.001% of the population of the US is hording the vast majority of our riches while the other 99.999% argue over politics and social issues to which they assign way too much importance. People have basic needs such as being warm, dry, safe, well fed and loved. Millions of Americans are missing out on more than one of these basic needs. Yet we are screaming about such things as which bathroom folks can use and the bad behavior of the 4,321 Looney Tunes on the far right or far left. It's time the rest of us wake up and consider revolutionizing our country before we pass the point of no return. Here are some discussion starters from author Steven Brill:
From page 329: “...talented people working on the other issues that America has allowed to fester over recent decades — the corrupting power of political money, paralyzed government, the lack of corporate accountability, crumbling infrastructure, the lack of effective job training, and income inequality and the overall decline of the middle class caused by the financialization of the economy. Their solutions should also be broadly appealing, and the worse things get, the more compelling those solutions are likely to become. Whether they are acted upon, however, depends on whether leaders can emerge in the American democracy who are willing and able to see beyond their own short-term interests, who can resist the temptation to win by dividing, and who have the capacity to think big and get their fellow citizens to think big — in short, whether they are willing and able to lead their country.”
From page 335: “For Americans to come together now to fix their country, they will have to overcome the forces that have broken their country: a meritocracy that has become the new aristocracy, the financialization of the economy and the resulting dominance of short-termism; the hijacking of the First Amendment that allowed money to take over Washington; the marginalization of the middle class that would have to rise up and support any resurgence; the polarization, entrenched incompetence, and cronyism that have soured most outsiders on the prospect of trying to get to Washington to do anything productive; the moats that the winners have built to protect their winnings; and the success of political leaders serving those at the top in splitting the middle class from the poor, even as the middle class becomes poorer. In the face of these challenges and setbacks Americans could understandably give up on reversing their country’s continued decline, for these forces have come together in a no-longer-silent storm to power a downward spiral that might seem hopelessly irreversible.”
From page 339: “This will not become a revolution of those on the left against those on the right. It will be about the unprotected demanding that the protected become responsible and accountable, whether they are executives shielded by their corporate structures, their lawyers, their lobbyists, and their financial engineers; civil servants protected by work rules that need to be fixed and by the public’s inattention; corporations hiding behind arbitration clauses or the First Amendment; or members of Congress protected by gerrymandering and PACS. It will be a revolution that demands that everyone be personally accountable for what they do and share in their responsibility for the common good."
From page 329: “...talented people working on the other issues that America has allowed to fester over recent decades — the corrupting power of political money, paralyzed government, the lack of corporate accountability, crumbling infrastructure, the lack of effective job training, and income inequality and the overall decline of the middle class caused by the financialization of the economy. Their solutions should also be broadly appealing, and the worse things get, the more compelling those solutions are likely to become. Whether they are acted upon, however, depends on whether leaders can emerge in the American democracy who are willing and able to see beyond their own short-term interests, who can resist the temptation to win by dividing, and who have the capacity to think big and get their fellow citizens to think big — in short, whether they are willing and able to lead their country.”
From page 335: “For Americans to come together now to fix their country, they will have to overcome the forces that have broken their country: a meritocracy that has become the new aristocracy, the financialization of the economy and the resulting dominance of short-termism; the hijacking of the First Amendment that allowed money to take over Washington; the marginalization of the middle class that would have to rise up and support any resurgence; the polarization, entrenched incompetence, and cronyism that have soured most outsiders on the prospect of trying to get to Washington to do anything productive; the moats that the winners have built to protect their winnings; and the success of political leaders serving those at the top in splitting the middle class from the poor, even as the middle class becomes poorer. In the face of these challenges and setbacks Americans could understandably give up on reversing their country’s continued decline, for these forces have come together in a no-longer-silent storm to power a downward spiral that might seem hopelessly irreversible.”
From page 339: “This will not become a revolution of those on the left against those on the right. It will be about the unprotected demanding that the protected become responsible and accountable, whether they are executives shielded by their corporate structures, their lawyers, their lobbyists, and their financial engineers; civil servants protected by work rules that need to be fixed and by the public’s inattention; corporations hiding behind arbitration clauses or the First Amendment; or members of Congress protected by gerrymandering and PACS. It will be a revolution that demands that everyone be personally accountable for what they do and share in their responsibility for the common good."