on. My dad, a veteran of WW II & lifelong Democrat who saw the importance of labor unions to allow a more nearly equal footing in negotiating with a powerful corporation, advised me to "Let your conscience be your guide." I'm glad we can still do that here on this site, for now. It's time for many more Americans to WAKE UP TO TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER LAW! - THANKS AGAIN, JOHAN!
Bottom line: human behavior needs to be regulated. For those who can’t self regulate, they need to be regulated robustly by regulators with real teeth. And those regulations must be accompanied by mandatory negative consequences like long prison terms and huge clawbacks of ill-gotten gains. You know……consequences.
Periods of disruption often reveal things that were already present beneath the surface. They expose vulnerabilities, contradictions, concentrations of power, and weaknesses in systems that can be easy to overlook when life feels relatively stable.
At the same time, I am not sure we needed this.
Many of the issues he identifies were being discussed long before Trump. Concerns about inequality, corporate influence, institutional decline, democratic erosion, environmental degradation, and concentrated wealth were not hidden. The warnings were there. The question is why they were not taken more seriously.
For me, the lesson is not that suffering was necessary in order to learn. It is that societies often struggle to respond to problems until they become impossible to ignore.
If there is a hopeful takeaway, it may be that moments of crisis can help us see more clearly what was already there and remind us of what truly matters. The challenge is whether we can learn to recognize and act on those realities before they become crises.
We didn't "need" to crash the Space Shuttle to know there was a problem. But we did. Twice. Eventually the program was shutdown with no logical replacement other than catching ride with the Russians. Now it's a for profit business run by some of the richest men in the world.
The point is that under the sober light of day rational an, thoughtful people can make the right decision, but once the incentives or going along become too strong and the penalty for speaking up becomes too great, the system can, and most likely, will fail.
While in the US Navy, and later in business, I spent a fair amount of time and in the Third World and both witnessed and lived in a system of corruption, greed, and nepotism. Initially I returned repeatedly to the United States of America both grateful and convinced that we had the greatest country on earth. Nothing has left me more dismayed and embarrassed than what we've become over time. There is a reason why much of the world both idolizes and reviles us.
So yes, maybe we do need the absurdity, corruption and deceit that is Trump to make the corrections necessary.
I hope you are correct but feel you're probably premature to say: "...has really woken everyone up to the corruption and lies..." - it's probably more accurate to say there are still tens of millions of gullible people who are proverbial sheep being led to slaughter. We must persist - it's do or die....
Well stated. And we all need to come to terms with the fact that this IS a "both sides" problem, and always has been. Even now, we're seeing Democrats openly voting with Republicans to pass things Democrats definitely should not be supporting.
But in regard to your mutually exclusive approach to Dr. Reich's article, the fact is that both of you are correct. We shouldn't have needed this wake up call, but in fact we did need it. Before Trump, most Americans were sleep-walking through the paces of life (I include myself in this), thinking that everything would sort itself out, that if we did what we were expected to do, we would achieve the vaunted "American Dream." Many others of us already knew it was out of reach for them, but figured that was just the way it was, and what could they do about it? So, in both cases, people checked out, or simply didn't have time to follow every detail of politics, and, for one reason or another, failed to vote, voted frivolously, or chose poorly.
We were like the proverbial frogs in the pot. And although science has long since proven that the frog metaphor doesn't actually work for frogs, it definitely does for humans. We have demonstrated, through years of inattention, that we needed something to jolt us out of the complacency that led us directly to this moment in time. And here we are. Let's make the most of it.
Johan, I disagree with you. Not because your analysis or logic are flawed, but because you make an assumption about humans that I found to be false. You assume humans can change without a crisis. This has almost never happened in history. I spent my life fixing broken things from toasters to multinational corporations, to governments, and universities. Humans resist change so much that knowing history and knowing what is going on still does not allow them to endorse change without a massive outside push. We comply with Newton’s law of physics saying an object at rest remains at rest unless acted upon by and outside force. Humans as a group are a big object and it takes a lot of force.
I disagree but I also can’t wholly agree with what professor Robert Reich said. It’s exaggerated but I detest Orange Man so badly that I don’t mind the exaggeration. I love it.
We got duped by Trump, twice. We learned that if we slouch in our responsibly at the voting booth, we may very well lose what so many of our descendants have paid for with their lives to protect. Freedom!
I never voted for Trump! I had a bad feeling about him in the very beginning. My intuition has proven to be right. He has taught us a bad lesson. I hope the American people wake up and realize what we are in danger of losing with Trump as our "president". The man who really wants to rule the world!
I would agree, and further add that this runs so much deeper than Trump. I just finished reading three Court opinions used to overrule the Voting Rights Act (so that the American counterrevolution will continue to place Republican supporters in office). This Court is easily as corrupt as Trump, and its effects will continue for decades to come.
We needed Congess to understand the checks and balances better as well. Trump does not care, but we voted those Senators and Congress representatives in and yet very few have actually done their job. Supporting constituents vs doing what us best for them /their career etc has been a sad outcome for all of us. ( well unless your extremely wealthy or got a pardon) 🙄
Johan, I totally agree. Robert, you are a man with many flashes of brilliance—but once in a rare while you have a spark of “overthinking.” Your incomparable insight on the evil of economic inequality is spot on. But there is NOTHING we need from this malignant, psychotic, pathetic, inhuman creature. We do not need cults, cage fighting, and criminals. Never. Ever. The big, beautiful, obituary cannot come soon enough.
I agree. It’s absolving people of responsibility. This stuff is right out there in front of you if you bothered to pay attention. Read a book here and there. Listen to other people. get outside your bubble. Now what Robert says is true about the issues but absolving people of their role in getting us here is not something that I will do.
You don’t get to tuck your head in the sand and be blissfully unaware until things directly affect you but unfortunately that’s how we are encouraged to behave in the current system. People go on social media to show and tell other people the idealized version of themselves and too often it is what they’ve bought, places they’ve traveled, people they know - showing off. It’s just atrocious.
After all, a sequel to the Second World War was a serious attempt to build new foundations for the world, so that peoples should not be desperate, so that individuals should have opportunities to develop themselves and their communities, to make living conditions fairer and healthier and more secure around the world.
It was inadequate. And what worked was whittled away by bad faith leaders and their adherents and inadequate seizure of the framing of discourse as they pried it away.
But that was a demonstration of the possible. And we could do better now, when thinkers and speakers from subject groups and nations have taught the world more about colonialism and racism, when LGBTIQ people and even just women have taught the world more about patriarchy and its evitability, when we‘ve had it so horribly demonstrated that the results of a competitive-driven world at best depend on the rules of the game, and thus on who lays them out.
I hope we will be reminded that cooperation is both important and powerful, by taking away the powers of the triumphal greedy white boys.
The love of money chewed away at FDR's legacy, and at LBJ's Great Society. Trump and his minions, the greed is good facet of the American zeitgeist, and corporations and their owners and boards of directors making the rules we all live by are what was vomited up after all of that chewing.
A fundamental problem is that so many millions of Americans have been forced to partake of the forbidden fruit by their 401Ks.
Victor, I remember back when corporations provided pension plans, and when they got out from under their responsibility for providing a financially secure retirement for their workers by creating financial products that left workers to take on the responsibility of financial security for themselves. Corporations transitioned away from defined benefit plans to contribution-based plans. At the time, most people thought it was great. There were investment options, and flexibility, and tax advantages, and a list of other bells and whistles.
But it was a devil's bargain. There were a lot of moving parts in the transition away from defined benefit plans that helped get us into the situation we're in today, where the rich are getting richer than they've ever been in the history of mankind, and the poor are getting poorer.
These days the only responsibility that corporations have is to their shareholders. And those shareholders are enjoying the forbidden fruit of corporate greed while Main Streets all across America are decimated along with organized labor. The mom and pop businesses and the union jobs that made America great are mostly gone because corporations' owners and their boards of directors and armies of lawyers and lobbyists fixed it so that their only responsibility is to get as rich as they can, however they can. They crafted a lot of ingenious parts when they put their get-rich machine together. The cleverest piece may have been the one that enabled them to be subsidized by taxpayers instead of paying taxes themselves. They conjured what was supposed to be trickle-down into trickle-up. And they're the devil on America's shoulder whispering in its ear, convincing us that they're "too big to fail".
There are some fortunate ones who've gone along for the ride. I guess they're what you called the good in everything that's happening. And the bad... Well, I guess that's the rest of America that got left behind - those who don't have much of any opportunity they can look forward to, or inherited bootstraps they can pull themselves up by. What some people call most of America, you might say.
When I was 20, I was in despair because the problems we had to surmount seemed impossible. Eventually I decided that I should should find a corner and start sweeping it out as best I could. Lately, feel that I can't even manage to clear the corner. Thanks for reminding me that there are others working away. One day, I'll be sweeping, turn a corner and meet another tired soul sweeping their way to meet me.
We need to listen to the myriad of voices which are telling us things we need to know. But we also need to hear them and take their wisdom to heart. Simply said, the rollback of so many wonderful laws which protect the innocent against racial hatred and bigotry should the clarion call. Going back to the pre-Civil War days and ways of marginalizing huge parts of our population is not an option.
Certain tree species, primarily conifers, release their seeds in a fire through an adaptation called serotiny. Their cones are sealed shut by a strong resin that only melts under the intense heat of a wildfire, allowing the seeds to disperse into fresh ash. The fire we are experiencing will bear the seeds of a new tomorrow. From the ashes there will be a rebirth, one where the truth will once again mean something.
Very poetic, and I really do wish I could believe it could be like that for humanity. Unfortunately, I'm afraid, most people are just too perverse and self centred.
Just to be clear, hope is not optimism. Hope is a disciplined practice, emphasis on discipline. That's what it will take from individuals, from groups, from communities, from governments. If people are not inclined to do the work because they act out of fear that they won't be effective, that's the choice that will lead to failure. I'm willing to do the work. Make your choice.
I take solice in the "life wins" metaphor. This is a practical argument for the practice of hope as the spiritual practice to which our species has evolved. Love wins.
Project 2925 envisions turning all trees into lumber. Let's do whatever we can to make the remaining sees livable. Radioactive and plastic waste, as well as climate change, cast a dark cloud over your vision.
I don't agree that "we needed this", but if we fail to make use of this we will be derelict in our civic duty. If we don't end Congress' and administration stock trading, if we don't end Citizens United, if we don't modify the power of the Executive Branch, if we fail to teach our children true civics, we fail. Let us not fail!
Same here; having found little to disagree with on Professor Reich's Substack, today was different: we *did* know; most of us can't help *but* know. (Since when were we ever free to compromise?)...
"The class just didn’t show up." says it all. Having lived in the US for over 25 years, I retired back to the UK to civilisation after giving up hope that the US would stop being so tribal in their politics, their wealth distribution, their religions, their race, their education etc. I kept reading the Constitution and the Amendments, but it seems I was alone because the (many) lawyers could make it mean anything.
"Amusing Ourselves To Death", Neil Postman. Watching the US since about 1980 has been like watching some lazy, ignorant, dissipated trust fund baby blow their inheritance in a non stop booze binge. Now, the fortune is gone, and the hangover is epic.
Literally and figuratively. You may recall that Bush II was addicted to alcohol. He credited AA and Jesus for his cure, and that cure informed him of the enormous political potential of religion. Everything he did laid the ground for Trump and Project 2025. Liberals and Progressives are foolish in ignoring religion in their campaigns.
But extremely sad. I was in Berlin after the wall came down, and figured that the world was on track for dramatic improvements for everyone as the cold war was over. The future was so bright, we were all going to have to wear shades.
Bravo Professor!! time for everyone to stop pretending that the curent trump American life style came out of nowhere-it has been going on for years--people smiling that a young couple cannot buy a home in the bay area--and Trump was not in the lead.
I agree he is the biggest kick in the ass we needed to wake up
stop being asleep at the wheel and create the life and world that so many of us aspire to. Thanks for calling it out!!
I’m not sure we needed this brutality and cruelty, trauma corruption and violence against the people of this country. I have a nagging feeling that there is more to this storyline. Drumph and project 2025 wanted him to be a tyrant or a king. What Americans want may become more evident over time.
💯 Betty. I think the current state of the union was inevitable. Our original foundation was based on the “headright system,” where land grants to settle the colonies increased in direct proportion to the number of people enslaved. 400 years of oppression, exploitation, deceit, Jim Crow, and strange fruit followed. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I should know. My ancestors were on the Mayflower and at Jamestown. I work every day to reduce that karmic debt. https://www.njconservation.org/telling-the-truth-about-new-jerseys-slave-history/
Everything Professor Reich wrote is true, factually, the history, and the need for change.
Betty, I agree with you that racism is rampant, and it
may cause us good people to lose the battle for democracy.
I have received direct mailings from at least ten Republican candidates involved in the March 26 primary runoff in Texas.
They know what issues voters are most concerned about because the Republican Party has plenty of money for research.
As far as I could see from the campaign literature, the number one issue is racism and hatred. Blaming trans people and Muslims and "radical left" for our problems in Texas and America.
I don't know how to fix this, but I wish to point out the dangers.
Racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, vaccine phobia are all manifestations of xenophobia, a psychotic state of mind to which humans are susceptible. It can be produced artificiaily. Fox News has done it.
Betty, I agree that rascism is what is behind the 'justification' of cruelty and exploitation, just like misogyny allows the objectification and abuse of women and girls.
Misogyny and racism often go hand in hand, but are of a different nature. Misogyny is contempt for the weak. This is why fascists despise liberalism and any kind of compromise. They detest Christianity but make peace with churches for tactical reasons.
Such political revival will be meaningless unless we return to the Constitution: https://dialector.substack.com/p/american-politics-101 "To Make America Great Again, the culture war must die and the Constitution must rise. The Constitution must rise as the sacred bond that unites a free people across every difference of class, color, and creed. It must rise as the unwavering standard by which every leader, law, and movement is judged. It must rise as the shared inheritance of patriots who choose principle over party and courage over comfort. It must rise as the moral compass that guides our lawmaking, our service, and our sacrifice. It must rise as the voice of our highest civic ideals, calling us to build a nation ruled by law, not ruled by partisan division. It must rise, not as a relic remembered, but as the living covenant of a people who refuse to be divided, and who will not be ruled by anything less than liberty and justice for all."
Beautiful words, Max, thanks. Now let me be more prosaic: Decent, confident players play by the rules of the game, and they are the ones who make a game worth playing. Players who cheat ruin it all. Trump is a cheater, a convicted criminal, an election results denier, and he has the support of a Republican Party that no longer wants to uphold the US Constitution, which sets the rules by which we must play. They must go!
Yes! I have never heard more directly anti-Constitutional talk in my life. You can find many GOP-affiliated people who openly talk of ending the Constitution.
What are we going to do with the 78 million stupid people that voted for Trump, and then there are millions more that like him and didn't vote. They are all mostly unable to see what is right, they have a disability that is permanent and unchangeable. What are we going to do with all of them? I am afraid the situation in this country is hopeless.
It's not hopeless. Post civil rights act, the racist deplorables and irredeemable misogynists were beaten down to the point where they didn't dare show themselves in public. They can be beaten down again. This will only happen though if the proles recognize that the rich are responsible for the "divide and conquer" campaign of hate and division that financed the neo-confederates and allowed them to rise again. The head of the snake is the oligarchs.
The vision of a "Don't tread on me" snake popped into my head, chopped into pieces, with each piece being one of the evil billionaires who is conspiring against democracy and the rule of law.
You can't perfect humans. Efforts to do so end in totalitarianism. But you can structure society and culture to reward the "better angels of our nature." Which is exactly what isn't happening now.
To me these are the greatest worry. That there are so many millions so unaware and uncaring, or even supporting, is huge obstacle. I have read that people have to truly suffer to rally for major change. As bad as our economic future appears, these millions are not near that point. I surely do not want to see the US reach that point. Only huge, repeated Democratic landslides with dedication on the level of FDR, Frances Perkins, and the others of that era, can hope to overcome the intransigence. While of course, the right wing never gave up fighting FDR, and they will always fight against progress. As badly as I wish it, I am limited on optimism.
We need Reconstruction 2.0 but, this time, without any asterisks. Undue Southern influence was codified with the second “Gentlemen’s agreement” after the civil war. The presidential election outcome between Hayes and Tilden was contested. The South agreed to accept Hayes in exchange for an end to reconstruction. And the beginnings of a new nightmare of strange fruit and Jim Crow for Black and Brown citizens that continues to this day. To commemorate DDay in France, Hegseth likened it to the war on immigrants.
Hegseth doesn’t scare me. Neither does MAGA. But entitled dems? And those that want to cling to the perks of elective office—posh private schools for the kids and grandkids and gated communities away from rifraf like us? That’s what keeps me awake at night.
And let’s remember that NYT’s Michelle Goldberg believes that Bill Clinton raped Juanita Broaddrick. There were other accusastions. Kathleen Willey. Paula Jones. Leslie Millwee. Cristy Zercher. Eileen Wellstone. Sandra Allen James. And that doesn’t include whether the power imbalance with Monica Lewinsky made a “consensual” relationship impossible. Yet, HRC and Bill remain married to this day. The wives of Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and Danny Masterson divorced their husbands but HRC chose to stay. To survivors of sexual violence, that’s the opposite of “gutsy feminism.”
Yes Richard. It's the millions who either voted for Trump or didn't but are aligned with him that concern me the most. It's not just Trump. His ignorant, largely racist followers and the oligarchs who support and are behind him will live on. This fact is what exhausts and terrifies me the most. It's almost impossible to change one's thinking once they're in a cult and have swallowed the kool aid unless they somehow wake up on their own. In the meantime, why can't us humans learn from nature and animals how to live cooperatively with each other? I think they have much to teach us so that we could evolve. If only... Thanks for being here Richard.
Yes Lilla, my feelings exactly. But the present administration has totally dismissed science, including global warming and climate change, so in ten more years or so this planet will not be fit for humans to live on. Ugh!
Yes Richard. Nature will have the last word with our foolish destruction of all sentient life including our beautiful Mother Earth on the path that we are ignorantly pursuing. It makes me heartsick how much we don't respect or take care of Mother Earth and all living life forms. It gets down to values. We've lost our moral values and are incredibly lost since our main values are money, power and selfish greed. I wish I could live in a more mature, humane, "civilized" country at this last stage in my life in which "moral values" prevailed and had created a society that valued what is best for all people and sentient life forms instead of profit for a select few. I'm afraid I'm too old to live to see this happen here in our own country, unfortunately, as we obviously learn from our mistakes incredibly slowly....at a snail's pace. And, this is heartbreaking.
I've said similar things to some of my friends...that maybe he was an 'evil necessity'...I think it most certainly HAS been a wake-up call for those of us who appreciate a democratic government. Our government was way past due for 'an over haul'. Hopefully we will get back on track SOON!
Ultimately patriotism in the purest possible sense will win out. The original concept of America was superb if culturally limited in that moment. The mechanisms of our government created and built upon from then remain a platform we should stand on - and behind.
But now we need to make it completely inclusive, not just a blueprint to be enjoyed by White land owners. In that context, this is what we must embrace as we begin our #RebuildingHonorableDemocracy.
And let's get that started ahead of schedule by making this our #AccountabilitySummer. The complicit should know in their guts that their careers will end in January unless they lead the #ImmediateFlipMovement.
They can declare as independents THIS SUMMER and rebrand as #ConstitutionalConservatives. Then they can start to caucus with Dems, working with us as #PolarOppositePatriots to end this madness and claim an opportunity to be on the right side of history.
Imagine every member of the #ClownCarCabinet facing a #BlueHouseOversightRampage. Imagine an extensive investigation into all of Trump's monuments violations, and the corruption tied to each of them.
This is what democracy is supposed to look like.
Hold that vision folks and make those calls to House Republicans not to rant, but to encourage. We must ask them to be our heroes, because if they make the right choice, they will be legends. Any short-term pain that Trump may inflict on them will be well worth being celebrated in future #2ndIndependenceDay parades.
1). Document all of Trump's illegal, dishonorable, and corrupt actions and prepare laws and governmental guidelines that can keep the guardrails in place for all presidents in the future. Bundle all the proposals under a No Kings Act so it can be ready next January if not sooner.
2). Prepare all emoluments violations as grounds for impeachment. It's important, though, that they are quantified, categorized, and connected to all individuals who can be charged with emoluments violations. They do not enjoy the presidential protections.
3). Establish the all-encompassing #SeditiousConspiracy that the #TrumpMuskMillerVoughtProject2025BillionaireCabal deployed at the start of 47. There are three main components:
3A: The actual smoking gun on this is the fact that Trump fired 18 inspectors general to eliminate non-partisan oversight throughout government. When you add in the DOGE firings, there was an intent to eliminate all the institutional knowledge that could stand in the way of any corruption and abuse of power.
3B: All cabinet members were not chosen for their abilities, only for their CORRUPTIBILITY. With no experience, limited intellect, and zero dedication to the job or the American people, these #SimpletonSycophants would revel in the corruption they would unleash.
3C: At the front end, the SCOTUS presidential immunity decision needed to be in place before Trump took office.
From the 30,000 foot view you can see how all these pieces needed to be in place. That is the context by which Congress can establish seditious conspiracy and subpoena texts and emails that can support the infrastructure of this mountainous scheme to replace democracy with kleptocratic fascism.
This is how we get to the untouchables like Roberts, Miller, Vought, and the billionaires in the shadows and their secret mantra:
"Move all the money to us!"
Save this post, because you'll want to share it with your representatives. They need to understand how they can best utilize the power we are soon to put in their hands.
I agree fully with the list of grievances and attribution of blame in this post. Much has been done to destroy the basis and progress of the American Experiment in representative democracy. The facts are clear for the commentators, but I am perplexed by the dearth of thoughts on actual implementation. It is as if an incensed public has written a new Declaration of Independence from the corruption of Trump, but not yet gotten to the implementation of an alternative. This menace to the people who has drained our true freedom, especially our freedom to do things as well as out freedom from, is a clear and present danger on our land, made more powerful by Big Brother technologies and actions, not a monarch across the ocean who had to deal with the implications of his actions at home. The problem has been amplified by its authors and identified in an infinite number of substacks and comments. The opposition needs a clear path forward that has been defaulted to the Democratic Party that has not shown itself for for purpose. Other attempts are undoubtedly going on, but have not gained the traction needed to effect change. It’s time for leadership, which in our times of capital over virtue as the engine of change will need a discovery of a source of virtuous capital and wisdom to deploy it. While the focus on the USA is implied in the discussions, we now live in a world that has erased oceans as major barriers and linked all into the necessity of working together globally. A game plan exists for global advancement, now we need implementation.
AMEN. I want to see action. As much “action” that they are throwing at us. Even if the possibility of success is low, action speaks louder than words or polls. Impeach those that have committed crimes. Censure is not a very strong tool but its something. Put forward a plan. Please. Any plan is better than no plan. Dems snd independents should get together and create a manifesto that the legislators and people can agree upon - not a tome but short and sweet like their beloved Ten Commandments. They should identify a few people to run for offices so we can start campaigning now rather than fight each other. The main qualification is ability to beat Drumpf and lead this country forward out of the morass. As Yoda says: “Try? There is no try- just do.”
You know what, A Glass-1/8th-Full Perspective? I believe you gave a name to the people that were true Republicans before maga took their party over. Constitutional Conservatives would be a great name for those that simply could not stomach the direction the orange man and maga took their party. I still support your idea of flipping some of those republicans!
Aren't we all "constitutional conservatives" in the sense that we want to protect the US Constitution from fascists? We must recognize that Project 2025 contains a radical, revolutionary agenda. Its authors say so themselves. That means that we are conservatives.
Prof. Reich — I think part of your optimism comes from having taught excellent students at Berkeley for most of the past two decades.
Here in Alabama, I taught state-university undergraduates whose sense of entitlement knew no bounds. Students whose mothers called the department chair and the associate dean to complain when their sophomore(ic) progeny earned failing grades on a midterm in my course.
Here in Alabama, we elected an overrated former NCAA Division I football coach to the US Senate, a man who _couldn't name the three branches of government_ when he ran for the office in 2020. We elected him over the incumbent who prosecuted one of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombers in the early 2000s (forty years too late)... and we are likely to elect "Coach" to the governor's mansion this fall.
Surrounded by beneficent brilliance, you arrive at one conclusion about America.
Surrounded by malevolent mediocrity, I arrive at the opposite.
You see rejuvenation emerging from the bonfire.
I see the arsonists gleefully watching the immolation caused by their handiwork.
Mark, As you know, Doug Jones is running for governor of Alabama. Hopefully enough Alabamans will have the common sense -- and decency -- to elect him over Tuberville ("Tupperware")!
Thank you for showing the other side even there both are public universities. Your side of the argument indicate clearly the two different type of people who will always be there. The biggest problem is how to make these two types of people work together for the common good of all the people.
Mark, the people you describe have gone tribal. Their morality is tribal, namely loyalty to the in-group and its leader, hostility to outsiders. How did this happen? Obviously it did not happen overnight, or did it?
Trump revealed how much democratic maintenance had been deferred for decades. The revival of democracy requires not only rebuilding institutions, but rebuilding the public’s capacity to understand, participate in, and hold those institutions accountable.
The “we needed this” argument is the most comfortable lie in democratic theory. It converts preventable institutional failure into cosmic pedagogy. We didn’t need the Holocaust to learn that antisemitism was dangerous. We didn’t need Jim Crow to understand that legal apartheid was wrong. The people who “needed” the lesson were rarely the ones paying for it. It forces “us” to suffer when it was never “our” fault to begin with.
Every institution listed: the Fed, the NLRB, the FTC, the CDC; was already documented, already defended, already explained by people for decades before Trump. The information was available. The warnings were issued. The lesson was taught. The class just didn’t show up.
That’s not a civics problem. It’s a political economy problem. And “we needed Trump to understand checks and balances” is a way of not saying the harder thing: that the people with the power to stop this at every decision point chose not to, because the system was working fine for them until it wasn’t.
Johan 🐌
You make a lot of sense. And your thoughts are well organized. However, I disagree that we did not need this. I have been politically active all my life. But it seems that we did not get the civil rights act until we actually witnessed police brutality on Black marchers. We did not believe what was going on until we actually saw the police using fire hoses to break up crowds. We did not believe what was going on until we saw marchers and bus riders being beaten and killed.
Unfortunately, we tend to ignore all the visible signs until they slap us in the face and scream that we had better notice. Humans just take a damn long time to learn anything until it hits them upside the head. Sometimes we need that. Sometimes we don’t understand what we have until we start to lose it.
Okay, but we have repeated this cycle over and over and over. Now that we know that humans have a propensity to avoid hard truths until they hit us over the head, I submit that we should be doing better than we are. I know that I will eat everything that is put on my plate, so if I want to control how much I eat, I put less on my plate to begin with. In other words, for God's sake let's put more things in place to protect us from our own human foibles. No more excuses.
Kirsten, yes! It does not mean that we will not continue to be vigilant, but we do need to address why the laws that we expected all Americans to follow could be ignored by this corrupt regime! I want the next group of politicians to determine how to go about putting teeth into these laws where there is absolutely no way that someone as vile and criminal as the orange man can just ignore them and do what they want!! We have the laws; however, what good is the law when those in power do not follow them?
Peggy
What was needed? The boiled frog syndrome leads to death for dependent people in the pot, when the people in charge don’t recognize the pending threat of death caused by the core problem of uncontrolled heating. But Democrats in charge didn’t recognize the pending destruction of America coming since 1971 after the Powell Memo launched the attacks on democracy, truth, civil rights and the rule of law by Republicans, corporations and billionaire oligarchs that was stealing wealth from 99% of Americans and transferring the wealth to the top 1% that was going to destroy freedom of speech, and create the core problems including affordability of housing, food, energy, education, and healthcare. Democrats were in charge from 2021 to 2025 and failed to enforce the law against insurrection on January 6, 2021, and the law advocating overthrow of the government. The failure enabled Trump to get elected in 2024 and begin installing a lawless, fascist autocracy. Democrats didn’t recognize and the solve core problems. A new generation of Democrats may get another chance at Revival in 2026 and 2028 buy they must enforce the laws, arrest, prosecute, convict and imprison the felons inclusing Trump, members of his administration, Republcans in Congress and six justices on the Supreme Court and solve the core problems. In addition, convicted felons should not be allowed to vote or hold office.
Democrats need to go on the offensive to create the kind of middle class society that people on the Left seem to want. Getting money out of politics, taxing the wealth of billionaires and trillionaires, Medicare for All etc etc. Dems can't go on just cleaning up the shit left by Repubs like the metaphor says cleaning up the crap after the parade goes by.
WTF are you doing here? Things got quiet in the lunatic camp? Why don't you keep your mouth shut & learn something?
Wow. Deplore This, you've drunk way too much of the trump Kool-aid. Nothing you say is true.
Do some research and educate yourself. You're in a bubble of misinformation and lies.
Laughing
Get rid of Citizens United and big money in politics so the legislators will see more clearly what needs to be done!!!!!!
Great idea. How?
YES! Absolutely!
The laws only seem to constrain Democrats. They don't seem to stop Repubs from implementing their agendas one bit.
I've noticed that too. Maybe its because the people who want to fudge the law a bit for themselves think they can get away with it.
That's true, John, and the reason for that is that Republicans want to change the US Constitution, Democrats dont..
It would make sense to know the values of those running for office, nominated to the Supreme Court and President…but could we figure out a way to do this?
Actually, it's not that difficult. You look at their record, read their words, listen to those who know them, and investigate their campaign funding sources. A tree is known by its fruit.
I agree, but many individuals lied during their confirmation hearings, including a few Supreme Court justices, and they were able to do so without facing any consequences.
I love “a tree is known by it’s fruit”.
Through diligent research for the candidates you will be choosing. Go to their rallies and ask the tough questions directly. Note how they answer. Find out how their campaign is being funded.
In Republican campaigns there is no reason to ask because it is self evident. Denial of climate change is common to them all, secular and religious. They are all oil annointed.
You are right, Peggy. As Russell Vought says, "Personnel is policy." The implementation of Project 2025 begins with personnel changes.
this is what the founders envisioned and what the constitution was designed for-to protect us from the worse aspects of our nature-but these ideas were meant to be acted upon by honorable patriots-and that's the weakness this administration has exploited
Robert Reich: Please hear me out.
Kirsten L. Held: I submit that we should be doing better than we are.
James R. Carey: I heard you all out and you’re preaching to the choir. My question? What is the Blue tsunami strategy? I have a proposal.
Referring to MAGA as right-wing is easy because we all know what it’s referring to, but the progressive newsletter community alone is not a Blue tsunami.
Have you ever been the victim of someone with an “I’m right, and anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot” attitude? If yes, then you are the victim of someone refusing to constrain their own ignorance. Have you ever been a perpetrator?
My proposed Blue tsunami strategy involves ending a practice employed in another popular newsletter from yesterday when it said, “Now it is clear that the assault on immigrants was a tool to enforce a right-wing vision of the country on the American people.” Instead, follow Chris Murphy’s vision in his book, Crisis of the Common Good when he says, “I look at the solutions, they're really not right-left solutions.”
Ref: https://www.npr.org/2026/05/26/nx-s1-5692730/sen-chris-murphy-d-conn-talks-about-his-new-book-crisis-of-the-common-good.
In a practical example, a (not perfect and instead) more perfect version of the offending newsletter would say, “Now it is clear that the assault on immigrants was a tool to enforce MAGA’s unconstrained ignorance of America on the American people (or words to that effect).”
Who agrees? George Orwell did when he said, “deceptive language (like "right wing") not only corrupts thought but makes it easier to justify foolishness, atrocities, and totalitarian control.”
For the record, what is the opposite of unconstrained ignorance? Maturity.
Can we admit that strengthening the border was a good thing while Trump's approach to deporting immigrants was not?
Dems would have strengthened the border if the GOP had let them, and that would have been a very good thing, but the GOP wouldn't let it happen because they wanted a wedge issue. Trump's approach to deporting immigrants is a wedge issue and a very bad thing.
John Lawrence: no, the border was already very strong and did not need additional fortification. Why do we need to live in a fortress? This nation had open borders for most of its history, as long as white people were the only ones seeking voluntary admission. We only instituted severe immigration reatrictions when masses of non-white persons sought entry (other than Africans brought here in chains to be sold into slavery). So, if you're white, and your family has been here since, say, the mid to late 1800s, you most likely benefitted from entry through open borders. Why can you not grant that opportunity to others now?
Correct I wrote above what we saw in periods like the 1960's that we do not need to witness again. No more excuses. Things like the voting rights act are a start...
The nature of stupid. To make the same mistake over and over and expect a different result. Sometimes, I feel like Sisyphus.
Did Sisyphus have hope?
Sisyphus exemplified despair. Back then, for the poor and those disenfranchised by brutal interregional aggression, there was no hope. These are the people that philosophers such as Jesus were addressing.
Our direction needs to be focused on those who need help. We require a healthy society to do that, of course, but prosperity cannot be allowed conflict with the requirement to provide for the least of us.
I recommend "Atruism - The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World"" by Matthieu Ricard.
That’s the thing: as you said, we’ve repeated this cycle over and over.
Capitalism is a great and marvelous invention, and has been the foundation of enormous creativity and progress. But its one major fault is that it fails to take into account that greed is limitless. And sooner or later greed will rot the very pillars of any society and ultimately bring it down. If we could redefine capitalism by adding real guardrails limiting greed and the influence of money over politics, we might have a chance. But the wealthy will never let that happen.
Well I sure would like to give Scandinavian socialism a try. And I don't accept that it can't be done in the U.S.
Mamdani seems to be giving it a try in NY and so far it's working. But the POWERS are no doubt plotting.
Except that people who say that about capitalism have only known capitalism. How many have actually studied goes indigenous societies have worked, who knew balance and harmony instead of extraction? Not many.
For tens of thousands of years all humans were communists. If you didn't share your game or fruits you were likely expelled from the clan. If Big Guys grabbed all the goods, the clan likely diminished and died out.
The cycles are well described in Prof. Peter Turchin's books - War and Peace and War is one of them. The data over centuries show that we humans tend to concentrate power and wealth and then succumb to plagues, wars, revolutions. I recommend his works.
"War and Peace" -- 1400 pages -- a verrrry long book! "War and Peace and War" - 400 pages -- also a very long book! Before I get started... is there a movie?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7AqKRX3xaY
It took the indignities ushered in by the Amendments to the Fugitive Slave Law resulting from the Compromise of 1850 to make slavery a national issue, and a decade of strife thereafter, ending in the Civil War, for America to accept that the unfair economic advantage created by the institutionalized human trafficking of slavery is intolerable in a civilized society, despite the advantages that accrue to the few, to the envy of the many. However, slavery would not have ended when it did except for the work of a woman named Harriette Beecher Stowe, who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, depicting Uncle Tom as a better Christian than his tormentors, but primarily showing that it was the institution of slavery and not the people who were evil.
I share Professor Reich's view that the U.S. needed to go through something like what we are enduring for the sleeping giant to re-awaken: And we will need an episodic video drama series about what Minneapolis went through, featuring Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti, to help bring it home. But that alone will not be enough. We also need Jon Ossoff or Mark Kelly to find and collaborate with a next generation Ted Sorensen, who wrote ‘Profiles in Courage” with John F. Kennedy….
Except-wait a minute… what if that new ‘Profiles in Courage’ book were a streaming series that featured all of the people who have stood up to Trump, including Renee Good and Alex Petri…. The project would be gargantuan to undertake in the time before 2028, but absolutely possible, in particular with the assistance of AI. But it would take more than a single Ted Sorensen. It will take a team of writers, perhaps starting with Alex Vindman and his brother…
Oh no, 2peter. We did not need to lose beautiful people like Renee Good and Alex Pretti or any of the people harmed by this regime. We did NOT need this.
👋👋👋👋👋
This is true. People remain asleep like they did on environmental matters until Love Canal slapped them awake.
Right. And then they give themselves a pass and say, "We didn't know." I call B.S. on a lot of those people. It's more accurate to say you didn't want to know so you chose not to. I really don't like to be mean or hurt anyone's feelings. That is not my intent. What is my intent though is to stop the mollycoddling. Don't pretend that you couldn't have known. You chose not to. Those are two very different things. Until we are able to be honest with ourselves about our own human nature and put things in place to protect us from ourselves, we're doomed.
Half the country doesn’t understand global warming. Half the population failed to catch the last train to evolution. The human race is bumbling its way to extinction . There are at least three existential threats facing the survival of humanity and humanity is looking the other way. If we took full control of AI, as we should, that may be the best tool available to us to avoid extinction. But when the train is moving in reverse as fast as it is, it’s hard to contemplate a good ending.
So true. The hardest part about it all is the amount of real suffering that results from a failure to act. The irony is that I honestly believe that if we could face the reality of how far we've overshot as a species, we could work together to turn things around. Now, it will be brutally hard, but there's actually a lot of purpose and meaning (and dare I even say happiness) in facing something head on and managing the situation instead of just letting things fall apart in the worst possible ways. Instead, we're going the "every man for himself" route.
Amen!
For me, the measure of ‘did we need this’ will be the voter turnout in the near future. Will the 1/3 of registered voters who didn’t show in Nov 2024, remain, increase, or (hopefully) decrease to a single digit percentage?
We need people to get out and vote. That will show exactly what people really thing and want! Sadly, Trump is trying to rig the midterms with his changes to the voting laws. Voting should be left to the states and NOT to the president. He has a clear need to control the votes because he cannot win the votes with his odd behaviors; sleeping in meetings, rants on the social media in the middle of the night, attacking people for no reason and his ridiculous and childish name calling of everyone!
Unfortunately, there are tens of millions of people who have been told not to believe their own eyes. Factual information has no impact on them.
Yes. Denial is one of the most powerful responses we have. Then we dig our heels into our denial. It sometimes does take a really hard slap in the face to wake up to what is real. Love your comment, Donna.
Donna,
You're seen my "60 years" rant. How many other "dirty tricks" have gotten past the DNC at the same time, or in even shorter timeframes? And now we know that the DNC isn't even minimally effective now at dismantling GOP strategies once they become fully known. (There are still plenty of people in the GOP behind the scenes that are just as intelligent, evil (and patient), as Lee Atwater was.)
I agree about the Civil Rights movement of the 60s, and that's why it's one of my "60 years" examples. Unfortunately, the GOP has had some pretty serious successes as far as erasing or altering American history since then, and much of it has been around Dr. King, and the mixed Black/white racial unity that caused him to succeed. Today's American under 50 scarcely knows it ever happened.
Thank you, Donna.
Some of us learned about the American people when the hate distorted faces of white Southern women were shown spitting and cursing at a 6 year old black girl being escorted into a school. Or by the same hate distorted faces of white women in South Boston ( Boston !!!!) over school busing. or by reading the hate filled posts on this site. Taken in context with the Trump record we can see that there are many of us who, for whatever reason, resonate with Trump’s message because that is who they are. Until we can outnumber them ( and forget the millions who did not bother to vote in 2024 who I fear should be included in the number of pro Trump voters) we will face the incredible political defeats we have suffered lately in the Senate and House - our elected representatives.
The problem is deep and broad, and it involves the entire social, economic and political political structure of the United States, involving education, the judicial system, the institutions of capitalism, subversion of democratic principles of government and elections, and on and on. Then there are the vast problems of the techno-information age. Many of these problems are global.
The anti-democratic confluence of these forces has produced the MAGA movement, driven my tens of millions of people who present an on-going existential threat to democracy and the rule of law.
The American public is being slapped, pummeled, and beaten to a pulp, and it seems like we, as a country, are just saying “Hey, that wasn’t nice!” I can only conclude that democracy is an opiate of the masses, but not as mesmerizing as “reality tv”. I’ve lost faith in this country.
Agreed
What a lot of absolute garbage. You are you insulting a respected Professor who has actually worked in Government. Trump is not a serial entrepreneur. He has bankrupted several businesses, behaved inappropriately to quite a few women and is a despicable human being. Even his own mother said that she hoped he wouldn't go into politics as he had no social skills. He's only got where he is because his Daddy was very wealthy and he was given a large amount of money when he was young. Now he seems to be suffering from dementia. And you think he is a great President?
I agree. Deplorable This is on they wrong newsletter.
TROLL!
DO NOT ENGAGE WITH TROLLS, JUST IGNORE UNTIL IT GOES BACK UNDER ITS BRIDGE OR SAINT PETERSBURG WHERE IT BELONGS.
Wow, now there is an intelligent logical comment. LOL!
Your dose of koolaid was way too strong! You’ve been brainwashed!
still mainlining Fox news Which is BS news EH? Filling the empty head with shit.
No more Mr. Nice Guy, no more Mr. Clean
No more Mr. Nice Guy, you’re sick, you’re obscene
And no cheeses for us meeces!
This comment from "Deplore T." is either AI generated or from a person who I pity and hope can wake up to TRUTH. THE "T" YOU USE IN YOUR PSEUDONYMN SHOULD STAND FOR "TRUMP" - YOU CAN DO MUCH BETTER - IF YOU WAKE UP NOW - BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE...
DT is nothing more than a Troll. Same with daddy trump.
Right, or maybe "Dumb-ass T-rump" or "Dick-tater-wannabe, trump-the-Terrible"...
Hey Frank and Robert, Do you have any factual logical challenges to what I wrote or are these just emotional rants?
TROLL: Trump Republican Under Loki's Leash.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. You are delusional. Period.
No there is the most intelligent comment I've read in a long time. LOL!
Every time Trump has tried his hand at a traditional business it has ended up in bankruptcy. Even the casino he owned in NJ ended up bankrupt. How did that happen when the odds favor the house?!!!
Trump, Inc. is not a legitimate business, it is a brand, an extractive business model rather than a regenerative business model that is based on short term profitability over long-term sustainability. Humans are considered human resources, rather than human persons and additional natural nonrenewable resources must be continually sought by colonizing the land of other peoples.
See: https://janninebarron.com/what-is-an-extractive-business-model-a-guide-for-uk-and-australian-leaders/
I worked for an automobile insurance company hand coding claim folders right after graduating from high school and coded records on shipping companies filed under the Liberian flag in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa while my husband worked as Asst. Port Engineer for the Monrovia Port Management Co.
I was middle management, assistant branch manager in a commercial bank. I have also been an area manager in a commercial cleaning franchise.
I understood my function to be assuring that the employees gave an honest day's work for an honest day's pay and to represent them when upper management made unreasonable demands on them.
The branch office where I worked was robbed three times. One of the upper management people thought it would be good PR to reopen our branch as soon as the Feds had finished their work. I told my manager and area supervisor that, if they brought in floater tellers, I would stay; but my girls had just had a gun pointed at them at close range and, if they were required to stay, I would quit.
My area supervisor, a retired USAF officer, backed the home office boys off.
I quit the professional cleaning job when the owners began demanding more than three hours from the cleaners after they had already worked up to eight hours on a full-time job and took a sales job in a specialty shop selling pewter and silver items until I remarried.
I have also done clerical work in the accounting office of a lumber supply and pile driving family-owned business, been a payroll clerk for a pizza franchise and worked as a medical files clerk in an internal medicine practice.
My formal education ended at high school graduation, with the exception of a night course in Word Processing at a local business school. The rest of my educational formation was in the "School of Hard Knocks."
Whatever my business and life experiences may lack, diversity isn't among them.
I was never fired, so I guess, although I am not wealthy, merely financially comfortable as long as do not do anything stupid, I have no regrets over my career choices. I always showed up and did my best. My mother said that we should always do our best and then we should have no regrets because we can't do better than our best and we would never have to wonder if any extra effort would have made a difference.
I have taken some risks, but always after I have done a mental "risk analysis." I like to have the odds on my side, even though I can't anticipate any outcome with certitude only greater or lesser degrees of probability. I always favored long term sustainability over short term gain.
All efforts can become learning experiences. Success teaches us our strengths. Failure teaches us our limitations and it is more important to know one's limitations than one strengths when making life-changing choices.
BTW, there is a cartoon on the web where one Native American says to another, "Forget the reparation, we'll just apply for a casino license."
Did I mention that I am a compulsive researcher? It's my primary addiction.
Check this out:
https://www.thoughtco.com/donald-trump-business-bankruptcies-4152019
Why Donald Trump's Companies Went Bankrupt
Details About the 6 Trump Corporate Bankruptcies
Entrepreneur of destruction, more like. Good luck with that, mate.
How many new business ventures have you started?
Boy, are you willfully ignorant, Deplore, a true deplorable. Thatʻs not name-calling, I donʻt stoop to that, itʻs just factual
- Karen Cooper
We SHOULDN'T have needed this; BUT, because of our finite human "faults and failings", we sometimes do need to experience the painful consequences of our actions or inaction to wake us up and "grow" us up.
Continuing to blame the perps, without realizing our own negligence, will not change anything. It is not enough to merely "do no harm," we must also "do good" although it requires personal sacrifice and perhaps even risk.
I'm with the Professor on this one.
Democracy is a participatory sport. It doesn't work if the people who are supposed to be the players are on the sidelines, watching.
Plus fox news. Plus private equity taking over industries. Plus apathy.
Well put, Carol. We SHOULDN'T have needed this--but here we are.
🙏Amen, Cathy. This is where we are: with a head of state who views the world as a casino. Trump Taj Mahal comes to mind, full of garish gold plated fixtures, purple carpeting, and pink marble. I was there in its heyday. The decor reminded me of Ed Zaberer’s. https://substack.com/@rawstory/note/c-248481203?r=26o631&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web
He needs to be BBQued, for real!
When our government was formed, people were lucky to live to their sixties! They didn't need age limits on our representatives, nature took care of it. Now we have an 80 year old president with obvious dementia and many representatives of the states that have been in office far too long! I hope all of this wakes up America to the dangers we are facing right now!
Until Trump, I was more or less consumed by foreign war atrocities and the plight of wildlife. They’re still important, but the USA is under direct threat now, and I have finally tuned in and turned on.
God work,susan-better late than never
Us was under threat when he encouraged insurrection and threatened state election officials. Not new.
I agree 100%, Johan. I can honestly say that I DID understand all those things and I don't consider myself any kind of genius. Rather, I am a fairly well educated person who took responsibility for my own education about how things work and what I have to do as a citizen to help keep things in check. I think the harsh truth of the matter is that anyone who didn't see this coming for many years either failed to inform themselves and pay attention or was in denial.
They just trusted that our government would continue on as it always had! Many don't vote because they don't understand the issues. Trump is bringing the issues to everyone and not in a good way! I hope people will educate themselves and vote in the midterms and then again in 2028~
Herr Traitor Trump needs a flight to Iran, kick him out of the door, rectum first! Pete attached to his butt, for real!
That's nice for you, Kirsten, but merely criticizing others for their lack of awareness is not helpful. What happened to teaching young people about the economy, it's different types, who it's supposed to work for and why it doesn't work for everyone? Where were the lessons on political systems, how they work, the meaning of political power and why it's important to a democracy to understand and participate in politics. Where were the lessons on the role of government, the concept of the public good and the duty of care as foundational principles of good governance? Where were the lessons on racial and gender equality, immigration, social programs, the importance of community and the idea that what we wish for ourselves, we wish for us all? This is what Professor Reich was getting at.
Yes Johan. And also others commenting on your comment who say things sucked before. Yes, they did/do. And why is that? Because of the millennia of mediocre white men gaining privileges and a sense of entitlement simply because they possess a penis. White male fragility is absolutely real and it has been the driving force for suppression of others and their self-enrichment. People with ambition know exactly how to tap into the resentment and fear that white men radiate in order to achieve their ends. And yes: some women play into that white male resentment for reasons that Denise Kandyoti defined as "Bargaining with Patriarchy" back in the 1980s. What would this world have been like had half the population, historically suppressed and oppressed by male-directed laws, had the same opportunities as the white boyz? I am haunted by the question.
Thanks, Johan, and I feel your pain, HOWEVER, I feel certain that Robert Reich was using the term "needed this" to indicate, as his words reveal, that most Americans didn't understand these things well enough AND should have known. I must strongly suggest that your use of the phrase "convenient lie" is not accurate nor helpful to our cause. It is, of course also difficult for me to always keep my disturbed emotions in check, feel it is a necessary self-discipline that I need to work on. My dad, a veteran of WW II & lifelong Democrat who saw the importance of labor unions to allow a more nearly equal footing in negotiating with a powerful corporation, advised me to "Let your conscience be your guide." I'm glad we can still do that here on this site, for now. It's time for many more Americans to WAKE UP TO TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER LAW! - THANKS AGAIN, JOHAN!
Bottom line: human behavior needs to be regulated. For those who can’t self regulate, they need to be regulated robustly by regulators with real teeth. And those regulations must be accompanied by mandatory negative consequences like long prison terms and huge clawbacks of ill-gotten gains. You know……consequences.
Repewbic Hair REPUBLI CONS need to drown in that stupid blue pool idiot dildo Don had built, and get them NOW!!
I appreciate what Reich is trying to say.
Periods of disruption often reveal things that were already present beneath the surface. They expose vulnerabilities, contradictions, concentrations of power, and weaknesses in systems that can be easy to overlook when life feels relatively stable.
At the same time, I am not sure we needed this.
Many of the issues he identifies were being discussed long before Trump. Concerns about inequality, corporate influence, institutional decline, democratic erosion, environmental degradation, and concentrated wealth were not hidden. The warnings were there. The question is why they were not taken more seriously.
For me, the lesson is not that suffering was necessary in order to learn. It is that societies often struggle to respond to problems until they become impossible to ignore.
If there is a hopeful takeaway, it may be that moments of crisis can help us see more clearly what was already there and remind us of what truly matters. The challenge is whether we can learn to recognize and act on those realities before they become crises.
We didn't "need" to crash the Space Shuttle to know there was a problem. But we did. Twice. Eventually the program was shutdown with no logical replacement other than catching ride with the Russians. Now it's a for profit business run by some of the richest men in the world.
The point is that under the sober light of day rational an, thoughtful people can make the right decision, but once the incentives or going along become too strong and the penalty for speaking up becomes too great, the system can, and most likely, will fail.
While in the US Navy, and later in business, I spent a fair amount of time and in the Third World and both witnessed and lived in a system of corruption, greed, and nepotism. Initially I returned repeatedly to the United States of America both grateful and convinced that we had the greatest country on earth. Nothing has left me more dismayed and embarrassed than what we've become over time. There is a reason why much of the world both idolizes and reviles us.
So yes, maybe we do need the absurdity, corruption and deceit that is Trump to make the corrections necessary.
Trump has really woken everyone up to the corruption and lies that are running rampant in our government right now!
I hope you are correct but feel you're probably premature to say: "...has really woken everyone up to the corruption and lies..." - it's probably more accurate to say there are still tens of millions of gullible people who are proverbial sheep being led to slaughter. We must persist - it's do or die....
Well stated. And we all need to come to terms with the fact that this IS a "both sides" problem, and always has been. Even now, we're seeing Democrats openly voting with Republicans to pass things Democrats definitely should not be supporting.
But in regard to your mutually exclusive approach to Dr. Reich's article, the fact is that both of you are correct. We shouldn't have needed this wake up call, but in fact we did need it. Before Trump, most Americans were sleep-walking through the paces of life (I include myself in this), thinking that everything would sort itself out, that if we did what we were expected to do, we would achieve the vaunted "American Dream." Many others of us already knew it was out of reach for them, but figured that was just the way it was, and what could they do about it? So, in both cases, people checked out, or simply didn't have time to follow every detail of politics, and, for one reason or another, failed to vote, voted frivolously, or chose poorly.
We were like the proverbial frogs in the pot. And although science has long since proven that the frog metaphor doesn't actually work for frogs, it definitely does for humans. We have demonstrated, through years of inattention, that we needed something to jolt us out of the complacency that led us directly to this moment in time. And here we are. Let's make the most of it.
Johan, I disagree with you. Not because your analysis or logic are flawed, but because you make an assumption about humans that I found to be false. You assume humans can change without a crisis. This has almost never happened in history. I spent my life fixing broken things from toasters to multinational corporations, to governments, and universities. Humans resist change so much that knowing history and knowing what is going on still does not allow them to endorse change without a massive outside push. We comply with Newton’s law of physics saying an object at rest remains at rest unless acted upon by and outside force. Humans as a group are a big object and it takes a lot of force.
I disagree but I also can’t wholly agree with what professor Robert Reich said. It’s exaggerated but I detest Orange Man so badly that I don’t mind the exaggeration. I love it.
We got duped by Trump, twice. We learned that if we slouch in our responsibly at the voting booth, we may very well lose what so many of our descendants have paid for with their lives to protect. Freedom!
I never voted for Trump! I had a bad feeling about him in the very beginning. My intuition has proven to be right. He has taught us a bad lesson. I hope the American people wake up and realize what we are in danger of losing with Trump as our "president". The man who really wants to rule the world!
I would agree, and further add that this runs so much deeper than Trump. I just finished reading three Court opinions used to overrule the Voting Rights Act (so that the American counterrevolution will continue to place Republican supporters in office). This Court is easily as corrupt as Trump, and its effects will continue for decades to come.
Bottom line: people suck.
We needed Congess to understand the checks and balances better as well. Trump does not care, but we voted those Senators and Congress representatives in and yet very few have actually done their job. Supporting constituents vs doing what us best for them /their career etc has been a sad outcome for all of us. ( well unless your extremely wealthy or got a pardon) 🙄
Johan, I totally agree. Robert, you are a man with many flashes of brilliance—but once in a rare while you have a spark of “overthinking.” Your incomparable insight on the evil of economic inequality is spot on. But there is NOTHING we need from this malignant, psychotic, pathetic, inhuman creature. We do not need cults, cage fighting, and criminals. Never. Ever. The big, beautiful, obituary cannot come soon enough.
I agree. It’s absolving people of responsibility. This stuff is right out there in front of you if you bothered to pay attention. Read a book here and there. Listen to other people. get outside your bubble. Now what Robert says is true about the issues but absolving people of their role in getting us here is not something that I will do.
You don’t get to tuck your head in the sand and be blissfully unaware until things directly affect you but unfortunately that’s how we are encouraged to behave in the current system. People go on social media to show and tell other people the idealized version of themselves and too often it is what they’ve bought, places they’ve traveled, people they know - showing off. It’s just atrocious.
I share your hope.
After all, a sequel to the Second World War was a serious attempt to build new foundations for the world, so that peoples should not be desperate, so that individuals should have opportunities to develop themselves and their communities, to make living conditions fairer and healthier and more secure around the world.
It was inadequate. And what worked was whittled away by bad faith leaders and their adherents and inadequate seizure of the framing of discourse as they pried it away.
But that was a demonstration of the possible. And we could do better now, when thinkers and speakers from subject groups and nations have taught the world more about colonialism and racism, when LGBTIQ people and even just women have taught the world more about patriarchy and its evitability, when we‘ve had it so horribly demonstrated that the results of a competitive-driven world at best depend on the rules of the game, and thus on who lays them out.
I hope we will be reminded that cooperation is both important and powerful, by taking away the powers of the triumphal greedy white boys.
Thumbs held hard.
I know that we *can*.
The love of money chewed away at FDR's legacy, and at LBJ's Great Society. Trump and his minions, the greed is good facet of the American zeitgeist, and corporations and their owners and boards of directors making the rules we all live by are what was vomited up after all of that chewing.
A fundamental problem is that so many millions of Americans have been forced to partake of the forbidden fruit by their 401Ks.
Yes, pension funds are complicit in everything that is happening, good and bad.
Victor, I remember back when corporations provided pension plans, and when they got out from under their responsibility for providing a financially secure retirement for their workers by creating financial products that left workers to take on the responsibility of financial security for themselves. Corporations transitioned away from defined benefit plans to contribution-based plans. At the time, most people thought it was great. There were investment options, and flexibility, and tax advantages, and a list of other bells and whistles.
But it was a devil's bargain. There were a lot of moving parts in the transition away from defined benefit plans that helped get us into the situation we're in today, where the rich are getting richer than they've ever been in the history of mankind, and the poor are getting poorer.
These days the only responsibility that corporations have is to their shareholders. And those shareholders are enjoying the forbidden fruit of corporate greed while Main Streets all across America are decimated along with organized labor. The mom and pop businesses and the union jobs that made America great are mostly gone because corporations' owners and their boards of directors and armies of lawyers and lobbyists fixed it so that their only responsibility is to get as rich as they can, however they can. They crafted a lot of ingenious parts when they put their get-rich machine together. The cleverest piece may have been the one that enabled them to be subsidized by taxpayers instead of paying taxes themselves. They conjured what was supposed to be trickle-down into trickle-up. And they're the devil on America's shoulder whispering in its ear, convincing us that they're "too big to fail".
There are some fortunate ones who've gone along for the ride. I guess they're what you called the good in everything that's happening. And the bad... Well, I guess that's the rest of America that got left behind - those who don't have much of any opportunity they can look forward to, or inherited bootstraps they can pull themselves up by. What some people call most of America, you might say.
When I was 20, I was in despair because the problems we had to surmount seemed impossible. Eventually I decided that I should should find a corner and start sweeping it out as best I could. Lately, feel that I can't even manage to clear the corner. Thanks for reminding me that there are others working away. One day, I'll be sweeping, turn a corner and meet another tired soul sweeping their way to meet me.
We need to listen to the myriad of voices which are telling us things we need to know. But we also need to hear them and take their wisdom to heart. Simply said, the rollback of so many wonderful laws which protect the innocent against racial hatred and bigotry should the clarion call. Going back to the pre-Civil War days and ways of marginalizing huge parts of our population is not an option.
Certain tree species, primarily conifers, release their seeds in a fire through an adaptation called serotiny. Their cones are sealed shut by a strong resin that only melts under the intense heat of a wildfire, allowing the seeds to disperse into fresh ash. The fire we are experiencing will bear the seeds of a new tomorrow. From the ashes there will be a rebirth, one where the truth will once again mean something.
Very poetic, and I really do wish I could believe it could be like that for humanity. Unfortunately, I'm afraid, most people are just too perverse and self centred.
Just to be clear, hope is not optimism. Hope is a disciplined practice, emphasis on discipline. That's what it will take from individuals, from groups, from communities, from governments. If people are not inclined to do the work because they act out of fear that they won't be effective, that's the choice that will lead to failure. I'm willing to do the work. Make your choice.
Nicely put.
I take solice in the "life wins" metaphor. This is a practical argument for the practice of hope as the spiritual practice to which our species has evolved. Love wins.
Beautifully said. Thank you
Terry--thank you--
Hear! Hear!
Project 2925 envisions turning all trees into lumber. Let's do whatever we can to make the remaining sees livable. Radioactive and plastic waste, as well as climate change, cast a dark cloud over your vision.
Victor----over "our" vision.
Do you know that Norwegians are saving seeds from all plants on earth? They keep them in freezers underground.
Victor--I've seen that pop up in several specials devoted to the future of man kind..
If the truth is that wealthy interests ran amok, isn't that the same as saying... the billionaires are ready to make more money?
= /
(Just meaning to say the truth *does* still mean something, i.e. it is only *marginally* obscured, i.e. temporarily - in Donald Trump's America...)
So nature rhymes, as well as history.
I don't agree that "we needed this", but if we fail to make use of this we will be derelict in our civic duty. If we don't end Congress' and administration stock trading, if we don't end Citizens United, if we don't modify the power of the Executive Branch, if we fail to teach our children true civics, we fail. Let us not fail!
Same here; having found little to disagree with on Professor Reich's Substack, today was different: we *did* know; most of us can't help *but* know. (Since when were we ever free to compromise?)...
= /
PS: Let us be no worse off for trying...!
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
Billy Joel, 1989
Boy, that song is truly relevant now!
“It’s raining lies” that Trump “keeps himself protected from them”.
A fire started and we did nothing to put it out. Now it is raging and burning everything in its path. It doesn't matter WHO started it. Sorry, Billy.
but loose arsonists do matter.
But we didn’t and couldn’t end the flames. Now maybe we can.
"The class just didn’t show up." says it all. Having lived in the US for over 25 years, I retired back to the UK to civilisation after giving up hope that the US would stop being so tribal in their politics, their wealth distribution, their religions, their race, their education etc. I kept reading the Constitution and the Amendments, but it seems I was alone because the (many) lawyers could make it mean anything.
"Amusing Ourselves To Death", Neil Postman. Watching the US since about 1980 has been like watching some lazy, ignorant, dissipated trust fund baby blow their inheritance in a non stop booze binge. Now, the fortune is gone, and the hangover is epic.
Literally and figuratively. You may recall that Bush II was addicted to alcohol. He credited AA and Jesus for his cure, and that cure informed him of the enormous political potential of religion. Everything he did laid the ground for Trump and Project 2025. Liberals and Progressives are foolish in ignoring religion in their campaigns.
Well put, Chris.
But extremely sad. I was in Berlin after the wall came down, and figured that the world was on track for dramatic improvements for everyone as the cold war was over. The future was so bright, we were all going to have to wear shades.
You're not alone, John.
Bravo Professor!! time for everyone to stop pretending that the curent trump American life style came out of nowhere-it has been going on for years--people smiling that a young couple cannot buy a home in the bay area--and Trump was not in the lead.
I agree he is the biggest kick in the ass we needed to wake up
stop being asleep at the wheel and create the life and world that so many of us aspire to. Thanks for calling it out!!
The worst and most important lesson we learned: how fragile democracy is.
Really a fine post, sir....a great read that makes me savor my morning brew to an exceptional degree. Thank you.
I’m not sure we needed this brutality and cruelty, trauma corruption and violence against the people of this country. I have a nagging feeling that there is more to this storyline. Drumph and project 2025 wanted him to be a tyrant or a king. What Americans want may become more evident over time.
Racists. That is what bothers me the most.
💯 Betty. I think the current state of the union was inevitable. Our original foundation was based on the “headright system,” where land grants to settle the colonies increased in direct proportion to the number of people enslaved. 400 years of oppression, exploitation, deceit, Jim Crow, and strange fruit followed. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I should know. My ancestors were on the Mayflower and at Jamestown. I work every day to reduce that karmic debt. https://www.njconservation.org/telling-the-truth-about-new-jerseys-slave-history/
Dear Betty,
Everything Professor Reich wrote is true, factually, the history, and the need for change.
Betty, I agree with you that racism is rampant, and it
may cause us good people to lose the battle for democracy.
I have received direct mailings from at least ten Republican candidates involved in the March 26 primary runoff in Texas.
They know what issues voters are most concerned about because the Republican Party has plenty of money for research.
As far as I could see from the campaign literature, the number one issue is racism and hatred. Blaming trans people and Muslims and "radical left" for our problems in Texas and America.
I don't know how to fix this, but I wish to point out the dangers.
Racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, vaccine phobia are all manifestations of xenophobia, a psychotic state of mind to which humans are susceptible. It can be produced artificiaily. Fox News has done it.
Betty, I agree that rascism is what is behind the 'justification' of cruelty and exploitation, just like misogyny allows the objectification and abuse of women and girls.
Misogyny and racism often go hand in hand, but are of a different nature. Misogyny is contempt for the weak. This is why fascists despise liberalism and any kind of compromise. They detest Christianity but make peace with churches for tactical reasons.
Almost like if it hurts it must be good for you.
No gain without pain?
No pain, no gain?
Such political revival will be meaningless unless we return to the Constitution: https://dialector.substack.com/p/american-politics-101 "To Make America Great Again, the culture war must die and the Constitution must rise. The Constitution must rise as the sacred bond that unites a free people across every difference of class, color, and creed. It must rise as the unwavering standard by which every leader, law, and movement is judged. It must rise as the shared inheritance of patriots who choose principle over party and courage over comfort. It must rise as the moral compass that guides our lawmaking, our service, and our sacrifice. It must rise as the voice of our highest civic ideals, calling us to build a nation ruled by law, not ruled by partisan division. It must rise, not as a relic remembered, but as the living covenant of a people who refuse to be divided, and who will not be ruled by anything less than liberty and justice for all."
Beautiful words, Max, thanks. Now let me be more prosaic: Decent, confident players play by the rules of the game, and they are the ones who make a game worth playing. Players who cheat ruin it all. Trump is a cheater, a convicted criminal, an election results denier, and he has the support of a Republican Party that no longer wants to uphold the US Constitution, which sets the rules by which we must play. They must go!
Yes! I have never heard more directly anti-Constitutional talk in my life. You can find many GOP-affiliated people who openly talk of ending the Constitution.
What are we going to do with the 78 million stupid people that voted for Trump, and then there are millions more that like him and didn't vote. They are all mostly unable to see what is right, they have a disability that is permanent and unchangeable. What are we going to do with all of them? I am afraid the situation in this country is hopeless.
It's not hopeless. Post civil rights act, the racist deplorables and irredeemable misogynists were beaten down to the point where they didn't dare show themselves in public. They can be beaten down again. This will only happen though if the proles recognize that the rich are responsible for the "divide and conquer" campaign of hate and division that financed the neo-confederates and allowed them to rise again. The head of the snake is the oligarchs.
Absolutely!
The vision of a "Don't tread on me" snake popped into my head, chopped into pieces, with each piece being one of the evil billionaires who is conspiring against democracy and the rule of law.
Oil annointed oligarchs.
They may be beaten down, but they exist and dwell among us.
You can't perfect humans. Efforts to do so end in totalitarianism. But you can structure society and culture to reward the "better angels of our nature." Which is exactly what isn't happening now.
Excellently put. It can only be done on a very small scale, and the more gigantic the population the less possible it will become.
To me these are the greatest worry. That there are so many millions so unaware and uncaring, or even supporting, is huge obstacle. I have read that people have to truly suffer to rally for major change. As bad as our economic future appears, these millions are not near that point. I surely do not want to see the US reach that point. Only huge, repeated Democratic landslides with dedication on the level of FDR, Frances Perkins, and the others of that era, can hope to overcome the intransigence. While of course, the right wing never gave up fighting FDR, and they will always fight against progress. As badly as I wish it, I am limited on optimism.
We need Reconstruction 2.0 but, this time, without any asterisks. Undue Southern influence was codified with the second “Gentlemen’s agreement” after the civil war. The presidential election outcome between Hayes and Tilden was contested. The South agreed to accept Hayes in exchange for an end to reconstruction. And the beginnings of a new nightmare of strange fruit and Jim Crow for Black and Brown citizens that continues to this day. To commemorate DDay in France, Hegseth likened it to the war on immigrants.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c802e7jk458o
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/politics-and-government/compromise-1877
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/gentlemans-agreement-ended-civil-war-180954810/
Pete Hegseth is our little Adolf Hitler, a war and fear monger. For how long will he remain little?
Hegseth doesn’t scare me. Neither does MAGA. But entitled dems? And those that want to cling to the perks of elective office—posh private schools for the kids and grandkids and gated communities away from rifraf like us? That’s what keeps me awake at night.
Now you sound like a Republican: "the dirty dems," the elites, the bureaucrats keep you awake at night, you say. How is that different from MAGA?
Bingo.
A few examples…I spent 60+ years in NJ. Bob Menendez stayed in office more than 11 years AFTER his first major federal corruption indictment. Thanks DNC. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/timeline-rise-fall-senator-bob-menendez-new-jersey/5624639/
And let’s remember that NYT’s Michelle Goldberg believes that Bill Clinton raped Juanita Broaddrick. There were other accusastions. Kathleen Willey. Paula Jones. Leslie Millwee. Cristy Zercher. Eileen Wellstone. Sandra Allen James. And that doesn’t include whether the power imbalance with Monica Lewinsky made a “consensual” relationship impossible. Yet, HRC and Bill remain married to this day. The wives of Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and Danny Masterson divorced their husbands but HRC chose to stay. To survivors of sexual violence, that’s the opposite of “gutsy feminism.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/opinion/juanita-broaddrick-bill-clinton.html
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2016/06/17/fact-check-did-hillary-clinton-wear-expensive-jacket-during/15713907007/
That said, thank you for your thoughtful points. I’m changing “dirty dems” to “entitled dems.”
OK, but keep an eye on Hegseth. Do not forget that Hitler was an obscure retired corporal few took seriously early in the 1920s.
Yes Richard. It's the millions who either voted for Trump or didn't but are aligned with him that concern me the most. It's not just Trump. His ignorant, largely racist followers and the oligarchs who support and are behind him will live on. This fact is what exhausts and terrifies me the most. It's almost impossible to change one's thinking once they're in a cult and have swallowed the kool aid unless they somehow wake up on their own. In the meantime, why can't us humans learn from nature and animals how to live cooperatively with each other? I think they have much to teach us so that we could evolve. If only... Thanks for being here Richard.
Yes Lilla, my feelings exactly. But the present administration has totally dismissed science, including global warming and climate change, so in ten more years or so this planet will not be fit for humans to live on. Ugh!
Yes Richard. Nature will have the last word with our foolish destruction of all sentient life including our beautiful Mother Earth on the path that we are ignorantly pursuing. It makes me heartsick how much we don't respect or take care of Mother Earth and all living life forms. It gets down to values. We've lost our moral values and are incredibly lost since our main values are money, power and selfish greed. I wish I could live in a more mature, humane, "civilized" country at this last stage in my life in which "moral values" prevailed and had created a society that valued what is best for all people and sentient life forms instead of profit for a select few. I'm afraid I'm too old to live to see this happen here in our own country, unfortunately, as we obviously learn from our mistakes incredibly slowly....at a snail's pace. And, this is heartbreaking.
I agree Lilla. I am very sad.
It would be hopeless if we give up.
I've said similar things to some of my friends...that maybe he was an 'evil necessity'...I think it most certainly HAS been a wake-up call for those of us who appreciate a democratic government. Our government was way past due for 'an over haul'. Hopefully we will get back on track SOON!
Ultimately patriotism in the purest possible sense will win out. The original concept of America was superb if culturally limited in that moment. The mechanisms of our government created and built upon from then remain a platform we should stand on - and behind.
But now we need to make it completely inclusive, not just a blueprint to be enjoyed by White land owners. In that context, this is what we must embrace as we begin our #RebuildingHonorableDemocracy.
And let's get that started ahead of schedule by making this our #AccountabilitySummer. The complicit should know in their guts that their careers will end in January unless they lead the #ImmediateFlipMovement.
They can declare as independents THIS SUMMER and rebrand as #ConstitutionalConservatives. Then they can start to caucus with Dems, working with us as #PolarOppositePatriots to end this madness and claim an opportunity to be on the right side of history.
Imagine every member of the #ClownCarCabinet facing a #BlueHouseOversightRampage. Imagine an extensive investigation into all of Trump's monuments violations, and the corruption tied to each of them.
This is what democracy is supposed to look like.
Hold that vision folks and make those calls to House Republicans not to rant, but to encourage. We must ask them to be our heroes, because if they make the right choice, they will be legends. Any short-term pain that Trump may inflict on them will be well worth being celebrated in future #2ndIndependenceDay parades.
Here's what else that blue House can do:
1). Document all of Trump's illegal, dishonorable, and corrupt actions and prepare laws and governmental guidelines that can keep the guardrails in place for all presidents in the future. Bundle all the proposals under a No Kings Act so it can be ready next January if not sooner.
2). Prepare all emoluments violations as grounds for impeachment. It's important, though, that they are quantified, categorized, and connected to all individuals who can be charged with emoluments violations. They do not enjoy the presidential protections.
3). Establish the all-encompassing #SeditiousConspiracy that the #TrumpMuskMillerVoughtProject2025BillionaireCabal deployed at the start of 47. There are three main components:
3A: The actual smoking gun on this is the fact that Trump fired 18 inspectors general to eliminate non-partisan oversight throughout government. When you add in the DOGE firings, there was an intent to eliminate all the institutional knowledge that could stand in the way of any corruption and abuse of power.
3B: All cabinet members were not chosen for their abilities, only for their CORRUPTIBILITY. With no experience, limited intellect, and zero dedication to the job or the American people, these #SimpletonSycophants would revel in the corruption they would unleash.
3C: At the front end, the SCOTUS presidential immunity decision needed to be in place before Trump took office.
From the 30,000 foot view you can see how all these pieces needed to be in place. That is the context by which Congress can establish seditious conspiracy and subpoena texts and emails that can support the infrastructure of this mountainous scheme to replace democracy with kleptocratic fascism.
This is how we get to the untouchables like Roberts, Miller, Vought, and the billionaires in the shadows and their secret mantra:
"Move all the money to us!"
Save this post, because you'll want to share it with your representatives. They need to understand how they can best utilize the power we are soon to put in their hands.
I agree fully with the list of grievances and attribution of blame in this post. Much has been done to destroy the basis and progress of the American Experiment in representative democracy. The facts are clear for the commentators, but I am perplexed by the dearth of thoughts on actual implementation. It is as if an incensed public has written a new Declaration of Independence from the corruption of Trump, but not yet gotten to the implementation of an alternative. This menace to the people who has drained our true freedom, especially our freedom to do things as well as out freedom from, is a clear and present danger on our land, made more powerful by Big Brother technologies and actions, not a monarch across the ocean who had to deal with the implications of his actions at home. The problem has been amplified by its authors and identified in an infinite number of substacks and comments. The opposition needs a clear path forward that has been defaulted to the Democratic Party that has not shown itself for for purpose. Other attempts are undoubtedly going on, but have not gained the traction needed to effect change. It’s time for leadership, which in our times of capital over virtue as the engine of change will need a discovery of a source of virtuous capital and wisdom to deploy it. While the focus on the USA is implied in the discussions, we now live in a world that has erased oceans as major barriers and linked all into the necessity of working together globally. A game plan exists for global advancement, now we need implementation.
AMEN. I want to see action. As much “action” that they are throwing at us. Even if the possibility of success is low, action speaks louder than words or polls. Impeach those that have committed crimes. Censure is not a very strong tool but its something. Put forward a plan. Please. Any plan is better than no plan. Dems snd independents should get together and create a manifesto that the legislators and people can agree upon - not a tome but short and sweet like their beloved Ten Commandments. They should identify a few people to run for offices so we can start campaigning now rather than fight each other. The main qualification is ability to beat Drumpf and lead this country forward out of the morass. As Yoda says: “Try? There is no try- just do.”
I agree,Stuart
Some how we need to address and fight racism. It’s our oldest sin. It needs to see light.
You know what, A Glass-1/8th-Full Perspective? I believe you gave a name to the people that were true Republicans before maga took their party over. Constitutional Conservatives would be a great name for those that simply could not stomach the direction the orange man and maga took their party. I still support your idea of flipping some of those republicans!
Aren't we all "constitutional conservatives" in the sense that we want to protect the US Constitution from fascists? We must recognize that Project 2025 contains a radical, revolutionary agenda. Its authors say so themselves. That means that we are conservatives.
Prof. Reich — I think part of your optimism comes from having taught excellent students at Berkeley for most of the past two decades.
Here in Alabama, I taught state-university undergraduates whose sense of entitlement knew no bounds. Students whose mothers called the department chair and the associate dean to complain when their sophomore(ic) progeny earned failing grades on a midterm in my course.
Here in Alabama, we elected an overrated former NCAA Division I football coach to the US Senate, a man who _couldn't name the three branches of government_ when he ran for the office in 2020. We elected him over the incumbent who prosecuted one of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombers in the early 2000s (forty years too late)... and we are likely to elect "Coach" to the governor's mansion this fall.
Surrounded by beneficent brilliance, you arrive at one conclusion about America.
Surrounded by malevolent mediocrity, I arrive at the opposite.
You see rejuvenation emerging from the bonfire.
I see the arsonists gleefully watching the immolation caused by their handiwork.
Alabama, you got the weight on your shoulders that's breaking your back
Your Cadillac has got a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track
Alabama, you got the rest of the union to help you along
What's going wrong?
Neil Young, 1972
Mark, As you know, Doug Jones is running for governor of Alabama. Hopefully enough Alabamans will have the common sense -- and decency -- to elect him over Tuberville ("Tupperware")!
Thank you for showing the other side even there both are public universities. Your side of the argument indicate clearly the two different type of people who will always be there. The biggest problem is how to make these two types of people work together for the common good of all the people.
Mark, the people you describe have gone tribal. Their morality is tribal, namely loyalty to the in-group and its leader, hostility to outsiders. How did this happen? Obviously it did not happen overnight, or did it?
Trump revealed how much democratic maintenance had been deferred for decades. The revival of democracy requires not only rebuilding institutions, but rebuilding the public’s capacity to understand, participate in, and hold those institutions accountable.