General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums400 plutocrats in the US now own more wealth than 180 million other Americans
Gar A: The concentration of wealth in this country is astonishing. 400 individualsyou could seat them all on a single airplaneown as much wealth as 60 percent of the rest of the country taken together. I was describing this distribution as medieval until a medieval historian set me straight: wealth was far more evenly distributed in the Middle Ages. When you ask where power lies in our system, you are asking who owns the productive assets. And that's the top 1 percentin fact, the top 1 percent of the 1 percent. It is a feudalistic structure of extreme power. It is anathema to a democracy to have that kind of concentration of wealth. More and more people are beginning to realize the extent and reach of corporate power and the power of those who own the corporations. The Koch brothers get a lot of publicity, but its a much wider phenomenon.
You mentioned Martin Luther King, citing some of the quotes I included in the book. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of his legendary I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial, and we will be doubtless be hearing a lot about that and Dr. Kings leadership on racial equality and civil rights. I worked with him on neighborhood ownership questions we were looking at in the Senate at the time; and then again, a few years later, when he came out against the Vietnam War. He was also questioning the distribution of wealth, citing the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism. At the end, right before he was assassinated, he even began to talk about changing the economic power structure, even occasionally, using the words democratic socialism. In this era of difficulty we would do well to remember Dr. King as a visionary who was beginning to step out beyond the cramped consensus to ask far deeper questions about the nature of America and the possibilities for a different future for this country. That is our challenge today.
Gar S: You argue that it was not politics but circumstance (the Great Depression, followed by WW II) that precipitated the New Deal's progressive change and the countrys post-war economic prosperity. I was surprised by your assessment that an economic collapse on the scale of the Great Depression is no longer likely. Could you explain?
Gar A: Despite the systemic problems a crisis collapse of the scope and scale of the Great Depression is not likely. Here are a few reasons. First, the size of ongoing government spending stabilizing the economy is much, much larger than it was at the time of the Great Depression. Government spendingthe floor under the private economy, if you likewas at 11 percent in 1929, now it is roughly 30 to 35 percent of the economy (depending on the year, and whether we are in recession.) The economy may decline rapidly, but the floor is three times higher than it was during the 1930s. Second, today we have built-in economic stabilizersspending that kicks in to help offset the decline when recessions begin to get underway: unemployment insurance, food stamps, and so on. Then there is the sea change in politics. The American public now holds political leaders responsible for making sure the economy worksor at least does not totally fail. There is a heavy political price for any politician who fails to deal with truly massive economic pain. Perhaps most importantly, when push comes to shove, major corporate leaders also support action to counteract truly major economic contractions. You saw it in 2008 and 2009 when business leaders demanded actionincluding the stimulus plan.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/16847-the-next-american-revolution-has-already-begun-gar-smith-interviews-gar-alperovitz
Because of certain economic stabilizers no great depression era changes probable, but lots of pain and unemployment. I guess this is what manufactured poverty looks like... and since it's controllable, sit back and try to survive the austerity ride...
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)or so I hear.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)what a great term.
And so obviously true. Terribly fascinating that we can actually watch the actions that create impoverish people, wipe out the middle class.
and those 400 plutocrats?
They will be at Bilderberg this year, or send their wholly owned toadies( James Cameron, etc) to attend in their place.
ctsnowman
(1,903 posts)I wish we could keep talking about these type of things. Things we all agree on.
Have a great day.
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)in the library and just started reading it then over the last few days I've seen his name mentioned different places. Thanks for posting.
a2liberal
(1,524 posts)leftstreet
(36,118 posts)DURec
Putting them all on a plane is an excellent idea!
RainDog
(28,784 posts)Faygo Kid
(21,478 posts)In my 60+ years, I have seen the disintegration of this country into a few haves, and many have-nots.
Oh well. Given climate change, the coming generations are doomed, rich and poor, anyway.
My singular goal is to outlive the one man who has done so much to destroy this nation, Rush Limbaugh. He has been underestimated here. I remember before he became famous, when there were decent Republicans, like Gerald Ford. No more.
SunSeeker
(51,794 posts)I loved the speech he gave during the anti-Walker protests about that.
Initech
(100,132 posts)They completely looted our treasury, pensions, overtime, sick leave, paid vacation, and anything else they could get their greedy mitts on during the Bush years - not to mention they stole the presidency. They destroyed education, air traffic controllers, "security", and anything else their greedy mitts touched, off shored our jobs and off shored our wealth so they don't get punished. Fuck them all. No punishment, no outrage, no taxes, nothing. Again, fuck them.
undergroundpanther
(11,925 posts)people are a lot less than 180 million.They could be destroyed so easy if americans were not so fucking OBEDIENT.
RVN VET
(492 posts)The Golden Rule is: He who owns the gold gets to make the rules. That's why bankers who launder billions and billions of dollars in drug money don't go to jail, while the poor shnook who gets busted by the State for possession goes up the goddam river for a year or more. That's also why the wealthy WallStreet thieves can run over little old ladies on the street, flee the scene and, when softly busted by a reluctant State are told by the judge that they are much to important to Society to be put in jail.
I've been around since Harry Truman, a flawed man but an ass kicker who would have stood up for the people. I've seen the Country crumble since the Supremes awarded the White House to Dick Cheney and his side kick. I'm saddened by Obama's reluctance to move against the 1% and the 0.1%, but I think he really wants to do some good for the mass of us. Just not too much. But I don't think the America I grew up in will ever come back. Social Security and medicare are on the block. The old are in peril and the young seem to be buying the shallow and wrong bill of goods being sold to them by a flaccid and subservient media.