From Robber Barons to Bezos: Is History Repeating Itself? | Robert Reich

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  • Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024

Комментарии • 2,3 тыс.

  • @peterkuchenbrod5696
    @peterkuchenbrod5696 11 месяцев назад +202

    As a huge Mark Twain fan, I recall coming across this term years ago and thinking, “this is no different from now.” People just need to recognize it. Thanks for this excellent video…it should go viral.

  • @ninehundreddollarluxuryyac5958
    @ninehundreddollarluxuryyac5958 11 месяцев назад +2373

    I'm 65 and entered the workforce when wages and productivity went separate ways in the mid 70's. In 1976 homelessness was almost unheard of in America. High school graduates earned enough money to buy a car and rent an apartment on minimum wage from one person. Normal people took an annual vacation and expected to retire at my age. This is not My America, it is a hostile occupation.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      Democrat programs are at an all time high the rich pay almost all the federal taxes isn't this what democrats want

    • @sterlingmarshel6299
      @sterlingmarshel6299 11 месяцев назад +312

      The closing of mental health facilities across the country, spearheaded by Ronald Reagan. Trickle-down economics that was and is a failed policy by Reagan and Republicans continues today. High inflation in the late 70's and early 80's started us down a path we have today of low wages, that we have never recovered from and was paramount to the start of a growing homeless class
      Regulations by cities to build single-family housing - not everyone needs a 2500 sq foot home. Building freeways through low-income neighborhoods so higher-paid people can drive from the suburbs to their jobs. That eventually turned into a drive-till-you-afford-it mentality that put a strain on workers who drove hours and spent less time with their families and leisure time. There are so many variables for have worked against the regular everyday worker it is too much to cover in a small space of time

    • @randerodr7389
      @randerodr7389 11 месяцев назад

      You are correct on all counts and very informed. Great comment.@@sterlingmarshel6299

    • @georgestorey8945
      @georgestorey8945 11 месяцев назад +87

      I've said that for years it's timing in life that can make or break you. I worked two jobs from the late 80s until being laid off in 2018 two days before Christmas after 31 years with the same company. Found a job making more money but health issues told me it was time to slow down so I retired. Being a heavy equipment operator is tough on a body lol no regrets there but it is time.

    • @peterjones6640
      @peterjones6640 11 месяцев назад +113

      I am 69 and echo your experience in the U.K. It is not just the USA who has experienced these changes.

  • @RBReich
    @RBReich  11 месяцев назад +149

    728 billionaires hold more wealth than half of American households. If that doesn’t tell you we’re in a second Gilded Age, I don’t know what will.

    • @dansaber4427
      @dansaber4427 11 месяцев назад

      Robber Baron who? You mean Kings. They're called Kings. Good video.

    • @rickysmithnowlabs
      @rickysmithnowlabs 11 месяцев назад

      chill

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      The rich pay almost all the federal taxes and we have a severe shortage of skilled workers why is that

    • @markmyjak7739
      @markmyjak7739 11 месяцев назад

      There's plenty of wealth to go around. How many people watching this plan on buying stocks, bonds, precious metals or starting a business?

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад +1

      We owe 33 trillion dollars we have a twenty five trillion dollar economy we don't have any wealth to spread around

  • @WalterT-jq3eb
    @WalterT-jq3eb 11 месяцев назад +57

    Thanks for bringing out what is really happening in America and what to do about it. It's about time for people to wake up and put a stop to greed in America. We need to tax the mega rich.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      The top five percent pay over half the federal taxes and it's you who don't pay enough taxes here is the proof if you draw 1500 a month in ss till your eighty that's over two hundred thousand dollars and you did not pay that much in ss taxes and the average person draws out three dollars for every dollar paid in medicare taxes and the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare the rich pay almost all the federal taxes and get next to nothing in return we have a debt so big it defies imagination because of democrat handouts vote out handout democrats before it's to late our childrens future depend on it

  • @Don-tj6pb
    @Don-tj6pb 11 месяцев назад +415

    How can we as a country be so short sighted! This is history repeating itself right before ourveyes!

    • @anncata7368
      @anncata7368 11 месяцев назад +7

      Which political affiliates keep the wealthy around to finance their coffers?

    • @halfulford3081
      @halfulford3081 11 месяцев назад

      By brainwashing the poor and uneducated people to vote against their best interest.

    • @marilynclarke6092
      @marilynclarke6092 11 месяцев назад +11

      @Don-tjpb, I agree, especially in America, America doesn't seem to ever learn from its previous mistakes, so yes! It's history repeating itself over and over again. It's so saddening to witness it as well.

    • @joycecurrier1914
      @joycecurrier1914 11 месяцев назад +12

      I'm sure it will get worse with the way education is going, especially with history.

    • @Coalminer69er
      @Coalminer69er 11 месяцев назад +6

      Yes and we had a pandemic in the 1910s ,the roaring 20s, then we had the Great Depression in the 1930s .SOB I think we’re in for hard times soon .

  • @ironmammoth7
    @ironmammoth7 11 месяцев назад +184

    We really could use a modern-day Teddy Rosevelt right now. I think that person will be Katie Porter, I believe that she lead the change that we so desperately need.

    • @homerthompson416
      @homerthompson416 11 месяцев назад +41

      Forget that, we need a modern day French revolution. They knew what to do with their oligarchs.

    • @louisa6948
      @louisa6948 11 месяцев назад +28

      I think President Biden is doing as much as he can....remember, he stood with UAWorkers...something no other president has ever done!
      As I'm sure many will agree here on this platform, President Biden wasn't our first choice. Nevertheless, he is a very very pleasant surprise!

    • @anthonycekic4509
      @anthonycekic4509 11 месяцев назад

      ​@louisa6948 right now he's just trying to keep the Nepo-nazis from taking over. Thankfully, people are realizing the danger and getting out and voting, striking, and being all around active.

    • @dertbom
      @dertbom 11 месяцев назад +2

      She's great and all, but I believe it's Sheldon Whitehouse.

    • @lisaahmari7199
      @lisaahmari7199 11 месяцев назад +3

      I adore her, but she (unfortunately) is starting to come across as too smug, with her whiteboard. It is effective but starting to turn off even her fans. I hope her PR people are on that and figuring a way to keep her communication style effective, without letting it appear so condescending. She has the makings of a great leader. But great leaders have to appeal to all parts of the human psyche.....really, the way Buttigieg does.
      All of this said, I would vote for her in a heartbeat.

  • @anthonycekic4509
    @anthonycekic4509 11 месяцев назад +757

    We can thank Nixon and Reagan for ushering in this new Gilded Age.

    • @lynnturman8157
      @lynnturman8157 11 месяцев назад +107

      Politics have swung so far to the right that Nixon would be considered a liberal democrat in today's political climate.

    • @garycombs5721
      @garycombs5721 11 месяцев назад

      TRUTH!
      Reagan began the single greatest bull market in the history of mankind. This bull market has pulled more people out of poverty than all of history’s other bull markets combined.
      You are so correct, Regan does deserve the credit for the prosperous times of which we are now living.
      Those who have failed to enter into the prosperity that is now available to us need to ask themselves, “why am I such a fuck up?”

    • @dominicfucinari1942
      @dominicfucinari1942 11 месяцев назад +61

      And worse than them, Paul Manafort, Art Laffer, Milton Friedman, John R Shad, Jack Francis-Welch, and the Koch brothers.

    • @SirAndacar
      @SirAndacar 11 месяцев назад +29

      @@lynnturman8157 Just recently I had a hard right bro spend an hour online informing me that no, there had been no march to the right, it had never happened, bla bla bla.

    • @FreedomFighter1776
      @FreedomFighter1776 11 месяцев назад +5

      @@SirAndacar LBJ's Great Society welfare/socialism took us left and the middle class has paid for it.

  • @longlakeshore
    @longlakeshore 11 месяцев назад +120

    The Second Gilded Age began when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980--almost 100 years after the First Gilded Age.

    • @HeronPoint2021
      @HeronPoint2021 11 месяцев назад

      and telling us we'd all be receiving trickle down economics, while shipping the jobs off to China. ih, really?

    • @cariwaldick4898
      @cariwaldick4898 11 месяцев назад +12

      True. He deregulated the banks, broke strikes, and gave us "Trickle-down (up) economics."

    • @philiplaundy5651
      @philiplaundy5651 11 месяцев назад +3

      Do you remember the terrible economy his predecessor Jimmy Carter had created? Definite parallels to what we’re seeing today. Gilded age 2.0 might be true but it is too complicated to lay at the feet of one president. Unfortunately it always comes back to one root cause - the evil that resides in each person expressed as greed. Spiritual problems are hard to fix with taxation or regulation imo

    • @cariwaldick4898
      @cariwaldick4898 11 месяцев назад

      @@philiplaundy5651 Sorry but Carter was a one term president, who had to deal with OPEC oil embargo--for US support of Israel. He's the one who created the Department of Energy. The economy took a hit over things out of his control, and he did the best he could.
      Reagan did a LOT of damage. Deregulating the banks was a mistake. It lead to the S&L crisis, recession then, and the housing bubble burst under Bush. It is STILL causing trouble. Banks are federally insured, and they need to be regulated. Deregulating, and allowing monopolies, is why we now have corporations that are "too big to fail," and we end up bailing out these behemoths when the economy turns.
      It's not just Reagan; congress is complicit, as are many state governments.

    • @neuroticnation144
      @neuroticnation144 11 месяцев назад

      Reagan was definitely at the forefront of it. Trickle down economics was debunked before Reagan even started touting it. I can’t believe their still trying to peddle that tripe!

  • @Denise11Schultz
    @Denise11Schultz 11 месяцев назад +225

    This might just be your best piece yet. How succinct! History doesn’t just rhyme, it echoes. It echoes with the cries of the many for economic justice. So many people believe they are not good enough, or not trying hard enough. I say, you are manipulated to be exploited workers and overactive consumers. What if you want to do something else, be something else? We can, we All Can. Support each other, instead of struggling in isolated shame. Thank you, Robert and team, for making sense of all the ‘What’s Wrong With This Picture?’ inanities and insanities that dominate our culture and society today (but Not Forever). Monopolies are Wealth Unions of the rich. Let’s replace their Collective Domination with our Collective Bargaining.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад +1

      What is an overactive consumer

    • @candyrosefreeman7232
      @candyrosefreeman7232 11 месяцев назад

      ​@@fritzforsthoefel8031Oh I Know!!! Someone Who Practices,(A Thing I Can't Comprehend)
      "Retail Therapy". It's Pernicious...
      And Practised, Recklessly, Frequently And Seemingly,
      Unconsciously. The Human Brain Will Try Any And All Things, To Attempt To Alleviate,
      Emotional And Mental Suffering. Seems,
      Counter Intuitive. As Does Any ,Potentially, Self- Harming,
      Behavior.
      Pain And Trauma,
      Cause Psychopathy,That Demands Intense,
      Persistent
      Psychological
      Address.
      Just Saying. Blessings And Truth For All.

    • @brucebasile5083
      @brucebasile5083 11 месяцев назад

      @@fritzforsthoefel8031 YAWN....ZZZZzzzz....

  • @renatocorvaro6924
    @renatocorvaro6924 11 месяцев назад +127

    Mark Twain would punch Elon Musk in the face.

    • @eatmorenachos
      @eatmorenachos 11 месяцев назад +28

      I think Twain would convince someone else to do it for him (maybe even a crowd)----but your sentiments are correct.

    • @renel7303
      @renel7303 11 месяцев назад

      I'd pay for a ticket to watch. Elon is evil incarnate.

    • @samw5767
      @samw5767 11 месяцев назад +6

      And could smoke him under the table.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад +4

      Why would he do that to a person who paid twelve billion dollars in taxes employees thousands of people at an average wage of over one hundred thousand dollars a year make environmentally friendly products

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад +1

      You probably haven't even met Elon musk

  • @robmaeder330
    @robmaeder330 11 месяцев назад +372

    Robert, I am a converted Republican who formerly thought the support of business by the government created jobs and prosperity; make the pie bigger over cutting it up.
    I learned over last few years that this does not happen, and I saw it in my career. When tax cuts hit my company, it was not even discussed to increase wages. That only happened a bit during supply chain when we could not hire anyone.
    You do an amazing job showing the growing inequality of wealth. I think if underpaid people that are supporting Republicans understood this enough would switch to change the balance. In other countries and throughout history people were stuck with this inequality but we actually have a democratic society so the masses should vote out a party trying to support and exacerbate.
    I think the Republicans are MUCH better at marketing than the Democrats (with you as an exception). I think they know better that many weak minded people can be led astray with simple slogans and ideas even if wrong and immoral. Woke is an example.
    I was thinking about this and came up with the term "asleep sheep". It is the opposite of woke (awake) which somehow is bad!. It also hits on Orwell's class system. Maybe using Pink Floyd's Animals album would be more effective.
    I don't know if that's original, but if it is feel free to use it.
    Keep up the fight and spread you gift for marketing to fellow Democrats. They need help.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      You are aware that the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes and the average person draws out three dollars for every dollar paid in medicare taxes and the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare the rich pay almost all the federal taxes and get next to nothing in return

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад +2

      Do you support a livable wage

    • @brendanaderifar2462
      @brendanaderifar2462 11 месяцев назад +4

      excellent my friend.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад +1

      Name some of the corperate welfare you speak of no lies no propaganda just name some

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад +1

      Skilled workers usually make good wages which workers get underpaid

  • @josephg160
    @josephg160 11 месяцев назад +138

    Those who claim that if we raise taxes on the super rich, they will leave the country. When they told that im like do you hear yourself?

    • @sethbritton6970
      @sethbritton6970 11 месяцев назад +54

      It's an empty threat anyway. They're not paying for the privelege they enjoy anyway, and so we wouldn't even notice if they left.
      Then we could sieze all their local assets and turn them to good for the public at large.

    • @MrMarinus18
      @MrMarinus18 11 месяцев назад +10

      Well then tax their American assets still.

    • @jrcenteno1896
      @jrcenteno1896 11 месяцев назад

      Good riddance! Leave the Country! And take your bought-off congressmen {Geatz} , and Judges {Thomas} with you ! 😮

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      That's exactly what communist leader mao in china did took rich people's money and gave it to the masses and raised low skilled workers wages dramatically result millions starved now in china under capitalism low skilled workers make low wages and there is billionaires result china has one of the fastest growing economies in the world explain that

    • @XxMySsTiCxX
      @XxMySsTiCxX 11 месяцев назад

      @@fritzforsthoefel8031There is a huge difference between Amazon, Tesla, Meta, Microsoft and apple. and any successful business 99.99% of us will ever found. dont speak such drivel

  • @katydidiy
    @katydidiy 11 месяцев назад +261

    If you get all antsy about the rich leaving this country, just charge them an appropriate exit fee. That would be any riches acquired while enjoying the mechanism that enabled them!

    • @JLocke0113
      @JLocke0113 11 месяцев назад +20

      Or just apply tariffs to any individual company they own.

    • @karlabritfeld7104
      @karlabritfeld7104 11 месяцев назад +26

      Agree. They're not going to leave anyway as they've got it too good here.

    • @anncata7368
      @anncata7368 11 месяцев назад

      The government can and SHOULD freeze their bank accounts legally.

    • @ejt3708
      @ejt3708 11 месяцев назад

      Wake up! It will never happen! That was talked about in the 80's when we were sold Tinkle Down Economics. Then in the 90's, we start hearing about Bermuda, and Antigua, and Panama! Just grab control while we still can, even if the thieves escape with our money.

    • @cariwaldick4898
      @cariwaldick4898 11 месяцев назад

      If they want to leave, LET THEM! Seriously, look at the biggest corporations, and how they're crowding out competition. Walmart killed Mainstreet, and Amazon is killing everything else. Raise their taxes, and if they choose to leave, wave buh-bye. Once gone, treat them like an outside country when they want to sell their goods back to the biggest consumer market in the world. We do not NEED these monopolies!!

  • @Shining237
    @Shining237 11 месяцев назад +55

    Mr Robert Reich is a champion of TRUTH for the American working class. God bless him 💞🕊️

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад +3

      He lies by withholding information he does not tell the truth

    • @alicemiller1970
      @alicemiller1970 11 месяцев назад +1

      God bless you R.R. 🙏 AMEN

    • @brucebasile5083
      @brucebasile5083 11 месяцев назад

      @@fritzforsthoefel8031 Another triggered corporate bootlicker troll spewing blather.

    • @Natibe_
      @Natibe_ 11 месяцев назад

      @@fritzforsthoefel8031found the shill
      The fact y’all can’t see the grifting happening right in front of your eyes thanks to your tightly locked political bubbles is saddening.

    • @rickysmithnowlabs
      @rickysmithnowlabs 11 месяцев назад

      ...lol

  • @keef920
    @keef920 11 месяцев назад +16

    In a world where so many are sick and homeless, it is unethical to be a billionaire

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      So telsa and Amazon should shut down so musk and Jeff bezo can't make any more money you are aware that the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes and the average person draws out three dollars for every dollar paid in medicare taxes and the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare the rich pay almost all the federal taxes and get next to nothing in return

    • @seamusohoulihan666
      @seamusohoulihan666 10 месяцев назад

      But yet social media moguls are wealthy

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 10 месяцев назад

      What's your point

  • @mikepowell2776
    @mikepowell2776 11 месяцев назад +9

    Political corruption, fiscal accretion and increasing social injustice are, regrettably, not monopolies. It’s not just in the US. Similar trends are apparent in UK and elsewhere. Your summary, as always, deserves the widest possible audience.

  • @bretheweb
    @bretheweb 11 месяцев назад +82

    We've been in the New Age of the Robber Baron(Gilded Age sounds enabling) for a while now. I was warning people of this 15-20 years ago.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      Then why do the rich allow themselves to be taxed so much the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes and the top ten pay over seventy percent

    • @brorpaulhjelm6187
      @brorpaulhjelm6187 11 месяцев назад +1

      We have an Capitalist Economic system called supply side economics also called Reaganomics or Trickle down Theory they started planning this in the 1960's and 1970's and fully instituted it in the 1980's when Reagan was the President it is actually just a scheme to enrich the Wealthy Elite under the George W Presidential Regime they called it Bush Enomics and said it was Reaganomics on Steroids this is not just the Republicans the Democrats went along with this Corporate Democrats who believed in the lie of the Trickle down Theory of wealth this included Bill and Hilary and Obama and his Vice President our current President and six term Senator Joe Biden who has finally started to change his economic beliefs some more in support of the working class only since he became the current President of course you could write a tick and long book on the details of what has occurred over this 50 to 60 year period of class warfare which is nothing more than a scheme to make the Wealthiest people even more Wealthy We the People let this happen by voting for the Republicans and Corporate Democrats we can only fix this mess by voting these People who presently control our entire Government and even our SCOTUS OUT OF OFFICE THIS WILL STILLTAKE MANY DECADES TO REPAIR AND CHANGE TO A MORE FAIR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMIC SYSTEM

  • @AM-el4iv
    @AM-el4iv 11 месяцев назад +18

    I'm a critical care nurse in Florida, previously a combat military medic veteran, that has been completely burned out for the increasingly unsafe expectations of hospital administrations. I have tried 3 hospitals here in FL and they are the same. Instead of hiring an appropriate number of RNs and paying them fairly, it's always the same. During Covid I worked over 48 hours a day and went home falling asleep on the wheel. Understaffed, and laughable pay compared to the stress, and nature of the assigments. I would not want a family member to come here and need treatment. Patients are rushed out of critical care, stepdown units, and from surgical med surg areas to home when they are not ready just to make room for more. We have available extra rooms in many cases, but no staff to properly care for the extra patients.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад +1

      There is a national shortage of skilled labor such as nurses democrats make it worse by paying high wages to low skilled workers no one will put in the time and effort of getting a skilled job

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      Va hospitals are government ran

    • @AM-el4iv
      @AM-el4iv 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@fritzforsthoefel8031 No that's not the problem. Doesn't make sense. Healthcare here is under a capitalist system, no matter if the hospital self labels as non profit. If there is a high demand for a job, it should pay a high wage. Hospitals don't pay fast food worker wages. What we have is capitalism for the working people and socialism for the hospitals and corporations which get subsidies and bail outs.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 10 месяцев назад

      So you are saying high skilled jobs should pay more than unskilled jobs that's not what democrats support

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 10 месяцев назад

      The VA is non profit government run infamous for poor care at a high cost when democrats succeed in everyone getting universal government run healthcare like Sanders wants everyone can have poor healthcare

  • @CaraMarie13
    @CaraMarie13 10 месяцев назад +5

    The most concerning thing about this new guilded age is that the people who are most in need are out there actively electing people who are going to enact legislation that will only continue to screw them, and us all, over.

  • @kimhorton6109
    @kimhorton6109 11 месяцев назад +14

    We begin to see another side of inequality: the attraction of wealth to educated men to political positions, and the lack of morals and the ability of the rich to buy those men so they can keep pulling in money. Large corporations can generate very attractive offers for the weak to bring bills that aid their businesses.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      If that were true why do they allow themselves to be taxed so much the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      So maney lies from democrats for instance the democrats say the rich pay little taxes when fact is the rich pay almost all the federal taxes democrats say the poor get cheated when fact is the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare democrats say middle class pay to much taxes fact is if you draw 1500 a month till your eighty that's over two hundred thousand dollars in ss and you did not pay that much in ss taxes and the average person draws out three dollars for every dollar paid in medicare taxes democrats party of handouts and lies

  • @ejt3708
    @ejt3708 11 месяцев назад +8

    Yes Bob! We are! Now lets "Bust The Trusts."

  • @johnstevenson9956
    @johnstevenson9956 11 месяцев назад +50

    I look at the people I've been given to vote for in the last few elections and I think, there are 332,000,000 of us, and these are the best you can come up with? Where's Teddy when we need him?

    • @karlabritfeld7104
      @karlabritfeld7104 11 месяцев назад

      FDR was the last good president

    • @frankd.506
      @frankd.506 11 месяцев назад +12

      Id settle for FDR .

    • @matejebach5487
      @matejebach5487 11 месяцев назад +3

      surveiled, monitored and liquidated on time.

    • @krysti2
      @krysti2 11 месяцев назад +1

      You'd better find a Robert Reich video about Teddy's Imperialism and Racist Hierarchy views. 😂. 🎉

    • @JimHolder-pk2kk
      @JimHolder-pk2kk 11 месяцев назад

      We have the people we need. It just takes door-knocking and voting to get them elected.

  • @ianfurqueron5850
    @ianfurqueron5850 11 месяцев назад +5

    I made similar comments during a discussion a few weeks ago, calling the current climate a second gilded age. The big difference between then and now is the current barons have learned from the mistakes of the past and have adjusted their influence to prevent another Teddy or similar from ever gaining power. As long as both sides blame each other for the problems of the country, there will be no possibility of change.

  • @fatstrat64
    @fatstrat64 11 месяцев назад +4

    This answers the question on why learning history is so important!

    • @JulieRainyPDX
      @JulieRainyPDX 11 месяцев назад +1

      My history classes in the 70's & 80's elementary through high school were so bland and whitewashed. Lots of emphasis on memorizing dates for next day quizzes. Easy A's and a complete waste of time. I first learned about slavery in America from the series Roots. Way more brutal and honest than what my history book portrayed.

    • @fatstrat64
      @fatstrat64 11 месяцев назад

      @@JulieRainyPDX just like in every profession there are good ones and bad ones?

  • @nuplanner5345
    @nuplanner5345 11 месяцев назад +15

    Thank you for this encouraging video. I think social media makes this even more difficult, but with the massive increase in population since the19th century, the number of people living in misery and close to it makes the crisis more acute.

  • @nightwalkerscrypt
    @nightwalkerscrypt 11 месяцев назад +3

    my household can hardly afford to eat with the constant rise in food at the store. I make nearly $3 over the min wage for my area and live in "affordable rent" apartment and still our rent is nearly half our monthly income. And our building is one of the most affordable in the city for the record. Things are out of control and no end in site.

  • @douglasspickler4925
    @douglasspickler4925 11 месяцев назад +16

    This is a great production and should be aired everywhere. Thanks for the history lesson. It's been a long time since I learned this. I appreciate the reminder. History repeating itself. What goes around comes around. Thanks, Robert, for what you do.

  • @Craxin01
    @Craxin01 11 месяцев назад +5

    Greed destroys everything.

  • @willdodge200
    @willdodge200 11 месяцев назад +7

    The first gilded age ended? It's still going. The numbers are just higher and wealth is more out in the open.

  • @BarbStClair
    @BarbStClair 11 месяцев назад +11

    Robert, why aren’t YOU running for high office? I never see or hear such common sense intelligence such as yours! It would actually give me
    hope when I feel COMPLETELY hopeless.

    • @UTArch1
      @UTArch1 11 месяцев назад

      He is un-electable (if that is even a word) because "people prefer a lie that conforms to their beliefs and prejudice over a truth they do not like".

    • @stevenhiggins3055
      @stevenhiggins3055 11 месяцев назад

      Is he a natural born citizen? I ask because think the highest office an immigrant can get is Governor. So if he's originally from England or France or something he can't get very far.

    • @BarbStClair
      @BarbStClair 11 месяцев назад

      born in Pennsylvania @@stevenhiggins3055

    • @Metalbass10000
      @Metalbass10000 11 месяцев назад +2

      Agreed! His message would resonate with so many more people than the candidates our corrupted two-party system creates, because it is based on clearly understood, and clearly communicated facts, that have an obvious effect on the daily lives of us all.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      Reich speaks no facts he lies by withholding information I can name maney examples

  • @thedamnedatheist
    @thedamnedatheist 11 месяцев назад +1

    It isn't just in America, it's everywhere. One thing though, there is no "Middle Class", that is a divisive term coined to insulate the rich. If you are paid a wage/salary then you are by definition, "Working Class".

  • @rubyclark7595
    @rubyclark7595 11 месяцев назад +1

    This old girl look to your reports Everyday... Thanks Reich💙🙏

  • @high_dee_beebee1760
    @high_dee_beebee1760 11 месяцев назад +9

    I wish you would run for President of the United States!!! ❤❤❤

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      I wish democrats would pay enough taxes to pay for the handouts we get already we have a debt so big it defies belief democrat solution more handoutd

    • @brucebasile5083
      @brucebasile5083 11 месяцев назад +1

      @@fritzforsthoefel8031 Your ignorance knows no bounds. No surprise here. Corporate bootlicker troll

    • @lbarnx
      @lbarnx 11 месяцев назад +2

      ​@@fritzforsthoefel8031I wish men would go back to being strong and silent instead of loud and whiny gossips.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      Our debt is destroying us you would rather hear how maney handouts democrats want to give at our childrens expense is that what your saying

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      You don't seem to want to hear the truth that we have a debt so high that it's estimated that intrest alone will be over a half a trillion dollars that our dollar is being destroyed by our debt so as to enable bric's to challenge our current for dominance you only want to hear about all the free things democrats want

  • @misterbanshee7992
    @misterbanshee7992 11 месяцев назад +6

    It’s gotten to point where I need to be retired over seas in my 50s 😂 housing , healthcare in US not affordable anymore.

  • @omegabat39
    @omegabat39 11 месяцев назад +2

    In school one year it was "robber barrons" and later it was "industrialists". Celebrity culture taught us to worship money and fame. This desensitized us to this happening. In atleast in my opinion.

  • @HydraOverlord
    @HydraOverlord 11 месяцев назад +1

    1st. Citizens United was an attack on middle class and lower SEC Americans
    2nd. Learning is always a must, continue to educate yourselves everyone. History is important!

  • @V1detta
    @V1detta 11 месяцев назад +7

    Robert Reich ist ein unfassbar cooler Amerikaner!

  • @lordlycan5035
    @lordlycan5035 11 месяцев назад +7

    Perfectly put..

  • @myfriendgoo2816
    @myfriendgoo2816 11 месяцев назад +5

    HOUSING has become a particularly cruel area where the inequality problem is causing real pain for anyone trying to buy or just to get by renting. It's way overpriced and, to buy anything, you need to not only outbid other buyers, but also overcome the 1% that has NO interest in living there and just wants another rental property owned by a private equity firm. Get the corporations out! Whenever tens of millions get priced out or thrown out of something undeniably essential, it's important they use their VOTE to vote in reforms. They'd be crazy not to. We saw this happen with the ACA and I can see it building with housing.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      Why is it that cities that have rent control have the biggest shortage of houseing

    • @myfriendgoo2816
      @myfriendgoo2816 11 месяцев назад

      @@fritzforsthoefel8031 The shortage leads to the rent control, not the other way around.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      If that was true than how else can you add more houseing without letting rent rise so as to encourage more houesing does not rent control simply make matters worse

    • @myfriendgoo2816
      @myfriendgoo2816 11 месяцев назад

      @@fritzforsthoefel8031 Rent control undeniably distorts the market and isn't practiced in many places, but those that have it do because all other options are worse, net-net. They're between a rock and a hard place, such as in NYC where housing always has been a problem. The supply problem is more due to NIMBY-ism.

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      Joe Biden letting in an estimated seven million illegal immegrants won't make the houseing shortage any better vote out handout democrats before it's to late

  • @MrM-hl1vp
    @MrM-hl1vp 11 месяцев назад +7

    Vote 💙

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      Then send half your taxes to pay for the handouts democrats want if not you are stealing from our children because it's them who will have to pay for the huge overwhelming unbelievable debt we have now vote out handout democrats our childrens future depend on it

    • @fritzforsthoefel8031
      @fritzforsthoefel8031 11 месяцев назад

      Who should pay for the debt we have democrat solution more handouts our children will inherit a bankrupt shell of a nation because of democrat handouts that you won't pay enough taxes for don't you care about our children

  • @LauraoAirylea
    @LauraoAirylea 11 месяцев назад +2

    The Gilded Age is now at a global level. Workforce can be exploited from anywhere, in any currency. Even when labour was fair, somebody, somewhere is suffering so that prices on goods remain relatively affordable. The wealthy elite will always find ways to dodge accountability.

  • @fredturner7787
    @fredturner7787 11 месяцев назад +4

    We have always lived in a guilded age, just never awakend to it
    We go to work evey day at the whims of authoritarian bosses a decidedly undemocratic system
    When did you realize the myth the we live under a truly democratic system

  • @karmicsmite9920
    @karmicsmite9920 10 месяцев назад

    I can't help but feel that Robert Reich is someone who is for ALL Americans...IF we'll listen to him

  • @salsusmagnsu
    @salsusmagnsu 11 месяцев назад +3

    Everyone needs this message!

  • @stevejohnson2321
    @stevejohnson2321 11 месяцев назад +2

    Yes. Parallels are almost exact.
    Vote Teddy Roosevelt!!
    Bring back Sherman Anti-trust and Glass/Stiegel.

  • @OrpheusObjectMRH
    @OrpheusObjectMRH 11 месяцев назад +2

    These videos are so well-done, they present so much complex, nuanced information in a tight space and do so creatively, in an engaging manner. I always share them on Facebook.

  • @craigweidhuner6295
    @craigweidhuner6295 11 месяцев назад +2

    Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

  • @delavalmilker
    @delavalmilker 7 месяцев назад

    As an ardent student of history, I am struck by the remarkable similarities between the Gilded Age of the late 19th/early 20th century, and what we are seeing today: consolidation and monopolization of critical industries, rise of a new "Robber Baron" class, huge wealth and income inequality, corruption of the political process by money. The parallels between the two ages are amazingly the same.

  • @jimmyr9468
    @jimmyr9468 11 месяцев назад +5

    Bring back the unions to bring back the middle class!

  • @kelseystrate2035
    @kelseystrate2035 11 месяцев назад +8

    The professor always tells it like it is.

  • @deltablueprint3186
    @deltablueprint3186 11 месяцев назад +2

    Remember that during America's most prosperous years of the 1950's and 60's ... the ultra Wealthy paid 90% Tax rate.... Now they pay 43.4% with massive loopholes for private jets, yachts, and income through company shares.

  • @apeman505
    @apeman505 11 месяцев назад +1

    I read about how, during the Reagan administration, large businesses lobbied to have a law passed stating that if a merger is deemed to be for greater company efficiency, then it should be allowed. The law was passed, but the wording is so vague that basically all mergers are now allowed, which basically neutered any anti-trust powers our government has and now only a handful of corporations own nearly all the businesses in America. Even now, Kroger and Albertsons are poised to merge and own 22% of the grocery stores in the USA, which is predicted to raise food prices across the nation catastrophically.

  • @karllieck9064
    @karllieck9064 11 месяцев назад +3

    We are in the Golden Age of Assholism.

  • @jameslawson9826
    @jameslawson9826 4 месяца назад

    UNFORTUNATELY WE ARE and it will continue until PEOPLE FIGHT BACK!!!!

  • @louis_the_hedgehog
    @louis_the_hedgehog 11 месяцев назад +1

    This is why I am interested in the history of the American labor movement.

  • @OutsideSometimes
    @OutsideSometimes 11 месяцев назад +1

    Commenting for the algorithm: This video is legit, the Chicago school pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes during the oil embargo and the politicians and businesspeople since then have brought the gilded age back.

  • @erwinb3412
    @erwinb3412 11 месяцев назад +1

    Thank you for introducing Ida Tarbell . Good video .

  • @MarkYeck-c2y
    @MarkYeck-c2y 11 месяцев назад +2

    I think the 401k and failure to fund pensions plus pension elimination is one of the biggest ripoffs of my time here..Im 58. I watched in horror in was it 88 crash, Dads life of savings and investments went about -60% overnight. I would like to see some kind of annuity like thing for middle class workers both pro or labor, or re-insurance on retirement. Being able to know exactly where you are and that you’re safe in retirement would be a huge help to most Americans. We can also redo our tax system, there are many successful existing models to choose from or cherry pick the best ideas from. Gaming of both the market and taxes are key to why middle class struggles to gain either wealth or security. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pro wealth and business, it’s just that they use all our money to get their gains and leave us with nothing in most cases.

  • @PsychedelicGoo
    @PsychedelicGoo 10 месяцев назад

    In the UK, not so long ago, our Labour Party ran an election campaign with the tag line "for the many, not the few" and the people voted against it. That was our chance and we didn't want it.

  • @kurtzwar729
    @kurtzwar729 11 месяцев назад +4

    I Like Ike & his 91% Tax Rate. I Like Ike & his 91% Tax Rate. I Like Ike & his 91% Tax Rate. Tax the Rich, feed the poor. Until there are no rich no more. Vote Blue.

    • @thewolfdoctor761
      @thewolfdoctor761 11 месяцев назад

      Ike was the only republican president of my lifetime that I liked and respected.

  • @gamer-eh7kk
    @gamer-eh7kk 11 месяцев назад +5

    We need a new age of progressivism

  • @hollishurd4464
    @hollishurd4464 11 месяцев назад

    Your options is so greatly appreciated

  • @Mark_Nadams
    @Mark_Nadams 11 месяцев назад +8

    We need to find a way to show those duped by the republican rhetoric they are voting against their own best interests.

  • @roeg48
    @roeg48 11 месяцев назад +1

    The problem with this revelation is with people. We live in a time where people are lazy. Instead of recognizing and taking action, they will most likely think if we came out of it before, we will again and simply wait for others to do the work. Smh

  • @candyrosefreeman7232
    @candyrosefreeman7232 11 месяцев назад

    Well Done. Blessings And Truth For All.

  • @namedjasonc
    @namedjasonc 11 месяцев назад

    This is a really important video that more of America needs to see and understand...

  • @brendontruong7127
    @brendontruong7127 11 месяцев назад

    There are stark differences that defines now vs then. However, there are parallels that cant be ignored.

  • @jaegrant6441
    @jaegrant6441 11 месяцев назад +5

    The problem with American political commentators is that they're so caught up in what America has done. They forget that this is a global problem. That people have fought against this type of tyranny for centuries, not just a handful of yanks 100 years ago.
    We need to take lessons from all over, not just one small (almost socially bankrupt) country.
    That's part of it tho hey? Only look at what's in front of you, and don't look up or around. ..? ❤

  • @ldbarthel
    @ldbarthel 11 месяцев назад +1

    History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. There are WAY too many parallels between the 1920s and the 2020s.

  • @mamatrain100
    @mamatrain100 11 месяцев назад

    Dear Robert, I'm grateful to you for your dedication to us. To America.

  • @mtd963
    @mtd963 11 месяцев назад +1

    The problem was never fixed. That's why we are here again.

  • @michaelhashimoto1650
    @michaelhashimoto1650 11 месяцев назад +2

    How do we stop it this time?

  • @zeemanzeeman5577
    @zeemanzeeman5577 11 месяцев назад

    Keep up the good work Robert 👍.
    You are the true servant of our nation. We are proud of you and those like you. Thank you and God bless America 🇺🇸

  • @randomlifts
    @randomlifts 11 месяцев назад

    It is. I'm experiencing it along with others. Why do people not realize when they buy from platforms?

  • @jimjackson4256
    @jimjackson4256 11 месяцев назад +1

    Envy seems to be the centrepiece of this guys life.

  • @alittlewasted3869
    @alittlewasted3869 Месяц назад

    History never repeats itself but it often rhymes.
    ~Mark Twain

  • @wayneg296
    @wayneg296 11 месяцев назад +1

    👍👍😎✌️🤟 Seems familiar? No, it’s not going to change. The money is in Washington, to stay. Poor people voting against their own best interest will bring America to its knees. As an old guy, I wish you luck.

  • @caitlunsford2440
    @caitlunsford2440 10 месяцев назад +1

    for some reason, it never hit me until just now that mark twains concept of the gilded age is the exact same sentiment as the modern statement "third world country in a gucci belt." the more things change, the more they stay the same!

  • @Russell-y7h
    @Russell-y7h 10 месяцев назад +1

    We are in another age of oligarchs. Tom Hartman covers thos topic very well. Will we the people push back and win? The outcome is not guaranteed.

  • @joseygonzalez1800
    @joseygonzalez1800 11 месяцев назад +1

    i agree but i don't think anything will change this time

  • @poemandres
    @poemandres 11 месяцев назад +1

    Wake up America we have slipped backwards and need to Progress once again...

  • @EricaHansberry
    @EricaHansberry 11 месяцев назад

    It's one thing to see it and learn about it in documentaries. It's pretty surreal to live through it yourself. I pray there won't be a great depression in my or my daughter's lifetime too. And if so, I just hope I'm financially set to deal. Do better America.

  • @JamesFox1
    @JamesFox1 11 месяцев назад +1

    in Short = Is History Repeating Itself? = YES !!!

  • @TheMrHotwheels
    @TheMrHotwheels 11 месяцев назад +1

    Maybe in 1900 people had faith that the government was competent and had the best interest of the American people in mind. They sure don't now.

  • @fernandoserrano9393
    @fernandoserrano9393 11 месяцев назад +1

    Robert Reich, is the image at 5:20 from the neighborhood around the oil refinery in El Paso, Texas? The cheap houses look like that, the place stinks of petroleum vapors and one year the fire department fined the refinery for excessive calls as the fire department had extinguish several fires there.

  • @omavicmcmurray2893
    @omavicmcmurray2893 8 месяцев назад

    Dang I wish I could be a part of your team!!! I love the stuff you put out! I know, by doing the stuff you talk about, & passing on the message I am, still, I just love great teachers like you!~❤

  • @time01010
    @time01010 11 месяцев назад +1

    The big difference now is that there are many more developed countries around the world than there was in the early 20th century, so if you tax the ultra rich people and companies too much, they will move their operations to another country that charges them less taxes. This will result in the loss of financial investment and jobs in your country, which that company currently generates.

  • @michaelcook2233
    @michaelcook2233 11 месяцев назад +1

    The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The period of Keynesian economic policy only resulted in a short period of relative prosperity before the neoliberal regression we've seen since the 70s. Capitalism is gigantic gaping wound on the torso of humanity and throwing a bit of peroxide on it and applying a few bandaids isn't going to change that, and really never did. The solution is revolution.
    Working men and women of the world, unite! We have a world to win! We have nothing to lose but our chains! Workers to power!

  • @lportillo100
    @lportillo100 7 месяцев назад

    Great message! Thank you!

  • @Rossvallance
    @Rossvallance 11 месяцев назад +1

    I believe it to be "the Great Depression" that started the reorganisation of funds at the start of the 30s. Same could happen now with the current tech bubble. I am not sure what the lead up was, how it unfolded or much of the details pertaining the the depression but seems worth studying now as the data correlates well.

  • @batchelerjr
    @batchelerjr 11 месяцев назад +1

    Sure it is. It's a part of this reality. Twain also said its better to keep fooling them instead of telling them they've been being fooled

  • @RichardDoker-op6py
    @RichardDoker-op6py 5 месяцев назад

    That Era mirrors contemporary circumstances.

  • @Calligraphybooster
    @Calligraphybooster 11 месяцев назад

    🙂just wrote a comment elsewhere promoting the same idea. Thank you Robert, for a much needed history lesson.

  • @maxfastest
    @maxfastest 11 месяцев назад

    We Never left the first guilded age !!
    We are still being screwed over by the same people/ the same families, and the same crooks !
    I gave up completely , trying to do the right things !
    And now I'm approaching life just like they do !
    Can't beat em Join em !
    Screw it !

  • @resilientfarmsanddesignstu1702
    @resilientfarmsanddesignstu1702 11 месяцев назад

    Bust up the monopolies and get the money out of politics. Make everything yourself, if you can’t, buy local, if you can’t buy local, buy as local as possible. Only buy from a transnational corporation when absolutely necessary - which is essentially NEVER.

  • @dawnkindnesscountsmost5991
    @dawnkindnesscountsmost5991 11 месяцев назад +1

    Thank you, Mr. Reich, for your words of wisdom; they need to be heard by every voter in this country, as many times as it takes to sink in.
    If this were a humorous topic, I could laugh at the top hats and monocle in the thumbnail, but, alas, I cannot laugh at the thumbnail.

  • @strangeke7750
    @strangeke7750 11 месяцев назад

    We need this today.

  • @pcalger1163
    @pcalger1163 5 месяцев назад

    Hard for me to hate Amazon. I’m homebound and live alone. It saved my life..

  • @jasonhatfield4747
    @jasonhatfield4747 11 месяцев назад

    Yes! We absolutely are in a second gilded age/roaring twenties. Dark times ahead! Prepare! Support your local farmers...they will be a life line when SHTF

  • @ToyKeeper
    @ToyKeeper 11 месяцев назад +1

    Robert, thanks for being a modern muck-raker.