Robert Reich Saving Capitalism

However, some may come to the deeper meaning of this text that the author was trying to get across. Some being the flaws of Capitalism and the “American Dream”; Social Darwinism, only the financially “fit” survive; and how Socialism could be the answer to those who need support financially. These issues have trailed the United States for many years, one example of a result of these issues is the creation of the Black Panther Party in the 1960’s; due to African American’s limited rights, inability to find a good paying job, and cold hatred towards the government. However, because of the ignorance by the majority of upper-class citizens, they would interpret the book as an attempt to persuade others to look down on Capitalism due to the struggles portrayed in the book in result of corrupt rich folk.

In the article, "Moral Criticism of the Market", author Ken S. Ewert lays out a formidable rebuttal of the Christian Left's criticism of the free market economic system. This view has taken a stronger rise in the past couple years, along with the rise in popularity among many around socialism. Since I have the luxury of having lived long enough to see several attempts at socialism/communism rise and fall, I found its resurgence in popularity during the last election somewhat surprising.

In ”Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” Robert Reich talks about the growing gap of higher class and the lower class of today’s society. He states that the rich are getting richer because they are the ones trying to take over the lower paying jobs.Along with that, the poor are getting poorer because of many losing their jobs due to competition with other countries because they are willing to work for less money. With today’s society it is common to replace low paying jobs with machines that end up cheaper and more efficient. Reich uses a metaphor to describe how the economy is doing for the rich and poor. This essay is informational and mature. In choosing this topic, Reich was reaching out to the older audiences by using

Within each example wither it’s in your face like Palahniuk’s movie, gently given like Capra’s or if it challenges you to think like Berman’s book conflict between “The Big Guys VS. The Little Guys” truly exists in our world. In each movie we are given our everyday, run of the mill guy. In Berman’s book conflict lies between our need for consumer goods so it is us versus corporate America. In It’s a Wonderful Life capitalist are portrayed in the character Mr. Potter who is full of greed willing to walk on the backs of the working people in his community. But Bailey was willing to fight him and with it he was fighting everything he dreamed of being one day. In Fight Club the character after making an alter ego named Tyler Durden begins his fight against capitalist leaving his life of materialistic consumption behind. In the movie he says “We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.” This shows us why he is choosing to fight against

In the United States of America we have found ourselves back into a rhythm of wealth - or lack of wealth - where the rich are richer and the poor get poorer enlarging the ever growing gap. The economy today (as of 2007) resembles closely to that of 1920s before the great fall. In the film “Inequality for All” we are told the story of the economic state of the United States from Robert Reich, a political economist and the former Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. When watching this video we find ourselves asking three main questions, which Reich himself brings up in the beginning; what is happening, is it a real problem, and why - also keeping in mind the particulars of the United States as it is today both politically and economically.

Henslin explains in chapter eleven that in the United states the capitalism that we have is state or welfare capitalism (Henslin, 2015). There is know such thing as a whole country being capitalists. Therefore, state capitalism means “private citizens own the means of production and pursue profits, but they do so within a vast system of laws designed to patent the welfare of the population, and not incidentally ensures that the government can collect taxes.” Moore’s documentary explains why capitalism is hurting our country in so many different ways. But big CEOs and business owners do not want to hear what the middle class people have to say because it is the big companies like that, that are taking everyones money and work.

From an opposite viewpoint many companies find different ways to help survive and/or maintain their economic status by cutting back on hiring, layoffs, cut backs on advertising and marketing. In the article written by Thomas Cushman entitled The Moral Economy of the Great Recession, Cushman examines the Great Recession of 2008. During this economic catastrophe unemployment was on the rise, the housing market was dwindling at an alarming rate, both large and small business were affected. Countless Americans were misled into buying homes that they could not pay for. During this time moral order had to be reestablished and emphasis on ethical values. When an economy is thriving capitalism’s is limited and risks are covered by dissertation of wealth and an overall consecration of gaining and expenditure.

The United States of America was once renowned for and demarcated by the size and successfulness of its middle class. Currently, America faces a shrinking middle class and a new rising oligarchy that is creating the largest wealth disparity in eighty years. Robert B. Reich wrote Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few, for the sole purpose of exposing the reasons why the wealthy get wealthier and poor get poorer. Reich contends that the free market vs government debate serves as a means of distraction, covering up the real issues of the top one percent reaping economic gains. Reich states in the book that the “free market” is a myth that prevents us from examining the rule changes and questioning who they serve. Reich further states “it is no accident that those with disproportionate influence over these rules, who are the largest beneficiaries of how the rules have been designed and adapted, are also among the most passionate supporters of the “free market” and the most ardent advocates of the relative superiority of the market over the government.”

The main key idea in this film is that America’s economy has nearly doubled, yet almost all of the benefits have went to the top 1%. Robert Reich touches on the growing inequality between the middle class Americans and the top 1%. He talks about how in the last 30 years America has just been getting richer and richer. Despite all the success our country has been having somehow the middle classes rates have flattened out and they are being taxed much more than the richest people in the nation. He also talks about how the average middle class citizen has some form of debt and it is continuing to grow. The reason this is happening is because people in the middle class keep digging themselves deeper into debt just to live comfortably. If America keeps heading down this same path than eventually there will be an economic crash.

In Robert Reich documentary “Inequality for All” he makes a compelling discussion about the serious crises that the United States faces due the widening economic gap. He looks to raise awareness of the U.S. economic gap between the rich and poor. According to Reich the widening divide in America is real and growing. Income levels at the middle and labor class is stagnant and are at it’s lowest levels compared to upper class incomes since the beginning of WWII and is growing wider each year. Reich suggests that the economy runs more smoothly when the middle class has jobs with fair wages, when unions are strong, and when middle class workers have some extra money to spend if possible when the government uses the tax policy properly and when it raises the minimum wage regularly to control the income gap between labor and management. In other words Reich argues that economically healthy middle and labor class equality is the foundation of a thriving economy and is necessary to maintaining a sound national infrastructure and educational system within

Capitalism has been the subject of ethical criticism since it was first introduced into society. I defend the morality of capitalism because it gives people incentive to work, establishes a web of trust between them, satisfies their material well-being, and generates a wide spectrum of prosperity.

Capitalism started up as a system of investing and sharing money in order to increase the value of resources in the future. Capitalism was just an economic system, but then soon turned into a complex system of ethical practices. Harari defines capitalism as, “a set of teachings about how people should behave, educate their children and even think” (Harari 314). This economic system evolved along with the people that were endorsing it. Capitalism enables the rich to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. There are many benefits to capitalism, but there are downfalls as well, and these downfalls tend to be masked because of the rapid speed capitalists grow at. Harari first presents a definition for capitalism, and soon goes into great detail on why capitalism, while fast paced and unforgiving, is able to stand unwavered while other productions fail.

It is interesting to note that Carnegie and Reich agree that there is a group of people that take control of this wealth. Carnegie believes the natural progression of society will always give birth to a special select group of people that goes on to become the rich and wealthy. This same special select group of people according to Reich are considered to be the symbolic analysts. This vessel is rising among other falling boats due to the fact that it contains engineers, market experts, economist and celebrities. They have a unique ability that separates them from the rest and keeps them among the top ladder.

Capitalism leads to the creation of unprecedented wealth, advanced technology, and wide prosperity. Yet capitalism is denounced as a system of greed, materialism, and ruthless dog-eat-dog competition

Even though capitalism has its advantages such as fueling technological innovations, there are some downsides to it. For example, capitalism creates inequalities and clear “winners” or “losers” in society. However, some people blame the poor for their circumstances and attribute their economic misfortune as due to a lack of morality (Lecture April 22, 2015).Those who blame the poor for their “laziness” are unlikely to support welfare programs, such as food stamps, because they see those as handouts.