America’s Income Inequality Crisis: How Did We Get Here?
Gaslit Nation
Gaslit Nation
4.8 • 4K Ratings
🗓️ 4 September 2024
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Move over, first class passengers on the Titanic! America has a new class of doomed elites! Extreme income inequality threatens our democracy and the security of the world, but unions are fighting back, showing our path forward for the safety of everyone.
C.E.O.s and billionaires celebrate record-breaking profits, but for everyday workers, wages have remained stagnant, not keeping pace with the rising cost of living. The result? The American Dream is increasingly resembling a Neoliberal Ponzi Scheme, where the promise of prosperity seems to be reserved for nepo-babies.
Beyond the obvious moral implications, income inequality has profound consequences for our society. It undermines trust in institutions, worsens political instability, and contributes to declining life expectancy—a stark reality in America today. When the rich get richer and the rest of us get left behind, it doesn’t just create social rifts; it destabilizes the United States, and therefore the world.
How do we overcome this crisis? The renaissance of unions will strengthen our economy for all and protect our democracy. This week’s guest Michael Podhorzer has been on the frontlines of this fight for decades, as the former longtime political director of the AFL-CIO – the largest federation of unions in the United States. Podhorzer is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, the chair of the Analyst Institute, the Research Collaborative and the Defend Democracy Project, and writes the Substack Weekend Reading.
A 2021 TIME article described Podhorzer as the architect of a broad movement that helped protect the integrity of our vote in the 2020 election. This week’s bonus show, available to subscribers at the Truth-teller level ($5/month) and higher, includes Podhorzer’s insights on how to protect the 2024 election, in an excerpt available to all. Exclusive to our Patreon supporters, this week’s bonus show also includes a deep-dive examination of the recent arrest of Telegram’s C.E.O. Pavel Durov and what that might mean for Russia’s global war on democracy. Subscribe today at Patreon.com/Gaslit to help support our independent journalism!
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Show Notes:
Opening clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckxmXjRuBik
As Go Unions, So Goes America Power concedes nothing but to collective action. https://www.weekendreading.net/p/as-go-unions-so-goes-america
Listen to our interview with Starbucks union organizer Jasmine Leli on how to start a union https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-transcripts-20/2023/11/08/end-human-sacrifice-union-jasmine-leli
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | For generations in Detroit and across our nation, the brothers and |
| 0:06.8 | sisters of labor have stood together to rightiously demand fair pay, better benefits, and safe working conditions. |
| 0:18.0 | And let me say, every person in our nation has benefited from that work. |
| 0:24.0 | Everywhere I go I tell people, look, you may not be a union member you better thank a union member |
| 0:36.0 | for the five-day work week you better thank a union member for sick leave you better thank a union member for paid leave. You better thank a union member for vacation time. Because what we know is when union wages go up everybody's wages go up. Everybody's wages go up. |
| 1:05.0 | When union workplaces are safer, |
| 1:08.0 | every workplace is safer. Every workplace is safer. |
| 1:32.0 | When unions are strong, Harris and Biden are pro-union |
| 1:37.1 | compared to other recent Democratic administrations and why that matters,ly for our economy and our democracy. |
| 1:46.0 | I am Andrea Chalupa, a journalist and filmmaker and the writer and producer of the journalistic |
| 1:51.4 | thriller Mr. Jones about Stalin's genocide fan. of the |
| 1:55.0 | producer of the journalistic thriller a history repeating today under Putin. |
| 1:59.0 | There are just 62 days until election day on November 5th, 2024, a pivotal moment that will decide if |
| 2:08.0 | democracy or dictatorship leads the White House and Congress. Feeling overwhelmed by the election? We've got you covered. |
| 2:16.6 | Join our new weekly political salon on Mondays at 4 p.m. Eastern via Zoom. This is your space to vent, ask questions, seek support, |
| 2:29.2 | and help shape our discussions here on the broader show. |
| 2:33.5 | Everyone's welcome and no, this isn't about replacing patriarchy with a |
| 2:38.8 | matriarchy. |
| 2:40.1 | We're aiming for coalition and collective healing to build a sustainable future for all. |
| 2:47.6 | Starting next Monday, our salons will be recorded and shared on Patreon to support others in our community facing similar |
| 2:54.8 | challenges. If you find these sessions valuable we might keep them going post |
| 2:59.6 | election. To join support us at the truthar level on Patreon at Patreon.com, |
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