'Democracy or oligarchy': Ex-Labor Secretary lays out stakes of the next four years
Former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich sounded off on the threat posed to America in the coming four years in a lengthy post to Facebook — and how to keep everything in perspective.
Reich, an outspoken warrior for progressive economic issues, has already warned Trump's tax agenda stands to benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of everyone else.
"For three decades after World War II, America created the largest middle class the world had ever seen," said Reich. "During those years, the earnings of the typical American worker doubled, just as the size of the American economy doubled. Over the last 40 years, by contrast, the size of the economy has more than doubled again, but the earnings of the typical American have barely budged (adjusted for inflation). Most of the gains have gone to the top. In the 1950s and 1960s, the CEOs of large corporations earned an average of about 20 times the pay of their typical worker. Now they rake in over 300 times the pay of an average worker."
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It's precisely this environment, he argued, that makes the public so vulnerable to far-right demagoguery.
"When most people stop believing that they and their children have a fair chance to make it, the tacit social contract begins to unravel," he wrote. "And a nation becomes susceptible to demagogues such as Donald Trump peddling the politics of hate. Many of the most vocal proponents of the 'free market' — including Elon Musk, executives of large corporations and their ubiquitous lawyers and lobbyists, denizens of Wall Street and their political lackeys, and numerous multimillionaires and billionaires — have been actively reorganizing the market for their own benefit."
"This is why it’s so important that those of us who care about social justice speak out and explain what has happened. And why it’s crucial that Democrats focus on reversing the staggering inequalities of this era and getting big money out of politics," he concluded. "My friends, the underlying issue is not the size of government. It’s whom the government is for. The fundamental choice is democracy or oligarchy."