Inequality, then and now
It wasn't until the financial markets took over that the relationship between power and money, and control became almost invisible
We've always had inequality, going back to feudal times. But there's a difference.
Back then, the feudal lord and the peasants he exploited lived on the same land. Even absentee landlords and monarchs knew those peasants had pitchforks, and they felt the sting of them from time to time. With early factories came the factory floor, but both bosses and workers walked upon it. Globalization and monopoly capital added distance.
But it wasn't until the financial markets took over as a source of wealth that that relationship between power and money, and control became almost invisible to the human eye. It wasn't the market that was invisible under neo-liberalism, it was that relationship, a relationship that Donald Trump, in his Trumpian way, is making visible once again.
When he sends troops and guards, and ICE agents into the streets, they may be masked, but their cruelty is up close and personal, and visible. And there's almost nowhere that the president can go himself today without getting booed by the peasants of this time.
Do they have pitchforks? Well, he may be wondering that. And so are we. We'll be watching.
You can find my interview with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich on the Laura Flanders & Friends YouTube channel and PBS stations, or listen to my uncut conversations with any of my guests by subscribing to our free podcast. All the information is at www.lauraflanders.org.