Notes on the Great Depression and Modern Inequality

Introduction

• Speaker recalls personal experience during the Great Depression.
• Family background: unemployed working class.
• Contrast between the hopefulness during the Great Depression and the current lack of hope.

Inequality Today

• Current inequality is unprecedented, similar to the worst periods in American history.
• Extreme wealth concentrated in a tiny fraction of the population (top 0.1%).
• Comparison with historical periods (Gilded Age, Roaring Twenties).

Impact of Inequality

• Inequality is unjust and has negative consequences for society as a whole.
• Corrosive effect of inequality on democracy.
• Discussion of the American Dream and class mobility.
• Collapse of opportunities for the working class to improve their lives.

Democracy and Power

• Democracy should enable public opinion to influence policy.
• Privileged sectors have historically resisted democracy to maintain power.
• Concentration of wealth translates to political power.
• Political measures (tax policy, deregulation) designed to increase wealth concentration.

Historical Perspective

• Reference to Adam Smith and the architects of policy.
• Comparison of historical policy architects (merchants, manufacturers vs. financial institutions, multinational corporations).
• Ongoing clash between democratizing pressures from below and elite control from above.
• Reference to James Madison's concerns about democracy and property rights.

The Civil Rights Movement and Activism

• The 1960s as a period of significant democratization.
• Activism changed consciousness about rights and justice.
• Critique of the systemic exploitation that continues today.

The Backlash against Activism

• Reactionary business offensives beginning in the late 1970s against egalitarian efforts.
• Mention of the Powell Memorandum urging business to counteract democratizing movements.
• The Trilateral Commission's report on the Crisis of Democracy and concerns about excess democracy.

Economic Changes since the 1970s

• Shift towards financialization of the economy.
• Increase in the role of financial institutions and profit-making through finance rather than production.
• Offshoring of production and its impact on American workers.

Regulatory Capture and Business Influence

• Historical perspective on lobbying and regulatory capture.
• The relationship between businesses, government, and crises.
• Bailouts for major financial institutions at the expense of taxpayers.

Critique of Current Economic Policies

• Discussion of neoliberalism and its impact on wealth distribution.
• Implications for the working poor and the precariat class.
• The need for a broader distribution of wealth and restructuring of society.

The Role of Organized Labor

• Organized labor as a barrier to corporate power.
• Historical context of labor rights in the U.S. and their decline.
• The attack on unions and its implications for democracy and rights.

The Concept of Freedom

• Discussion of freedom of speech and how rights are won through activism.
• Importance of popular movements in achieving social change.

Conclusion

• Advocacy for grassroots activism and organization.
• Recognition of the current freedom to organize and push for change.
• Call to action for individuals to contribute to social movements for rights and justice.