Humble Devotees of trimp May Yet Show Us The Way

It is both possible and necessary to address the justifiable grievances of trimp supporters without fueling or condoning the racism that many of them even fail to recognize. Don’t forget that significant numbers of them once voted for Obama.

Bill Clinton provides a partial model to the extent he sought small but tangible victories that sometimes brought worthwhile benefits to the many. Obama, despite intractable opposition, was able to win a momentously significant battle by institutionalizing a nationwide system of healthcare that will provide a floor for future models.

Of course neither of them felt they were in a position to address the central malady of our economy and culture: the over concentration of too much wealth in the hands of a tiny (0.1%), unaccountable and irresponsible elite.

Franklin D. Roosevelt proved it was possible to presidentially excoriate “malefactors of great wealth” and to “welcome their hatred” so as to mobilize popular support for essential reforms (Social Security, National Labor Relations Act, Unemployment Insurance, Minimum Wage and Overtime Compensation, financial regulations, etc.)

Lyndon B. Johnson blackened his own legacy with his role in the atrocity of the IndoChinese War. But he also had the courage to declare war on poverty and back his rhetoric with substantial advances in Civil Rights and Social Welfare (Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, etc,)

The road to economic democracy is a long and bumpy one that we must pave as we go. In the long run we must take measures to tame the modern corporation so as to safeguard their ability to provide public benefits while limiting their natural tendencies to abuse workers, consumers, and the environment.

But we have immediate need for a tax system to redistribute wealth and power while financing radical overhauls of our education, healthcare, transportation, and energy infrastructures so as to minimize onrushing environmental, economic, and social calamities while raising wages and workforce participation rates..