We have two realities, Wall Street and Main Street. Wall Street consists of a bunch of fund managers. Since the fiduciary responsibility of CEOs in public companies like Caterpillar is ONLY to increase earnings for shareholders, we've gotten to the point where companies are making decisions SOLELY on this basis.
What this looks like on the ground is when a company, for instance, makes the decision to lay off workers to boost short-term profits. Or, as in this case, where the SEC 10-Q report talks about rising costs due to tariffs, shares go down in spite of record profits. In some more egregious examples, we have companies like BP who make billions in profits but are under constant pressure to boost profits just a little bit more, and so cut corners. Workers die, and of course, we all remember what happened in the Gulf with Deepwater Horizon.
This fiduciary responsibility has led us to the point where the very earth we live on is in danger of becoming uninhabitable. Where wealth has been concentrated in so few hands, governments everywhere, who ought to be using public funds to take care of their people, can no longer afford to provide basic services. The giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations was a stunning example of this type of short-term, myopic greed-rules-all philosophy.
Then, we have main street. That's you and me. When wages are forced down and we can't buy as much, it is actually GOOD for Wall Street. Not so much if you're struggling to make ends meet. When the Republicans try and get rid of the pre-existing conditions clause of the ACA, that is really GOOD for shareholders in health insurance companies. Not so much for the family with a chronically ill child, though. When our children and grandchildren have to borrow heavily against their future and average $37,000 plus in debt when they graduate from college, it's GREAT for shareholders in the private banks that got into the student loan business, but not so much for us. When Elizabeth Warren, who knows the banking system inside and out, is forwarded as the new Consumer Protection czar (remember that?), of course the Republicans fought tooth and nail against that, because hey, that is TERRIBLE for Wall Street.
See what I mean?
Main Street and Wall Street. The Republicans don't even today pretend to be on the side of Main Street. At all. McConnell is now leading the charge to cut Social Security and Medicare on the basis of a ballooning deficit which their giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations created - GREAT for Wall Street because that makes us wage slaves and allows the profit motive to penetrate even further into old age pensions and healthcare for the elderly - a vulnerable population on fixed incomes anyway.
The Democrats? Mostly they have been on the side of Main Street, but since the days of FDR and Truman, their support for us on Main Street has been a little lukewarm. And I'm not cutting down the Dems, but let's be honest. Now, we have a real chance to take back the moral high ground and once again become the champion of Main Street - kitchen table issues like health care, stronger Social Security, debt-free college, infrastructure improvements and so on.
Bottom line: Don't get discouraged if you're more middle-of-the-road - we have a bunch of very progressive people running and winning, but all politics is local. Get active if you're not already and have a say. Let's work together to make this country what it should be - a light on the hill. We can only do this by ensuring that people everywhere have a say in policies that affect them.
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