By Robert Reich
Friends,
A groundswell of rage against the establishment has been growing in America for decades.
It became a gale-force wind after the Wall Street financial crisis of 2008, when banks that gambled with other people’s money had to be bailed out by taxpayers but millions of average Americans lost their savings, jobs, and homes.
It has been fomented by record levels of inequality. CEO pay has soared to 320 times that of average workers, and the stock market has reached staggering heights. At the same time, young men with no more than a high school degree are now earning 22 percent less, adjusted for inflation, than non-college young men earned 50 years ago.
And it’s become a deepening source of public distrust, as big money has taken over our politics. In the 2024 election, candidates raised $16 billion, much of it from a relative handful of billionaires.
Indicators of that rage are all around us.
Where can you find it?
1. In the surge of labor organizing and labor actions. According to the National Labor Relations Board, union election petitions increased by a whopping 27 percent last year over the year before.
2. In songs such as “Rich Men North of Richmond”— an overnight viral hit by an unknown country singer named Oliver Anthony — which begins with the lyrics “I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day / Overtime hours for bullshit pay.” So far, it’s racked up tens of millions of listens across social platforms.
3. In the gleeful reactions on social media to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York last week. “This needs to be the new norm,” posted one X user. “EAT THE RICH,” said another. “My only question is did the CEO of United Healthcare die quickly or over several months waiting to find out if his insurance would cover his treatment for the fatal gunshot wound?” posted a third.
4. In Donald Trump’s reelection. His core support was among men without college degrees. Although Joe Biden has done more for the working class than any president in living memory, he never found a way to communicate it, and Kamala Harris — although conducting a remarkable campaign — never criticized big corporations, Wall Street, or the super-rich. The Democratic Party itself has abandoned the working class, becoming the party of college-educated professionals.
So today’s Office Hours question: In your view, what most clearly demonstrates the groundswell of rage against the establishment?
NYA Thanks Robert Reich!