Here are three facts about our economy that make me mad.
Fact #1: The median wage for American workers have barely increased in 30 years. As prices rise and consumer needs have changed, more people are working longer hours and going deeper into debt just to keep up.
Fact #2: The richest 1% of Americans now controls more than 40% of our nation’s wealth.
Fact #3: The largest corporations in America have $2 trillion dollars sitting in their bank accounts. Yet they continue to seek – and receive – tax breaks and government subsidies.
While the current economy is bad for most of us, it isn’t bad for all of us. Some are profiting handsomely as the rest of us are left further behind.
Despite what pundits and cable TV might lead us to believe, America’s prolonged recession is not the result of some act of god or natural disaster. Far from it. In fact, income inequality, wage stagnation, and crushing personal debt are the result of decades of intentional political decisions driven by the selfish self-interest of the largest corporations and the super rich.
Yet, all these facts notwithstanding, there appears to be more cynicism and depression amongst progressives than there is action and outrage. What’s it going to take for us to get angry and turn this economic disaster into an opportunity for once-in-a-lifetime change?
First, we need to name who wins and who loses in the current economic order and talk about who actually crashed the economy. The debt ceiling debate is just the latest example of how a procedural vote that passed 87 times with bi-partisan support became a bludgeon to lay blame on the poor and the elderly who rely on Medicare and Social Security for the nation’s growing debt. (Anyone remember the two wars and bailout for Wall Street-speculators that we never raised taxes for? That is to say nothing of the revenue shortfall brought on by more unemployed people paying fewer taxes and needing more help.)
Second, we need to unite the vast majority of Americans that are getting short shrift and disrupt the status quo. We need to find creative ways to expose the extraordinary inequality of our economic system and invite others to join a movement for meaningful change. We can’t afford to take each other for granted; progressives must reach across lines of race, geography, and class and refuse to be divided against each other. TakeAction Minnesota recently joined with a coalition of union members, people of faith, immigrants, and community groups to do exactly this. Check out the recent Summit for a New Economy for more detail.
Finally, we need to remind ourselves that people just like us, in a situation that was even more difficult than what we face today, out organized the corporate titans of their day and changed our state and our nation for the better. It was a groundswell built by Minnesota’s farmers and union members that led our nation out of the depths of the Great Depression and made our state a national leader. Among the Farmer Labor movement’s many accomplishments – some of which were national ‘firsts’ – were banking regulation, progressive income taxes, equal pay for women, the right to collectively bargain, conservation of lakes and forests, minimum wage, and unemployment insurance. We still benefit from these victories 80 years later.
None of these victories were won overnight. The work of building a powerful statewide movement took decades. While the Farmer Labor movement is best remembered for a string of state electoral victories in the 1930s, it is important to remember that this movement didn’t just elect people to make these changes for them. These grassroots leaders operated with a compelling analysis of what’s right and wrong, a clear vision grounded in gut-level beliefs about the way the world should be, and a profound sense of hope. Ultimately these leaders were responsible for creating a different conversation and new political space that made bold change happen. It was a movement, built over time and by human hands, that made more possible. And that’s what Minnesota – and our country – needs today.
— Dan McGrath
Dan McGrath is the Executive Director of TakeAction Minnesota.
