"Alan Greenspan has proclaimed himself 'shocked' that 'the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders equity' proved to be an illusion... The Reagan-Thatcher model, which favored finance over domestic manufacturing, has collapsed. ... The mutually reinforcing rise of financialization and globalization broke the bond between American capitalism and America's interests. ...we should take a cue from Scandinavia's social capitalism, which is less manufacturing-centered than the German model. The Scandinavians have upgraded the skills and wages of their workers in the retail and service sectors -- the sectors that employ the majority of our own workforce. In consequence, fully employed impoverished workers, of which there are millions in the United States, do not exist in Scandinavia." - Harold Meyerson, "Building a Better Capitalism", The Washington Post, March 12, 2009.
The battle is an old one. William Jennings Bryan's 1896 speech contains a template for conflict between democracy and the rich. Inserting any policy the rich seek mainly in their own interest (here bank deregulation) will show it.
"There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them."
"When you come before us and tell us that we are about to disturb your business interests, we reply that you have disturbed our business interests."
"We say to you that you have made the definition of a business man too limited in its application. The man who is employed for wages is as much a business man as his employer; the attorney in a country town is as much a business man as the corporation counsel in a great metropolis; the merchant at the crossroads store is as much a business man as the merchant of New York ... the miners who go down a thousand feet into the earth, or climb 2,000 feet upon the cliffs, and bring forth from their hiding-places the precious metals to be poured in the channels of trade, are as much business men as the few financial magnates who, in a back room, corner the money of the world."
"If they dare to come out in the open field and defend bank deregulation as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for bank deregulation by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."
Tumultuous acclaim wasn't enough; Democrats could not overcome being outspent over 23 to 1 by the GOP. In a close vote McKinley won, which is perhaps good: When he got shot, Teddy Roosevelt became President, but Paul Ryan is no Teddy Roosevelt.
T.R. was only the first of several distinguished war heroes who rose to high position and found an octopus in the head of government and tried to warn us about it(see link under my name). Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler (Commandant of the Marine Corps, two Congressional Medals of Honor), Dwight Eisenhower, and John Kerry are others.
"There is...an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents.... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to prevent its ascendancy." - Thomas Jefferson
Originally Posted by Fudosan
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