Summary: Campaign 2016 has sparked hopes of political reform in America, restoring aspects of America that we’ve lost. But our image of American history is false, because much of what we love existed only for two generations (from the New Deal to the 1970s). Understanding this makes real reform possible. Jefferson Cowie’s new book is …
Much of what we love about America was true only for a moment Read More »
Summary: Here anthropologist Maximilian Forte looks at America’s changing social structure (the rise of the 1%, death of the middle class) using perspectives from Rome, Marx, and modern identity politics. It’s one of his best essays, worthwhile reading about America’s most serious problem (fracturing our social cohesion, making solutions of the others difficult or impossible). …
An anthropologist looks at America’s growing proletariat Read More »
Contrary to the “there’s no difference between the two parties” nonsense, the core of GOP tax policy since the 1970s has been tax cuts for the rich — paid for by cutting benefits for everybody else and increasing deficits. Despite Trump’s faux-populist rhetoric, his tax proposal is right-wing orthodoxy. Now he seeks to dress this …
Taxes: one of the bright lines distinguishing Trump from Clinton Read More »
Summary: To understand this election we must see the accumulated stresses which produced the insurgencies in both parties. Rising income inequality — “the hollowing out” of the middle class and rise of the 1% — is probably the biggest, yet still poorly understood (until recently conservatives denied it). This great study by one of our …
See America’s income inequality grow during 1979-2011, a driver of Campaign 2016 Read More »
Summary: Solutions are proposed as the shockwave of the new industrial revolution becomes visible on the horizon. Naturally, we first get small and comfortable ones — such as a guaranteed minimum income, which guarantee high and growing levels of inequality. We might even implement these, leaving the resulting social turmoil for the next generation. First …
A guaranteed minimum income: faux solution for the new industrial revolution Read More »
