Hartmann - Screwed (2007) - Synopsis

UFPPC (www.ufppc.org) Digging Deeper XXXII: June 4, 2007, 7:00 p.m. Thom Hartmann, Screwed: The Undeclared War against the Middle Class—and What We Can Do about It (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2007). Foreword by Mark Crispin Miller. Americans have let things drift (ix-x). They need to reclaim their “revolutionary origins,” “the truth of what America is all about (x-xi). A “soporific mythos” about the “Founding Fathers” has been bought by right and left alike (xi). Time to turn again to study of the Framers (xii). Introduction: Profits before People. Father’s life story, death from asbestoscaused mesothelioma (1-2). There are fewer and fewer good jobs with benefits (2-5). Challenges the view that the Framers were not egalitarian (5-8). Arguments from the social behavior of animals: red deer, birds, fish, gnats, ants, gorillas—“democracy is the norm among animals” (9). Democracy requires a middle class; the “American Dream” (910). In America today there is a battle between democrats and élitists (11-12). Two kinds of “cons”—predator cons (“simply greedy” [12]) and true believer cons (believers like Ronald Reagan in corporatocracy, “the view that an economic aristocracy benefits the working class because wealth will ‘trickle down’ from above to below” [13; “a corporate aristocracy” (63)]) (12-15). “Translated, the cons’ policies mean only one thing: you and I get screwed” (15). New Deal reversed two generations of “con” control (15). But since 1980 cons have been in the ascendancy (16). Critiques “trickle-down economics” (1619). Precarious state of U.S. economy: low savings, high personal debt, high unemployment, twin deficits (federal budget and trade), excessive military spending, foreign ownership of many industries (19-25). PART I: A MIDDLE CLASS REQUIRES DEMOCRACY

Ch. 1: There Is No ‘Free’ Market. “[T]he middle class was the creation of liberal democracies” (29). The idea that “free” markets produce a middle class is false (30-31). Since Reagan, people have been conned into believing that small government is better; “The cons’ mantra is ‘Let the markets decide.’ But there is no ‘market’ independent of government, so what they are really saying is ‘Let’s make government work to help corporations instead of people . .’” (31; 31-36). Hurricane Katrina shows the cons knew the importance of government and how to make it work—for them (3638). “[W]e must take our government back” (39). Ch. 2: How We the People Create the Middle Class. We need to return to “classical economic policies” (42). Historically, two great periods of middleclass ascendancy: “from the 1700s to the mid-1800s” and 1933-1980 (42-48). Government must not give up its rulemaking function, as Jefferson understood (48-51). Refutes idea that taxes takes “your money,” because by accepting to live in this society you are reaping benefits that imply an obligation to pay: “I’ve agreed to pay for them because I live here and I use them” (51-53). “When today’s cons make tax a dirty word, they are really saying they don’t care if the middle class gets screwed” (54). The destruction of the public school system is due to the ethos of privatization (54-56). Ch. 3: The Rise of the Corporatocracy. Self-help programs are not the answer (59-60). The health care crisis is due to deregulation and privatization (60-61). The élites blame the victims: Americans aren’t sufficiently well educated, etc. (62-63). The present

era is a new form of feudalism, a new Robber Baron era (64-67). The relative freedom from taxation of the élites is a proof of this (67-69). Fascist is also a possible descriptor for the group that is waging a “war against democracy” (6970). PART II: DEMOCRACY REQUIRES

A

MIDDLE CLASS

Ch. 4: The Myth of the Greedy Founders. That the U.S. was founded by and for “rich white men” is a myth (73-74). Charles Beard, whose An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (1913) established this thesis, “was wrong” (citing Bernard Bailyn, Kevin Phillips, Forrest McDonald) (74; 74-78). The Constitutional Convention was held in secret because “most of the wealthy men among the delegates were betraying the interests of their own economic class . . . voting for democracy instead of oligarchy” (78; 78-79). The Founders were “revolutionaries” (80). Ch. 5: Thomas Paine against the Freeloaders. The middle class was based on progressive legislation (81-82). Thomas Edison revived Thomas Paine from obscurity in 1925 (82-83). Paine and Edmund Burke (83-87). Paine opposed charters and corporate “rights” (88-89). He advocated progressive taxation and the estate tax in the last chapter of The Rights of Man (17911792) (89-92). FDR said he was inspired by Thomas Paine (93). Ch. 6: Taxation without Representation. The American Revolution was against being “screwed” (95-99). Early Americans limited corporate power (99-100). The 1886 case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, decided on a mistake, became the basis for a return of corporatocracy (100-02). The case of Nike v. Kasky heralds a reversal: Nike failed in its bid to assert corporations’

free-speech rights, though it was backed by the U.S. solicitor general and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (102-04). “Perhaps it’s time for another tea party” (105). Ch. 7: James Madison versus the Business of War. War is a way for corporate élites to distract the public (107-10). Madison foresaw, and Eisenhower recognized, the danger (11013). American must choose between the path of democracy or of corporatocracy (113-14). Ch. 8: FDR and the Economic Royalists. The nature of fascism (11516). Warnings of the danger in the 1930s and 1940s (117-19). Fascists disguise their aims behind a rhetoric of efficiency and patriotism (119-21). FDR’s June 27, 1936 speech against “economic royalists,” accepting the nomination of the Democratic Party (122-28). PART III: GOVERNING FOR WE THE PEOPLE. “Americans stand at a critical moment in history” (129). The disaster of Iraq blamed on the ethos of privatization (129-33). True believers, they seek the same end in the U.S. (134). But democracy enables us to resist this project (134-35). Ch. 9: Too Important for the Private Sector. Privatization of the military (137-39). Privatization of prisons (14043). Privatization of elections, the “ultimate crime of privatization” (14346). Ch. 10: Knowledge Is Power. Privatization of education is not the solution to schools’ problems; rather, “[i]t’s to change the way we are teaching” (148). Education is not “just another commodity” (149). The No Child Left Behind Act is regressive (149-51). Ch. 11: Medicine for Health, Not for Profit. The health care system in the

U.S. is an appalling “spectacle” (153-54). Privatized health care has failed the American middle class (154-56). “The cons say the solution is more competition. This is nonsense” (157). Health care must be made a right (15859). “Socialized medicine” vs. “singlepayer” system (159-60). Advocates extending Medicare universally (160-61). Ch. 12: The Truth about the Trust Fund. Explanation of the Social Security financing “crisis,” created through a financing scam of funding the federal budget with IOUs from social security taxes (163-66). The “cons” seek to create “single-party rule for a generation or more” by persuading the generation under thirty that privatizing Social Security will give them the best return on their investment, prevent Democrats from pandering to old people and “special interests” (166-70). But Social Security is not an investment program, the Republican proposal relies on unrealistic assumptions, privatization does not solve the cash-flow problem (170-72). Ch. 13: Setting the Rules of the Game. Talk of “free markets” ignores Ricardo’s dictum that the “natural” price of labor is mere subsistence (173-74). Tax cuts as a way of “starving the beast” and undermining social programs (17576). Low wages produce higher profits, not, as a “tragic lie” would have it greater efficiency and productivity; even Ricardo says so (177-78). Advocates using tariffs “to balance trade relationships,” as was traditionally done (178-80). “We should pull out of the WTO, NAFTA, CAFTA, and other multilateral treaties that give corporations the power to enforce their will on our government and our workers. . . . This is easily doable” (180). Ch. 14: The Illegal Employer Problem. Employers, not immigrants, are to blame for the excessively large

“labor pool” (183-84). Reagan’s “crackdown on organized labor” led to the problem of illegal immigration, most obviously in construction but also “in all sectors” (184; 184-86). The real effect of the proposed immigration law would be to drive down wages and create nonvoting residents (186-87). Pace Lou Dobbs, illegal employers, not illegal employees, are the root of the problem (188-89). There is no need for a fence (189-90). “It’s time to stop talking about ‘illegal immigration’ and time to start talking about how the cons are trying to replace the American middle class with a labor pool of ‘working poor’ Americans and powerless illegal (or ‘guest’) immigrants” (190). Ch. 15: Leveling the Playing Field. People are working more and more in an attempt to stay in the middle class (19192). Low prices vs. high wages is a false dichotomy (193-94). Raising the minimum wage is not a threat to small businesses (194-95). Executive pay is excessive (195-97). “Unions are for anyone who wants to be middle class” (198; 198-99). Workplace rights are essential (198-99). The history of the struggle for labor rights (199-200). Since Reagan, U.S. society has been regressing (200-02). Energy prices are contributing to the screwing of American workers (202-04). A seven-item to-do list (20405). CONCLUSION: THE ROAD TO VICTORY. Examples of Americans getting involved (207-09). Advocates “taking back the Democratic Party” (209; 209-12). Praises third parties and advocates Instant Runoff Voting (212-14). Invites Republicans to “take back your party too!” (214; 214-17). Involvement means consistent participation “in a deep, visceral, meaningful way” (217-18). Advice to write letters, use the internet and pamphlets, contact congressional representatives, join “the union

movement,” and, quoting Churchill, “never give in” (219-23). Afterword by Greg Palast. Calling the struggle a “class war” that’s growing “severely, senselessly brutal,” Palast calls education “the key” and invokes the populist tradition (225-26). Notes. 9 pp. Index. 11 pp. Acknowledgments. First book since beginning full-time talk radio; assistance of Jo Ellen Green Kaiser, who wrote “perhaps 5 percent of the words” (247). About the Author. “National radio host . . . fourteen books . . speaker . . . former executive director of a residential treatment program for emotionally disturbed and abused children . . . lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife Louise and his attack cat, Higgins” (249). [Additional information: Born 1951 in Lansing, MI; former psychotherapist;

Michigan State University; SDS; does six hours of live talk radio five days a week; now has more listeners than any other progressive talk radio show host in the U.S.; first proposed (1978) the view that ADD is an evolutionary adaptation to hunting lifestyles; other books: ADD: A Different Perception (1992); ADHD Secrets of Success: Coaching Yourself to Fulfillment in the Business World (1994); Focus Your Energy: Hunting for Success in Business (1994); ADD Success Stories (1995); Beyond ADD (1996); Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight (1997; rev. 2004); The Prophet’s Way (1998; rev. 2004); The Greatest Spiritual Secret of the Century (2000); Thom Hartmann’s Complete Guide to ADD (2000); The Edison Gene (2003); Unequal Protection (rev. 2004); What Would Jefferson Do? (2004); Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK (2005); Walking Your Blues Away: Practical Bilateral Therapies for Healing the Mind and Optimizing Emotional Well-Being (2006).