Robert Reich: Trump stokes division with racism and rage - and the American oligarchy purrs

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Trump stokes division with racism and rage – and the American oligarchy purrs

The president is the best thing that ever happened to the corporate elite, a distraction on the lines of the old Jim Crow

Robert Reich
Sun 14 Jun 2020 06.00 BST
Last modified on Sun 14 Jun 2020 06.21 BST

-snip-

Meanwhile, behind the scenes – in the halls of Congress and the corridors of statehouses, in fundraisers and in private candidate briefings, in strategy sessions with political operatives and public-relations specialists – the CEOs who condemn racism lobby for and get giant tax cuts and fight off a wealth tax.

As a result, the nation can’t afford anything as ambitious as a massive Marshall Plan to provide poor communities world-class schools, first-class healthcare and affordable housing.

The CEOs resist a living wage and universal basic income. They don’t want antitrust laws jeopardizing their market power, thereby requiring consumers pay more. They oppose tighter regulations against red-lining or prohibitions on payday lending, both of which disproportionately burden black and brown people.

Perhaps most revealingly, they remain silent in the face of Donald Trump’s bigotry. Indeed, many are quietly funding the re-election of a president whose political ascent began with a racist conspiracy theory and who continues to encourage white supremacists.

This goes beyond mere hypocrisy. Top CEOs have amassed more wealth and power than at any time since the “robber barons” of the late 19th century – enough to get legislative outcomes they want and organize the system for their own benefit.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/14/donald-trump-racism-american-oligarchy

[CentralMass]

1. K&R

[dalton99a]

2. Trump is the best thing that has ever happened to the 1%.

[dugog55]

3. And that is really saying something

after Reagan and BushII gave them just about everything they could want. Trump comes along and somehow gives them more.

[DanieRains]

8. They Want Our 50 Trillion To Go With Their 50 Trillion

The 1% knows what they are doing, and get everything they want.

2.9 Trillion in 3 month of free money.

Our money.

[cate94]

4. K & R

[certainot]

5. we are one famous athlete or political activist away from destroying the only advantage they have

democracy was designed to stop the trumps, regulate politics and media, but dems and left leadership continue the biggest political mistake in history - ignoring the 95% talk radio monopoly, which might as well have become the Voice of Putin the last decade.

it's basically KKK radio, the reason colin kaepernick was banned, the reason mike brown and trayvon martin's killers got off, and hundreds of the loudest of those stations depend on at least 87 university sports teams and dozens of pro sports teams. now it's downplaying george floyd's death and mischaracterizing protestors

trump and the republicans can't do shit without KKK talk radio and it can't survive without thousands of black athletes

[empedocles]

6. We have the LeBron's, political celebrities, hollywoods. etc. We need a bunch more of them -

and overwhelming 'public sentiment' - aka, police brutality, etc.

[Ligyron]

11. Certainot is right again...

and little to nothing is done about it.

Plus sure, we need those athletes, celebrities, etc, plus 98% of scientists and other reason based public figures to speak up and act out in some fashion.

While they and us are still allowed to.

[Ligyron]

11. double post

[jaxexpat]

10. "dems and left leadership continue political mistake - ignoring the 95% talk radio monopoly"

This can't be said enough. If one were to seek finance for a business plan based on aggravating an underinformed public and polarizing a society based on unity, he would be shown the door.
But talk radio IS well funded and that's exactly what it does. It's a one stop shop to get your sports and reinforce your simpleminded bigotry without changing the dial. "Marketplace of ideas" is NOT an innocuous term.

Some other underhated terms are:
nuclear weapon
racial injustice
biological warfare
mass starvation
white supremacy
winner takes all
sudden death competition
friendly fire
survival of the fittest
international business conglomerate
acceptable casualties
business cycle
pay day loan

[certainot]

13. it has always been coddled and subsidized but relies on advertising to pay the rent

and supplement the rw subsidies.

it can't survive without advertising to pay for those hundreds of stations. they'd really have to break up their monopoly if the universities and sports teams started to look for apolitical alternatives, and their ability to sell that crap depends heavily on UNCHALLENGED repetition to impose the certitude authoritarians need

limbaugh dying will really hit them hard too. those are the loudest stations, they have a lot of owners, and they're going to have to go with second rate blowhards and won't get as much in ad revenue

minor activism from the left would quickly destroy their only advantage

but our orgs keep wasting our donations

[jaxexpat]

14. "but our orgs keep wasting our donations"

That is a sorry state of affairs, for sure. The left does indeed have it's own "elitest" cross to bear. Our 1%ers may not be as greedy as theirs but they still live beneath the common benefit of not being terribly inconvenienced, whoever gets elected. Remember the Kerry campaign vs Ed Shultz? Opportunities lost...…… I'm not sure if it's in the same vein but I could never understand how so many continued to perceive Hillary's persona as generated by the news talk yahoos. That should have been easy to counter.

[scarletwoman]

7. This is why we can't have nice things.

[KS Toronado]

9. Hope Biden gives Robert Reich a position where he could help this country.

[Skittles]

15. I would LOVE to see that

Mr. Reich has admitted with great regret that he just was not aware back then as he is now.