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J. Beer's avatar

All of this sounds right, except the "leave governing to us smarter rich elites" part. The motivation seems starker than that. It's clear the current Republican leaders could care less about running the government. What matters is unrestrained control over the nation's private and public assets. Unlike the 1930s, today's elites, their mega-corporations and private equity and criminal networks are not tied to physical locations or nations or colonies. They live in an international world that barely intersects with ordinary mortals (or with the realities of a fragile planet).

In the US, the 1% is systematically sucking the aquifers of US assets dry. Since the 1980s, they have successfully siphoned off worker pay, swallowed most pension obligations, sucked away middle class assets by requiring us to go into debt for education and health and housing, and have been hugely successful in diverting taxes into their private coffers.

In the emerging post-capitalist (?) automated world, corporations no longer need a massive population of expensive American laborers nor an expensive educated population of American managers and technical specialists. They also don't need US consumers as much -- We are saturated with "stuff" while the emerging middle classes of China and India will be buying goods big time for decades to come.

It seems that the underlying motive is to be rid of the burden of the US population and the US government all together. The removal of assets and expertise from our governments and our people is deliberately disenfranchising, impoverishing, and now actively "downsizing" our population. Government structures that Republican support (police, prisons, military, courts, propoganda media, eminent domain) are those that insulate the few winners from the many losers. Despite my cynicism, the US still has enormous resources and human potential and I pray that you are right that a large majority will be looking for a New Deal approach to government and resource stewardship ASAP.

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R Dooley (NY)'s avatar

Professor Richardson: Your analysis of the Hoover Administration’s failure to address the economic crisis occurring during their term in office, and Biden’s proposal which, as you say, “…echoed the dynamic of the 1932 election…” was one of the most uplifting things I’ve read in a long time.

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