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Dr. Reich has no idea why Trump is polling better than Biden. He cannot fathom it. Or, he does know but would rather keep to The Narrative, that is, the leftist talking points promulgated throughout the media every day.
He spouts these leftist talking points with facility. There is almost nothing true in the below article. He makes no argument or refutation. He presumes his world view as he cites evidence that actually is contrary to his position.
These are hugely important questions, and they fit so directly into our Friday series on reconciling the common good with American capitalism that I thought today would be an occasion to tackle them. (Which Dr. Reich will not do.)
Trump’s increasing neofascism
Trump’s angry words have escalated beyond his previous two campaigns. (Angry words is not neofascism.)
On Christmas Eve, Trump let go with a mixture of anger and self-pity while making multiple false or questionable claims. He posted: (Notice the use of all caps, which means shouting. Most all political candidates shout in their political rallies, so Dr. Reich is simply trying to impugn Trump.)
Worst of all, he quotes Trump but does not comment, as if what Trump said was somehow offensive or incorrect, even though each of Trump's assertions are perfectly reasonable.
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Friends,
As we barrel toward the fateful year of 2024, many of you have asked why Trump is rising in the polls despite his increasingly explicit neofascism, and why Biden is falling despite a good economy. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.
Friends,
As we barrel toward the fateful year of 2024, many of you have asked why Trump is rising in the polls despite his increasingly explicit neofascism, and why Biden is falling despite a good economy. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.
Trump does not espouse neofascism. Dr. Reich clearly has no idea what neofascism is, or more likely, he does know but wants to hurl unceasing attacks at Trump until one of the accusations sticks. This is a typical leftist technique, to attack and name-call and accuse until the object of their wrath is nullified.)
Fearing the worst, you ask what can be done to preserve American democracy. (Dr. Reich has no desire to preserve democracy, unless its results are in line with his politics.
For the Left, the answer is to dismantle democracy by preventing people from voting for their preferred candidate [i.e., Democrats removing Biden's biggest rival off the ballot.)
These are hugely important questions, and they fit so directly into our Friday series on reconciling the common good with American capitalism that I thought today would be an occasion to tackle them. (Which Dr. Reich will not do.)
Trump’s increasing neofascism
Trump’s angry words have escalated beyond his previous two campaigns. (Angry words is not neofascism.)
On Christmas Eve, Trump let go with a mixture of anger and self-pity while making multiple false or questionable claims. He posted: (Notice the use of all caps, which means shouting. Most all political candidates shout in their political rallies, so Dr. Reich is simply trying to impugn Trump.)
“THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, (True.)
On Christmas Day, when Joe Biden and most other world leaders were wishing peace, (That is, mouthing meaningless platitudes...)
“He’s told us what he will do,” Liz Cheney (a Republican member of Congress until her criticism of Trump led to her defeat in a Republican primary) (Cheney is a political loser who tried to cozy up to the Democrats and also governed against the wishes of her constituency.
LIED TO CONGRESS, (True.)
CHEATED ON FISA, (True.)
RIGGED A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, (True.)
ALLOWED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, MANY FROM PRISONS & MENTAL INSTITUTIONS, TO INVADE OUR COUNTRY, (True.)
SCREWED UP IN AFGHANISTAN, (True.)
& JOE BIDEN’S MISFITS & THUGS, LIKE DERANGED JACK SMITH, ARE COMING AFTER ME, AT LEVELS OF PERSECUTION NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN OUR COUNTRY???” (True.)
On Christmas Day, when Joe Biden and most other world leaders were wishing peace, (That is, mouthing meaningless platitudes...)
Trump sent wishes to “world Leaders, both good and bad, but none of which are as evil and ‘sick’ as the THUGS we have inside our Country.” (True.)
Referring to Biden and Special Counsel Jack Smith, he said: “MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!” (True.)
He has referred to the upcoming election as “the final battle.” (True.)
He has referred to the upcoming election as “the final battle.” (True.)
“Either they win or we win. And if they win, we no longer have a country.” (True.)
“Our country is going to hell.” (True.)
He claims that “the blood-soaked streets of our once great cities are cesspools of violent crimes.” (True.)
His rhetoric of cataclysm and apocalypse bears increasing similarity to that of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. (Claim not true.)
He claims that “the blood-soaked streets of our once great cities are cesspools of violent crimes.” (True.)
His rhetoric of cataclysm and apocalypse bears increasing similarity to that of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. (Claim not true.)
He says undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and describes their movement across our borders as “an invasion. This is like a military invasion. Drugs, criminals, gang members and terrorists are pouring into our country at record levels. We’ve never seen anything like it. They’re taking over our cities.” (True.)
He promises to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections.” (Hooray for Trump! Ironically, Biden feels exactly the same way about his enemies.)
He claims that this is “the most dangerous time in the history of our country.” (True. And Biden agrees, having said almost exactly the same words.)
Meanwhile, Trump is threatening to destroy the core institutions of American democracy and to rule as authoritarians in other countries do — authoritarians whom he praises. (Claim not true.)
He is signaling that, unlike in his first term in the White House, he will appoint aides and Cabinet officials who will not restrain him. (Translation: He will appoint aides and officials that share his objectives. Which of course every leader does. Why would Trump appoint people into his administration who would work against him?)
He promises to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections.” (Hooray for Trump! Ironically, Biden feels exactly the same way about his enemies.)
He claims that this is “the most dangerous time in the history of our country.” (True. And Biden agrees, having said almost exactly the same words.)
Meanwhile, Trump is threatening to destroy the core institutions of American democracy and to rule as authoritarians in other countries do — authoritarians whom he praises. (Claim not true.)
He is signaling that, unlike in his first term in the White House, he will appoint aides and Cabinet officials who will not restrain him. (Translation: He will appoint aides and officials that share his objectives. Which of course every leader does. Why would Trump appoint people into his administration who would work against him?)
He says he will turn the Justice Department into a vehicle of retribution against his political enemies, (Dr. Reich must be talking about the Democrats.)
replace civil servants with loyalists, (Dr. Reich must be talking about the Democrats.)
and become a “dictator on day one.” (Ha - ha. Trump was joking about wanting to be a dictator for one day and get his way finally.)
“He’s told us what he will do,” Liz Cheney (a Republican member of Congress until her criticism of Trump led to her defeat in a Republican primary) (Cheney is a political loser who tried to cozy up to the Democrats and also governed against the wishes of her constituency.
They democratically did not vote for her.)
warns:
“People who say, ‘Well, if he’s elected, it’s not that dangerous because we have all of these checks and balances’ don’t fully understand the extent to which the Republicans in Congress today have been co-opted.” (...said the loser and Republican turncoat who has no credibility...)
Why then do so many Americans support Trump?
Given this, why does poll after poll show Trump leading Biden? (This will be interesting to watch how Dr. Reich dances around...)
Granted that polls this long before an election are not predictive of the outcome and that most Americans have not yet focused on the election, it’s still remarkable that seven separate polls show Trump in the lead; not one shows Biden leading. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.)
True, many Americans are unhappy with the economy under Biden, starting with the high prices of housing, food, and other necessities. High mortgage costs mixed with low housing inventory and elevated prices have put housing out of reach for a sizable number of families. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.)
It’s possible that much of this will correct itself over 2024 as the Fed lowers short-term interest rates. (That is, government intervention to artificially tamp down deep-seated economic problems caused by government.)
But I believe something deeper is going on — something that has been worsening for decades. It doesn’t justify anyone supporting Trump, but it may help explain his support. (Dr. Reich simply cannot believe his side is losing.)
In short, the “American dream” has been vanishing. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.
“People who say, ‘Well, if he’s elected, it’s not that dangerous because we have all of these checks and balances’ don’t fully understand the extent to which the Republicans in Congress today have been co-opted.” (...said the loser and Republican turncoat who has no credibility...)
Why then do so many Americans support Trump?
Given this, why does poll after poll show Trump leading Biden? (This will be interesting to watch how Dr. Reich dances around...)
Granted that polls this long before an election are not predictive of the outcome and that most Americans have not yet focused on the election, it’s still remarkable that seven separate polls show Trump in the lead; not one shows Biden leading. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.)
True, many Americans are unhappy with the economy under Biden, starting with the high prices of housing, food, and other necessities. High mortgage costs mixed with low housing inventory and elevated prices have put housing out of reach for a sizable number of families. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.)
It’s possible that much of this will correct itself over 2024 as the Fed lowers short-term interest rates. (That is, government intervention to artificially tamp down deep-seated economic problems caused by government.)
But I believe something deeper is going on — something that has been worsening for decades. It doesn’t justify anyone supporting Trump, but it may help explain his support. (Dr. Reich simply cannot believe his side is losing.)
In short, the “American dream” has been vanishing. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.
Dr. Reich is actually right about "the American dream." But remember, he's supposed to be explaining why Trump is polling so well against Biden. The loss of "the American dream" has been going on for decades. It has nothing to do with the possible outcome of the coming election.)
In 1931, historian James Truslow Adams wrote in his book The Epic of America that the American dream is “of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement,” and “regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” (A totally leftist version of the American dream bearing no resemblance to the real American Dream.)
Adams was writing at the height of the Great Depression. His American dream became reality after World War II as America’s middle class grew, almost everyone’s income rose, and their children did even better than they did.
Americans born in the early 1940s had a 92% chance of obtaining a higher household income than their parents, once they became adults. They would live out the American dream.
But Americans born in the 1980s have only a 50-50 shot at doing better than their parents. (The big factor is the gargantuan size and overreach of government.)
Over the past 40 years, the earnings of the typical American have barely budged (adjusted for inflation), while the compensation for CEOs of large corporations has skyrocketed to more than 300 times the pay of their typical worker — from 20 times in the 1950s and ’60s. (Perhaps true but completely irrelevant. No one but leftists care about how much people make.)
There has not been such a long period of wealth stagnation since the Great Depression. (The Left has gained more and more control of government over the last 80 years. The blame therefore goes to Dr. Reich and his ideological friends.)
In 1931, historian James Truslow Adams wrote in his book The Epic of America that the American dream is “of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement,” and “regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” (A totally leftist version of the American dream bearing no resemblance to the real American Dream.)
Adams was writing at the height of the Great Depression. His American dream became reality after World War II as America’s middle class grew, almost everyone’s income rose, and their children did even better than they did.
Americans born in the early 1940s had a 92% chance of obtaining a higher household income than their parents, once they became adults. They would live out the American dream.
But Americans born in the 1980s have only a 50-50 shot at doing better than their parents. (The big factor is the gargantuan size and overreach of government.)
Over the past 40 years, the earnings of the typical American have barely budged (adjusted for inflation), while the compensation for CEOs of large corporations has skyrocketed to more than 300 times the pay of their typical worker — from 20 times in the 1950s and ’60s. (Perhaps true but completely irrelevant. No one but leftists care about how much people make.)
There has not been such a long period of wealth stagnation since the Great Depression. (The Left has gained more and more control of government over the last 80 years. The blame therefore goes to Dr. Reich and his ideological friends.)
Where did the wealth go? (10% to the Big Man.)
The wealthiest 1% of Americans now bring home more than 40% of the country’s total income, up from 10% in the 1950s and ’60s. And they control 31% of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 50% has only 2.5%. (How many millions of dollars is Dr. Reich worth with his cushy job in academia? Last time we investigated he was worth close to $10 million.)
Perhaps the clearest sign of our problems is the stagnation and decline of life expectancy. In 1980, the U.S. had a typical life expectancy for an affluent country. Now it ranks lower than its peers and lower even than many poorer countries. The life spans of working-class men without college degrees have actually shrunk. (Thanks to the leftists making everything too expensive to afford, like medical treatment, food, housing, taxes...
Perhaps the clearest sign of our problems is the stagnation and decline of life expectancy. In 1980, the U.S. had a typical life expectancy for an affluent country. Now it ranks lower than its peers and lower even than many poorer countries. The life spans of working-class men without college degrees have actually shrunk. (Thanks to the leftists making everything too expensive to afford, like medical treatment, food, housing, taxes...
We are wondering what the cumulative effect of decades of increasingly large and coercive government has to do with the 2024 election.)
Anger and frustration
The formula for a better life used to be simple: Play by the rules and work hard. (That is still quite true, despite the Left's best efforts to eradicate it.)
No longer. To me, this fact more than any other explains the public’s sour mood. ("The public" is not an entity with moods. Many Americans, however, agree that Biden has been a disaster, that the government is getting close to reaching the point of no return as far as its overbearing, dictatorial reach into peoples' lives. And, people with power, particularly those on the Left, can pretty much do anything they want with no consequences.)
Anger and frustration
The formula for a better life used to be simple: Play by the rules and work hard. (That is still quite true, despite the Left's best efforts to eradicate it.)
No longer. To me, this fact more than any other explains the public’s sour mood. ("The public" is not an entity with moods. Many Americans, however, agree that Biden has been a disaster, that the government is getting close to reaching the point of no return as far as its overbearing, dictatorial reach into peoples' lives. And, people with power, particularly those on the Left, can pretty much do anything they want with no consequences.)
It also explains why Trump’s angry rants against the “deep state” establishment, immigrants, “coastal elites,” and “socialists” hit a responsive chord in 2016, and may do so again in 2024. (Trump's rhetoric hits a chord because he's absolutely correct.)
Most Americans don’t pay a great deal of attention to national economic indicators showing how fast the economy is growing, how many new jobs are being created, and the declining rate of inflation. (Amuricuns is sooo stoopit. That's what Dr. Reich really thinks. You see, the economy is booming, everything is wonderful, thanks to Biden. The real problem is the American people are too dumb to realize what a great president Biden is.
Most Americans don’t pay a great deal of attention to national economic indicators showing how fast the economy is growing, how many new jobs are being created, and the declining rate of inflation. (Amuricuns is sooo stoopit. That's what Dr. Reich really thinks. You see, the economy is booming, everything is wonderful, thanks to Biden. The real problem is the American people are too dumb to realize what a great president Biden is.
However, there is no need to pay attention to economic indicators and the continual onslaught of Biden-is-great propaganda because people live in the real world experiencing real struggles and real problems. Such things are not changed by "economic indicators" and leftist agitprop that runs contrary to peoples' real-world experience.
The leftist narrative is rightly dismissed as absurd. It doesn't make sense. No one cares about the supposed achievements of Biden, because such things are not real to people who cannot afford to buy food or pay their bills. Which of course means the Left is trying to do damage control.
But most Americans know when someone is trying to blow smoke. And that's what the Left is doing.)
Instead, they look at their own efforts to create a better life for themselves and their children. And those efforts no longer seem to pay off.
An October 19-24 Wall Street Journal/NORC poll found that only 36% of voters said the American dream — “that if you work hard you’ll get ahead” — still holds true.
This was down from 53% and 48% in similar polls in 2012 and 2016, respectively.
An NBC News poll conducted November 10-14 found that a record-low 19% of voters said they feel confident life for their children’s generation will be better than for their own generation, while 75% were not confident their children will be better off. (This is actually what the Left wants. They are succeeding in creating a larger and larger number of disaffected people. They are trying to fan the flames of envy so as to foment uprising. This is a standard leftist technique, agitate the proletariat until he rises up and overthrows the bourgeois.
Instead, they look at their own efforts to create a better life for themselves and their children. And those efforts no longer seem to pay off.
An October 19-24 Wall Street Journal/NORC poll found that only 36% of voters said the American dream — “that if you work hard you’ll get ahead” — still holds true.
This was down from 53% and 48% in similar polls in 2012 and 2016, respectively.
An NBC News poll conducted November 10-14 found that a record-low 19% of voters said they feel confident life for their children’s generation will be better than for their own generation, while 75% were not confident their children will be better off. (This is actually what the Left wants. They are succeeding in creating a larger and larger number of disaffected people. They are trying to fan the flames of envy so as to foment uprising. This is a standard leftist technique, agitate the proletariat until he rises up and overthrows the bourgeois.
For the Left, everything is happening accord to plan. They want the very things Dr. Reich is complaining about.)
As the American dream fades — and as inequalities of income and wealth soar — many Americans feel increasingly angry and frustrated. Take a look at these charts:
THE CONVENTIONAL explanation for the decline of the American dream posits that globalization and technological change have made most Americans less competitive.
But another — perhaps larger — cause is the increasing concentration of political power in a corporate and financial elite. (Of which Dr. Reich is a part.)
Meanwhile, centers of countervailing power that between the 1930s and 1980s enabled America’s middle and lower-middle classes to offset the power of large corporations and Wall Street have withered. These included labor unions, small businesses, family farms, the civil rights movement, grassroots political movements, and political parties anchored at the local and state levels.
As I’ve discussed in the previous weeks of our Friday series, this imbalance of power has allowed America’s corporate and financial elite to reorganize the market for their own benefit.
Americans correctly perceive that our economic and political system is now rigged. (Indeed. The power brokers on the Left make noises about the plight of the poor while rigging the system to benefit them. That's what the Left does: Do in private exactly the opposite of what they advocate in public.)
When most people stop believing they and their children have a fair chance at the American dream, public trust in the major institutions of society declines — as has happened over the past decade and a half in America.
For the same reason, many become vulnerable to the rants of a demagogue who promises radical change by taking a wrecking ball to democracy. (Which Trump has not done. We had him as president for four years. We know how he operates. We have his record.
What do you think?
As the American dream fades — and as inequalities of income and wealth soar — many Americans feel increasingly angry and frustrated. Take a look at these charts:
THE CONVENTIONAL explanation for the decline of the American dream posits that globalization and technological change have made most Americans less competitive.
But another — perhaps larger — cause is the increasing concentration of political power in a corporate and financial elite. (Of which Dr. Reich is a part.)
Meanwhile, centers of countervailing power that between the 1930s and 1980s enabled America’s middle and lower-middle classes to offset the power of large corporations and Wall Street have withered. These included labor unions, small businesses, family farms, the civil rights movement, grassroots political movements, and political parties anchored at the local and state levels.
As I’ve discussed in the previous weeks of our Friday series, this imbalance of power has allowed America’s corporate and financial elite to reorganize the market for their own benefit.
Americans correctly perceive that our economic and political system is now rigged. (Indeed. The power brokers on the Left make noises about the plight of the poor while rigging the system to benefit them. That's what the Left does: Do in private exactly the opposite of what they advocate in public.)
When most people stop believing they and their children have a fair chance at the American dream, public trust in the major institutions of society declines — as has happened over the past decade and a half in America.
For the same reason, many become vulnerable to the rants of a demagogue who promises radical change by taking a wrecking ball to democracy. (Which Trump has not done. We had him as president for four years. We know how he operates. We have his record.
Which is why all this fascist talk is stupid. If Trump was a fascist, we would already know by what happened when he was president. But he left office on schedule when Biden won the election. Sorry, Dr. Reich, fascists do not voluntarily leave office when they lose an election.)
Let me emphasize again that an explanation is not a justification. There is no moral justification for supporting Donald Trump. But I think it important to understand why many Americans do. (Dr. Reich doesn't understand. How can he possibly explain?)
The real choice ahead
I want to end this letter on an optimistic note. American history provides some direction as well as some reason for comfort.
In three periods, America successfully readapted the rules of the political economy to constrain the political power of wealthy minorities at the top: the Jacksonian 1830s, the turn-of-the-20th-century reform era, and the New Deal 1930s.
We can do so again.
I believe there’s political will to do so — but only if Americans understand the stakes and the true choice we face: between making the system truly fair and democratic by reducing the power over it of large corporations, Wall Street, and the ultra-wealthy or losing our democracy to a neofascist dictatorship.
The question is whether Joe Biden is capable of clarifying this choice for America and committing himself to an agenda to revive democracy — including getting big money out of politics, reforming the Electoral College, and reviving voting rights. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.)
Can he be sufficiently bold and convincing? (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.)
Let me emphasize again that an explanation is not a justification. There is no moral justification for supporting Donald Trump. But I think it important to understand why many Americans do. (Dr. Reich doesn't understand. How can he possibly explain?)
The real choice ahead
I want to end this letter on an optimistic note. American history provides some direction as well as some reason for comfort.
In three periods, America successfully readapted the rules of the political economy to constrain the political power of wealthy minorities at the top: the Jacksonian 1830s, the turn-of-the-20th-century reform era, and the New Deal 1930s.
We can do so again.
I believe there’s political will to do so — but only if Americans understand the stakes and the true choice we face: between making the system truly fair and democratic by reducing the power over it of large corporations, Wall Street, and the ultra-wealthy or losing our democracy to a neofascist dictatorship.
The question is whether Joe Biden is capable of clarifying this choice for America and committing himself to an agenda to revive democracy — including getting big money out of politics, reforming the Electoral College, and reviving voting rights. (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.)
Can he be sufficiently bold and convincing? (i.e. Biden is a lousy president.)
Or do Democrats need someone else as their candidate who can be? (Someone youthful, attractive, and articulate who can be the face of American Marxism? Like maybe Bernie or Hillary?)
What do you think?
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