Heard a fascinating point about this on the Politix podcast that rang true for me. Most of these tech bros always thought like this but the big difference between 2017 and now is the bad job market in the tech space. Most of the workforce is very progressive and part of that “values” nonsense was part of the desire to attract and keep those people. If Zuck had done this 8 years ago half his company would’ve quit and all had jobs within weeks. Now he and the others can bend the knee without worrying because the market is terrible. The general state of the industry allowed these guys to take the mask off.
This is a huge opportunity for the democrats that I hope they take because nobody has ever really liked the likes of Zuck and Bezos. Forget actually attacking Musk’s character for example and focus on how Trump appointed all these billionaires and let his biggest donor buy a seat at the table.
Agree with Susan O’Brien: this is your best piece yet!
Also agree Democrats have an opportunity to disclose the wizard for the lying POS he is. My suggestion would be to do it indirectly, eg going after the Congressional members who parrot Tweetolini. For reasons I will never understand, the working folks who fell for Trump will recoil against any direct criticism of their golden god. It’s hard to admit you’ve been duped.
We go wrong when we forget that the essence of business in capitalism is to make money. If, instead, we think business has a social duty, if we think business is a citizen, then we open the door to the argument that the Citizens United ruling uses: that corporations are people and are entitled to rights.
Unlike people, corporations are obligated only to make a profit for their owners.
We, the people, are the citizens. We are the ones with a social responsibility. Part of that responsibility is to protect each other from harm. Government is our tool for that protection. And when we have turned parts of that government over to business, we can't expect that protection to succeed.
I disagree. For decades, the understanding was that corporations had three sets of stakeholders that they owed a responsibility towards: customers, employees, and shareholders. Not all lived up to that, but that was the acknowledged goal.
That changed in Reagan’s 1980s when Jack Welch, the execrable CEO of GE, pushed the notion of loyalty to shareholders and the C-suite. Corporations rushed to that idea.
@Tom, you're right, we have from time to time called upon businesses to benefit the community. And, as you correctly point out, that has been diminished for the past 45 years, since the "greed-is-good" 1980s.
I would point out that your "three sets of stakeholders" does NOT include "citizens" - i.e., the community of people. That squares with my point.
Aside from not breaking the law (and including any charitable contributions a business makes) there’s no acknowledged responsibility to the civic good. If there were, you would then have the debate of which side of an issue a business takes. Especially in these highly polarized times, whichever side a business seems to take, it’s likely to get jumped by the other. That goes for MAGA and Democrats alike.
Still--I believe that wealthy business people are citizens too. When asked what they would do to help with the US Economy and the price of fuel back in the Great Recession days, Exxon famously responded that they were a multinational corporation--not beholden to US national interests. Exxon had no responsibility for the US economy according to Exxon. This makes me ill. After all--without the US Navy, our tax subsidies, our consumer behavior and purchasing power, our public universities and research and engineering technologies funded by the American public, and the international safety of the US military, commercial, and legal umbrellas--how does Exxon survive in the world? Who is their patron? Where do they "go home?" I think the big US corporations and the biliionaire class owe us--and we failed to keep them accountable.
Not only do we need to be the anti-billionaire, anti-corporation party - we need to remind people that it doesn't have to be this way. The reason these people are so far up Trump's ass is because he is a greedy and corrupt bully. We need Public Servants in office. Those who understand that they can be rich enough and powerful enough and yet still get shit done that actually benefits actual human beings. At this point, anyone under 30 has no idea that Congress used to actually pass laws, argue in good faith (ish), and were judged on what got done. This is at the heart of why character matters. When the POTUS is a greedy bully, you either pay him off or suffer the consequences. (Of course, in these examples, they're chicken shits who refuse to use their power to stand up to the bully because it might shrink their profits by a percentage or two. Oh woe, they might not be able to buy another house with a helicopter and a yacht...).
“Democrats must understand that these corporations are not our allies or friends. They have made their allegiances clear.”
Good grief, how did Democrats not understand that in the first case? When were major corporations EVER the friends of people who took FDR’s “Four Freedoms” seriously?
The estimated net worth of the last four Democrats to run for the presidency, win or lose, exceeds $10M each. Any memories they have of what is was like to be middle class are in their distant pasts.
That doesn’t make them as evil as similarly wealthy Republicans, but it does make them and other members of the Democratic hierarchy subject to being increasingly disconnected and less willing to take political risks for the good of rank and file citizens.
The late Jimmy Carter’s net worth was estimated to be in the $10M range last year. He understood the dangers of wealth and did what it took to remain connected. Until today’s Democratic Party leaders learn to do likewise, they will continue to find themselves in coin flip election races.
You cite politically connected families from a different era. Responsibility to the public had a sort of “noblesse oblige” character among some of the wealthy. The oldest brother among the Kennedys lost his life in WW2, and JFK served. The top marginal tax rate when JFK was president was 90%. Find me a wealthy Democrat today pushing for anywhere near that.
RFK Sr’s story is a mixed bag. He too served at the end of WW2, like my Dad. Unlike my Dad, whose father was not Joe Sr, Kennedy then went on to Harvard. After getting a law degree from UVa and a short stint as a newspaper columnist, he entered the Kennedy family business - politics. From then until his assassination he was a consummate politician and apparently strongly influenced by his Roman Catholic faith when it came to social justice. Apparently his assassin was angered by his support of Israel. Personally I believe he could have been an excellent president.
Our inability to let go of our monarchical roots gave us Ted Kennedy, who in his infinite wisdom helped defeat a health reform package from Nixon in 1974 because he believed a subsequent Democratic president could get a better plan through. He was partly correct. A subsequent president did get on adopted … 36 years later. Some argue that Nixon’s proposal was slightly better.
And if it wasn’t for our continuing obsession with monarchy, RFK Jr would simply be a kook whom we knew nothing about.
The Bush story follows a similar “noblesse oblige” trajectory.
After the Kennedy brothers and Bush family, that strain ended. Carter came out of nowhere with a very different story. In retrospect, his presidency can arguably be seen as the transition point to oligarchy and celebrity presidents.
A reason at least some cite for supporting Trump is that he isn’t a lifelong politician, although I believe his being as a mob boss with a “reality” TV topping on his career to be arguably similar. His sons and in-laws are active in the family business, too.
Democrats talking populism MAY work electorally, but it WILL work if they match their rhetoric with action that changes to the party structure that reflects their words.
I'm a staunch Adam Smith (ethical) capitalist, having been part of building 3 successful startup companies. I hate what businesses, especially ones led by these unbounded and immoral egoists, have become. I used to defend these clowns 12 years ago (they do provide goods/services that people want and "create" jobs and options for people), but no more. "The mask is off" is a great way to put it. They're not capitalists-- they're power-ists. They want power and influence, with none of the responsibility, and they have the perfect vehicle in Trump and MAGA to do it. This is what our spokespeople and leaders (and we keyboard warriors) should be calling out.
The first step is to make sure people know that these billionaires are not looking for people to join their club. This isn't a case of brilliant minds being put in charge to improve government so everyone can prosper. It's a grift-- pure and simple-- to make things more exclusionary, not less. They want it to be harder for you to elevate yourself, not easier. Large corporations tilt playing fields in their favor. Simple.
Then, point out that these folks are just buying their way to power and influence, and they don't give a hot damn about doing anything worthwhile with it. It is only to increase their own wealth, which therefore tilts the playing field even more against us.
Messaging and megaphone are key. Totally agree this is a great direction. Kamala started it by calling out corporations for price gouging. We should continue on this line. BTW-- Mark Cuban is a great messenger for this. He's a billionaire, but not part of "their" club.
It was never a secret that Trump was the most pro-Big Business and anti-Labor presidential candidate since Harding. He astonishingly dodged the consequences of this reality by the wholly-conclusory assertion that he was the tribune of the little guy and that the Dems didn't care about workers and were in thrall to business elites. Somehow--with a lot of help from the Press--he put over this emperor's new clothes fashion show TWICE. He's now abandoned all pretence about where his loyalties lie, but I really doubt that his purality will notice.
And that is the problem. We must figure out how to reach people with the truth and persuade them to step forward on behalf of the the public. good. The story of a beautiful, multiracial, and rich America that is Green, healthy and a world leader for peace remains a real dream. Americans are getting too good at sabatoging themselves so that the wealthy and powerful--mostly white people- can dominate our lives, our aesthetics and our dreams.
Dan, love the reference to a “divorced dad” image. Didn’t know there was such a thing. Sounds like a meme of this image is gonna have to start up. Also THANK YOU for finally calling a spade a spade and letting people know that it’s billionaires that are running our country. People need to be aware of this and I’m so happy that you’re taking it on. I’ve been screaming it for months on the phones to voters, but I can’t fight megaphones owned by billionaires. We need our own megaphone and I hope that you can help us with that.
I think Dan is one of the smartest and most articulate political thinkers out there. He is also whip-smart funny and an excellent writer. He makes reading the unbearable almost fun.
I find I am getting hyper anxious (how it's possible I have room for more maga anxiety is beyond me) about Trump-in-action. I hope it's just a complete cluster fuck and blows up immediately. I mean, how many countries can you invade at once anyway? As for Zuckerborg and Bezos, they can't lose. Who exactly is going to pry Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp/Prime out of the hands of joe public? No one. The average person isn't going to give up the convenience of Prime--even though prices on Prime keep creeping up and up. They'll just complain about the state of affairs on Facebook. It's insidious. It's Orwellian. It's cancerous. It's run by the mentally deranged. It's so fully decentralized, it would be impossible to destroy it. I am really losing hope. It's like being consumed by an avalanche.
Let’s take Musk as an example. Twitter has become his personal cesspit, a social media site run by a ketamine addict who is a racist and petty oligarch. But how many Crooked Media folks still use it? Abandon the product.
Most of his true net worth is Tesla stock. Its price has long been artificially pumped up because con-man Musk has been overpromising tech improvements for years (full autonomous driving was promised in 2018). Its price is a fraud. It builds and sells a fraction of the cars Ford sells, and is less profitable per car, but the market cap of Tesla is 23 times that of Ford. The stock price is a combo of hype and now his closeness to Trump.
If people quit Twitter and quit buying his shitty cars, that will put enormous pressure on his cash flow. Is he the next DeLorean? Hope so.
I bought Tesla stock in 2020. Made some money. I sold it when he started going full lunatic. It's insane though--his cult following. These fan boys have their heels dug in. I feel like it's the same group of dudes who were on 4chan in 2016. Puke.
Raised in the Spokane Valley (now in Seattle) -- I feel ya. I have progressive family members in Spokane who are moving quickly toward the hopeless end of the scale.Even though the corporate oligarchs have made it so impossible to contemplate life without them, I AM going to pull the plug on Instagram (my last Meta app) and on Amazon and Audible -- or die trying.
I've happily pulled the plug on everything you've mentioned but Prime. today I needed a bracket to stabilize my dishwasher. My go to would be Amazon, but I actually went to Ace Hardware a mile from my house and got the part there. It felt really good. I've been on prime for like 15 years and there's so much history of what I have purchased or watched, as if that has any meaning of my life, but somehow it's going to be a bummer. It's completely insane that I'm selling out our collective future of well-being so I can get shit delivered to my house overnight. I recognize I'm part of the problem, and I don't want to be anymore. Crying emoji.
"Democrats can benefit if we have the wherewithal to take advantage of it." In principle I agree, Dan. But where do we get the wherewithall -- which largely translates to, how do we pay to get the word out and influence the midterms -- once we pronounce ourselves anti-corporation? Corporations are notorious for donating to both parties to cover all bets. Maybe Trumpism has made that a thing of the past, I don't know, but I suspect as usual it will come down to Democrats begging their fellow Democrats to keep those small donations flowing. I ran up my credit card bill on behalf of the election and the fight against misinformation, but frankly I am uncomfortable in retirement with this becoming the new normal. I suspect I'm not alone. So who's gonna support our anti-corporate agenda, no matter how noble? Dan, please help me understand the $$ part.
Democrats need to focus on recruiting candidates whose life experience reflects the reality most Americans face. It’s not enough to have worked for McDonalds as a teenager. Find the labor organizers, public employees, and small businesses owners who know what it’s like to be impacted by inflation, corporate layoffs (or public budget cuts) and ridiculously expensive healthcare. Today, they are the outsiders. Not the lawyers, tech leaders (some) and think tank operatives who dominate the upper ranks of the Democratic establishment. We need authentic voices to defeat the faux empathy and genuine anger Trump emotes.
All I have to say is “yes”. The worst part is that corporations parading around as false advocates for DEI actually exacerbated our problem. It may have looked like a win, but they were never serious about it and the superficiality of it was part of what alienated people against a very serious problem and a need for real solutions. And now they get to show their real colors and benefit handsomely from it while hurting the same people they purported to support.
Thank you for the piece. Action seems to be our only way through this. EM will demand a big return from him, like drop the DOJ deadly Tesla case and protect his contracts. The stage is set for straight up bribery. I think the 99% movement needs resurrecting with an actual plan. There are dots to connect between the Starve the Beast movement in the 80’s, to the sucking sound of a vanishing middle class. Welfare Queens were a ruse, SS privatization attempts were dangerous, demonizing “illegals”, as some are wont to do, was an insult as cheaper skilled labor was being imported by big business. Trickle down was an intentional lie, and places like LA are having to pay the price for the climate denial campaign. You could say we have an embarrassment of lies to work with. I think DT is a fitting mascot for their effort.
Heard a fascinating point about this on the Politix podcast that rang true for me. Most of these tech bros always thought like this but the big difference between 2017 and now is the bad job market in the tech space. Most of the workforce is very progressive and part of that “values” nonsense was part of the desire to attract and keep those people. If Zuck had done this 8 years ago half his company would’ve quit and all had jobs within weeks. Now he and the others can bend the knee without worrying because the market is terrible. The general state of the industry allowed these guys to take the mask off.
This is a huge opportunity for the democrats that I hope they take because nobody has ever really liked the likes of Zuck and Bezos. Forget actually attacking Musk’s character for example and focus on how Trump appointed all these billionaires and let his biggest donor buy a seat at the table.
Your best piece so far, by far. Congratulations and thank you.
I agree. This had teeth.
Agree with Susan O’Brien: this is your best piece yet!
Also agree Democrats have an opportunity to disclose the wizard for the lying POS he is. My suggestion would be to do it indirectly, eg going after the Congressional members who parrot Tweetolini. For reasons I will never understand, the working folks who fell for Trump will recoil against any direct criticism of their golden god. It’s hard to admit you’ve been duped.
It’ll be a slow process. Drip, drip, drip.
We go wrong when we forget that the essence of business in capitalism is to make money. If, instead, we think business has a social duty, if we think business is a citizen, then we open the door to the argument that the Citizens United ruling uses: that corporations are people and are entitled to rights.
Unlike people, corporations are obligated only to make a profit for their owners.
We, the people, are the citizens. We are the ones with a social responsibility. Part of that responsibility is to protect each other from harm. Government is our tool for that protection. And when we have turned parts of that government over to business, we can't expect that protection to succeed.
We - the voters - did this.
I disagree. For decades, the understanding was that corporations had three sets of stakeholders that they owed a responsibility towards: customers, employees, and shareholders. Not all lived up to that, but that was the acknowledged goal.
That changed in Reagan’s 1980s when Jack Welch, the execrable CEO of GE, pushed the notion of loyalty to shareholders and the C-suite. Corporations rushed to that idea.
@Tom, you're right, we have from time to time called upon businesses to benefit the community. And, as you correctly point out, that has been diminished for the past 45 years, since the "greed-is-good" 1980s.
I would point out that your "three sets of stakeholders" does NOT include "citizens" - i.e., the community of people. That squares with my point.
Aside from not breaking the law (and including any charitable contributions a business makes) there’s no acknowledged responsibility to the civic good. If there were, you would then have the debate of which side of an issue a business takes. Especially in these highly polarized times, whichever side a business seems to take, it’s likely to get jumped by the other. That goes for MAGA and Democrats alike.
Still--I believe that wealthy business people are citizens too. When asked what they would do to help with the US Economy and the price of fuel back in the Great Recession days, Exxon famously responded that they were a multinational corporation--not beholden to US national interests. Exxon had no responsibility for the US economy according to Exxon. This makes me ill. After all--without the US Navy, our tax subsidies, our consumer behavior and purchasing power, our public universities and research and engineering technologies funded by the American public, and the international safety of the US military, commercial, and legal umbrellas--how does Exxon survive in the world? Who is their patron? Where do they "go home?" I think the big US corporations and the biliionaire class owe us--and we failed to keep them accountable.
Not only do we need to be the anti-billionaire, anti-corporation party - we need to remind people that it doesn't have to be this way. The reason these people are so far up Trump's ass is because he is a greedy and corrupt bully. We need Public Servants in office. Those who understand that they can be rich enough and powerful enough and yet still get shit done that actually benefits actual human beings. At this point, anyone under 30 has no idea that Congress used to actually pass laws, argue in good faith (ish), and were judged on what got done. This is at the heart of why character matters. When the POTUS is a greedy bully, you either pay him off or suffer the consequences. (Of course, in these examples, they're chicken shits who refuse to use their power to stand up to the bully because it might shrink their profits by a percentage or two. Oh woe, they might not be able to buy another house with a helicopter and a yacht...).
“Democrats must understand that these corporations are not our allies or friends. They have made their allegiances clear.”
Good grief, how did Democrats not understand that in the first case? When were major corporations EVER the friends of people who took FDR’s “Four Freedoms” seriously?
The estimated net worth of the last four Democrats to run for the presidency, win or lose, exceeds $10M each. Any memories they have of what is was like to be middle class are in their distant pasts.
That doesn’t make them as evil as similarly wealthy Republicans, but it does make them and other members of the Democratic hierarchy subject to being increasingly disconnected and less willing to take political risks for the good of rank and file citizens.
The late Jimmy Carter’s net worth was estimated to be in the $10M range last year. He understood the dangers of wealth and did what it took to remain connected. Until today’s Democratic Party leaders learn to do likewise, they will continue to find themselves in coin flip election races.
JFK? FDR? RFK (Sr)?, Ted Kennedy?
You cite politically connected families from a different era. Responsibility to the public had a sort of “noblesse oblige” character among some of the wealthy. The oldest brother among the Kennedys lost his life in WW2, and JFK served. The top marginal tax rate when JFK was president was 90%. Find me a wealthy Democrat today pushing for anywhere near that.
RFK Sr’s story is a mixed bag. He too served at the end of WW2, like my Dad. Unlike my Dad, whose father was not Joe Sr, Kennedy then went on to Harvard. After getting a law degree from UVa and a short stint as a newspaper columnist, he entered the Kennedy family business - politics. From then until his assassination he was a consummate politician and apparently strongly influenced by his Roman Catholic faith when it came to social justice. Apparently his assassin was angered by his support of Israel. Personally I believe he could have been an excellent president.
Our inability to let go of our monarchical roots gave us Ted Kennedy, who in his infinite wisdom helped defeat a health reform package from Nixon in 1974 because he believed a subsequent Democratic president could get a better plan through. He was partly correct. A subsequent president did get on adopted … 36 years later. Some argue that Nixon’s proposal was slightly better.
And if it wasn’t for our continuing obsession with monarchy, RFK Jr would simply be a kook whom we knew nothing about.
The Bush story follows a similar “noblesse oblige” trajectory.
After the Kennedy brothers and Bush family, that strain ended. Carter came out of nowhere with a very different story. In retrospect, his presidency can arguably be seen as the transition point to oligarchy and celebrity presidents.
A reason at least some cite for supporting Trump is that he isn’t a lifelong politician, although I believe his being as a mob boss with a “reality” TV topping on his career to be arguably similar. His sons and in-laws are active in the family business, too.
Democrats talking populism MAY work electorally, but it WILL work if they match their rhetoric with action that changes to the party structure that reflects their words.
I ain’t holding my breath.
Great take, Dan.
I'm a staunch Adam Smith (ethical) capitalist, having been part of building 3 successful startup companies. I hate what businesses, especially ones led by these unbounded and immoral egoists, have become. I used to defend these clowns 12 years ago (they do provide goods/services that people want and "create" jobs and options for people), but no more. "The mask is off" is a great way to put it. They're not capitalists-- they're power-ists. They want power and influence, with none of the responsibility, and they have the perfect vehicle in Trump and MAGA to do it. This is what our spokespeople and leaders (and we keyboard warriors) should be calling out.
The first step is to make sure people know that these billionaires are not looking for people to join their club. This isn't a case of brilliant minds being put in charge to improve government so everyone can prosper. It's a grift-- pure and simple-- to make things more exclusionary, not less. They want it to be harder for you to elevate yourself, not easier. Large corporations tilt playing fields in their favor. Simple.
Then, point out that these folks are just buying their way to power and influence, and they don't give a hot damn about doing anything worthwhile with it. It is only to increase their own wealth, which therefore tilts the playing field even more against us.
Messaging and megaphone are key. Totally agree this is a great direction. Kamala started it by calling out corporations for price gouging. We should continue on this line. BTW-- Mark Cuban is a great messenger for this. He's a billionaire, but not part of "their" club.
So Bernie was right you’re saying?
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
It was never a secret that Trump was the most pro-Big Business and anti-Labor presidential candidate since Harding. He astonishingly dodged the consequences of this reality by the wholly-conclusory assertion that he was the tribune of the little guy and that the Dems didn't care about workers and were in thrall to business elites. Somehow--with a lot of help from the Press--he put over this emperor's new clothes fashion show TWICE. He's now abandoned all pretence about where his loyalties lie, but I really doubt that his purality will notice.
And that is the problem. We must figure out how to reach people with the truth and persuade them to step forward on behalf of the the public. good. The story of a beautiful, multiracial, and rich America that is Green, healthy and a world leader for peace remains a real dream. Americans are getting too good at sabatoging themselves so that the wealthy and powerful--mostly white people- can dominate our lives, our aesthetics and our dreams.
Dan, love the reference to a “divorced dad” image. Didn’t know there was such a thing. Sounds like a meme of this image is gonna have to start up. Also THANK YOU for finally calling a spade a spade and letting people know that it’s billionaires that are running our country. People need to be aware of this and I’m so happy that you’re taking it on. I’ve been screaming it for months on the phones to voters, but I can’t fight megaphones owned by billionaires. We need our own megaphone and I hope that you can help us with that.
I think Dan is one of the smartest and most articulate political thinkers out there. He is also whip-smart funny and an excellent writer. He makes reading the unbearable almost fun.
I find I am getting hyper anxious (how it's possible I have room for more maga anxiety is beyond me) about Trump-in-action. I hope it's just a complete cluster fuck and blows up immediately. I mean, how many countries can you invade at once anyway? As for Zuckerborg and Bezos, they can't lose. Who exactly is going to pry Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp/Prime out of the hands of joe public? No one. The average person isn't going to give up the convenience of Prime--even though prices on Prime keep creeping up and up. They'll just complain about the state of affairs on Facebook. It's insidious. It's Orwellian. It's cancerous. It's run by the mentally deranged. It's so fully decentralized, it would be impossible to destroy it. I am really losing hope. It's like being consumed by an avalanche.
Sincerely,
Finally Hopeless in Spokane
Let’s take Musk as an example. Twitter has become his personal cesspit, a social media site run by a ketamine addict who is a racist and petty oligarch. But how many Crooked Media folks still use it? Abandon the product.
Most of his true net worth is Tesla stock. Its price has long been artificially pumped up because con-man Musk has been overpromising tech improvements for years (full autonomous driving was promised in 2018). Its price is a fraud. It builds and sells a fraction of the cars Ford sells, and is less profitable per car, but the market cap of Tesla is 23 times that of Ford. The stock price is a combo of hype and now his closeness to Trump.
If people quit Twitter and quit buying his shitty cars, that will put enormous pressure on his cash flow. Is he the next DeLorean? Hope so.
I bought Tesla stock in 2020. Made some money. I sold it when he started going full lunatic. It's insane though--his cult following. These fan boys have their heels dug in. I feel like it's the same group of dudes who were on 4chan in 2016. Puke.
Raised in the Spokane Valley (now in Seattle) -- I feel ya. I have progressive family members in Spokane who are moving quickly toward the hopeless end of the scale.Even though the corporate oligarchs have made it so impossible to contemplate life without them, I AM going to pull the plug on Instagram (my last Meta app) and on Amazon and Audible -- or die trying.
I've happily pulled the plug on everything you've mentioned but Prime. today I needed a bracket to stabilize my dishwasher. My go to would be Amazon, but I actually went to Ace Hardware a mile from my house and got the part there. It felt really good. I've been on prime for like 15 years and there's so much history of what I have purchased or watched, as if that has any meaning of my life, but somehow it's going to be a bummer. It's completely insane that I'm selling out our collective future of well-being so I can get shit delivered to my house overnight. I recognize I'm part of the problem, and I don't want to be anymore. Crying emoji.
Good for you. Support local businesses, hire local people. 👍
I hate to tell you this but I was very disappointed to learn that Ace Hardware donated hugely to Trump.
That doesn't surprise me. I thought they were franchises though. That's as local as it gets for hardware in Spokane as far as I can tell.
"Democrats can benefit if we have the wherewithal to take advantage of it." In principle I agree, Dan. But where do we get the wherewithall -- which largely translates to, how do we pay to get the word out and influence the midterms -- once we pronounce ourselves anti-corporation? Corporations are notorious for donating to both parties to cover all bets. Maybe Trumpism has made that a thing of the past, I don't know, but I suspect as usual it will come down to Democrats begging their fellow Democrats to keep those small donations flowing. I ran up my credit card bill on behalf of the election and the fight against misinformation, but frankly I am uncomfortable in retirement with this becoming the new normal. I suspect I'm not alone. So who's gonna support our anti-corporate agenda, no matter how noble? Dan, please help me understand the $$ part.
Democrats need to focus on recruiting candidates whose life experience reflects the reality most Americans face. It’s not enough to have worked for McDonalds as a teenager. Find the labor organizers, public employees, and small businesses owners who know what it’s like to be impacted by inflation, corporate layoffs (or public budget cuts) and ridiculously expensive healthcare. Today, they are the outsiders. Not the lawyers, tech leaders (some) and think tank operatives who dominate the upper ranks of the Democratic establishment. We need authentic voices to defeat the faux empathy and genuine anger Trump emotes.
All I have to say is “yes”. The worst part is that corporations parading around as false advocates for DEI actually exacerbated our problem. It may have looked like a win, but they were never serious about it and the superficiality of it was part of what alienated people against a very serious problem and a need for real solutions. And now they get to show their real colors and benefit handsomely from it while hurting the same people they purported to support.
“Inside/outside,” or “up/down.” https://open.substack.com/pub/tedgioia/p/15-observations-on-the-new-phase?r=abnil&utm_medium=ios
Why not both?
I think they mean the same thing, it’s just that Gioia has a broader, culture-wide analysis of it.
Thank you for the piece. Action seems to be our only way through this. EM will demand a big return from him, like drop the DOJ deadly Tesla case and protect his contracts. The stage is set for straight up bribery. I think the 99% movement needs resurrecting with an actual plan. There are dots to connect between the Starve the Beast movement in the 80’s, to the sucking sound of a vanishing middle class. Welfare Queens were a ruse, SS privatization attempts were dangerous, demonizing “illegals”, as some are wont to do, was an insult as cheaper skilled labor was being imported by big business. Trickle down was an intentional lie, and places like LA are having to pay the price for the climate denial campaign. You could say we have an embarrassment of lies to work with. I think DT is a fitting mascot for their effort.