Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Mainstreet vs. Wall Street


America is in crisis — and it’s not just from the coronavirus that is plaguing our communities.

We are in the midst of an epidemic of hatred that has left most of us feeling hopeless and exhausted. There are social, cultural and racial explanations for our predicament. But evidence suggests that a feeling of economic humiliation, which manifests as fear and a politics devoid of empathy, is at the core of our divisions.

The American Dream is dying for the average worker, and the middle class is shrinking. At the same time, special interests are increasingly able to rig the economy in their own favor, stockpiling wealth like dragons sitting atop piles of gold. That leaves us susceptible to a hate industry that gains influence by stoking hyper-partisan contempt and division.

To help Americans understand how we came to this troubling state and how to escape it, David began researching the source of this burning hatred. The result is "Stars and Strife," a documentary that is available today on demand. It will premiere at 9 p.m. EDT Sept. 21 on STARZ and will be available on the STARZ app for download or streaming that same day. 

Contrary to election-year claims, the story about our bitter polarization isn’t just about the candidates’ personalities and deficiencies. It is about how for decades we abandoned Main Street Capitalism for a system that more closely resembles a kind of corporate socialism that leaves an unsustainable number of Americans behind.

When we were growing up in working-class neighborhoods in Baltimore, it was possible for a wage-earning parent to provide for a family. Not a life of luxury, but enough to ensure kids had reliable food, housing and education — and the opportunity to climb the economic ladder of success themselves.

Contrast that to the American experience today. Nearly half the country lives one paycheck away from insolvency. And this was the case even before the coronavirus slowdown battered the economy. “The traditional route to wealth and success,” says Amy Chua, the best-selling author and Yale law professor, “has been cut off for many Americans.”

Global economy left workers behind

In some respects, our current predicament is not entirely of our own doing. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the rise of a globalized trade and financial system set the stage for today’s climate of economic humiliation. After the Cold War, interest rates dropped to historic lows.

In this disinflationary environment, with nearly limitless capital flooding into the American economy, the stock market and economy boomed. But wage growth became almost nonexistent because of foreign competition. The problem is that only about half of the country owned stocks, leaving the average wage-earner behind.

Economic security and identity are deeply intertwined. The ability to earn a living wage isn’t just about money; it’s correlated with self-esteem, optimism and civic involvement. Gene Sperling, former economic adviser to President Barack Obama, says economics is about “the promotion of dignity.”

The end of economic stability for wage earners has deeply damaged the American psyche, driving cynicism about our ability to change our circumstances. That becomes a dangerous, self-fulfilling prophecy.

Political leaders ignore the problem

With economic disillusionment the root of a paralyzing divisiveness, you would expect economic transformation to be a leading priority for our elected officials. Why then, do we see so little progress for infrastructure modernization that would lead to an economy of greater opportunity?

During this decades-long period of stock market growth, why weren’t both parties concentrating laser-like on ways average working families could ride that giant financial wave? 

In "Stars and Strife," Leon Panetta, a former White House chief of staff, director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense, gives a simple answer: Politicians today too often “put party before country.” The current system may not work for most Americans, but it works just fine for politicians who capitalize on our divisions to hold onto power.

The American economy is at a watershed moment. People rightly recognize that top-down corporate capitalism isn’t working for them, and their hopelessness and fear are crippling our politics. We can change course, but only if we demand a new Main Street capitalism that approaches business activity from the bottom up, not the top down.

Main Street capitalism would remove entrenched advantages for special interests and empower wage earners. It would eliminate corporate tax carve-outs and rules that stifle competition. It also would eliminate racist barriers to capital and wealth creation.

An inclusive entrepreneurial spirit is at the beating heart of Main Street capitalism. Business start-ups are the economy’s great equalizer. Women have started firms at twice the rate of men in recent years and their empowering is transforming the economy. Immigrants account for one quarter of all American entrepreneurs.

The solution to our economic and political malaise is not tossing capitalism aside. It is to rediscover a Main Street capitalism that leverages the best parts of our economy to make the American Dream possible for average working families. Both of our political parties need to stop the food fight and work to break this cycle of disillusionment that crushes the spirit of so many Americans.

37 comments:

  1. "We are in the midst of an epidemic of hatred that has left most of us feeling hopeless and exhausted..."

    So stop hating.

    "...special interests are increasingly able to rig the economy in their own favor..."

    And Dotard is their champion. But you ignore that because he panders to your hate.

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  2. "So stop hating....says the man who can only refer to the president with insults. :)

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  3. Dotard EARNS my insults. You praised Barack Obama? Only have good things to say about Joe Biden?

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  4. I used to like Joe Biden. He used to be a likeable guy, before he became granpa groper.

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  5. You must really dislike Dotard then. Although I suspect you only dislike people for whom there are false narratives about them being gropers. And you still admire actual gropers like Dotard.

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  6. What do I care what DJT Trump did in private life?

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  7. What do I care about allegations against Biden that are false? Especially given that you don't care about allegations that Dotard sexually assaulted women that are true (soon to be proven with DNA evidence).

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  8. The Honorable, Esteemed And Distinguished Judge Dervish Sanders Is a FUCKING IDIOT!

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  9. The link I posted doesn't concern a "love child". It concerns a rape perpetrated by Dotard.

    "gallantwarrior" certainly doesn't have much to add. Apparently he can't articulate his thoughts beyond slinging vulgarities.

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  10. btw, Dotard doesn't love anyone but himself. Therefore he could have no "love child". Although I'd wager he's paid to have illegitimate progeny aborted.

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  11. Where's the "proof against" DNA going to come from then? Lewinski's blue dress?

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  12. btw - Did she file a police report? Complain to the store manager? lol!

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  13. She kept the dress he squirted on. And the judge says the case can move forward. Despite Dotard lawyers trying to get it tossed. He must provide a DNA sample. If it is a match that would be indisputable proof that there was an encounter. And that Dotard lied when he said he never met her.

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  14. I thought she said that she fought him off (aka - no squirt) Was she lying? lol!

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  15. Only in your delusions. Obviously there is nothing to compare Dotard's DNA to if that were the case. So why would her lawyers now be asking for a DNA sample?

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  16. Why would they issue cease and desist letters? Because they're PAID to.

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  17. A third party (testing lab) would compare the samples. It would be pretty stupid to ask for a sample when you do not have one of your own to compare. The judge said the case will proceed. I'm sure there is a reason why he made that ruling. And it wasn't because Carroll's lawyers are lying and wasting the court's time. Surely that would anger a judge and there would be consequences for such actions.

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  18. So what's the chain of custody been on that sample. lol!

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  19. It hasn't been challenged as far as I know. The case is proceeding. Although Dotard (as per his usual tactics) will get his lawyers to delay as long as possible.

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  20. lol! It'll never be a criminal case, THATs for certain.

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  21. Men getting away with rape is funny to you because you're a misogynist.

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  22. No, what's funny is a woman claiming evidence of a "happy ending" while simultaneously claiming that he only got half a stoke in.

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  23. So, why is Dotard seeking to delay the case? A DNA test would vindicate him if Carroll is lying. And the case would be tossed out a lot faster. His efforts to delay are actually prolonging things. Unless he's guilty.

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  24. Because you can get DNA from a discarded coke can.

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  25. ...and why the reasonable doubt standard would preclude any criminal prosecution on the basis of a tainted chain of evidence.

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  26. She isn't presenting Dotard's saliva as her evidence. It's another bodily fluid. Which she has because Dotard sexually assaulted her.

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  27. ...or that she collected from a trashcan condom.

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  28. Dotard doesn't wear condoms. As confirmed by Stormy Daniels. Also as confirmed by Dotard. Just where would Carroll have found such a condom anyway? Does Dotard go through them by the dozens so that a dumpster dive on any given day would be sure to produce one? When did the collection take place? Years ago? Because she was always planning on suing Dotard one day? That is f*cking ridiculous.

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  29. The money quote that goes, "I don't ever wear condoms"

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  30. Quote: Clifford also says Trump did not use a condom ... Clifford’s account is generally supported by her now ex-husband, the porn actor and producer Mike Moz, and both parties passed a polygraph, according to the magazine [In Touch]. [Excerpted from the Vice News article "Stormy Daniels: Trump didn't use a condom when he cheated on Melania with me"].

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