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NationofChange / Op-Ed
Published: Friday 26 October 2012
The alternative to cynicism is to become more involved in politics. Help create a progressive force in this nation that grows into a movement that can't be stopped.
If You Succumb to Cynicism, The Regressives Win it All
This is for those of you who consider yourself to be progressive but have given up on politics because it seems rotten to the core. You may prefer Obama to Romney but don't think there's a huge difference between the two, so you may not even vote.
Your cynicism is understandable. But cynicism is a self-fulfilling prophesy. If you succumb to it, the regressives who want to take this nation back to the 19th century win it all.
The Koch brothers, Karl Rove, the rabid Republican right, CEOs and Wall Street titans who want to entrench their privileges and tax advantages -- all of them would like nothing better than for every progressive in America to throw in the towel.
Then America is entirely theirs.
The alternative to cynicism is to become more involved in politics. Help create a progressive force in this nation that grows into a movement that can't be stopped.
We almost had it last year in the Occupy movement. We had the arguments and the energy. What we lacked was organization and discipline.
I've spent years in Washington and I know nothing good happens there unless good people outside Washington are organized and mobilized to put pressure on Washington to make it happen.
This isn't new. In the election of 1936, a constituent approached FDR with a list of things she wanted him to do if reelected. "Ma'am," he said, "I'd like to do all those things. But if I'm reelected, you must make me."
We must make them.
I suggest a two-step plan...
Step one: Vote for Barack Obama for President and vote for every Democratic senator and representative in Congress. Get off your ass and make sure your friends and relatives do the same.
Step two: Starting Election Day, regardless of who's elected, commit at least three hours every week to political organizing and mobilizing. Connect with other progressives in your city and state. Help find and recruit new progressive candidates to run against Republicans in swing states, and against conservative Democrats. Support the members of the progressive caucus in Congress. Raise money. Raise a ruckus.
Make it our goal to reverse Citizens United, even if it takes a constitutional amendment. And have public financing of elections (including requiring the media to provide free political advertising as part of their commitment to public service).
Also break up the biggest banks and resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act.
Put a 2 percent surtax on wealth in excess of $3 million. And a one-tenth of 1 percent transaction tax on every financial transaction. And restore top tax rates to what they were before Ronald Reagan became president.
Use half this revenue to pay down the national debt and half to make sure every American has a world-class education.
Put a tax on carbon, and use the revenues to reduce or replace payroll taxes.
Have a single-payer health-care system that delivers care at far less cost than our current balkanized and inefficient one.
And much else.
You say it can't happen -- the system is too rotten.
It won't happen if you wallow in the comfort of your cynicism. But it will happen if you and others like you get fired up.
We've done it before.
I remember when progressives joined with African-Americans to get enacted the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. I remember when progressives stopped the Vietnam War. When women finally got freedom of choice over their own bodies. When the Environmental Protection Act became law.
Who would have imagined two decades ago that America would elect an African-American as President of the United States? Who would have supposed gays and lesbians would begin to achieve equal marriage rights?
Of course we can take America back.
Stop complaining and start organizing.
And by all means, vote.
This article was originally posted on Robert Reich's blog.
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ABOUT Robert Reich
ROBERT B. REICH, one of the nation’s leading experts on work and the economy, is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. Time Magazine has named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written thirteen books, including his latest best-seller, “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future;” “The Work of Nations,” which has been translated into 22 languages; and his newest, an e-book, “Beyond Outrage.” His syndicated columns, television appearances, and public radio commentaries reach millions of people each week. He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, and Chairman of the citizen’s group Common Cause. His widely-read blog can be found at www.robertreich.org.
23 comments on "If You Succumb to Cynicism, The Regressives Win it All"
October 28, 2012 1:48pm
Remember that the Green Party doesn't have to win. I'm voting Green and I do not expect Jill Stein to win the presidency. I am voting Green to build a real progressive party.
If Jill Stein gets 5% of the popular vote on election day, the Green Party will be granted at least $20 million in federal funding. Every vote for the Green Party counts. This is how you build a party, vote by vote and with federal money to affect the national discussion and the national political climate moving forward. That is progress, and it is legitimate strategy. Progressives will get nowhere unless they vote progressive. If they do not vote progressive they are not progressives--no, they are Democrats, and they are neoliberals like almost all Democrats in power, but especially the president.
Reich should have been writing about the importance of voting Green in this election for the past year or more. Instead he will vote for the status quo. "Nation of Change" surely must know that fundamental change is what the US needs, and that means attacking our problems at their core. Corporatism and the two-party reign are THE two problems that predicate every other problem in this country. It is unhelpful for Reich to suggest that the Democrats, as much the cause of these two problems as the Republicans, will even attempt to change these things. I think Reich knows the Democrats are the roadblock to changing these two fundamental problems.
I think Reich should rethink his vote.
October 27, 2012 4:02pm
There are only 2 or 3 things that need to be done to get this country back to greatness, and a building of the Middle Class. Number one is tax the rich and the super rich like they did during the 1930's when we had 33 tax brackets ranging from 4% all the way up to 79% for income over $79,000,000. The other is to put everyone that wants a job to work. This can be the rebuilding of the infrastrure, or green jobs, or ditch diggers. These jobs don't need to be at prevailing wages of $25/hr. or more, but they do need to be a living wage of at least $14/hr or more. These 2 simple plans would bring this country back to greatness in a matter of weeks. That is Fair & Balanced.
October 27, 2012 1:30pm
I must be following a different Pres. election, listening to those suggesting a Green vote would send the Dems a message (and I'm not talking about "local" elections). The national message with a Green vote AT THIS TIME would be a message of joy to the radical right.
I still have my McGovern button but I know what happened after that. "Green" grass needs strong, well developed roots to grow. Too much fertilizer can kill growing green. If you court impulsive voters now, you can't count on them into the future. Grow Green but use less "fertilizer."
October 27, 2012 10:01am
If Robert Reich and other "progressives" at publications like "The Nation" would quit endorsing Democrats without making any demands of their Democrats, then the political scene would be much different in the US.
If "progressives" like Reich would have committed over a decade ago to voting for true progressives, and had he written about the importance of building a truly progressive party percentage point by percentage point, then the Green Party would a major contender today.
Instead, we Greens are pushing for 5 percent of the vote without the support of "progressive" journalism.
Five percent of the popular vote would earn the Green Party over $20 million in federal funding for the next campaign. That is how you build a party--with federal money and by taking the national stage to talk about huge, national problems. There is no reason to think a third party can only begin with local seats of government. You don't talk about huge, national problems when running for small, local offices. No. The change the US people need and actually want is fundamental, radical change in the way the US operates.
Robert Reich knows it will take a Green presidency to make those changes, but he refuses to build a Green Party by, at least, voting Green.
Robert Reich should vote Democrat because he disagrees with all I've said here. He probably believes that Obamacare is constitutional. Robert Reich is a Democrat. But if Robert Reich truly wants change, he should be telling his Democrats to vote Democrat and he should be telling those cynical voters who wouldn't otherwise vote to vote Green.
October 26, 2012 5:50pm
The same 1% is the puppeteer for both Obama and Romney! Obama is just their plan 'b'... Besides, give Obama another 4 years and he'll out-evil Romney in no time, the same way he out-did Bush!
If the unprecedented high voter turn-out of 2008 against Bush's policies happens again in 2012, Jill Stein will win by a landslide -EASY!!
What bitter irony that the only thing preventing us from defeating the 1% are the Obama-apologists who insist that we can't. Now, there is nothing more cynical than that!
October 26, 2012 7:41pm
KATHLEEN:
Come down to earth and recognize what a vote for Jill Stein will do. If you live in a toss-up state, your vote and other Green votes may just guarantee that Romney will move to the White House.
How many people have even heard of Jill Stein, much less knowing what she stands for? If you think she has a chance of winning the presidency, maybe you also believe in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus.
I hope you come back to NOC after the election, and if your fellow self-righteous Greens threw the election to Romney, I'm going to blame you and all the Greens who like having their noses in the air, while disparaging those of us who are trying to deal with the world as it is, and making efforts to improve the world. You, and your fellow Greens who don't want to soil your lily-white hands by voting for Obama, will have enabled a multimillionaire, backed by corporate billionaires, to take full control of our government.
And I want to hear your self-serving justifications then.
And why do you hate the President so much. Your passion against him sounds just like the Republican garbage I hear in the conservative town I live in. Are you really so morally superior by engaging in acts that will only enable Romney?
Or maybe that's your plan, all along.
October 26, 2012 5:26pm
Voting Green didn't seem to send a message when someone was running who had name recognition and it surely still won't.
October 26, 2012 2:38pm
Vote Green where they have a chance to win or vote so your vote sends a message without cutting your nose off to spite your face. Try to get across the stream on the horse you've got the best relationship with. Once on the other side you can then shot it and look for another horse.
October 26, 2012 2:58pm
"Vote Green where they have a chance to win..."
Shortsighted. The Green Party just qualified for matching Federal funds, and is on the ballot in 45 states.
NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF WE WAITED FOR THEM "TO HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN" IN PREVIOUS ELECTIONS.
It's not necessary for the Green Party to get 51% of the vote to make progress:
1. 5% of the vote will get the Green Party millions of dollars in additional Federal matching funds.
2. 5% of the vote will get the Green Party an automatic place on the ballot in the next election.
3. 10% of the vote will make it harder for the Commission on Presidential Debates to exclude them from the debates.
4. Green votes send the Democrats a message about which values WILL get our votes. And this message is sent even if the Green you vote for doesn't win.
5. A Green vote is a vote against an outlaw government that disobeys its own constitution, and kills without due process. It's a vote against "free-trade" agreements that outsource our jobs. It's a vote against tyranny.
VOTE GREEN 2012!
October 26, 2012 10:19pm
ALAN8:
So you're saying a vote for the Green Party will send a message to the Dems that they'd better pay attention to your concerns and values?
Obviously, you don't feel pressed for time in any of your considerations. Maybe you think we have all the time in the world to deal with Climate Change, the gross inequality of income in our nation, the trashing of the environment, destruction of habitat, privatization of Social Security, voucherization of Medicare. Do you really think Romney/Ryan give a hoot about your values? They'll have hysterics all the way to the Inaugural Ball.
In fact, I've seen so much intransigence in Greens this election, and so much delight in trashing Obama, that I really am beginning to suspect this is part of a Republican plan to steal left-leaning votes from the Democrats so that they have an easy take-over of every branch of government. This is not just a matter of voting for someone you believe in, because so many Greens seem to trash Obama with as much relish as the Tea Party extremists in the conservative town I live in. Really, I'm seeing little difference in the vitriol directed at the President. Oh, maybe the attacks are not overtly racist, but the slanders seem to know no limit. I'm almost used to this from the right-wing, but to see such personal attacks on the character of Obama from the Greens makes me wonder what's behind it all.
And through it all, I see the Greens walking behind the Romneyites, only they have their noses in the air, a scornful grimace on their faces, and a condescending attitude to those of us have spent our lives voting for change in real terms, not in a Lala-land of "sent messages."
Well, it's your choice, but if Romney wins, it's a loss for everything I believe in, and clear evidence that votes are for sale in our country. And I'm sure as hell going to point my finger at the uncompromising Greens who sold progressives down the river.
October 26, 2012 3:32pm
Alan:
In the above, you said: "4. Green votes send the Democrats a message...".
Are you also trying to send a message to GOP-types? Or, more likely, does your statement reveal that your real purpose is to siphon Dems to vote green and tip the balance to Romney?
Can you agree that we've seen enough deception from the right already this year? That we do not need your adding to that deception, too?
OBAMA 2012; Green 2012+; Romney (JUST SAY 'NO' to bad drugs ...).
October 31, 2012 6:40am
"Are you also trying to send a message to GOP-types?"
Yes, they need to know there's voter support for progressive issues, BUT -- I don't expect it to have much effect on them, because they overwhelmingly favor corporate interests over citizens' interests.
We have a chance, at least, with the Democrats, who will go where the votes are.
October 26, 2012 1:29pm
So Robert Reich has two recommendations: raise taxes and vote EVERY democrat into office. Wow, that's quite an insightful and well-thought out strategy you have, Robert. You urge people to vote for EVERY democrat, regardless of their stance, views, track-record, morals, or experience. And let me guess, EVERY conservative must be evil, right?
Your blatant cheerleading for the far left, and complete disregard for any cogent line of thinking, or rational analysis towards the political spectrum negates any credibility you have as a 'journalist'. Your viewpoints are so one sided and partisan, that is strips away any weight that your postings would have.
Here's a radical idea: think for yourself. Offer unpartisan, objective, clear analysis of the policy and actions of our elected officials. Do not vote down party lines. Do not believe the MSM. Do not believe the lies that are pedalled in the media. Use your own set of values and moral compass to make INFORMED decisions, regardless of the party.
Robert Reich, your vitriolic and non-sensical views are absurd. You offer NO objective rational in your line of thinking. Your radical leftist views actually push your readers further to the right. Keep on cheerleading!
October 26, 2012 10:28pm
INDIVIDUAL:
We know which side of the aisle you represent. Robert Reich a "radical leftist"? Only a "radical rightist" could make such an absurd attack.
Good grief, man, get a grip and come out of your Fox-News coma. Reich a radical leftist! Do you salute a photo of Rush Blimpbag before you go to bed?
Get a charge out of coming to a left-leaning site and stirring the pot? Get a life. You're only revealing your own bias, not exposing anyone else's.
October 26, 2012 12:37pm
Pike/Alan/FullBlad: if you live in a state where you can be assured Romney will NOT win, then PLEASE do vote GREEN; I thoroughly agree with your belief that we need to grow out of the duopoly trap that is doing so much damage. BUT, if you live in Ohio or Florida or Virginia or any other contested state PLEASE pass on voting Green this time around. You guys are nuts if you think it will help us all toward better governance if you tip the vote in your state to elect this horrible GOP ticket.
And Mr. Reich... good job again. Including, your excellent use of the word ‘ass’, … as in to all of us: let’s get off of our collective butts! This is OUR country, we need to be actively engaged for OUR future, and for the futures our children will inherit.
A vote for Romney is not a vote for the smiling, non-threatening angel-face duplicitously shone by the GOP candidate while President Obama called him in the later debates; that face is just a slick sales-job, by a salesman who stripped more than a quarter billion (his personal gain) while destroying tens of thousands of U.S. jobs. A vote for Romney is a vote for Koch-Bros, BigBanks, CorporateEmpowerment, and further enrichment of the tiniest fiscal elite. It is a vote against equity, quality of life, and the health of the only home environment we have: Earth.
Obama 2012; Green 2012+.
October 26, 2012 2:13pm
You haven't read the article I linked to. Please read it.
If we unconditionally vote Democratic in swing states, the Democratic Party has absolutely no incentive to listen to progressives, or take us seriously. The Green Party becomes an empty threat.
A vote for Obama is a vote for an outlaw government that kills without due process or oversight. It's a vote for a literal police state where the military can arrest you without charges and hold you indefinitely. It's a vote for MORE "free-trade" agreements that outsource American jobs to low-wage countries. It's a vote for police using deadly force on peaceful Occupy protesters. It's a vote for tyranny!
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -- Benjamin Franklin
In Franklin's time, men risked death to fight tyranny. Today's citizens have a hard time VOTING against tyranny!
VOTE GREEN 2012!
October 26, 2012 11:40am
Reich means well but his tactics and strategy would never work. He suggests mass infiltration of the Democratic Party as a means to change platform planks and then get elected. How naive. Does Reich not realize the size and scope of the agenda of the Western plutocracy, or their investment in their agenda and what they are quite willing to do to succeed? Presidents have been assassinated for daring to fly in the face of the Western oligarch. FDR's "new deal" was seen as the only way to save capitalism from a mass insurrection that would of had to be put down brutally if it succeeded. Does Reich not see that the constitution has been shredded, paving the way towards a police style state? I'll vote Green and have a clear conscience. In fact I'd vote for the Republicrats headed by Romney before the other guy seeking the leadership of the duopoly just to bring on system collapse instead of this slow crawl towards serfdom. Eventually the movements towards the desired outcome of globalism will rouse the people to revolt in mass protest, and there will be bloodshed. Then again perhaps the people will accept their fate, as lambs lead to slaughter as the plutocracy hopes. It will of course be better to stand up against tyranny like a free man than to beg on bended knee for crumbs to feed the starving beneath the dais of the rich and powerful. Reich is of the liberal class that Chris Hedges so correctly condemns as hopeless sell outs and apologists even if they don't realize that is what they are. Would Reich join in revolt or beg on bended knee?
October 26, 2012 5:22pm
You must be pretty young. That was the attitude with Nixon. didn't get us anywhere near revolution.
October 26, 2012 11:30am
If you vote for EITHER corporate-funded candidate, you're locking our country into corrupt corporate control for the foreseeable future.
Here's a fantastic article that explains WHY progressives should vote for the Green Party: www.opednews.com /articles/Voting-Green-in-a-Swing-St-by-B-Sidney-Smith-121025-298.html
Read it.
(Had to put spaces after the ".com", the site was truncating the URL.)
October 26, 2012 10:16am
Reich: "Step one: Vote for Barack Obama for President and vote for every Democratic senator and representative in Congress."
Yes, unconditionally give them your vote, despite:
1. Kill lists and unaccountable unconstitutional assassinations.
2. An unending series of "free-trade" agreements that outsource American jobs to low-wage countries.
3. The worst government invasion of privacy in history: wiretapping of our phone, email, and text messages, to use however the government pleases at some future date.
4. A police state where the military can arrest U.S. citizens without charges and hold them indefinitely.
5. Banksters who crashed our economy and made billions are above the law, and will never be charged with their crimes.
6. Deadly force being used against peaceful Occupy protestors
7. Genetically-modified frankfoods filling our supermarkets, unlabelled so we can't avoid them.
Yeah, unconditionally support the corporate-funded Democrats -- That'll teach 'em!
While the rest of your plan sounds good, it's worthless if the corrupt parties can ignore it. We have to see that it can't be ignored.
The Green Party doesn't accept corporate money and they represent the 99%. Your Green vote send the corporate parties a message that selling us out to the 1% will cost them votes.
And this message is sent even if the Green you vote for loses.
VOTE GREEN 2012!
October 26, 2012 10:04am
I love it: Robert telling us to run out and vote for obama, and work for democrats at least 3 hours a week
Romnesia again.
He seems to have forgotten that when Obama had a democratic majority in both houses, they still caved in to repuglican demands.
He seems to have forgotten both parties are completely sold to the highest bidders.
And is this simply Romnesia or an attempt to rewrite history?
"We almost had it last year in the Occupy movement. We had the arguments and the energy. What we lacked was organization and discipline."
Organizers would have been rounded up, framed for crimes they did not commit and sent to jail. Police brutality put an end to the face of Occupy, but not the substance. The anger is seething still, waiting for the next oportunity.
Perhaps, after Karl Rove steals this election, we will see it in full open rebellion. I hope so.
In the mean time Bob, get out there and put your body where your mouth is. Use Chris hedges as a role model. Get yourself arrested for something you believe in.
Until you do that, you have no credibility.
October 26, 2012 1:01pm
PIKEWICH, I agree with your statements. Reich tells us to vote for "all" Democrats and then later tells us to organize to combat "conservative" Democrats! Given his actions and deeds, its my contention that the country has been led by a "half-ass Republican," and that voting for any and all Democrats is simply the definition of insanity. The "full open rebellion" you speak of will only occur "after" tyranny has become so commonplace and pervasive, that it can't be ignored any longer. Millions of voters still have their collective heads in the sand. Unbridled despotism will
do wonders to bring them to the surface.
October 26, 2012 9:45am
Regressives implies GOP and its sponsors have some human traits. It would be more appropriate to call them the rulers of the Planet of the Apes!