From 1789 forward, America slowly became a “democracy.” Much of this occurred in the 20th century. Ordinary people revolted against the egregious abuse, criminality, and amorality of the 1865-1901 “Gilded Age.” The 1901-1915 “Progressive Era” began to reform parts of American society, government, and economy. The GREED of the 1920s led to the 1930s Great Depression, fascism, Nazism, World War II, the Holocaust. Reforms against some of this began in 1933-36, with the “New Deal.” Right Wing reaction against this began in 1947 with the anti-labor Taft-Hartley act.
From 1789-1920, women were second class people [not citizens]. They couldn’t vote; were supposed to “stay in their place” [barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen]. African-Americans were supposed to have been “freed” by the Civil War. They weren’t. Having fought against Nazism, it was thought discrimination should not exist in America. A “civil rights” movement began to obtain simple public equality – to honor the words of the Declaration of Independence and the ideals and intents of “The Bill of Rights” and subsequent Amendments. This was unacceptable to elements of the Right Wing.
From 1865 to 2024, there has existed an effort by working people to obtain decent wages, conditions of work, and legal protections against the GREED of corporations and the Rich. Corporations used the power of government to suppress ANY effort to create unions to achieve simple decency. Local police and various U.S. military forces have been used by corporations and their political allies to suppress American workers. NO tactic, including murder, has been ignored by GREEDY corporations and the Rich.
American middle class civilization reached a historical, STATISTICAL, peak in 1947-73. By laws and norms, the wealth of America was shared. Ordinary people could, and did, succeed. Mixed white and blue collar neighborhoods were common. I lived in one. WE all went to the same schools. Many went to the same churches. WE, in our innocence – thought this was “normal.” Ordinary kids could finance a private college education by working at a grocery store, starting at $1.09 an hour. WE, in our innocence – thought this was “normal.” Ordinary people could fall in love, get married, buy a home, have 2-3-4 kids. WE, in our innocence – thought this was “normal.”
BUT – for the Far Right – this was “too good a deal” for “undeserving” ordinary Americans. Some of the rules behind this mass middle class prosperity were ‘unfair” to the Rich, many of whom “had gotten rich all on their own efforts.” They resented sharing “their’ wealth with these “undeserving” ordinary Americans. Most especially, the Rich resented having to pay “unfair’ taxes. Taxes that were used to build roads, schools, infrastructure; and – the police and legal system that protected “their’ wealth, incomes, property, persons.
The revolt began in the mid-1960s, escalated in the 1970s, exploded in the 1980s. The Far Right revolt against the bottom 90% has had one main tool: CHANGING. THE. RULES. Much middle class success depended upon getting fair treatment from government , especially courts. The Far Right set out to change that. They HAVE – and – you live in 2024 America amid what bought-off politicians and courts, corrupt ideology, have created. The ultimate Far Right goal” a return to the 1865-1901 “Gilded Age.”
Following is a SAMPLE of how rules and norms have been changed. Changed by the money and power of the Rich and their corporations. This is only a SAMPLE. The Far Right political-economic-religious-social Right has fought a self-declared ‘WAR’ against ordinary Americans. The mess and chaos of 2024 America is the result of their many successes. In the name of “freedom,” the Far Right has reduced freedom for ordinary people like YOU.
Remember – NOTHING – in YOUR life is “out-of-bounds” for Right-Wing “do-gooders” and GREEDHEADS. Every Right Wing interest group has their list of “improvements’ they wish to impose on YOU. Consider some:
1] “Rule of law depends not just on what is written down, but also on the behavior of those who interpret and enforce that rule. If these people don’t regard themselves as servants of the law first, partisans second, if they won’t subordinate their political goals to their duty to preserve the system, laws become meaningless and only power matters.” [Krugman: “Arguing With Zombies”]
2] “The rules of the game, adopted and managed largely by economic elites, have made the American political system peculiarly inhospitable to the politics of the labor-left. These rules block..success of third parties, weaken all political parties, empower special interest lobbies and pressure groups, give money a dominant voice in elections and public policy, and make voter participation the lowest in the democratic world” [Sexton: “The War on Labor and the Left”]
3] “In no other area, observed one scholar, “was the process of strategic investment [by right-wing funders] as prolonged, ambitious, complicated and successful as the law.” The campaign for the courts..sought “to mold a new jurisprudence” that would radically change “the way justice is dispensed in our society.” In particular, those waging the campaign sought “to make the protection and enhancement of corporate profits and private wealth the cornerstones of our legal system.” [Maclean; “Democracy in Chains”]
4] “What was needed was a way to amend the Constitution so that public officials would be legally constrained from offering new social programs to the public or engaging in regulations on their behalf even when vast constituencies were demanding them..’the problems of our times require attention to the rules rather than the rulers..real change would come ‘only by Constitutional law.’ The project must aim toward the practical ‘removal of the sacrosanct status assigned to majority rule.'” [MacLean: “Democracy in Chains”]
5]. “The rigor of competition..is being weakened bit by bit; a law here, a regulation there, a court ruling over there. These events tend to be reported as discrete events or even go unnoticed…markets are supposed to be policed, but posing as friends of the taxpayer, politicians from both parties have increasingly handcuffed the white-collar detectives at..federal agencies. Price-fixing, price gouging, price manipulating and other anticompetitive practices have become more common, becoming the norm…Meanwhile, leaders chosen from the industries they are supposed to regulate are named to..regulatory boards. Compromising relationships are formed..” [Johnston; “The Fine Print”]
6] “Tyler Cowen..now directs the cause’s base camp at George Mason, the Mercatus Center, has explained..with the ‘rewriting of the social contract’ under way, people will be ‘expected to fend for themselves much more than they do now. ‘While some will flourish..’others will fail by the wayside’ and because ‘worthy individuals’ will manage to climb their way out of poverty, ‘that will make it easier to ignore those who are left behind.’ Cowen foresees..’we will cut off Medicaid for the poor.’ Also, ‘the fiscal shortfall will come out of real wages as various cost burdens are shifted to workers’ from employers and a government that does less. To ‘compensate people who have had their government benefits cut or pared back’ should pack up and move to lower-cost states like Texas. Granted..’Texas is skimpy on welfare benefits and Medicaid coverage,’ and nearly three in ten..residents have no health insurance, but the state does have jobs and ‘very cheap housing’. to offset its ‘subpar public services.”.. Cowen forecasts, ‘the United States as a whole will end up looking more like Texas.'” [MacLean; “Democracy in Chains'”
[STOP111. TIME OUT111. Reread this – for the cruelty, callousness, arrogance. THIS. is what the Far Right – the Rich and corporations intend to do – to. YOU. THIS. is what CHANGING THE. RULES. is all about.]
7]. In the last 40 years, patents and copyrights protections have been made stronger and longer. 1976 and 1998 Copyright Acts extended patents to a total of a possible 95 years. their scope expanded. Patents in courts now win 2 of 3 cases – prior, won 1 of 3..
“Examining the upsurge of patents in the semiconductor industry in the 1980s and 1990s, Hall and Ziedonas [2001] found..the main motivation was to use patents as weapons in lawsuits against competitors and as bargaining chips in..settlement of cases….. “The extreme example of using patents for legal harassment is..a patent troll, a company that exists only to push claims of patent rights against profitable companies.” [Baker: “Rigged”]
8] “Doctors, dentists, and lawyers don’t face the same downward pressure on their wages as textile workers, autoworkers, and retail clerks because the government’s policies are not trying to push their pay lower. We aren’t designing trade agreements to expose these professions to competition with lower-paid counterparts in the developing world.” [Baker; “Rigged”]
9]. Courts advanced the business project by giving corporations “personhood’ status. State courts abandoned the theory a corporation was a “mere legal construct…the Supreme Court..bestowed upon it the constitutional status of personhood without even entertaining legal argument on the matter. The final step..was to weave “economic freedom” for corporations into the texture of the Bill of Rights. Since state law permitted corporate persons to hold title to property, they could claim..protections of both the due process clause and the “takings” clause. The Court held..governmental intervention was justified only when an entire industry was “affected with the public interest,” and it narrowly construed legislation that met this test to construct governmental authority.” [McGarity: “Freedom to Harm..”]
[read this again – courts GAVE corporations the farm, by CHANGING THE RULES ]
10] “With economic power came political power as the industrialists and bankers behind the largest corporations were able to determine the makeup of many state legislatures, state courts, and to some degree even Congress. Corporate entities had the power to ‘bend laws and regulations to [their] own purposes”..” [McGarity]
11] “Refocusing Tort Law” – an active right-wing, Chicago School campaign to “talk less about corrective justice and more about efficiency.’ Posner argued the law’s “economic function” was “to deter uneconomical conduct.’ Posner asserted judges should exercise more jury control in tort litigation, a “substantial departure from the highly pragmaic common law tradition, which until the late 1970s rather successfully eschewed dogmatic formulas.” [McGarity]
12]. “With substantial financial support from conservative foundations [$68 million from Olin foundation alone], law and economics became an effective vehicle for incorporating a business-friendly approach to legal analysis into American legal education. Most law schools..offer multiple courses in law and economics..few law professors feel free to ignore law and economics altogether.” [McGarity}.
13]. Reagans first EPA Administrator, Anne Gorsuch..and her carefully selected associates adopted three strategies to change the agency’s culture:..removed career civil servants..and replaced them with ideologues, many..wholly unqualified;.. they [employed] reorganizations aimed primarily at enhancing their control over career employees;.. they negotiated directly with..regulated industries..undercutting professional staffers..” [mcGarity]
14] “..echoed a November 2007 report..by a subcommittee of FDA’s Science Advisory Board which concluded the nation’s food supply was ‘at risk,’ because the agency’s ‘ability to provide its basic food system inspection, enforcement and rule-making functions’ had been ‘severely eroded.” [MGarity} [note” the ‘erosion” had been accomplished by the “politically savvy” food industry opposition to make it safer]
15] Deregulation of financial derivatives allows them to be, ‘in the words of investor Warren Buffett, ‘weapons of mass destruction.” [McGarity} This was shown true in the Crash of 2008. R-W Rules Changes have consequences, for YOU ]
16] In 2004, the SEC loosened restraints on capital reserves – “in fact did away with any ceiling on leverage at all. It was one of the more extraordinary derelictions of regulatory duty in a long list under Christopher Cox, Bush’ appointee to see the SEC..” [Jeff Madrick” “Age of Greed” ]
17] America is the “most unequal advanced country…the direct result of 25 years of public policy that has favored wealth, rewarded property, and encouraged concentration of both.’ {Ehrenberg: “$ervants of WEALTH” ]
18] “President Reagan nominated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting board who believed..the COPB should be abolished..Reagan vetoed appropriations for the CPB..” [Sexton: ‘War on Labor and the Left”}
19] “..a key reason..wages are stagnant to falling for most..is a tx rule enacted in 1986..Reagan signed a law that said so long as the money was owned by offshore subsidiaries, American companies could hold unlimited amounts of cash..a key reason companies..siphon profits out of the United States..” [D.C. Johnston: “The Fine Print” ]
20] “..the larger transformation in the American economy since the late 1970s. A host of large industries..banks, credit card enders, electric utilities, health care, oil pipelines, Hollywood studios, property insurance, railroads, and water companies, all have worked quietly to rewrite America’s economic playbook in their favor.”
“..legislatures have rewritten basic business laws, some whose principles date back thousands of years. Too often the goal has been to thwart competition, artificially inflate prices, hold down wages by decimating unions, reduce worker benefits and then restrict or bar access to courts…Businesses have gotten policies adopted that..allowed some managers to run corporations as, effectively, criminal enterprises..” [D.C. Johnston: “The Fine Print’ }
21]. “Within two years, Reagan and Regan, working with a receptive Congress, wiped out many of the rules that had restrained finance for the previous 60 years. Gone were most of the restrictions on S 7 Ls. Gone were most of the rules that stabilized the mortgage market. For the first time, the federal government allowed companies to buy back their own shares to raise stock prices. For the first time, the federal government allowed the pooling of mortgages into so-called mortgage-backed securities – the risky investment vehicles that would eventually destroy Lehman. And for the first time, corporate raiders started taking on established companies, financing buyouts with massive amounts of new borrowing.” [Hacker & Pierson: “American Amnesia” ]
22]. Early 1990s fight over stock options…federal regulators wanted to “expense’ them..new rules to force companies to incorporate expected costs of options in their accounting. The Business Roundtable mobilized this. “..an aggressive effort to silence..compensation consultants…consultants..on the receiving end of veiled threats”..pressure on the FASB to drop new standards…CEOs “swarmed Capitol hill” with threats; 3 Democratic senators advanced a resolution to gut the FASB; “Faced with the onslaught, the FASB backed down.” [“American Amnesia”]. [note: THIS is how the top 1% works to get the rules they want ]
23]. Airline safety – and preventing 9/11. After TWA Flight 800 crashed in 1996, the Clinton administration proposed toughening airport security measures. “Tragically, as we know, had the Gore Commissions’s original recommendation’s been followed, the September 11 hijackers might never have been able to get past airport security that fateful day. But fierce opposition from the Air Transport Association, which feared that longer lines at security checkpoints would turn off passengers, managed to block any implementation of these proposals.”…
“Even after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, safety measures are being watered down at the behest of this powerful lobby.” [Sifry & Watzman: “Is That A Politician In Your Pocket?’ read pages 134-135 for more details ]
24]. “Tax Tricks”. employed by the Rich and corporations: Read “Tax The Rich” by Morris Pearl & Erica Payne, pages 68, 95, 112, l35 – and much more. How the Rich cut their taxes – so YOU can pay more to run America – Rules. Changes. That. Threaten Democracy – not to mention YOUR billfold!!!
25] “Thanks to the rules, many of which are written by corporations, a company can pull up stakes and use cheap foreign labor to make the same product it once did in America. It no longer has to meet environmental standards..abide by U.S. labor laws..pay a decent wage. Then the company can ship the product back to the United States where, courtesy of the rules, it will pay little if any duty.” American workers can’t compete against that. [D.C. Johnston: “Free Lunch” ]
26]. “The decline of U.S. manufacturing isn’t a new story. But what hasn’t been told is..the role played by Wall Street and the ruling class, why it need not have played out the way it did..what doomed manufacturing jobs was largely an economic policy crafted by Washington and Wall Street..sold to the country..that would benefit the nation as a whole. Instead..enriched a few at the expense of the many..”free trade.” [Barlett & Steele: “Betrayal of the American Dream”}
27]. “..to the IRS not all dollars are equal..Congress, responding to the wishes of their well-heeled constituents, ordered the IRS to treat some dollars differently..ensures preferential tax treatment for the privileged…If all dollars were treated the same..the deficit would disappear, with only a few adjustments in tax rates.” [“Free Lunch”}
28]. “There is yet another way..government rules favor executives over..rank and file. The rules allow troubled companies to cheat workers out of their full pensions despite a 1974 law intended to guarantee retirement income. The economics of funding pensions are simple, but corporations have persuaded Congress to make them complicated because they gain from complexity that subtly shifts risks onto workers.” [“Free Lunch”]
29]”..the Roberts Five rewrote the separation of church and state.” “..the Roberts Five in Heller held for the first time in our history..the Constitution provides each individual the right to keep and bear “arms.” [Whitehouse: “The Scheme”]
30]. “..the Chief Justice in Citizens United announced a new rule; if precedent is “hotly contested” it has less precedential value and can be replaced…Precedent fell to the Roberts Five in gun cases..campaign finance cases..voter protection cases..labor cases..always to the benefit of the Republican right.” [“The Scheme”]
3l]. Trucking deregulation is “even more destructive than in the airline industry..Nearly every large trucking company..in business at the time of deregulation has either foundered, merged with a competitor, or downsized. Most of those remaining are perilously close to collapse..Working conditions are more stressful and pay is lower..companies cut back on maintenance and replacement of trucks.” [“Betrayal of the American Dream”]
32]. “Beginning in the Reagan administration, came the sabotage. By law and by willful inaction, by written rule and by instructions to focus enforcement efforts on some criminal behaviors and not bother with others, constraints on the type of bank that is closest to American communities were disabled.” [Chayes; “On Corruption in America”}
So, dear readers – remember – this is but a very small fraction of the thousands of examples in which rules and norms were DELIBERATELY changed at the request of the Rich and Corporations – in the name of GREED. A democracy that was slowly, painfully, built – step by step – from 1901 to 1975 – was DELIBERATELY. SABOTAGED.. – by simply CHANGING. THE RULES. They have proved that money is the root of all evil.
With Justice For All 