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The Big Picture: How We Got Into This Mess, And How We Get Out of It (Robert Reich)
Lately it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it's been.
-- The Grateful Dead, "Truckin'"
And that "long, strange trip" has gotten positively rocky, particularly in the last 40 years, under the influence of Reagan, both Bushes, and of course, The Donald. Under their "leadership" (if you can call it that), we've seen the ongoing dismantling of the middle class, the rise of the one-percenters, and most recently, the threat of fascism overthrowing our democracy. Economist and former White House advisor Robert Reich has seen it, too, and it seems as though he has a better than average grasp of the social and fiscal dynamics that got us from there to here. In the following video, he sketches a pretty convincing picture of that path, noting causes and effects, and proposes one possible way out.
Personally, I think his doodles are worth your time. Please enjoy.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ian Mason on
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When I was at university (Literature, 1982-85) a friend who studied economics told me a little about it. The Nobel prize in economics was founded in 1969 to reward the 'new' economists who worked with equations. A mathematical model of an economy that 'came out' on paper 50% of the time was enough for the Nobel. These were the people (Friedman et al) who came out on top and dictated policy to Reagan, Thatcher and other leaders. Previous economic ideas involving 'concepts' like education, health, equality, well being etc became history and the numbers-on-paper took over. From what I understand of economics now it's still number-based but on gaming/gambling theories.
The biggest stumbling block to change is acceptance. In the mid 70s, unemployment in the UK reached 1 million and there was outrage. I was 19yo and one of those who demonstrated (and arrested for assaulting a policeman's boot with my body). A couple of years ago one of my nephews came out with ' but 2 million unemployed is NORMAL for today'. My jaw dropped to near my knees. My daughter too thinks that instability is 'just the way it is' now. Both believe in individual resposibility to fight a way up the ladder and losers don't matter. 'O, Hamlet! What a falling off was there!'
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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on
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Well, I don't know if it was an economist who suggested "trickle-down" theory to Ronnie, but he should have been SHOT for that. It didn't work for Reagan, it didn't work for Bush 43, and it clearly didn't work for Donnie Dumb-ass. Here's how it DOES work:
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And for anyone who is interested, here is the complete drawing:
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Worth note, you can click on the Settings icon (the "gear" at the right) after starting playback, then click on the Playback Speed menu choice and slow the recording down.
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Permalink Reply by Grinning Cat on
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That's been very useful for me with other presenters who t-a-l-k p-a-i-n-f-u-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y. (And no, I'm not some kind of jackrabbit genius.)
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Neither am I ... but I REALLY like how Reich presents his case. I think he does it very damned well!
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Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on
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Great! Thanks!
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