Ralph welcomes Abigail Disney, to discuss her work trying to get her namesake’s company to pay their workers a fair, livable wage as told in her documentary, “The American Dream: And Other Fairy Tales.” Plus, Erica Payne cofounder of The Patriotic Millionaires and co-author of “Tax The Rich!” returns to update us on their latest work educating ordinary Americans about how they can advocate for a fairer tax system.
These folks aren’t even close to what we need in reform and revolution, period. They are capitalists smart enough to see the need to tweak the system to keep it going to preserve their position. We must break the two party system, period.
Disney and Hollywood don't serve as models for good behavior even if they paid their workers well. I believe that they are part of a narcissistic fake America that never existed or will exist. Parents should be taking their kids camping and learning healthy nature based skills and trades. Sure you can create a fake make believe happiness with Disney type experiences but they will just reinforce wanton pay to get fantasies. The same is true of Hollywood produced films, an assault of the integrity of the intellect generally. Very little quality of a traditional culture comes out of Hollywood, other countries have done much better.
It was too expensive for my mother BACK IN 1980 when she took my brother and I as kids! So, we went with another single parent and her kid in order to share costs.
Regarding your link: A Star-Wars themed hotel?!?!? Sigh. Well hey, at least both guests on this episode mentioned the oncoming crash. We are all going to be in homeless encampments soon; with NO time for fantasy.
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen was the total solar eclipse in 2017 (free!!!!!), followed by wildflowers in the woods (free!!!!). When Thoreau said, “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them” I don't think Disneyworld was what he had in mind.
Purdue's $8.3 billion penalty should fund PSAs to reverse Purdue's marketing of Valium that eclipsed the science of anxiety and Eleanor Roosevelt's "Do one thing every day that scares you"... Not practiced by workers asking for raises... Daily practiced by Evangelicals because their practice includes GET THE WORD OUT and thus the rejection Desensitization that made them superior asserters
Evangelicals elected presidents Reagan Bush W and Trump AND THEIR PRINCE OF PEACE PLACEBO MUTATED INTO THE INSIDIOUS PLACEBO of WAR.... note 30 to 60% of anxious people are cured by placebo... aka if Fox News and AI figure out how to make innocuous placebos into insidious placebos.... GAME OVER 😳😲
I am surprised by the romantic and ahistorical views on capitalism that Ralph and Abigail espouse. Might it be that corporate capitalism is just what capitalism does over time? The 1950's and 1960's references you all have in mind were an anomaly because the existence of the Soviet Union forced capitalists here to compromise with labor. Remove the Soviets and they are back to their more ordinary Dickensian behavior. You seem to think it is possible to use politics to restrain capital. That is absurd. The capitalists as a class have much more power than the rest of us who want restraints. This is why reforms never work over time. Whatever we can do with politics they will undo with politics. That is the story of the New Deal. They tolerated that compromise as well, when they had to, but once conditions change they are back to being Dickensian (or what you call corporate, but remember it was corporations hiring child labor that Dickens wrote about).
the 50's and 60's weren't prosperous because of the soviet union. they were prosperous because the US was after the war, manufacturing was up, taxes were higher, and - the owners hadn't figured out how to export all the jobs. unions had some power. the soviet union didn't collapse until 89 of course. the US collapse began long before that.
We can't depend on Congress to initiate change; pressure from outside groups on members of Congress is necessary to bring about positive changes for the economic wellbeing of ordinary Americans. Discussion with the guests on the program should have mentioned how so much of our taxes goes to the bloated military budget rather than to the domestic needs of Americans. Many of the issues discussed by the guests have been also covered by Rev. William Barber of the Poor Peoples Campaign. Perhaps Erica Payne, originally from North Carolina, attended one of the Moral Monday protests. More and more voters are registering as independents--why is that? ( I have read the book, "Tax the Rich.")
When I'm feeling discouraged and demoralized I remember (at least some of, that I can recall) the great good work Mr. Nader has done for the American people over these many decades now. And that gives me reason to stand up straight, and to do what (little) I can to follow in his enormous footsteps.
"To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield." (Alfred Tennyson) Mr. Nader is our Ulysses.
My point was workers did better because of the compromise capitalists made with them (paid them better, etc) in order to look good compared to the USSR. The wanted workers to believe life was better here, until there was no more there to compare with. Now the capitalists don't care about that image and are back to their more ordinary behavior.
One of the hosts put forth the idea of people of a certain wealth being excluded from politics.
I personally like the idea. Since the fantasy dream is enormous wealth - the brass ring - I liked the idea that after someone had say 50 million dollars they were out. they had to go away and play. the rest of us have work to do. the over 50 million group could not vote, could not donate, could not run for office. go the island somewhere.
The protests, summons, town halls, will not get the big money legislators to do what we want. We could spend another forty years using that approach and get nowhere again because the big money legislators have already told us by taking big money that they will not be doing what we want and spent forty years not doing what we want.
At some point we must accept that in order to get what we want we must first replace the big money legislators and forty years of failure of trying to convince big money legislators to do what we want should be enough to make it clear that now (the 2024 congressional elections) is the time to begin working to replace the big money legislators.
Ralph needs to apply the "We're going to make it happen" approach Gingrich did as Ralph mentioned in his recent blog.
Erica Payne talked about making demands on minimum wage and making legislators worry about losing their jobs if they don't meet those demands.
So why can't citizens demand that candidates do not take big money so that the legislators worry about losing their jobs if they take big money?
Then we could get legislators that will actually respond to protests, summons and town halls and do what we want them to do because they will working for us instead of the big money interests.
This is one of those "bolder or new initiatives for change" you advise progressives to do in your recent blog.
Please follow your own advise and help me get this done.
I think what the guests are suggesting is exactly what you are suggesting. have the meetings town halls. that organizes people. give the current reps the ultimatum. the reps will ignore. newly organized people will then have the organization to replace them. organize. make aware. replace. create positive change.
The guests are suggesting what I am suggesting, but we disagree on where we are in the process.
The guests and Ralph do a good job of making aware and organizing citizens to try to influence the big money legislators to do what we want but never seem to think we have reached the point of replacement and organizing citizens to replace the big money legislators with small donor legislators.
I think it is long past time to start working on replacement.
The guests and Ralph seem to think that getting big money politicians to promise legislation that we want when those politicians have told us they will not do what we want by taking big money and proven they will not do what we want with decades of not keeping their promises is going to get us what we want.
I do not think that will work because it would have worked by now and it hasn't worked.
Ralph has often said politicians want our votes more than big money.
Frederick Douglas said power concedes nothing without a demand.
But there has to be consequences when the demand is not met.
If the 80% of citizens that want politicians to not take big money keep voting for the politicians that do take big money there is no incentive for politicians to not take big money and no incentive for big money politicians to do anything we want.
We need to demand small donor candidates and enforce that demand with our votes now.
It will take more than one election cycle but it could be effective in a majority of congressional districts by 2028 if we start now.
Or we could wait until 2028 to get started and at best still be where we are now in the process in 2028.
These folks aren’t even close to what we need in reform and revolution, period. They are capitalists smart enough to see the need to tweak the system to keep it going to preserve their position. We must break the two party system, period.
among indigenous peoples, if one was unhappy with the system, they had to offer constructive suggestions of how to make things better. here are some.
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/breaking-through-power-its-easier-than-we-think_ralph-nader/11596589/item/17970261/?mkwid=%7cdc&pcrid=76622395087230&pkw=&pmt=be&slid=&product=17970261&plc=&pgrid=1225955761390001&ptaid=pla-4580221857838627&msclkid=081a8404d3ef15fdab5be0abae8f8719#idiq=17970261&edition=11160720
Disney and Hollywood don't serve as models for good behavior even if they paid their workers well. I believe that they are part of a narcissistic fake America that never existed or will exist. Parents should be taking their kids camping and learning healthy nature based skills and trades. Sure you can create a fake make believe happiness with Disney type experiences but they will just reinforce wanton pay to get fantasies. The same is true of Hollywood produced films, an assault of the integrity of the intellect generally. Very little quality of a traditional culture comes out of Hollywood, other countries have done much better.
To steal part of a line from Chris Hedges: DisneyWorld and DisneyLand belong in the dustbin of history.
I mean, we're talking about a castle, and a kingdom. As if those are good things.
They've priced themselves beyond affordability for most families:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/where-everyone-disney-world-just-about-empty
It was too expensive for my mother BACK IN 1980 when she took my brother and I as kids! So, we went with another single parent and her kid in order to share costs.
Regarding your link: A Star-Wars themed hotel?!?!? Sigh. Well hey, at least both guests on this episode mentioned the oncoming crash. We are all going to be in homeless encampments soon; with NO time for fantasy.
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen was the total solar eclipse in 2017 (free!!!!!), followed by wildflowers in the woods (free!!!!). When Thoreau said, “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them” I don't think Disneyworld was what he had in mind.
And he didn't believe in grandiose construction, another symptom of a sick culture that doesn't address basic human needs.
Purdue's $8.3 billion penalty should fund PSAs to reverse Purdue's marketing of Valium that eclipsed the science of anxiety and Eleanor Roosevelt's "Do one thing every day that scares you"... Not practiced by workers asking for raises... Daily practiced by Evangelicals because their practice includes GET THE WORD OUT and thus the rejection Desensitization that made them superior asserters
Evangelicals elected presidents Reagan Bush W and Trump AND THEIR PRINCE OF PEACE PLACEBO MUTATED INTO THE INSIDIOUS PLACEBO of WAR.... note 30 to 60% of anxious people are cured by placebo... aka if Fox News and AI figure out how to make innocuous placebos into insidious placebos.... GAME OVER 😳😲
I am surprised by the romantic and ahistorical views on capitalism that Ralph and Abigail espouse. Might it be that corporate capitalism is just what capitalism does over time? The 1950's and 1960's references you all have in mind were an anomaly because the existence of the Soviet Union forced capitalists here to compromise with labor. Remove the Soviets and they are back to their more ordinary Dickensian behavior. You seem to think it is possible to use politics to restrain capital. That is absurd. The capitalists as a class have much more power than the rest of us who want restraints. This is why reforms never work over time. Whatever we can do with politics they will undo with politics. That is the story of the New Deal. They tolerated that compromise as well, when they had to, but once conditions change they are back to being Dickensian (or what you call corporate, but remember it was corporations hiring child labor that Dickens wrote about).
the 50's and 60's weren't prosperous because of the soviet union. they were prosperous because the US was after the war, manufacturing was up, taxes were higher, and - the owners hadn't figured out how to export all the jobs. unions had some power. the soviet union didn't collapse until 89 of course. the US collapse began long before that.
We can't depend on Congress to initiate change; pressure from outside groups on members of Congress is necessary to bring about positive changes for the economic wellbeing of ordinary Americans. Discussion with the guests on the program should have mentioned how so much of our taxes goes to the bloated military budget rather than to the domestic needs of Americans. Many of the issues discussed by the guests have been also covered by Rev. William Barber of the Poor Peoples Campaign. Perhaps Erica Payne, originally from North Carolina, attended one of the Moral Monday protests. More and more voters are registering as independents--why is that? ( I have read the book, "Tax the Rich.")
This film is available on the free file sharing system Usenet.
When I'm feeling discouraged and demoralized I remember (at least some of, that I can recall) the great good work Mr. Nader has done for the American people over these many decades now. And that gives me reason to stand up straight, and to do what (little) I can to follow in his enormous footsteps.
"To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield." (Alfred Tennyson) Mr. Nader is our Ulysses.
My point was workers did better because of the compromise capitalists made with them (paid them better, etc) in order to look good compared to the USSR. The wanted workers to believe life was better here, until there was no more there to compare with. Now the capitalists don't care about that image and are back to their more ordinary behavior.
One of the hosts put forth the idea of people of a certain wealth being excluded from politics.
I personally like the idea. Since the fantasy dream is enormous wealth - the brass ring - I liked the idea that after someone had say 50 million dollars they were out. they had to go away and play. the rest of us have work to do. the over 50 million group could not vote, could not donate, could not run for office. go the island somewhere.
The protests, summons, town halls, will not get the big money legislators to do what we want. We could spend another forty years using that approach and get nowhere again because the big money legislators have already told us by taking big money that they will not be doing what we want and spent forty years not doing what we want.
At some point we must accept that in order to get what we want we must first replace the big money legislators and forty years of failure of trying to convince big money legislators to do what we want should be enough to make it clear that now (the 2024 congressional elections) is the time to begin working to replace the big money legislators.
Ralph needs to apply the "We're going to make it happen" approach Gingrich did as Ralph mentioned in his recent blog.
Erica Payne talked about making demands on minimum wage and making legislators worry about losing their jobs if they don't meet those demands.
So why can't citizens demand that candidates do not take big money so that the legislators worry about losing their jobs if they take big money?
Then we could get legislators that will actually respond to protests, summons and town halls and do what we want them to do because they will working for us instead of the big money interests.
This is one of those "bolder or new initiatives for change" you advise progressives to do in your recent blog.
Please follow your own advise and help me get this done.
I think what the guests are suggesting is exactly what you are suggesting. have the meetings town halls. that organizes people. give the current reps the ultimatum. the reps will ignore. newly organized people will then have the organization to replace them. organize. make aware. replace. create positive change.
The guests are suggesting what I am suggesting, but we disagree on where we are in the process.
The guests and Ralph do a good job of making aware and organizing citizens to try to influence the big money legislators to do what we want but never seem to think we have reached the point of replacement and organizing citizens to replace the big money legislators with small donor legislators.
I think it is long past time to start working on replacement.
The guests and Ralph seem to think that getting big money politicians to promise legislation that we want when those politicians have told us they will not do what we want by taking big money and proven they will not do what we want with decades of not keeping their promises is going to get us what we want.
I do not think that will work because it would have worked by now and it hasn't worked.
Ralph has often said politicians want our votes more than big money.
Frederick Douglas said power concedes nothing without a demand.
But there has to be consequences when the demand is not met.
If the 80% of citizens that want politicians to not take big money keep voting for the politicians that do take big money there is no incentive for politicians to not take big money and no incentive for big money politicians to do anything we want.
We need to demand small donor candidates and enforce that demand with our votes now.
It will take more than one election cycle but it could be effective in a majority of congressional districts by 2028 if we start now.
Or we could wait until 2028 to get started and at best still be where we are now in the process in 2028.