If the pre-Reagan higher marginal tax rates had stayed in place, the extra money could have been reinvested in the country's infrastructure and recycled into additional scientific research, creating millions of new jobs to replace those lost to both technology and globalization.
That lost opportunity represented not only a personal tragedy for the millions of Americans who then frantically sought to maintain their living standards by working more hours and borrowing against their homes, but it marked a historic tragedy for the entire planet because there was a chance for people everywhere to enjoy the fruits of this new technology.
Instead, the ill-timed arrival of Ronald Reagan on the world stage changed that history. But that is not the narrative that most Americans hear. Instead, Ronald Reagan has been transformed into a national icon with recent U.S. polls rating him the greatest president ever.
Populist Voices
Until recently, the loudest "populist" voices in America have come from angry right-wing talk show hosts and Tea Party protesters who hail Reagan and advocate more tax cuts for the rich and more reductions in the role of the federal government.
Many working- and middle-class white men have allowed their anger over their declining status to be redirected away from the rich and toward minorities, women and the "guv-mint." These members of the Reagan cult remain convinced that the "guv-mint" is a threat to their "liberty" and that their "freedom" depends on giving nearly unlimited power to the rich and the corporations.
Some of these "populist" right-wingers wear their racial/ethnic/religious bigotry on their sleeves, treating the African-American in the White House as the ultimate symbol of their "oppression" and vowing to "take our country back."
This mix of fear and prejudice helps explain the stubborn appeal of the ugly falsehood about Barack Obama being born in Kenya and thus not being a "naturally born" American.
But finally a counter-movement to this right-wing orthodoxy has begun to take shape, spearheaded by young Americans who see their future much dimmer than that of their parents. Though their "99 Percent" movement may lack specific policy remedies, it does recognize the harm caused by the concentration of national wealth in the top one percent.
Instead of the Tea Party approach of taking the side of (and organizational money from) billionaires like the Koch brothers, the "99 Percent" movement takes aim at the greedy Wall Street banks and America's super-rich. These protesters at least have identified the real culprits.
Official Washington, which has served as a reliable handmaiden for the wealthy over the past several decades, is nonplussed by these anti-capitalist sentiments being expressed in this new movement as it occupies a park near Wall Street and spreads to other cities.
Washington's think tanks and other policy centers remain dominated by Reagan's "free-market" devotees, but those sentiments also pervade the major U.S. news media, especially mainstream outlets like the Washington Post and the New York Times. A key reason is that many well-paid media stars have profited handsomely from the current political/economic climate.
Offering ersatz "reform," the likes of best-selling author (and Times columnist) Thomas Friedman have begun calling for a third party of "radical centrism" that would support some modest increases in tax revenues while continuing "free-trade" policies and taking the "courageous" stand of slashing "entitlement" programs, like Social Security and Medicare.
It should be recalled that during the run-up to George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq, Friedman enthusiastically supported the illegal war and deemed himself a "Tony Blair Democrat," thinking that associating himself with the glib but unprincipled British prime minister was a good thing.
There will be many media talking heads who will urge Americans to get behind the supposedly brave Friedman and his "centrist" third party. However, if serious change is to come to the United States -- and the world -- more is needed than Friedman's chic centrism.
For now, the new protest movement of the "99 Percent" may wish to stay focused on its anti-capitalist critique. That's all well and good. However, if the American economy is to be revived, concrete proposals will eventually be needed.
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