r/politics • u/RB_Reich Robert Reich • Sep 26 '19

Let’s talk about impeachment! I'm Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, author, professor, and co-founder of Inequality Media. AMA. AMA-Finished

I'm Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor for President Clinton and Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. I also co-founded Inequality Media in 2014.

Earlier this year, we made a video on the impeachment process: The Impeachment Process Explained

Please have a look and subscribe to our channel for weekly videos. (My colleagues are telling me I should say, “Smash that subscribe button,” but that sounds rather violent to me.)

Let’s talk about impeachment, the primaries, or anything else you want to discuss.

Proof: https://i.imgur.com/tiGP0tL.jpg

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u/labluewolfe Louisiana Sep 26 '19

Hi Robert, what are your thoughts on the general state of labor relations and the status of the working class in the United States today?

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u/RB_Reich Robert Reich Sep 26 '19

Labor relations are worse than I've seen in a half century. Even though the U.S. economy is twice as large as it was in 1980, the median wage hasn't risen in 40 years, adjusted for inflation. Almost all the gains went to the top. This isn't sustainable.

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u/Scarbane Texas Sep 26 '19

Feudalism lasted centuries. The gilded age lasted decades. What's different this time?

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u/leviathynx Washington Sep 26 '19

The internet.

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '19

Environmental collapse.

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u/HeippodeiPeippo Europe Sep 27 '19

We have tasted democracy and we like it.

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u/QuickToJudgeYou Sep 27 '19

Yeah but not really, it's always been an elaborate illusion of democracy. There is still very much a ruling elite in this country. Of course there are exceptions when common people crack into their world, but that is rare. How many presidents in the recent were educated at ivy league schools or other elite private institutions? Most. How many had a net worth over 1 million? Most.

It's a ruling class disguised as people's choices.

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u/HeippodeiPeippo Europe Sep 27 '19

Yeah but not really, it's always been an elaborate illusion of democracy.

No, it hasn't. It has turned as such in the united states but even there, it isn't far from actual democracy. Don't confuse murica with the planet. Just because it isn't 100 doesn't mean it is 0.

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u/QuickToJudgeYou Sep 27 '19

A) this is a discussion regarding US politics not the world as a whole.

B) Even early on in America there were haves and have nots who could run for major office.