Joseph E. Stiglitz
The New York Times
Rising inequality means rising distrust: A study published last year by the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the upper classes are more likely to engage in what has traditionally been considered unethical behavior. . . Economic inequality, political inequality, and an inequality-promoting legal system all mutually reinforce one another. . . As always, it is the poor and the unconnected who suffer most from this, and who are the most repeatedly deceived.
The answer, I believe, is easy – very serious indeed. We as a left must build a politics of broad, working-class solidarity to defeat fascism either now or farther down the road than we can currently envision.
Two extensive union programs—one long established, one new—are focusing on swaying working-class voters who, like most Americans, don’t belong to unions.
So what if Bernie won? What would that mean? I would feel seen as a worker. I need that. We work and work and work and are too tired to see the future. We need better.
What could emerge from an understanding of the struggle between the two proletariats and its connection to US democracy and institutions is a more powerful and forward-looking narrative of class and race than either a utopian universalist liberalism or a narrow-minded working class incapable of advancing democracy.
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