Robert ReichDec 2, 2022
We're in the Second Gilded Age just like the first—when America's wealth was in the hands of a few, conspicuous consumption existed alongside homelessness & hunger, monopolies destroyed competition, money corrupted politics, and government sided with railroad barons over workers.
Show threadSeppo HelavaDec 2, 2022

@rbreich Not intending to be inflammatory OR suggest it as a course of action, but has there been a time in history where this kind of wealth inequality was solved without like... a guillotine?

If there's a policy way out, and a way that has shown to be effective, that'd be fantastic. Do you know of that happening?

Show threadSam GoldsteinDec 2, 2022
@helava @rbreich The broader policy solution is taxation-funded social programs. For example, taxing rich individuals and corporations to fund public health insurance, will, through the money it saves individuals and the broader economic benefits (think negative externalities from bad health outcomes and vice-versa,) act as a direct wealth transfer from the top strata of the wealthy to less wealthy subsets. This is the fundamental principle of Social Democracy.
Show threadSam GoldsteinDec 2, 2022
@helava @rbreich By looking at historic levels of wealth inequality, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/ you can see that the wealth gap in the US and other countries has increased massively since about 1980, which is when the political zeitgeist in America, Britain, Canada, and others shifted to neoliberalism. This shift coincides with massive cuts to rich/corporate taxes and social programs. Not a coincidence.
1. Trends in income and wealth inequality

Barely 10 years past the end of the Great Recession in 2009, the U.S. economy is doing well on several fronts. The labor market is on a job-creating

Pew Research Center
Show threadSeppo HelavaDec 2, 2022
@Samwise @rbreich yeah, but can you get from neoliberalism to social democracy via policy when money drives so much of politics?
Show threadSam Goldstein
@helava @rbreich Nope lol! And certainly not overnight. It’s worth remembering that the the global economy’s golden age of prosperity can be traced to the economic havoc of the Great Depression. This is what finally made the conversations around unfettered capitalism unavoidable. The worse everybody’s material conditions, the more radical the discourse. Doesn’t mean we should do nothing and wait for the economy to collapse!
Dec 2, 2022 at 4:42pmWeb
Show threadSam GoldsteinDec 2, 2022
@helava @rbreich The disastrous state of global capitalism is equally as responsible for the rebirth of Socialism and Social Democracy in the developed word as for the speedy rise of the alt-right in the same places. So what can we do? Engage with labour politics. Act in solidarity with every unionization push, and pay attention. When a mining town is shutting down, when a town has no clean water, etc, we should be engaging those being pushed to the margins. Mobilization!
Show threadSeppo HelavaDec 2, 2022
@Samwise @rbreich 100%. Thank you for the thoughtful and illuminating responses!
Show threadSam GoldsteinDec 2, 2022
@helava @rbreich my pleasure. Solidarity!