I agree with your description of the problem. I have often felt that the wheels are coming off this country. As just one example, there was a recent opinion column in the New York Times in which the authors report surveying people in the Bronx and abroad over the past five years about vaccine hesitancy. When they drilled down on the data about Covid-19 vaccine acceptance, they found that the real divide was class, not race or political party affiliation. Impoverished people who are barely able to survive feel that the government and society haven't done anything for them, so why should they do anything for society. A quote from the opinion:
"Over the past four decades, governments have slashed budgets and privatized basic services. This has two important consequences for public health. First, people are unlikely to trust institutions that do little for them. And second, public health is no longer viewed as a collective endeavor, based on the principle of social solidarity and mutual obligation. People are conditioned to believe they’re on their own and responsible only for themselves. That means an important source of vaccine hesitancy is the erosion of the idea of a common good."
Another quote: "But as the public purse shrunk in the 1980s, politicians insisted that it’s no longer the government’s job to ensure people’s well-being; instead, Americans were to be responsible only for themselves and their own bodies." We have been indoctrinated with "rugged individualism" and "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" blather.
The person who has the most prominent bully pulpit to remedy this at this time is Biden as president. IMO, he should talk less about "bipartisanship," which itself has become a divisive term, and talk more about community, and how we are all dependent on one another for our wellbeing. He should explain how his policies are directed toward that end. And do it frequently and relentlessly, not just an occasional comment.
Robert, this country is in real trouble, we need a fed. law passed to override the red states laws, that states, they don't have to summit their votes in a fed. election, if for some reason, they chose not too. This if successful,it will kill our Democracy. If I were the democrats, that along with voter suppression laws, would have been my no. 1 priority. I'm 75 y.o.a., and a lifelong democrat, for 1st time, really concerned about our Country. Thank You for listening !
Mr. Reich, you have raised many important topics today. I agree that the economy, politics, and public health are interconnected. Public health is my major concern. I'm in France and had to apply for a health pass a month in advance and had to give a negative Covid swab test before I could board their plane. We have to wear masks here. The threat of Omicron is looming. Also, because I take numerous medications, I dislike big Pharma lobbying against Medicare's ability to reduce the price of prescription drugs. We pay more for medications than most developed countries. When many people have to choose between life-saving meds and food, or adverse or disturbing symptoms and a decent quality of life, something is wrong. All of the entities or power structures you discussed seem to have profit or greed at their core: Corporate greed, political power and greed, and personal greed above the common good. How do we heal the brokenness of the system? This would usually just be a matter of time, but do we have time? The next political election seems ominous and our democracy will depend on our ability to make swift changes, and like you said, our resiliency. I'm trying to stay hopeful.
Why is press hyping Omicron when the Delta is afflicting even those vaccinated with not just a "mild case?" This is a fact...I'm an RN who currently have 3 family members( all fully vaccinated) who have been very ill for the last 14 days. All of them plus 2 other family members ( not vaccinated) had Delta. They all work at different jobs and live 15-30 miles apart. The local and national press should put the real Delta figures out over and over to the public instead of spreading fear about the supposedly contractability of the unknown Omicron varient.
Also this fear tactic affects the almighty Wall Street thus putting into place their future bets on gas, food, auto, and the drug industries which then adds to the increased inflation. All this fear of possible economical effects takes away from what we need to slow down in the near present. Only the people/corporations gain from every part of these problems.
While your optimism is heartening, and very meaningful due to your broad knowledge and experience, I just can't seem to muster it myself. Perhaps some of it is burnout. I actually started and ran my own PAC, called dumpchumpPAC, prior to the 2020 election. We were grassroots, selling volunteer-made bracelets with beaded Morse code messages about the former guy. Our most popular beaded pattern contained an F-bomb ("F*** T****"), making marketing really challenging, but we did eventually land a billionaire family as repeat customers, and we sure had a lot of laughs.
I feel greed is hardwired into our species, and power is a truly addictive substance on the scale of Fentanyl. Politics selects for more addictive personalities. Today we have a synergistic combination of a cult and the jet fuel of social media, FOX, OAN etc.-- a propaganda machine on a scale the world has never seen. The billionaires who are running everything cannot resist personal profit at the expense of everyone and everything else. They'll even ruin the planet for their own grandkids; the power is just that addicting. (We all know that addicts will steal from their own children to fund their next "hit", and that's exactly what they are doing.) Legislators cannot resist the urge to stay in power, so they run to the dark side if that's what it takes.
How do we fight this? I think our only hope is to instill fear and anger in our voters, as the GOP has done with phenomenal success. Tell our voters that our democracy has already failed. It's gone. And that the apparent normalcy of daily life we are enjoying now is simply the leftovers from when we had a functioning government. They will have to save it through heroics, or else live under someone like Putin. Swoop in in overwhelming numbers to stop it from crashing at the bottom of the ravine. Panic. Now.
We have been in a System of plunder and pillage by "The Masters of Mankind" living by their "Vile Maxim: All for us and nothing for the rest." (Adam Smith "The Wealth of Nations" 1776), for a long time. A thing of the past, you say? Listen to Ralph Nader Radio Hour about Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. No Sackler is in jail and they are still filthy rich. Plunder and pillage continues by the wealthy few at the expense of the many, even when expense includes deaths. Is humanity going to survive this continued assault?
Thanks Robert...I would add that the morass began to percolate when a POS took a ride on an escalator nearly 5 years ago. I have been a believer in this country my entire life but the last 5 years (see above) have dampened, if not extinguished that feeling. I know be positive but...
Robert, perhaps you can enlighten me on this question. What bewilders me is what is all this talk about Donald Trump running again when he is can be indicted for so many crimes we KNOW he's committed? Where's the DOJ on his responsibility for the insurrection? This man is a traitor to his country, sedition, yes, but definitely a traitor. Where is Georgia, NY? There are any number of crimes he can legitimately be charged with. How can he possibly be able/allowed/qualified to run for president? Why won't he be in court fighting charges? It's an outrage that this criminal kingpin can hold court with a major political party, talk of running for high office, picking and choosing who runs for office and the country is made to believe this is NORMAL! He's a criminal, a rapist, a cruel and violent man and the powers that be allow him to walk around like this whole awful scene isn't utterly grotesque! So, Robert, is it because the government is afraid it can't control the violence he can order up against virtually anybody and everybody?
I have this weird optimistic feeling that the next 90 Days will be great for America. The Build Back Better Plan (including expanded Medicare) will become Law, as will the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis Voting Rights Acts and the Protect Women's Health Act.
Corporations and billionaires will be required to pay their fair share in taxes and people will realize that President Biden has transformed America once and for all. Colorado is part of the Interstate Compact to Abolish the Electoral College and if we get three more states, this also will happen.
I'm old. My parents survived the Depression. My mother's family lived on oatmeal; our pastor's family depended on pie crust - not with the filling, just the lard and flour that was baked. My father had to leave home and ride the rails as a bum where he got T.B. but survived the death ward of a sanitarium in Arizona. Then there was WWII with rations of food stuffs and gasoline, and the lives lost fighting against autocracy. These were seen as collective tragedies because no news source was spinning them as political manipulations of one party or another. The greed of Wall Street that plunged the nation into poverty was addressed and measures taken to guarantee it wouldn't happen again, though those measures have been whittled away to almost nothing. The U.S. helped reconstruct its former enemies, hoping that economic equity would prevent future struggles for resources. No one doubted the integrity of the news, the churches, public institutions, or the purpose of education. Perhaps the problem is getting individual Americans to shoulder their responsibilities while pounding the table about their rights. Let's have real consequences for those whose agenda is to destroy American democracy for pieces of silver. The affluent enablers of the ultra wealthy need to be reigned in; otherwise, the rest of us will just continue scrapping for the crumbs, too busy pointing fingers to grasp the situation at hand.
for whatever reason - these comments and people have not been able to alter the course of this polluted river...the country has become a collection of 'haves' and 'have-nots'. the haves are making ready to transfer all they can to Earth2.0. the have-nots are literally fighting for the scraps. i personally do no see the haves giving up anything (like taxes), without much effort on the part of the have-nots. we gotta take it to the streets...massive public demonstrations and don't buy all that crap from big corporations...made it yourself or make do. we need to tell the haves that we "are mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore"
I would think, given human nature, there will be a great deal of unnecessary suffering before the common good raises it's head. It's the "unnecessary" part of it that's salt on the wound.
So, what now? Where do we go from here? How do we proceed?
Personally, I believe the vast majority of the combined issue(s) is due to false and misleading media reporting. Similarly to the current Supreme Court, the media is divided on polar opposite’s. There simply no longer is “truth in journalism”. And, to make matters worse, there are far too many opinion “personalities” on air and on social media that intentionally misrepresent the issues and falsely lead people to incorrect or “alternative facts”.
As I’ve previously written, the United States is in desperate need to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine.
I agree with your description of the problem. I have often felt that the wheels are coming off this country. As just one example, there was a recent opinion column in the New York Times in which the authors report surveying people in the Bronx and abroad over the past five years about vaccine hesitancy. When they drilled down on the data about Covid-19 vaccine acceptance, they found that the real divide was class, not race or political party affiliation. Impoverished people who are barely able to survive feel that the government and society haven't done anything for them, so why should they do anything for society. A quote from the opinion:
"Over the past four decades, governments have slashed budgets and privatized basic services. This has two important consequences for public health. First, people are unlikely to trust institutions that do little for them. And second, public health is no longer viewed as a collective endeavor, based on the principle of social solidarity and mutual obligation. People are conditioned to believe they’re on their own and responsible only for themselves. That means an important source of vaccine hesitancy is the erosion of the idea of a common good."
Another quote: "But as the public purse shrunk in the 1980s, politicians insisted that it’s no longer the government’s job to ensure people’s well-being; instead, Americans were to be responsible only for themselves and their own bodies." We have been indoctrinated with "rugged individualism" and "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" blather.
The person who has the most prominent bully pulpit to remedy this at this time is Biden as president. IMO, he should talk less about "bipartisanship," which itself has become a divisive term, and talk more about community, and how we are all dependent on one another for our wellbeing. He should explain how his policies are directed toward that end. And do it frequently and relentlessly, not just an occasional comment.
Robert, this country is in real trouble, we need a fed. law passed to override the red states laws, that states, they don't have to summit their votes in a fed. election, if for some reason, they chose not too. This if successful,it will kill our Democracy. If I were the democrats, that along with voter suppression laws, would have been my no. 1 priority. I'm 75 y.o.a., and a lifelong democrat, for 1st time, really concerned about our Country. Thank You for listening !
Mr. Reich, you and I are dinosaurs from the past.
Wealth has increased tremendously and also the influence of that money.
That corrupt wealth is drowning out the liberal democracy...almost gone now.
The novel "1984" by George Orwell affected my life as a young teenager and it still applies even more so today.
The democrats are too weak to get their points across .....Repubublicans ar enot .
I am a Democrat , but this is the truth.
We need leaders, charisma..the likes of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Billy Graham, Walter Cronkite,, Edward R. Morrow.
The media on TV is a disaster and will follow the rich wealthy Repubilcans.
And on and on we go!
Mr. Reich, you have raised many important topics today. I agree that the economy, politics, and public health are interconnected. Public health is my major concern. I'm in France and had to apply for a health pass a month in advance and had to give a negative Covid swab test before I could board their plane. We have to wear masks here. The threat of Omicron is looming. Also, because I take numerous medications, I dislike big Pharma lobbying against Medicare's ability to reduce the price of prescription drugs. We pay more for medications than most developed countries. When many people have to choose between life-saving meds and food, or adverse or disturbing symptoms and a decent quality of life, something is wrong. All of the entities or power structures you discussed seem to have profit or greed at their core: Corporate greed, political power and greed, and personal greed above the common good. How do we heal the brokenness of the system? This would usually just be a matter of time, but do we have time? The next political election seems ominous and our democracy will depend on our ability to make swift changes, and like you said, our resiliency. I'm trying to stay hopeful.
Why is press hyping Omicron when the Delta is afflicting even those vaccinated with not just a "mild case?" This is a fact...I'm an RN who currently have 3 family members( all fully vaccinated) who have been very ill for the last 14 days. All of them plus 2 other family members ( not vaccinated) had Delta. They all work at different jobs and live 15-30 miles apart. The local and national press should put the real Delta figures out over and over to the public instead of spreading fear about the supposedly contractability of the unknown Omicron varient.
Also this fear tactic affects the almighty Wall Street thus putting into place their future bets on gas, food, auto, and the drug industries which then adds to the increased inflation. All this fear of possible economical effects takes away from what we need to slow down in the near present. Only the people/corporations gain from every part of these problems.
While your optimism is heartening, and very meaningful due to your broad knowledge and experience, I just can't seem to muster it myself. Perhaps some of it is burnout. I actually started and ran my own PAC, called dumpchumpPAC, prior to the 2020 election. We were grassroots, selling volunteer-made bracelets with beaded Morse code messages about the former guy. Our most popular beaded pattern contained an F-bomb ("F*** T****"), making marketing really challenging, but we did eventually land a billionaire family as repeat customers, and we sure had a lot of laughs.
I feel greed is hardwired into our species, and power is a truly addictive substance on the scale of Fentanyl. Politics selects for more addictive personalities. Today we have a synergistic combination of a cult and the jet fuel of social media, FOX, OAN etc.-- a propaganda machine on a scale the world has never seen. The billionaires who are running everything cannot resist personal profit at the expense of everyone and everything else. They'll even ruin the planet for their own grandkids; the power is just that addicting. (We all know that addicts will steal from their own children to fund their next "hit", and that's exactly what they are doing.) Legislators cannot resist the urge to stay in power, so they run to the dark side if that's what it takes.
How do we fight this? I think our only hope is to instill fear and anger in our voters, as the GOP has done with phenomenal success. Tell our voters that our democracy has already failed. It's gone. And that the apparent normalcy of daily life we are enjoying now is simply the leftovers from when we had a functioning government. They will have to save it through heroics, or else live under someone like Putin. Swoop in in overwhelming numbers to stop it from crashing at the bottom of the ravine. Panic. Now.
I must complain!
I do receive a lot of Republican requests for donations..would never consider!
Just a note about the Democratic request I receive.
You don't need mor money you need leadership ...support for you candidates and PRESIDENT!
We have been in a System of plunder and pillage by "The Masters of Mankind" living by their "Vile Maxim: All for us and nothing for the rest." (Adam Smith "The Wealth of Nations" 1776), for a long time. A thing of the past, you say? Listen to Ralph Nader Radio Hour about Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. No Sackler is in jail and they are still filthy rich. Plunder and pillage continues by the wealthy few at the expense of the many, even when expense includes deaths. Is humanity going to survive this continued assault?
Thanks Robert...I would add that the morass began to percolate when a POS took a ride on an escalator nearly 5 years ago. I have been a believer in this country my entire life but the last 5 years (see above) have dampened, if not extinguished that feeling. I know be positive but...
Robert, perhaps you can enlighten me on this question. What bewilders me is what is all this talk about Donald Trump running again when he is can be indicted for so many crimes we KNOW he's committed? Where's the DOJ on his responsibility for the insurrection? This man is a traitor to his country, sedition, yes, but definitely a traitor. Where is Georgia, NY? There are any number of crimes he can legitimately be charged with. How can he possibly be able/allowed/qualified to run for president? Why won't he be in court fighting charges? It's an outrage that this criminal kingpin can hold court with a major political party, talk of running for high office, picking and choosing who runs for office and the country is made to believe this is NORMAL! He's a criminal, a rapist, a cruel and violent man and the powers that be allow him to walk around like this whole awful scene isn't utterly grotesque! So, Robert, is it because the government is afraid it can't control the violence he can order up against virtually anybody and everybody?
I have this weird optimistic feeling that the next 90 Days will be great for America. The Build Back Better Plan (including expanded Medicare) will become Law, as will the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis Voting Rights Acts and the Protect Women's Health Act.
Corporations and billionaires will be required to pay their fair share in taxes and people will realize that President Biden has transformed America once and for all. Colorado is part of the Interstate Compact to Abolish the Electoral College and if we get three more states, this also will happen.
I'm old. My parents survived the Depression. My mother's family lived on oatmeal; our pastor's family depended on pie crust - not with the filling, just the lard and flour that was baked. My father had to leave home and ride the rails as a bum where he got T.B. but survived the death ward of a sanitarium in Arizona. Then there was WWII with rations of food stuffs and gasoline, and the lives lost fighting against autocracy. These were seen as collective tragedies because no news source was spinning them as political manipulations of one party or another. The greed of Wall Street that plunged the nation into poverty was addressed and measures taken to guarantee it wouldn't happen again, though those measures have been whittled away to almost nothing. The U.S. helped reconstruct its former enemies, hoping that economic equity would prevent future struggles for resources. No one doubted the integrity of the news, the churches, public institutions, or the purpose of education. Perhaps the problem is getting individual Americans to shoulder their responsibilities while pounding the table about their rights. Let's have real consequences for those whose agenda is to destroy American democracy for pieces of silver. The affluent enablers of the ultra wealthy need to be reigned in; otherwise, the rest of us will just continue scrapping for the crumbs, too busy pointing fingers to grasp the situation at hand.
for whatever reason - these comments and people have not been able to alter the course of this polluted river...the country has become a collection of 'haves' and 'have-nots'. the haves are making ready to transfer all they can to Earth2.0. the have-nots are literally fighting for the scraps. i personally do no see the haves giving up anything (like taxes), without much effort on the part of the have-nots. we gotta take it to the streets...massive public demonstrations and don't buy all that crap from big corporations...made it yourself or make do. we need to tell the haves that we "are mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore"
I would think, given human nature, there will be a great deal of unnecessary suffering before the common good raises it's head. It's the "unnecessary" part of it that's salt on the wound.
I think you’ve hit the nail squarely on the head!
So, what now? Where do we go from here? How do we proceed?
Personally, I believe the vast majority of the combined issue(s) is due to false and misleading media reporting. Similarly to the current Supreme Court, the media is divided on polar opposite’s. There simply no longer is “truth in journalism”. And, to make matters worse, there are far too many opinion “personalities” on air and on social media that intentionally misrepresent the issues and falsely lead people to incorrect or “alternative facts”.
As I’ve previously written, the United States is in desperate need to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine
Until the whole of America receives similar, truthful information there is no way we can come to consensus. Period.
it seems like our history says that our suffering must somehow get to a point where it brings down the money power...
recovering from the Great Depression, a world war or 2, seem to be the things that have brought us to the point of requiring recovery.
A better way would be nice, but I don't see it in Our history.
Hopefully I'm missing something.