And every time it's tried that it's been ended and this time is going to be no different with one exception the consequences are going to be way much harsher for the wealthy or should say criminally wealthy because that's what they are
You have it backwards my friend. Kamala had 40 more billionaires donate to her campaign. People making under 100k overwhelmingly supported Trump. 2/3 of people making over 500k voted for Harris. Harris had over a billion dollars to spend on her campaign. Trump had about 1/3 of that.
I'm calling BS on that. Also, George Soros is a consistent defender of Progressive valuse & democracy worldwide, totally opposed to Peter Theil (who infamously opposes democracy) & Elon Musk.
But to the extent that we too think like savages and babble like idiots, we all share the guilt for the mess in which human society finds itself. To cure these evils, we must first go to
work on ourselves.
S. I. Hayakawa . 20th century
That is where true change lays all else a mirage.
Our great democratic impulse, created by WWII when Americans left home and fought side by side, regardless of history for history’s sake—that impulse crested in 1972 with congressional approval of the Equal Rights Amendment. It’s been in ebb since then.
Bankrupt the country through tax cuts $$$$$$$ for wealthy $$ for everyone else. Then justify elimination of social programs/entitlements, worker safety etc and wealthy now own a subservient population who rely on trickle for anything.
billionaires do not need social programs/ entitlements. wealth captured both parties. AI 7 humanoid robots will shrink middle class. our hope is your/mine/others collective reach can help candidates that hear us in a way that is more effective than paid advertising. https://www.canulisten.com/m/9TLOg7P7Li
This happened long ago . Ever tried to talk to your congressman? If they can't find you on the donations list they arent in the office as they walk right by you behind the receptionist
I think the hope of our founding fathers was that our populace would never become so profoundly ignorant and uninformed that they would vote for someone like Trump.
I don't know what the answer to that is in term of the system. For me, personally, I place blame 100% at the feet of the electorate.
And obviously you need to ask "why is the electorate so uninformed." And then that leads into the propaganda that's been blasted at them non-stop since the 90s.
So maybe it's not *100%* of the blame. Still, the people *were* the last failsafe against this. That failsafe failed to keep us safe.
Here's how it works...Trump crashes economy. Rich buy up everything they want for pennies on the dollar. Trump adjusts all regulations allowing huge profits and gets a cut of the action. A game...better than a casino.
The USA was founded to constrain democracy and enable oligarchy and slavocracy. Decent people have been fighting against that institutional design since that time. The struggle never ends.
“It is the money ofc” and I’ll add men. It is the men and the money ofc. I stipulate it is possible women would run the country into ground like men have, but we’ve never had the chance to prove it. SO until that day comes, it’s men and money fkd this place up good.
Interesting. Thanks for passing along the link. I’ll take a look. I enjoyed watching Jacinda Ardern lead. The fact she had personal life milestones happen along the same timeline was refreshing. It didn’t feel like you guys were in the middle of a life or death game of RISK. Imagine that.
The Citizens United decision by the MAGA majority on the Supreme Court made the US an oligarchy by defining money as speech and corporations as entitled to all the rights of human citizens. Wealth as the basis for a right to participate in decision making is the definition of oligarchy.
We blew past oligarchy after Citizen United. This is full blown kleptocracy. We tried telling you all in 2011 and you all sent shock troops in riot gear to beat and mace us. You’re a simp for them.
The people have to unite and fight the oligarchs. Any way we can! Stop buying from Amazon to start. Shop locally. Support local businesses and employees. Fuck Bezos to start...
100% russia calls itself a democracy every single day, but in reality, it's a kleptocracy with putin at the top and a chain of yes people and oligarchs down the line.
Don't think we could end up like russia? Neither did russians. Now they're stuck. Way easier to NOT become an oligarchy than to get out from under one, once you're under it.
The big question @rbreich.bsky.social is why people can’t see that this is happening under their noses? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the same billionaires now own both legacy and social media?
Lets get serious people do not watch legacy media anymore because they don't have time, you lost Twitter to Crypto long ago, Indy Left is small compare to Alt Right Media, The pivot to War Monger is not great. People voted against Dems not For GOP. Trump is horrible but so is Dead Babies on my feed
The rich use mass media to put forth a culture war as a distraction, and it is working on a large number of people. It must be broken through relentless education and grassroots movements. @rbreich.bsky.social is an excellent source for learning what is really going on and combating mass media!
Learning about how much money AIPAC invest in both the democrats and republicans is very disturbing. There are only 52 people in Congress who have not received AIPAC money, that’s a huge problem.
I find it unbelievable that so many people support and defend the rich. In the UK, the top 1% of earners pay 39% of all income taxes but they own 70% of all the wealth. Its just making the system fairer to tax them more and yet, many poor people with fight against increasing the tax for the rich
That have been brainwashed and conditioned to worship the wealthy and the vague concept of "the American dream"- that anyone can get that rich! You just have to work hard!
But not so bad if you're among the wealthy Oligarchs, right? Say,have you noticed how many Democrats in the House and Senate are multimillionaires? Just saying....seems a bit like Demagogues meet Oligarchs and WE the PEOPLE get fucked coming and going...your thoughts?
It’s also greatly due to people failing to discriminate with what they buy and where they work, “unknowingly” funding this corruption. It’s like people would do anything to fight this … unless it inconvenienced them in the slightest or cost them anything financially.
Just as someone can argue that their one little vote makes little difference, the same argument can be made about financial actions. Of course there are limits but there can be a gradual pressure to vote with your wallet too.
There is a sequence to the development of authoritarian regimes of late. In short: democratic backsliding,
removing checks and balances, oligarchy, stifling dissent with fear tactics, dictatorship. Step 1 accomplished, Step 2 is now in play,...
6 corporations control 90% of the media outlets in America.
Rupert Murdoch led the charge against democracy. FOX lied for decades about competitors calling them "the Liberal press" gaslighting people susceptible to propaganda.
Yes and he knows how to play to people's most base emotions too.
He has done good things but oversimplifies things in ways that lead people towards envy and hatred of others. Too smart to not know that.
#RESIST
Join the resistance in your town. Do not let the Nazis take hold.
This needs to be everyone.
Join a march, sign petitions, and write letters.
Remember YOU DON'T KNOW ANY IMMIGRANTS
Growing up we were taught to have honesty, humility, and integrity. We were taught to expect it from the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of our government. Unfortunately, no one taught us what to do when corruption turns our democracy into an oligarchy. 🤨
The oligarchy has most of the wealth, and power they can easily wield. The rest of us have no power unless we unite. Which is why they very effectively use divide and conquer tactics against us. Why respecting opinions and finding common ground and focusing on one or two of those issues is so vital.
Our political system is a faux democracy since it’s a two party-only system with effectively no limit to political contributions, and the oligarchy owns both parties. Change will only happen from direct actions like boycotts, strikes and supporting equitable ownership.
What we have is a Christo-Fascist oligarchy. Trump has no interest in governance. Racism is his game. The real power is with conservative organizations like Heritage and the billionaires. If you want your country back, I'm afraid you're gonna have to fight for it. Most people don't realize that
how to 'fight for it'? both parties purchased. collectively our reach better than paid advertising. are u willing to speak up, in voice? if enough of us do, candidates will join our town halls and leverage our organic networks in a way that weakens the role of money. https://www.canulisten.com/m/j-QaREUUMj
Can oligarchy be avoided if we want a thriving economy? AI already replacing coders, and more white collar jobs will be on the chopping block. Humanoid AI powered robots will drop in price. The few have the money & most have been replaced by AI or AI powered robots... https://www.canulisten.com/m/79WOvjDGuw
winning popular vote means nothing. Obama, Hillary, and Biden won by a greater margin, and yet there was no mandate. Country is divided even more. Until politicians tone done the rhetorics, nothing will be solved.
I beg to differ. If Elon's influence through his money media reach tip the scale. Trump won by 0.5%. Smallest of any popular votes. He wasn't anointed. I wish people and media would stop suggesting such idea. It's still an only divided country. We need to come together and not blame the other side.
I've been in US since 1984 and have seen blue and red presidents. Never have I seen a president bell bent on going after his opponents, immigrants, minority communities, and women's rights. I believe in freedom for everyone. Right to choose how they want to live.
we could try everyone is allowed to indicate their preference through paper or some kind of tabulating machine. But it would only really work if people were informed and showed up.
That would not work. All nation states are too big to have in-person voting on every issue and the issues are too complex for everyone to have the time to or inclination to inform themselves fully. 1/2
The problem appears to be that our current electoral system promotes people whom the majority of us do not trust to run our countries. So we need a different way of choosing our representatives that prioritises choosing representatives we trust to make decisions on our behalf. 2/2
How about a system that relies on the principle of the electorate choosing representatives whom they trust to make decisions on their behalf and which removes political parties, campaign finance and the media from the process?
Economic democracy is incredibly important in the preservation of political democracy. When the distribution of wealth is subject to democracy, it is far more equitable. When unions were powerful, more of the wealth was shared. Now, the top 0.1% own more wealth than the bottom 50%!
That is part of the problem that needs addressing. The resentment has led to people being more easily politically manipulated. (I’d like to see a version of the second chart adjusted for inflation.) The way our versions of democracy work contributes to the manipulation.
Not since medieval times has so large a % of the world's wealth been concentrated in the hands of so few. And that rate of concentration is accelerating. When those with the wealth take over nuclear powers, they become almost impossible to dislodge, citing "national security" to justify remaining.
Theoretically, the courts have a process for redress. But that is very slow, and never takes enough to deter people like oligarchs, which allows them to buy judges. This is why judges are receiving threats. Their clear bias toward the wealthy impedes the process of justice.
Dear Trump Voters,
It appears Donald Trump will allow President Elect Musk who bought the presidency, to have immigrants so he can get richer, but the rest of the immigrant workers for farms, construction so you can have food and shelter are not a priority. What damn suckers you are.
The dissident does not operate in the realm of genuine power at all. He is not seeking power. . . He does not attempt to charm the public, he offers nothing and promises nothing. His actions simply articulate his dignity as a citizen, regardless of the cost.
- Václav Havel
Robert Reich- the guy that been saying pretty words while pimping for the Blue Team Oligarchs since the Clinton (Billy not Hillary) era- sigh- this gets so old
The investments of the top 1% contribute as much to annual GDP as the labor of the bottom 50%. How would we replace that? Isn't that what other countries are striving for?
No Robert America democracy is a mess! It’s what most white peons wanted! The oligarchs will benefit from the white vision of America! Stop trying to re-write this into something more palatable!
We continue to call ourselves a democracy when we have an electoral college, Citizens United and powerful wealthy families exerting significant influence into our political system.
Are we naive, uninformed or in the case of MAGA, just pissed.
Maybe We should fucking FIGHT for a new for a new goddamn election???
So We KNOW a cheater cheated and can fucking moe on with life. Can't wait for anyone to come and save US, We DEMAND for a new election which'll solve most problems. 🤬 #DONOTOBEY #ReVote
So can anyone explain WHY we are all not rising up at the same time to overthrow the ruling elites? It’s clear THEY know their enemy. When will we recognize the same?
In college we learned about a neat form of government called a "hybrid regime" or "partial democracy". They have many of the trappings of democracy for the sake of legitimacy but everyone knows it's a dictatorship or one party rule.
I’m drunk in Europe rn, thinking about the future of the US, and like how the fuck do we unwind this man, it’s getting so bad more quickly than I can catch up with if that makes sense
You might want to stay drunk enough to miss your flight home and see if you can catch another one four years from now, if there's anything to go home to.
LOL I’m a Canadian citizen now and going to stay up there to raise a family. Mainly concerned about the US because of my family, friends, and Canada’s proximity. I’ve accepted whenever I return home, it’ll be completely different from what I remember unfortunately 😞
"We've become, now, an oligarchy instead of a democracy. I think that's been the worst damage to the basic moral and ethical standards to the American political system that I've ever seen in my life."......Jimmy Carter
I sympathize with your description of the incoming future guy. But I don't think American democracy is done yet.
The impossibility of major Trump pledges (inflation, tariffs, deportation, Ukraine) has been acknowledged through his Panama/Greenland/Canada BS.
Reality will assert itself.
This was the first Political Science book I ever read, circa 1972.
It holds that elites run all the operative functions of US democracy and that democracy will end when they decide they no longer want it to exist.
Do you mean like Trump believes (media) or third world countries do or China does to their own people when they stand up or question their own government they put them in concentration camps.
Western civilization is at a crossroads. The people against the "Robber Barons" is here once again. More conflicts seem yo be coming. Let's hope Einstein's prediction about the next big war does not come true.
This move to authoritarianism and shift to the right is not only in America. it's all Western Democracies. The Middle East is in chaos. Russia is pushing its Empire dreams. The rich are becoming richer and leading the push right. The road ahead is going to be rough in the next few years.
It is Sunday. Biden has nothing better to do than #DeclassifyTrump and his treasonous relationship with Putin so we can force the Congress to #ImpeachTrumpNow.
The problem about being wealthy is called being a boss. No boss wants a boss. More than one boss on any job is a huge problem. That's the big problem with the Trump Administration. Too many rich bosses. With their own different ideas and values. Everyone want to be a boss.
Yes, America is or is becoming an oligarchy. The less wealthy need to work together and fight back, not physically but working together. We need to help each other or not only us but our children and grandchildren will suffer.
No one wants violence, but America is based on violence at its very core. If the oligarchy expects no violence, they are very, very wrong. I would not want to be an oligarch at this particular time in history. So says a friend of mine.
Jacobins are not great supporters of democracy, but mostly known for chopping of heads of those who dare to speak.
We will be fine when people reject either extremism.
The publication titled "Jacobin" is unapologetically neo-Marxian. The writers there are far more nuanced than "off with their heads" in a literal sense.
Espousing "both sider-ism" has given us "Trumpmuskovia."
✊️Nationalism & rapid industrialization in an effort to compete with capitalist world order combined to create the failure you described.
Marx is still spot on as an analyst of "internal contradictions", dialectics, etc.
BUT he did NOT offer a pragmatic map of getting to "AFTER capitalism."
The failure was from within. If you train people to hate everybody who is off better than them, things disintegrate fast, whether you are on the far right or the far left.
Comments
END the Bullshit.
work on ourselves.
S. I. Hayakawa . 20th century
That is where true change lays all else a mirage.
I don't know what the answer to that is in term of the system. For me, personally, I place blame 100% at the feet of the electorate.
So maybe it's not *100%* of the blame. Still, the people *were* the last failsafe against this. That failsafe failed to keep us safe.
It may take longer in some places than others, but the process is inexorable.
Take a quick stroll through my pinned thread.
https://bsky.app/profile/bjchippindale.bsky.social/post/3lacq4nvxsb2t
#menandmoneyfuckeditup
And this
Noting that men make up about 75% of the people diagnosed as Narcissists.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18794326/
In NZ we've had women and men leading us, and there is no contest. I'll want a woman leading the country every time.
https://www.apa.org/topics/women-girls/female-leaders
Jacinda Ardern was better at her worst than John Key managed to be at his best.
https://bsky.app/profile/mickeymoosenhauer.bsky.social/post/3lefgypupzk2t
Democracies are dramatically more efficient from an economic standpoint than oligarchies.
The US, generating still a shocking 24% of wealth in the world is much too valuable and there are too many stakeholders.
Billionaires own just 3.8% of US wealth.
(Oz, curtain, Dorothy)
Though he probably would've agreed with it.
We can do more to share ethical standards of various companies.
We should figure out the upper limit of what a person could spend in 100 years and then tax anything more than that within an inch of its life.
removing checks and balances, oligarchy, stifling dissent with fear tactics, dictatorship. Step 1 accomplished, Step 2 is now in play,...
Maybe this time the it'll be the rich that get eaten.
Rupert Murdoch led the charge against democracy. FOX lied for decades about competitors calling them "the Liberal press" gaslighting people susceptible to propaganda.
https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/news-deserts-and-ghost-newspapers-will-local-news-survive/the-news-landscape-in-2020-transformed-and-diminished/vanishing-newspapers/
He has done good things but oversimplifies things in ways that lead people towards envy and hatred of others. Too smart to not know that.
Join the resistance in your town. Do not let the Nazis take hold.
This needs to be everyone.
Join a march, sign petitions, and write letters.
Remember YOU DON'T KNOW ANY IMMIGRANTS
The “oligarchy” didn’t anoint Trump. The voters did.
Unless you’re suggesting that Americans were too dumb and too easily manipulated by Elon.
The guillotine...
No one person needs or should be allowed to have that much money.
And how people admire billionaires, amazes me.
https://www.welt.de/debatte/kommentare/plus254982012/Warum-Elon-Musk-auf-die-AfD-setzt-und-warum-er-dabei-irrt.html?wtrid=socialmedia.socialflow....socialflow_twitter
Therefore, how do we redistribute the wealth of the oligarchs?
Check out the 3:31 video.
It features Professor Reich teaching us an important lesson in an interesting way - there are hand-drawn illustrations! In color!
🧢
https://bsky.app/profile/mickeymoosenhauer.bsky.social/post/3lefgypupzk2t
It appears Donald Trump will allow President Elect Musk who bought the presidency, to have immigrants so he can get richer, but the rest of the immigrant workers for farms, construction so you can have food and shelter are not a priority. What damn suckers you are.
Make Mumbai Great Again?
https://open.substack.com/pub/jjatoupolisci/p/make-mumbai-great-again?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=4xnbny
- Václav Havel
Then by the 22nd amendment, he cannot be elected in 2024, so that election must not be certified.!!
Republicans can’t vote against that declaration ha ha ha ha ha ha
Plutocracy +
Kleptocracy +
Kakistocracy =
Clusterfuckistocracy
Are we naive, uninformed or in the case of MAGA, just pissed.
As of January 20th America will be an oligarchic autocratic dictatorship. Just like Russia.
A wolf could say it's a dog. Some picture a fluffy, happy little bundle of energy. Others still see the snarling, teeth bared wolf.
So We KNOW a cheater cheated and can fucking moe on with life. Can't wait for anyone to come and save US, We DEMAND for a new election which'll solve most problems. 🤬 #DONOTOBEY #ReVote
https://derkoolschrank.com/america-the-third-world-fourth-reich/
Stop pretending you have a democracy to “ save”
The impossibility of major Trump pledges (inflation, tariffs, deportation, Ukraine) has been acknowledged through his Panama/Greenland/Canada BS.
Reality will assert itself.
It holds that elites run all the operative functions of US democracy and that democracy will end when they decide they no longer want it to exist.
Billionaires are buying politicians and judges to protect their interests, and those folks are doing just that with a wink & a smile.
I truly wonder if this can even be fixed, now.
You are the man
MBM
We can save our Democracy if we all share the plan today. Make Biden side with us against Trump and Putin. Fight.
https://bsky.app/profile/alanhowe.bsky.social/post/3lbkpkudtak26
https://jacobin.com/2024/04/robert-michels-oligarchy-political-parties-spd
We will be fine when people reject either extremism.
Espousing "both sider-ism" has given us "Trumpmuskovia."
Marx is still spot on as an analyst of "internal contradictions", dialectics, etc.
BUT he did NOT offer a pragmatic map of getting to "AFTER capitalism."