Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor and currently professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkley likes the looks of Dem candidates both announced and unannounced for 2020 who are highlighting workers as their top campaign priority. He discuss the candidates Sherrod Brown, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders in an article today in The Guardian.
These four candidates are hammering home the point that workers comprise one of the most overlooked and legislatively maligned groups in all segments of society. And it was millions from this segment who comprised the core of voters whose heads were turned by the demagoguery of Donald Trump.
In considering why so many millions stampeded to the Trump bandwagon calls for a fairly simple analysis. He threw them a faux life raft in a roiling sea of lost jobs, the disappearance of labor unions, and wage stagnation. These workers felt ignored by the elites in Washington, personified by the man in the White House who served as a daily reminder of their imagined loss of status. They were primed and ready for a person like Trump and once they had assimilated his message became steadfast believers, no matter how contrary the evidence that he was a phony and a liar. .
Trump’s message was simple.He promised them everything they could have possibly hoped for – the rebounding of manufacturing jobs, the resurrection of the coal industry and a return to the glory days of decent middle class wages. He made these promises over and over at every campaign stop until his hyperbolic, (duplicitous) messaging sank in. Trump, the successful businessman, became a dream come true.He became their savior. He, with relish, took pot shots at all those hated Washington elites, kicked PC language to the curb and threw in outrageous, vulgar commentary at immigrants, racial groups and the disabled. This over the top rhetoric became icing on their resentment cake .
Turn now to today and think of these Dem candidates as the antidote to Trump;s message of hot air in 2016. According to Reich they are proposing substantive programs that with legislative support would provide relief and a boost to the American worker. While Trump’s promises proved to be empty, these candidates offer real change..
Sanders,, Warren, Brown and Harris right now are promoting work programs which will put employees in positions to directly influence company policies. They are highlighting the dignity of work and the importance of the American worker. They are taking this latent perspective to all workers irrespective of political allegiance as a counter to capitalism’s crushing autocracy.
They suggest that workers should not be viewed as simply cogs in the machinery of production with little job security or leverage. Instead they say, that workers should be held up as valuable contributors with rights in the American economy and be considered -the lifeblood of a thriving society.
How refreshing.
https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2019/jan/25/election-2020-capitalism-democrats-workers