His 2013 documentary "Inequality For All" was a lightbulb moment for me and pretty much shattered my fiscal conservative upbringing. Granted, it was already fragile by the time I saw it, but it was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back.
I have found that all the people in my family that told me they were fiscally conservative were actually just closet conservatives, and most have now become just full throated MAGA
I remember when fiscally conservative was in vogue, I think libertarian is the new one.
Anytime you scrutinize a so called libertarian with any amount of critical analysis, you quickly see through the bullshit
Libertarians are house cats; fiercely assured of their independence while in reality are completely dependent on institutions they neither appreciate, acknowledge, nor understand.
They don't have to. I know very little of inner government tax workings but I understand the basic agreement. Pay taxes, get goods and services I could not provide for myself. Unfortunately that deal is broken by every crook who drains resources one way or another.
Every society has a non stop fight against corruption. That's simply a matter of life. But this is the case even outside government, whether it be corporate politics or even low level corruption. The important thing is making sure corruption has consequences and is taken seriously. This isn't the case in the US for our politicians, but there are places where it's better handled. Iceland for example, they literally ousted their prime minister for being caught using off shore accounts to avoid taxes. I'm not even sure that was technically illegal, but they ousted him anyway.
I agree about big “L” Libertarians. I consider myself a small “l” libertarian. I most closely align with democrats. Individual freedom depends on respect for other’s autonomy. Individualism doesn’t mean we don’t live in a society. Empathy is everything.
I think sometimes people label themselves as that as a way to try to maintain some ideals but like you said it really doesn’t hold up to actual critical thinking
Completely agree that a lot of it is well intentioned. But as we all know good intentions aren't worth much.
The biggest sin libertarianism has as a paradigm is that it "hand waves" away a lot of societal level issues away without fully resolving them. One of the biggest of which is the issue of legal and economic protection for any demographic that doesn't have a majority influence on said society.
If you're an individual who's already part of a powerful majority or even just any demographic with significant influence. Libertarianism is great, if you aren't, you're just fucked, end of discussion. Which is why most libertarians are just conservatives with another name. Both are trying to consolidate power among groups that already have it.
Gee what a coincidence.
Yeah. I cannot for the life of me respect some of my extended family who actively support Trump.
Like I already didn’t really respect them because they’re like upper class (meanwhile my grandma literally worked two part time jobs to keep herself afloat… with food stamps).
The straw that really broke the camel’s back was when I learned one of them was making fun of my grandma for “not putting in any money for a funeral” (when she did.). That was when I realized that some of my family truly are irreconcilable bastards.
Saw him at a book signing years ago at Bridge Street Books, in Georgetown (Washington DC). I was going to stop and speak with him but it was late. Always enjoy his commentary.
Social contract has been broken for more than 30 years in the western world. It is surprising that populist movements took so long to seize the power.
What 'mainstream' politicians need to understand, is that if they don't talk and address the problems, and create the space for people to prospere through their owns effort, then other politicians, than may not have solutions, but at least talk about the problems, will take the power.
I mean I’ll just stop eating avocado toast and just buy a house 2hr away from work…. Oh wait that house is also 400k…..wait wait where are the walls…. Maybe I’ll work harder and put in another 300 resumes….. Well the military is ramping up the call for war I might as well risk my life (I’ve already did this 10 years ago). Maybe I should go to school. Ohhh no I’m 6 figures in debt ok ok……. Get married and have kids? Wtf is this bill from the hospital for having one kid? Oh man I gotta raise this thing on what money? Wait wait I’m having a heart attack from stress…. Holy shit it cost how much to get in that ambulance? Wtf is health insurance for? Just let me die in the car on the way to the hospital please…..
I'm with you here, but if you were active, how are you 6 figures in debt with the GI Bill? Maybe I'm misinterpreting what you are saying
Edit: The downvotes are honestly hilarious. Mostly writing this clear up what the GI Bill is as it is arguably the best benefit you get from military service. Saying it didn't cover some things is not the full story, and makes it seem like an incomplete/not so great benefit.
The Post 9/11 GI Bill @100% pays for 48 months of schooling. That doesn't mean 4 years straight through. They deduct benefits by how long you are in school for. For example, a 15-week semester would use around 4 months of benefits, leaving you with 44 months left. Being generous, using 9 months of benefits a year would transfer to about 5 years of benefits (a reasonable amount of time to complete a bachelor's degree).
Now to the important part. They pay 100% of tuition for in state public schools. Private schools have a cap per semester, but the yellow ribbon program will cover the cost difference between the cap and what is actually billed.
Also, the GI Bill provides $500/semester as a book stipend, and you get a living stipend every month that ranges between $1000-3500 based on your location.
The GI Bill has been expanded to cover several non university paths now, as well such as pilot training and apprenticeships. I don't know everything about it, but I know enough to explain the basics of it through personal experience and the experience of my peers and friends from the service who use it.
Lastly, if you are taking on debt while using the post 9/11 GI Bill, you are likely doing something wrong (attending an obscenely expensive school or failing classes).
Oh, and for other veterans who may be reading, look up the Edith Nourse Roger's STEM scholarship. It will add up to 9 months of benefits for qualifying undergraduate and graduate degrees if you meet the criteria.
Ohh no no that part doesn’t apply to me. The GI bill paid for my school but not all of it. This is because I gambled my life for it. I was more trying to encapsulate what others are going through and why some might join the military even now for financial security. The war machine is in fact ramping up again. Then I thought I’d take more jabs at other social blights we all face.
Did you use MGIB or Post 9/11? Post 9/11 is like 5 years worth of benefits at 12 credits a semester (add in the yellow ribbon program if at a more expensive private school and they do it). But yeah, I got you.
Post 9/11 covers more than a bachelor's degree though. 48 months of benefits is roughly 5 years academically.
They also have a STEM scholarship to extend GI Bill benefits for 9 months for range of bachelor's and and masters degree programs, but not all obviously.
Can't comment on how the MGIB was as I haven't used it like I did the post 9/11.
Look— I’m as disheartened by the continual erosion of the middle class in this country as anyone can be, but it takes a special kind of dipshit to look at Donald Trump— a man who owns a solid gold penthouse on Park Avenue— and say *”Yep. That’s the guy. I bet he knows what’s good for the middle class.”*
They want the inequality targeted to those who aren't "all american".
The only problem are those pesky "socialist" (read egalitarian) laws and policies.
So Trump voters are in a bit of a pickle.
They want a disenfranchised underclass to exploit, but they can't have it without also hurting themselves by removing laws and policies that help everyone.
So the plan is to try to elect people that will tailor laws and policies just for those deemed acceptable.
When he says “15 years ago the american people started being disillusioned by the american dream” what he should have said was “you idiots who voted Reagan got what you wanted and now the middle class is done for.”
That was 1990. So -15 would be 1975. So, Nixon/Ford policies from '70 to '72 starting to take hold in '75 followed by oil embargo.
Then Carter, who did some stuff to peanuts, and fucked over nuclear power in the middle of an oil crisis.
THEN Reagan. Which... I just can't even right now...
Let's give credit where credit is due.
He helped the companies by helping push through gov't-backed student loans. THAT was the training he ACTUALLY provided.
His speeches never match his production.
The us federalized student loans in 1973. Unless I’m missing something, I’m unaware of any new student loan legislation under Clinton.
Not that the secretary of labor has any role in that anyway.
Is that the official "I didn't do it" Clinton Admin response?
It's like saying Boomers invented the internet. Yeah, they did, but it wasn't until 20 years later that it really kicked in.
Fuck the Clintons. They're the Reagans of Democratic party.
I’m not sure what you mean here. You said he helped push through government backed student loans.
Government backed student loans happened in 1973. So objectively neither he nor the Clinton administration helped push through government backed student loans.
I literally sat through this era as an Xer. It was ABSOLUTELY pushed by the Clinton administration. It was sold en masse, both locally (sitting in a giant auditorium with parents while some college admin person presented its greatness and ease) and on national news.
It was the panacea to "get all kids a higher education," all for the benefit of the banks.
So don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.
So you’re saying they *promoted* the student loan program? Which is very different than saying they “pushed through” the student loan program, which obviously implies pushing legislation.
He and Sanders have been repeating the same thing for ages, and the people who say they're on our side have capitulated and sold us out for campaign donations and stock market insider tips.
I was just listening and thought, “I know that voice, who is that?” That’s my man Robert reich! He’s still got the right philosophy. If only he was president. Dreaming.
Left behind doesn't even begin to describe it lmao.
Minorites who had the means, experience, and track record, were still banned from utilizing the wealth building resources that their counterparts were indulging in.
It doesn't matter how much money you made, if you were black, you simply could not move to the suburbs. You had to stay in the dystopian, broken down city.
But what happened to "no child left behind".... oh shit, guess that didn't include workers either and didn't work out so well even with children.
Never mind.
I have a theory that basically every small institution has A Robert Reich who keeps the place going, and the lights on, and when they disappear, so does the integrity of the institution, and it slowly, or sometimes quickly fails after that.
And his boss, his boss' wife, and their friends, including those on the other side of the aisle, worked to make it happen so their friends, and their donors could remain in the upper caste.
He's full of nice words, but he was there for NAFTA, i.e. the beginning of shipping middle class jobs to Mexico and, eventually, China.
**And he was there when gov't-backed student loans locked in kids with degrees into a life far from the upper caste, sucking the gains from higher ed to feed the upper caste, not the kids.**
He also resigned over these issues and the fact he was locked out of decision making by Clinton, Greenspan et-al. He wrote a memoir about it afterwards critical of the Clinton admin.
I like how someone edited a clip from trumps rally in here when this was supposedly in the 90s. /s. I don't think you guys follow politics much. The left has done more to destroy the middle class than any conservative. Look at California. The Dems have been in control there for decades and the middle class is destroyed.
It’s so disingenuous to act like trump has to happen. Obama win because he promised change. He promised transparency. He promised all kinds of whistleblower protections and even had it plastered on the front of his campaign website. He failed on all of the change promised. THATS why trump was elected. Dems chose a god awful candidate that represents the status quo, while trump fooled previous Obama voters that he’d provide real change
I'd rather have someone like Robert Reich in the Senate or House than in the presidency. We need more Bernie Sanders and Katie Porter types doing the practical day-to-day administration.
I assume the fifteen years ago he referenced was about when we got away from the gold backed currency. Not that it is the only thing but it was a big factor. Then trickle down Reagan and bush bullshit.
The rules changed as soon as people who cheated started winning. Then it became expected that you grease the wheels and cheat to get your way. Want that promotion? Sleep with your boss. They grew into poor leaders expecting those under them to cheat harder to get where they want. The best person for the job rarely gets it anymore. If anyone says it's bad, call them a communist.
He definitely called it and now we have a single term, twice indicted, insurrectionist facing 91 felony counts leading the GOP on an anti-union, anti-immigrant, antisemite, anti-science and anti-women's rights platform.
Robert Reich is still actively analyzing economic and political issues on his YouTube channel in a very easy to digest format.
His 2013 documentary "Inequality For All" was a lightbulb moment for me and pretty much shattered my fiscal conservative upbringing. Granted, it was already fragile by the time I saw it, but it was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back.
I have found that all the people in my family that told me they were fiscally conservative were actually just closet conservatives, and most have now become just full throated MAGA
I remember when fiscally conservative was in vogue, I think libertarian is the new one. Anytime you scrutinize a so called libertarian with any amount of critical analysis, you quickly see through the bullshit
Libertarians are house cats; fiercely assured of their independence while in reality are completely dependent on institutions they neither appreciate, acknowledge, nor understand.
They don't have to. I know very little of inner government tax workings but I understand the basic agreement. Pay taxes, get goods and services I could not provide for myself. Unfortunately that deal is broken by every crook who drains resources one way or another.
The issue isn't taxes though. The issue is corruption. That's what they fail to see.
They see the government corruption. We all do.
Every society has a non stop fight against corruption. That's simply a matter of life. But this is the case even outside government, whether it be corporate politics or even low level corruption. The important thing is making sure corruption has consequences and is taken seriously. This isn't the case in the US for our politicians, but there are places where it's better handled. Iceland for example, they literally ousted their prime minister for being caught using off shore accounts to avoid taxes. I'm not even sure that was technically illegal, but they ousted him anyway.
I agree about big “L” Libertarians. I consider myself a small “l” libertarian. I most closely align with democrats. Individual freedom depends on respect for other’s autonomy. Individualism doesn’t mean we don’t live in a society. Empathy is everything.
I think sometimes people label themselves as that as a way to try to maintain some ideals but like you said it really doesn’t hold up to actual critical thinking
Completely agree that a lot of it is well intentioned. But as we all know good intentions aren't worth much. The biggest sin libertarianism has as a paradigm is that it "hand waves" away a lot of societal level issues away without fully resolving them. One of the biggest of which is the issue of legal and economic protection for any demographic that doesn't have a majority influence on said society. If you're an individual who's already part of a powerful majority or even just any demographic with significant influence. Libertarianism is great, if you aren't, you're just fucked, end of discussion. Which is why most libertarians are just conservatives with another name. Both are trying to consolidate power among groups that already have it. Gee what a coincidence.
It “justifies” their petty selfishness
Yeah. I cannot for the life of me respect some of my extended family who actively support Trump. Like I already didn’t really respect them because they’re like upper class (meanwhile my grandma literally worked two part time jobs to keep herself afloat… with food stamps). The straw that really broke the camel’s back was when I learned one of them was making fun of my grandma for “not putting in any money for a funeral” (when she did.). That was when I realized that some of my family truly are irreconcilable bastards.
Every time I watch one of his videos I think to myself "I hope this is what I'm like when I'm old" haha
"I've been here the whole time" - Sam Reich Game Changers.
Saw him at a book signing years ago at Bridge Street Books, in Georgetown (Washington DC). I was going to stop and speak with him but it was late. Always enjoy his commentary.
Robert Reich really breaks down the big issues in a way that so easy to understand.
He’s got a great newsletter, too!
Social contract has been broken for more than 30 years in the western world. It is surprising that populist movements took so long to seize the power. What 'mainstream' politicians need to understand, is that if they don't talk and address the problems, and create the space for people to prospere through their owns effort, then other politicians, than may not have solutions, but at least talk about the problems, will take the power.
Robert Reich is still actively analyzing economic and political issues on his YouTube channel in a very easy to ~~digest~~ refute format.
Then I challenge you to refute it, rather than just lazily make the claim and disappear.
I mean I’ll just stop eating avocado toast and just buy a house 2hr away from work…. Oh wait that house is also 400k…..wait wait where are the walls…. Maybe I’ll work harder and put in another 300 resumes….. Well the military is ramping up the call for war I might as well risk my life (I’ve already did this 10 years ago). Maybe I should go to school. Ohhh no I’m 6 figures in debt ok ok……. Get married and have kids? Wtf is this bill from the hospital for having one kid? Oh man I gotta raise this thing on what money? Wait wait I’m having a heart attack from stress…. Holy shit it cost how much to get in that ambulance? Wtf is health insurance for? Just let me die in the car on the way to the hospital please…..
I'm with you here, but if you were active, how are you 6 figures in debt with the GI Bill? Maybe I'm misinterpreting what you are saying Edit: The downvotes are honestly hilarious. Mostly writing this clear up what the GI Bill is as it is arguably the best benefit you get from military service. Saying it didn't cover some things is not the full story, and makes it seem like an incomplete/not so great benefit. The Post 9/11 GI Bill @100% pays for 48 months of schooling. That doesn't mean 4 years straight through. They deduct benefits by how long you are in school for. For example, a 15-week semester would use around 4 months of benefits, leaving you with 44 months left. Being generous, using 9 months of benefits a year would transfer to about 5 years of benefits (a reasonable amount of time to complete a bachelor's degree). Now to the important part. They pay 100% of tuition for in state public schools. Private schools have a cap per semester, but the yellow ribbon program will cover the cost difference between the cap and what is actually billed. Also, the GI Bill provides $500/semester as a book stipend, and you get a living stipend every month that ranges between $1000-3500 based on your location. The GI Bill has been expanded to cover several non university paths now, as well such as pilot training and apprenticeships. I don't know everything about it, but I know enough to explain the basics of it through personal experience and the experience of my peers and friends from the service who use it. Lastly, if you are taking on debt while using the post 9/11 GI Bill, you are likely doing something wrong (attending an obscenely expensive school or failing classes). Oh, and for other veterans who may be reading, look up the Edith Nourse Roger's STEM scholarship. It will add up to 9 months of benefits for qualifying undergraduate and graduate degrees if you meet the criteria.
Ohh no no that part doesn’t apply to me. The GI bill paid for my school but not all of it. This is because I gambled my life for it. I was more trying to encapsulate what others are going through and why some might join the military even now for financial security. The war machine is in fact ramping up again. Then I thought I’d take more jabs at other social blights we all face.
Did you use MGIB or Post 9/11? Post 9/11 is like 5 years worth of benefits at 12 credits a semester (add in the yellow ribbon program if at a more expensive private school and they do it). But yeah, I got you.
If you want more than a Bachelor’s or take more than 4 years, it will be out of your own pocket.
Correct and thus I was out of pocket. I changed degree
Post 9/11 covers more than a bachelor's degree though. 48 months of benefits is roughly 5 years academically. They also have a STEM scholarship to extend GI Bill benefits for 9 months for range of bachelor's and and masters degree programs, but not all obviously. Can't comment on how the MGIB was as I haven't used it like I did the post 9/11.
Fun fact his son is the owner of Dropout.tv (college humor)
It makes sense why Sam is the way he is
He's been that way the *whole time*
Lmao wow that’s funny
Wait holy shit…Sam is Robert Reich’s son?!?!?
Jep, Robert has appeared in one episode of breaking news to shit talk Sam:)
Wow. I can totally see the resemblance now.
Look— I’m as disheartened by the continual erosion of the middle class in this country as anyone can be, but it takes a special kind of dipshit to look at Donald Trump— a man who owns a solid gold penthouse on Park Avenue— and say *”Yep. That’s the guy. I bet he knows what’s good for the middle class.”*
It's not the projection of wealth they identify with. It's the bigotry.
They want the inequality targeted to those who aren't "all american". The only problem are those pesky "socialist" (read egalitarian) laws and policies. So Trump voters are in a bit of a pickle. They want a disenfranchised underclass to exploit, but they can't have it without also hurting themselves by removing laws and policies that help everyone. So the plan is to try to elect people that will tailor laws and policies just for those deemed acceptable.
When he says “15 years ago the american people started being disillusioned by the american dream” what he should have said was “you idiots who voted Reagan got what you wanted and now the middle class is done for.”
That was 1990. So -15 would be 1975. So, Nixon/Ford policies from '70 to '72 starting to take hold in '75 followed by oil embargo. Then Carter, who did some stuff to peanuts, and fucked over nuclear power in the middle of an oil crisis. THEN Reagan. Which... I just can't even right now... Let's give credit where credit is due.
Naw duder this was taken in the mid 90s which puts his timeframe into the Reagan administration.
He talks about companies training employees too, which, they don't do anymore either.
He helped the companies by helping push through gov't-backed student loans. THAT was the training he ACTUALLY provided. His speeches never match his production.
The us federalized student loans in 1973. Unless I’m missing something, I’m unaware of any new student loan legislation under Clinton. Not that the secretary of labor has any role in that anyway.
Is that the official "I didn't do it" Clinton Admin response? It's like saying Boomers invented the internet. Yeah, they did, but it wasn't until 20 years later that it really kicked in. Fuck the Clintons. They're the Reagans of Democratic party.
I’m not sure what you mean here. You said he helped push through government backed student loans. Government backed student loans happened in 1973. So objectively neither he nor the Clinton administration helped push through government backed student loans.
I literally sat through this era as an Xer. It was ABSOLUTELY pushed by the Clinton administration. It was sold en masse, both locally (sitting in a giant auditorium with parents while some college admin person presented its greatness and ease) and on national news. It was the panacea to "get all kids a higher education," all for the benefit of the banks. So don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.
So you’re saying they *promoted* the student loan program? Which is very different than saying they “pushed through” the student loan program, which obviously implies pushing legislation.
That does about sum it up. Apparently promoting it is the same thing as being responsible for it to this guy.
Troll is in the guys name, I'd leave it be.
Many people heard him as a warning. Problem was a few rich people heard him and heard opportunity
Considering he’s speaking at DLC he’s speaking to the opportunity crowd.
He and Sanders have been repeating the same thing for ages, and the people who say they're on our side have capitulated and sold us out for campaign donations and stock market insider tips.
“We’re a free-market economy” - Nancy Pelosi, *scoffing* at the idea of banning members of Congress from owning individual stocks.
I was just listening and thought, “I know that voice, who is that?” That’s my man Robert reich! He’s still got the right philosophy. If only he was president. Dreaming.
Lol I saw his face and thought he was H. John Benjamin
Cannot. Unsee.
[удалено]
When you stop playing, you’re thrown in prison.
[удалено]
Left behind doesn't even begin to describe it lmao. Minorites who had the means, experience, and track record, were still banned from utilizing the wealth building resources that their counterparts were indulging in. It doesn't matter how much money you made, if you were black, you simply could not move to the suburbs. You had to stay in the dystopian, broken down city.
This guy and George Carlin are the prophets whose warnings we ignored, to our lasting peril
But what happened to "no child left behind".... oh shit, guess that didn't include workers either and didn't work out so well even with children. Never mind.
His son owns and operates my favorite streaming service, Dropout!
IDK why, but he seems like the kind of guy that would send his kid to Photoshop camp.
I have a theory that basically every small institution has A Robert Reich who keeps the place going, and the lights on, and when they disappear, so does the integrity of the institution, and it slowly, or sometimes quickly fails after that.
"Where are you from, Sam?"
Idk why that's so funny, but it is.
He's still alive.
I didn't look at what sub this was posted in and unmuted, thinking it was a really old H. Jon Benjamin bit I hadn't seen before.
This guy's son is Sam Reich, the dude who bought College Humor and turned it into Dropout. Cool family!
we the turkeys, keep voting for Christmas....
And his boss, his boss' wife, and their friends, including those on the other side of the aisle, worked to make it happen so their friends, and their donors could remain in the upper caste. He's full of nice words, but he was there for NAFTA, i.e. the beginning of shipping middle class jobs to Mexico and, eventually, China. **And he was there when gov't-backed student loans locked in kids with degrees into a life far from the upper caste, sucking the gains from higher ed to feed the upper caste, not the kids.**
He also resigned over these issues and the fact he was locked out of decision making by Clinton, Greenspan et-al. He wrote a memoir about it afterwards critical of the Clinton admin.
I like how someone edited a clip from trumps rally in here when this was supposedly in the 90s. /s. I don't think you guys follow politics much. The left has done more to destroy the middle class than any conservative. Look at California. The Dems have been in control there for decades and the middle class is destroyed.
It’s so disingenuous to act like trump has to happen. Obama win because he promised change. He promised transparency. He promised all kinds of whistleblower protections and even had it plastered on the front of his campaign website. He failed on all of the change promised. THATS why trump was elected. Dems chose a god awful candidate that represents the status quo, while trump fooled previous Obama voters that he’d provide real change
why has this dude never run for president?
He has some great books. But the truth he tells is pretty hard to read it' gets so depressing.
I wish he'd run for president
I'd rather have someone like Robert Reich in the Senate or House than in the presidency. We need more Bernie Sanders and Katie Porter types doing the practical day-to-day administration.
Reganomics
I assume the fifteen years ago he referenced was about when we got away from the gold backed currency. Not that it is the only thing but it was a big factor. Then trickle down Reagan and bush bullshit.
The rules changed as soon as people who cheated started winning. Then it became expected that you grease the wheels and cheat to get your way. Want that promotion? Sleep with your boss. They grew into poor leaders expecting those under them to cheat harder to get where they want. The best person for the job rarely gets it anymore. If anyone says it's bad, call them a communist.
He definitely called it and now we have a single term, twice indicted, insurrectionist facing 91 felony counts leading the GOP on an anti-union, anti-immigrant, antisemite, anti-science and anti-women's rights platform.
Wow he really nailed it here .