Saving Capitalism: For The Many, Not The Few

by Robert B. Reich

Those who are rich and becoming ever more so are neither smarter nor morally superior to anyone else. They are, however, often luckier, and more privileged and more powerful. As such, their high net worth does not necessarily reflect their worth as human beings. By the same token, the vast majority who work hard for a living, and struggle against currents that are often pulling them backward and causing them to fear for themselves and their families, are not blameworthy, nor are they alone. Their voices, however, have become muted and many have grown disillusioned or cynical. The laborer who told me that he could have earned more if he “had the brains for it” saw his low pay and lowly status as the product of his own failings rather than of an economic system that has failed him by denying him sufficient bargaining power to do better. Meanwhile, the poor who cannot find their way out of poverty are not losers or failures, either, although that is how many of them view themselves. The far more significant fact is they are utterly powerless in society.