In Boston this past weekend, the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy Americans fighting to raise tax rates — for themselves! — and HuffPost Live hosted French economist Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the 21st Century, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, whose memoir A Fighting Chance has just been released. The two superstars discuss why it is that the rich are getting richer, and everybody else is getting poorer, and most importantly, what we can do to fight it.
Patriotic Millionaire Dan Berger sees the forum as a step in the right direction: “Piketty’s research represents a profound critique of the current economic orthodoxy that the market system (and associated political economy) is capable of delivering rising incomes and standards of living to the vast majority of households in society, while Warren’s book demonstrates that there are two worlds and two sets of rules (and welfare) in America; one for the wealthy and one for everybody else. As they suggest, trickle down theories of wealth distribution are little more than magical thinking, and they have led to increased economic inequality. It is time for a reality-based public discussion on how move to greater equality and shared prosperity, along with a look at the high cost of not doing so, morally, socially, politically, and economically.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
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