Great to hear you bring up The Sherman Anti-trust act! I often tell people about it and that it is still on the books! Any president could just start enforcing it with no action on congress's part! It just hasn't been enforced since Reagan stopped enforcing it. I am a very small wholesaler and the domination of giant retailers has been brutal since the late 80's and NO ONE ever talks about it! Thank-you!

Several years ago Robert Wolff started his talk radio program. His message reached us, and I believed in his message, after him there was Chris Hedges, and those voices are growing, like your own. Please don't stop - you are doing real good.

Awesome! Thomas Frank has a new book. I will let everyone know. Thanks for the coverage.

What I found most marvelling of this "discussion" and continue to marvel over as regularly exhibited throughout the U.S. is the inability to call out the dead mammoth in the room. Frank has made many a pretty penny off of writing about the cause. Every one of his grand selling books consistently talk about this cause. Without a doubt, Frank has proven himself exceptional in pointing out example after example of the cause. And yet, I noted, not a single time during this discussion by Frank, nor those asking questions, was the cause ever explicitly called out as "the cause." Of course there should be no surprise about this because within the U.S., its citizenry have been thoroughly taught far longer than the extent of any one of us alive, that "the cause" is never to be openly discussed and defined as "the cause" of social destruction. So much so, that if any one dare openly call out "the cause" for what it is, the depth of psychological dissonance of "the cause" naturally forces a trigger of something akin to, 'Well, that's just crazy talk.' And yet, were one to actually examine the level of knowledge Americans have been taught or know about "the cause," one would easily come to understand that they have very little to no true understanding of "the cause" on account of how successful "the cause" has unwittingly undermined the entire social consciousness in place that is designed to deny "the cause," and therefore, as exhibited here and throughout this country, at best, far more often ignorantly skirt around "the cause," pointing out example after example of "the cause" but never willfully calling it out for what it is. Until the American people begin to learn about Capitalism as the greatest destructive economic force it is and, in turn, become courageous enough to call Capitalism out as "the cause" for every single example of a failed society in historical example after example to 'the people' as noted here and blatantly witnessable throughout, not just this nation, but globally, such "discussions" will continue to be, ultimately, a mute plea for salvation on an inevitable sinking ship to civilization as we know it at best, if not humanity at worse.

@EmmaBeverage

6 жыл бұрын

Mike G. There is a much more hidden and secretive cause. See what I wrote to Peter Mizia above.

Easily one of the top five political commentators.

Fantastic post. Love Thomas Frank, a clear voice in troubled times. Thx

Thomas Frank. Quite possibly the only outraged Liberal(or Progressive) with a pretty good sense of humor.

I haven't come across Thomas Frank before...much to my chagrin...He is an excellent, and entertaining speaker, and a great exponent of progressive ideas. Must read his books!

Thomas, you mentioned you have been writing about this for 20 years....Keep on keeping on my friend... Chris Hedges, another "warrior", has said; “if we don’t rebel, if we’re not physically in an active rebellion, then it’s spiritual death.” I believe that writing is "active rebellion". I have begun to write myself, and hope to contribute to the rebellion when I attempt to publish. Neoliberalism has taken over both the Democrat and GOP parties through the corporate monies and lobbyists. Main stream media is not untouched by this corruption. We see that in their attack on Bernie Sanders, and their avoidance of his popularity. We must push forward. The good of humanity depends on us to push forward.

@briankoontz1

6 жыл бұрын

There's no reason to believe that the spiritual death didn't occur in the late 1960s and we've been undead ever since. The 1960s popularized the understanding of the dying world, and our response was to shut down or neuter popular movements, follow that up with Neoliberalism, and allow the world to approach it's long-term inability to support life. If we wanted to save the world, we already would have. Our supposed ignorance is a lie we tell ourselves, like smokers pretending to be amazed to hear that smoking causes cancer. "I didn't know, I swear!" Chris Hedges isn't providing hope - he's allowing us to believe we're doing something, "educating ourselves", when in fact we already were educated decades ago. The delusion is that we're perpetually ignorant, therefore perpetually becoming educated, and this goes on, and on, and on. So we're "rebels", and "warriors", and as we become more "educated" we will surely become Paladins overthrowing the forces of darkness. The purpose of industrial capitalism is to destroy the world - that was understood at some level as early as Goethe, as he looked on sadly at an early industrial project. What was taken from the earth was to be used to fuel humanity's ascension, away from the dying earth and toward a distant God. THAT is why industrial capitalism is supported by the people of the world. It's not an elite scheme trampling upon an ignorant global slave population. Industrial capitalism was the engine in the vehicle of humanity's reunification with God, following the shift from Geocentrism to Heliocentrism within the human imagination. Socialism's purpose, on the other hand, is to maintain the health and well-being of the existing human population. That's it. There's no grand purpose, spiritual or otherwise. Many workers willingly died building the Egyptian pyramids. For them, a grand purpose was far greater than their life. And as a modern example, many people willingly eat terrible diets, dying early deaths, for the purpose of hedonistic pleasure at the delicious food. Socialism IS gaining popularity at present, but this has nothing to do with increased education and everything to do with human failure. Industrial capitalism has failed - we believe that the world will die before we're capable of escaping it. In other words, the purpose of industrial capitalism is gone. The dream is done. And as we shamble along amid our shattered dreams, of a reunification with God that will never come, we look to Socialism to save us, to at least extend our lives before the world's death.

One of my favorite observers and commentators of our world.

We need local banks again to help build local business

47 years of full fiat money grows a strange culture among those who benefit first and those who don't benefit at all. We have not got wealth. We have debt. If you take away the threat we present to the world we would quickly become a banana republic. World reserve currency removed and we go down, hard.

Scholarly papers are no longer available to the general public and that includes studies in psychology and sociology and education.Tells the story.

We are in the midst of the big con, all of America is the mark.

@briankoontz1

6 жыл бұрын

Neoliberalism and the power of high finance were both triggered by the popularization of the dying world in the 1960s. That marked the transition in elite behavior from a controlled burn of the world to a ravenous bonfire. The reason is simple - the world is dying. The elites therefore are no longer interested in sustaining the world for their long-term interests - there are no more long-term interests. The desperation of the elite in the dying world leads to increased security, surveillance, hoarding, and the development of high technology such as anti-aging and artificial intelligence designed to maximize lifespans and replace the services previously provided by human beings. So it's not a "con" - in fact we know what's going on. We in wealthy countries are comforted by the fact that our privilege means we will die long after most people in the world. We support the elite precisely for that reason - it's their power that guarantees our privilege. We really don't and won't care about the billions of corpses piling up over the course of the 21st century, more than that if we fail to avoid nuclear annihilation. Those corpses are a buffer between ourselves and our own deaths, and only once that buffer is eroded will our deaths come.

@foxbodyblues6709

6 жыл бұрын

4% growth 4% unemployment 3 % wage growth actual progress towards peace on the Korean Peninsula progress towards nuclear arms reductions with Russia How terrible things are!!!

We're listening Tom. We care.

Im pretty sure Trump is going to be reelected because he has the formula down: he is talking simply about jobs and protecting jobs with Tariffs while his opponents are talking about reforms and so on and arent saying the word 'jobs' that much. I think most voters are not that analytical or reform minded, they just want security.

the rabid anti-communist movement in this country did alot of damage.

We appreciate you Tom.

They are worried Bernie is going to redistribute their faux mansion and two cars and the poodle to the cable guy.

Would like to hear more discussion throughout the US on earned vs unearned income and how that might be the biggest difference b/t the 1% and everyone else (the 1% can live off unearned income while everyone else must live solely off earned income).

Love Thomas Frank.

READ KARL MARX

Tom Frank’s analysis is always super relevant.

As a '60s activist and early "Boomer" all I can say to the sister who spoke is "Right On!". Those of us with brains and compassion were kicked out in the '80s. Our generation has been a major sellout. General Strike.

Trump speaks with the assumption that what is good for business is good for labor - not the reverse.

Frank voted for Hillary. Is this his mea culpa? It was the dislike of Clinton which enabled a Trump win. We've only one major party, the Bribe Party; whatever differences there are between the two parties are mere window dressing. Vote for what you want, not for what you don't want which in most cases, means to vote for a third party.

@polyseed12

6 жыл бұрын

MmeDefarge (Expose NYC Meth Labs) and thats why we have Trump. Its about picking the person who should be President not self actualization in the voting both.

@bonzodog67lizardking15

6 жыл бұрын

Hillary cheated Bernie out of his shot. NOBODY wanted Clinton; her primary slogan might as well have been, "The Name You Know." The good news is that there appears to be a rebellion on the Left against Clintonism. Check-out what's happening to Dianne Feinstein in California.

Aside from pursuing antitrust, we need a president who is fully committed to promoting unionization in every workplace in America. Workers, not Big Government, would be the catalyst for "wealth redistribution," and it would be done democratically.

For anybody wondering about that "French" reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Piketty Check out Thomas Piketty.

Globaloney- What a great term- Thank you Thomas Frank !

It's not an absence of a moral philosophy. It's an absence of civics education in schools. The average person does not know what a representative democracy is. They don't know what it requires or their obligation to preserve and protect it. Since the '50s, we've gone from 12 years of civics education in schools to zero years of education in schools. The average Millennial graduated from school without seeing the word "democracy" in their textbook. The civil society that people are longing for only exists in a democracy. It is cast away under authoritarian rule. The solution isn't finding a philosopher. The solution is a revolution to restore democracy in America. Before you can have a solution, a hoard of ignorant people need to be educated.

Frank is always the smartest person in the room regarding politics unless Thomas Piketty is in the same room. Then it is a push.

@julieannmyers8714

5 жыл бұрын

Check out Yanis Varoufakis. Brilliant.

To Thomas Frank: tribalism trumps economics every time.

That was one hell of a criticism. Damn you’re right not on the money. I couldn’t figure out why I hated that movie so much. Thank you for articulating it.

I wake up in the morning and the sun is shining and the birds are _silent_ ; not there, not present, and I hope they are to be found elsewhere, somewhere reasonably nearby..

This was a good talk by Frank, and there were some good questions from the audience. But I wish more of the questioners would learn how to get to the point and not ramble so much.

introduction ends approx. 2:20. Q&A begins approx. 28:00.

So glad Tom sidestepped the "trump evil" comment and stuck to critique of the Left

I love the analysis from the lady from Kansas. It is a pervasive problem.

Thomas, I'm a fan but the day of 2 party is over, needs to over

To answer the question - about a moral philosopher who can communication "what the hell is going on" (sorry to quote Trump - but done to highlight part of the problem)... Several names come to mind - Roy Casagranda - Noam Chomsky - Richard Wolff - are the top 3 academics in the US - that have a strong foundation in telling American history and economics - more honestly and have made a career of being academic outsiders. And to truly fill your cup - maybe peel the thick layer of wool away from your eyes - you need to read some books... scary thought. Several books - Manufacturing Consent - The True Cost of Low Prices - A People's History of the United States.... Those are my top 3 recommends... but I have a longer list if you are interested.

@EmmaBeverage

6 жыл бұрын

Stephen Cotton, See what I wrote to Peter Mizia above.

Time Thomas looked at Modern Monetary Theory from the economists at Univ. of Missouri Kansas City, the Levy Institute and the University of Newcastle (Aus). MMT points out that in a sovereign free-floating fiat currency taxes do not fund spending and so the argument that we cannot afford public spending is a lie and therefore the Republicans ad the UK governments are trying to pull the wool over our eyes when they operate austerity policies.

Good point about Macron. He really found a way to get in Trump's head. With a parade, no less!

This was a very interesting presentation and the mechanics of achieving progressive goals has to be explored and worked on as a grassroots project, or it will remain too intangible for voters to be able to relate to, and the Oblivion chapter will likely come to pass. The best industrial strategy to address the missing content is getting a fraction of the population aware of and trained in the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. One place where the details and some survey of the literature can be accessed on this is on Twitter @InternationalConsortiumSinglePayer.

This guy knows because he sees

26:42. This is where identity politics is such a blessing for our masters. That, more than anything, is what keeps the great majority from realising its power.

@EmmaBeverage

6 жыл бұрын

Hamish Sutherland, See what I wrote to Peter Mizia above.

Congress had two opportunities to prevent the catastrophes that have destroyed our country since 2001. Both chances would have required Congress to ignore the precedents since Marbury v. Madison, the decision by John Marshall that began the Supreme Court's role as interpreter of the Constitution. Only the most extreme abuse should justify the ignoring of such precedents. The Supreme Court's halting of the counting of votes in Florida was one such abuse. The halting by the Court, the interference with a State's control of its election, was itself a violation of precedent - by the Supreme Court! The second chance to save the nation would have been the Congress's ignoring ot the Citizen's United v. SEC decision. That decision destroyed the value of elections in the US. They are now largely a sham. Big corporations have prostituted the Congress. That decision was bad enough for Congress to have overturned Marbury v. Madison.

This is very good but for me it's too late. I've already quit caring about any of this. I have other more interesting things to look into before I die. But this turned out to be fun click bait while I took a late night break.

If I sold my soul to the Right when I was in J. school, I'd be a millionaire today!

Love the woman at time stamp 30:43. I wish she could give a lecture. Really eloquent and interesting.

Thank you at around 49 minutes that it's not just about Trump. Frank could talk more about the power of group-think, propaganda, ways people are being manipulated into what they think, especially the anti-Russia talk and that we have to trust the intelligence community. Is this another Iraq? How far will they go? Also talk about two war parties.

I agree - things won't change - until you get money out of politics - it is like swimming upstream - against a tsunami. Sanders was a great example of how to get clean money into politics...

Love the "elite" day. Brilliant. Feel the same way.

We have about 1.4 million American homeless children and families would the Democratics object to our homeless Americans staying at the shelters that the Democratics say aren't good enough for illegal aliens in??

40% of registered voters now identify as Independent. My guess is that there's a large number of registered democrats & republicans who switch back and forth from one voting cycle to another, depending on who one wishes to vote for in the primaries. I know, because I do it myself and know others who do. The vast majority of Independents strive to listen to both sides and attempt to select candidates based on their policies. It's not easy with the swill we're swimming in these days.

I don't know if it's a matter of communicative gifts, as far as being able to bridge the divide by having a moral thinker and leader who could articulate today's situation for the public while also articulating it for the academic and professional world. It's seems to me more a matter of bullheadedness on the part of the professionals and academics, and their eagerness to dismiss anyone those who can speak for the common person. They don't want this gap bridged. It's elitism in a pure form that regards itself as discontinuous with the rest of the population.

I love how all of the questioners have to list their academic credentials, then proudly pronounce their 'elite' status, then proceed to not ask a question for a good five minutes. Guess what? If you're a professor or an academic, you're dreaming that you're an actual elitist. Your education and diploma will mean nothing when the pitchforks and torches start up.

This is the history of capitalism, with its use of technological "advancement". It's ugly. But this is the truth. (And sadly people of all ages in the US still remind me so much of the religious minded.)

His perspective as an historian is equal to his subject. Hollywood. Hope he is happy with himself.

Tom, the affluent Democratic professional class isn't so small any more. If you take the top 20% in household income, those earning more than $115K, the vast majority are affluent professionals. Because their families have more adults than children, and they are more likely to vote, they have maybe 30% of the electorate. They also have the money, the candidates, and the ideas. That's why the Democrats are yoked to this class and its class interest, and cannot appeal to low and middle-income people freely.

trump derangement syndrome is the oddest for of cognitive dissonance . Someone really needs to do an anthropological study of it at some point..

... he is good

For sharp insight on these issues, esp the take-over by the new credentialed class, check out French demographer Emmanuel Todd.

Oblivian doesn't call voters and non citizens deplorable

You guys should get Morris Berman to give a lecture.

2:21 to skip the intro

Hot Damm I was Born in Kansas, Wichita; 1949. Kansas produces Stellar People, This Kansas pottery called its products "a melody in glaze." ... Dryden Pottery opened in Ellsworth in 1946 [Personal Friends! Now in Hot Springs, Ar.) and My Great Grandmother was born of the Osage Indians from Labette County, Kansas to a new Indian Territory She told me remembrance of the "Benders" which was near by the Osage Trail. I went to Coffeyville Kansas in 2016 to do Family Research at the Public Library, got all the Family Indian Deeds ...then in El Paso, Texas while going home (San Francisco) on Greyhound I had my Guitar & Case stolen : I had put all those in my Water Proof Guitar Case because it is my Tool of Trade, and my Money Generator. I thought I would Never Ever let it get loose! I was in Toilet doing the Sit Down thing and it was Grabbed and Gone while my Pants were Down!

Is it just me or are all the related vidros Thomas the Tank Engine and stuff? 😅

No despair cuts as deeply as the denial of hope realized as an existential loss. Charletarism is the new industrial production growth sector of the economy where we may celebrate the parasites that have led us to our demise.

All good till the end... when he actually thinks democrats are honest players... go against their donors.. LOL

@pathocrat

6 жыл бұрын

It's obvious to me that's not what he thinks at all.

@pjamesbda

6 жыл бұрын

Cynicism may be our worst enemy. If you find the tools at your disposal are rusty and dull, you have a choice: you roll up your sleeves and go to work, or you give up. Which are you?

@richardburt9812

6 жыл бұрын

My thoughts exactly. :)

Circa July 2018

she posed a decent question, but then would not let him answer it...

so phd in history for son may not be too bad..needed

In all the meanderings Thomas Frank does; he, like all the others on both the right and left, leave out the one thing that controls, influences, and directs us all whether it's politics, the economy, social issues, etc. And it is The Nature of Banking and Money. Currently, this is governed by three things; #1. It is private, #2. it is privileged and favors those who are already successful at the feeding trough of our culture; but these three things only amount to 10% each, 20% total; wherein 80% resides in #3. HIGHLY LEVERAGED MONEY, which comes into being on the banks' books or on the banks' computer strike/entries at the current average rate between the 5-10 large banks of 35 to one. That's a 3,500% markup on the accounts held in the commercial banks on checking and savings accounts. The worst of it is, the overseer-er of the commercial banks we all deal with, is the FED, The Federal Reserve Bank; where the leverage rate is between 70 and 80 to one; a 7,000% to 8,000% markup on the reserve accounts held at the FED. With these kinds of figures existing in the creation of new money for loans, the country builds a bubble which eventually bursts as it did in 2007-2008, when the average leverage rate for the 5-10 big banks was a whopping 50 to one, a 5,000% markup on checking and savings accounts. All else that Frank talks about just seems to be child's play compared to this elephant in the front room (The Nature of Money and Banking); and Frank either doesn't know about it or just stays away from it as probably being to out there as too esoteric of a subject, not making him and whomever he is talking to feel warm and fuzzy.

Adjunct, aka slave wages in most circumstances. Education and teaching is being played way down in importance. When the fact is it is most important. I recommend a former teacher and author, Richard Mitchell, and a 15 year newsletter as The Underground Grammarian and he wrote 4 books and he is the most interesting educator I have known for some time, from 1970s when I heard of him hawking his book 'Less than Words Can Say' on Tom Snyder The Tomorrow Show(after Johnny Carson). sourcetext.com/grammarian

“Appetite for cruelty’ 😱

@deanrao7554

6 жыл бұрын

Cruelty is the main ingredient of entertainment among my (admittedly limited) group of acquaintances. I hope Frank is right about such meanness and cruelty not being the norm in this country.

@dscully1808

6 жыл бұрын

It was a great turn of phrase. I haven't quite figured out why no one ever speaks of the psychological profile of right-wingers. To be rightwing means having little or no empathy at all for others. I'm not really sure why we're all supposed to be polite about that. If a monster is a monster, is it cruel to notice?

Hey DNC read these comments if you want to win, maybe do what’s good for the people not your donors.

This fellow just is not opening his eyes. He is too wed to his assumptions. This is why he is so perplexed and confused. It is not about Trump, Mr. Frank. Quit focusing on Trump. Trump is not Republican. Nor is the reverse true. Quit thinking about these parties, quit thinking about liberal and conservatives. Oh God, now your are getting sucked into FDR...

Frank for President.

Then please tell the Democrats to be an actual Left Party and not a Centrist Conservative Party. Lol.

Thomas Frank is milk toast. There isn't much in-depth true causal analysis, but rather ideological rhetoric. Conspiracy isn't in Thomas Frank's analysis2

Hillary 2020 for VP and Carter he is still alive