Edible Education 101: How Food Policy Shapes US Culture and the Economy with Robert Reich Video Lecture | Edible Education: Understand Food & its production - Personal Skills

(INAUDIBLE TALKING)
MAN: SO C IS MEDIUM.
LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE SOME E'S.
THEY ARE THE OUTLIERS.
THEY ARE THE ONES THAT DON'T
KNOW HOW TO USE THE CLICKER.
WE HAVE A FEW PEOPLE IN LINE TO
WORK AT CHEZ PANISSE FOR D.
HERE'S THE THIRD BENCHMARKING
QUESTION.
DID YOU GET ENOUGH FOOD TO EAT
THIS PAST WEEK?
DID YOU GET ENOUGH FOOD TO EAT
THIS PAST WEEK.
BY FOOD I MEAN FOOD LIKE THE
KIND THAT ALICE BROUGHT THE
FIRST WEEK NOT THE KIND OF FOOD
LIKE OBJECTS AS MICHAEL POLLEN
LIKES TO SAY THAT ARE PERVASIVE
AROUND CAMPUS.
A, I GOT MORE THAN ENOUGH FOOD,
B, I GOT ENOUGH, AND C, NOT ENOUGH
IS KEY TO ALL OF THIS, OF
COURSE, IS THAT EVERYTHING IS
INTERCONNECTED, FOR EVERY MOVE
IN ONE PART OF THE SYSTEM,
THERE'S A CORRESPONDING AND
SOMETIMES UNANTICIPATED OUTCOME
OR OUTPUT ON THE OTHER SIDE.
THIS WEEK WE THOUGHT WE WOULD
TALK ABOUT CONCENTRATION AND
POWER IN THE FOOD SYSTEM.
IT IS A VERY TIMELY MOMENT FOR
THAT.
FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT CARE ABOUT
DEMOCRACY IT IS A BUMPY COUPLE
OF WEEKS HERE.
THERE'S A FELLOW NAMED PHIL
HOWARD A PROFESSOR AT SANTA CRUZ
FOR MANY YEARS.
HE STARTED TO MAP THE HIDDEN
CONCENTRATIONS OF POWER IN THE
FOOD INDUSTRY.
THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES THAT
HE DID THAT DISPELS THE
MYTHOLOGY THAT DISPELS THE FOOD
COMPANIES THAT ARE OPERATING
WITH THEIR OWN SET OF VALUES.
IN 2001 I WAS STANDING IN FRONT
OF A CLASS HERE AT HAAS.
I MENTIONED I WORKED AT ODWALA
IN THE MID 90'S.
I SAID TO THE CLASS DID YOU HEAR
COCA-COLA BOUGHT ODWALA?
IT WAS INTERESTING.
HALF OF THE CLASS WENT OH.
ANOTHER PART OF THE CLASS WENT
OH.
I WAS LIKE, WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?
THE OH WAS SORT OF LIKE THERE
GOES THE COMPANY, THE VALUES,
ITS QUALITY.
THE UP RISING OH'S WERE NOW
THINK OF ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO
WILL HAVE ACCESS TO HEALTHIER
JUICE AND PRODUCTS.
THESE CHANGES COME WITH A LOT OF
TRADE-OFFS.
WHAT I AM HOPING YOU WILL BE
ABLE TO DO DURING THIS COURSE IS
SORT OF DEVELOP A SUPER POWER
LIKE X-RAY VISION SO YOU WILL BE
ABLE TO PEER INTO A SYSTEM OR
SITUATION OR RELATIONSHIP AND
LOOK BENEATH THE SURFACE AND
QUESTION THE SOURCE OF THE
INFORMATION, QUESTION THE
INDUSTRY STRUCTURE, QUESTION ALL
OF THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT YOU
JUST MIGHT TAKE FOR GRANTED
ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
THE THINGS THAT YOU ARE EATING
AND HOW THEY GET TO YOU AND HOW
THEY ARE GROWN AND ALL OF THOSE
INTERDEPENDENCIES.
THINK ABOUT THIS COURSE, THIS
SEMESTER, HOW AM I GOING TO
DEVELOP THIS SUPER POWER OF
X-RAY VISION INTO TRANSPARENCY?
SO A COUPLE WAYS THAT
CONCENTRATION SHOWS UP IN THE
FOOD INDUSTRY IS NUMBER ONE IS
THE CHANGING OF THE
INTERPRETATION OF ANTITRUST
LAWS, THE STRUCTURING OF
EXCHANGE NETWORKS, MANY TIMES
COMPANIES WILL COLLABORATE TO
CREATE PRICING
ADVANTAGES.
IF YOU ARE AN EARLY STAGE FOOD
ENTREPRENEUR AND YOU SELL A
PRODUCT TO WHOLE FOODS THAT THEY
THINK IS REALLY HOT, IT IS NOT
UNCOMMON FOR THEM TO TELL YOU
THAT THEY WOULD BE REALLY
DISPLEASED IF THAT PRODUCT WAS
SOLD TO WAL-MART AT THE SAME
TIME.
RESHAPING OF CONSUMPTION HABITS
SO LARGER COMPANIES CAN
INFLUENCE US.
PHIL HOWARD TALKS ABOUT THIS
ALSO AS DE SKILLING SO THAT
VIDEO I SHOWED YOU IS A PERFECT
EXAMPLE OF HAVING A ROBOT
PREPARE A CUP OF COFFEE AND SORT
OF ELIMINATING ALL OF THE JOY
THAT COMES FROM ACTUALLY BREWING
SOMETHING YOURSELF.
DE SKILLING IS ALSO DONE BY THE
-- HE TALKED ABOUT THE PACKAGED
LETTUCE BUSINESS, JUST WASHING
LETTUCE HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM
US AND CHANGED OUR HABITS.
MANIPULATING PRICING,
MAINTAINING GOVERNMENT
SUBSIDIES, STRENGTHENING
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
PROTECTIONS AND INFLUENCING
STANDARDS.
AS WE KNOW THE ORGANIC STANDARDS
HAVE CHANGED AND BECOME MORE
CONVENTIONAL OVER THE LAST YEARS
THANKS TO THE FACT THAT THE
CONCENTRATION OF INTEREST FROM
BIG INDUSTRY HAS SET THE TABLE
FOR THOSE KINDS OF
DISCUSSIONS.
SO WE HAVE HAD -- YOU HAVE HEARD
OF THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS.
WE HAVE THE 12 DAYS OF
PRESIDENTIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS.
WE NOW HAVE A PRESIDENT THAT
ENJOYS FAST FOOD, AND I HAD THE
PRIVILEGE OF HAVING A MEETING
WITH VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE THE
OTHER DAY AND SOMEBODY ASKED HIM
A QUESTION LIKE, THERE WERE A
BUNCH OF ENTREPRENEURS IN THE
ROOM ASKED HIM WHAT DO WE DO?
MY COMPANY IS MADE UP OF
IMMIGRANTS.
HE
BASICALLY SAID, THIS IS NOT
LIKE THE FAST EN SEAT BELT SIGN
COMING ON FOR 20 MINUTES DURING
A CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT.
THIS IS FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS,
THIS IS GOING TO BE DISRUPTIVE
FOR QUITE A WHILE.
HOW ARE THE PRESIDENT'S POLICIES
AND POTENTIAL APPOINTEES LIKELY
TO IMPACT THE FOOD SYSTEM?
WE KNOW THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF
TALK ABOUT TRADE AGREEMENTS
WHICH WILL EFFECT THE COST AND
AVAILABILITY OF PRODUCTS,
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, A
WALL COULD CREATE TRADE TARIFFS
THAT WOULD RAISE PRICES.
I JUST READ WE IN THE UNITED
STATES IMPORT $2 BILLION OF
MEXICAN BEER A YEAR AND THINK
ABOUT ALL OF THE AVOCADOS THAT
WILL COST MORE.
IMMIGRATION, JUST SAW A REPORT
THAT 40 PERCENT OF THE GRAPES IN
CALIFORNIA MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO
BE HARVESTED IF THERE WAS
DEPORTATION OR ACCESS TO
UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS WAS TAKEN
AWAY.
OF COURSE, WAGES.
WE HAVE AN APPOINTEE TO THE
DEPARTMENT, THE SECRETARY OF
LABOR WHO IS A FAST FOOD KING.
THERE'S ALSO SOME THOUGHT THAT
INSTITUTIONS, FOOD
ESTABLISHMENTS MAY BE ABLE TO
DENY PEOPLE ACCESS TO THEIR
PRODUCTS BASED ON RELIGIOUS
BELIEF.
OF COURSE THE AFFORDABLE CARE
ACT IS GOING TO
DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACT FARM
AND RESTAURANT LABOR.
PUBLIC HEALTH WITH SET BACKS IN
PRIORITIZING HEALTH AND
WELL-BEING AND PREVENTION.
OF COURSE THE ELIMINATION OF
LAWS THAT PROTECT CONSUMERS,
FOOD SAFETY, FOOD SECURITY, THE
ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE, ET CETERA,
AND THE POWER GETS CONCENTRATED
FURTHER.
THIS IS JUST MY LEAD IN TO
INTRODUCE TO YOU SOMEBODY THAT
AT A TIME WE NEED WISE COUNSEL
TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN
RESTORE AND DEEPEN TRUST AND
ALSO LEARN TO ACT IN TURBULENT
TIMES.
I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE THE
CHANCELLOR'S PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC
POLICY, PROFESSOR ROBERT REICH.
(APPLAUSE)
MAN: THANK YOU, WILL.
IS THIS MICROPHONE WORKING ALL
RIGHT?
WELL, I APPRECIATED THAT NOT
ONLY MY INTRODUCTION BUT ALSO
THE INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC.
WHEN I WAS ASKED TO SPEAK TO YOU
TONIGHT, I WAS FRANKLY A LITTLE
BIT -- WELL, I WAS CHALLENGED.
LET'S PUT IT THAT WAY.
I SPEND MOST OF MY DAYS WORRYING
ABOUT
ISSUES ON POLITICS AND
ECONOMICS AND A LITTLE BIT
SOCIOLOGY.
THESE DAYS, PARTICULARLY OVER
THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS I HAVE
BEEN SPENDING A LOT OF TIME,
WELL, LOOKING AT WHAT OUR NEW
PRESIDENT IS DOING AND ALL OF
THE FORCES AROUND HIM.
I HAVEN'T SPEND VERY MUCH TIME
THINKING ABOUT FOOD.
I MEAN, I HAVE.
TODAY I
CONSUMED
ONE CHOCOLATE CROISSANT.
I THINK I ALSO HAD A LATTE.
A CHI LATTE.
THAT'S RIGHT.
THAT WAS IT.
THAT WAS MY FOOD INTAKE.
PEOPLE MY SIZE ACTUALLY ARE
ENVIRONMENTALLY, EXTREMELY
POSITIVE.
(LAUGHTER) MAN: THAT IS, WE TAKE
IN VERY LITTLE FOOD.
THE NECESSITY OF CARBON DIOXIDE,
I THINK WE ARE THE
FUTURE.
I WAS TRYING TO THINK ABOUT THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD AND
EVERYTHING ELSE I AM
WORRIED ABOUT.
WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT EDIBLE
EDUCATION, I THOUGHT IT WAS
ABOUT MEN AND THEIR FATHERS.
IN OTHER WORDS,
I THOUGHT IT WAS EDIBLE -- I
DID, ACTUALLY.
THAT WAS ONLY FOR A MOMENT.
I ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD ALL OF
WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND.
AND MAYBE THE WAY TO BEGIN IS TO
TALK ABOUT AN EXPERIENCE I HAD
IN THE FALL OF 2015 WHEN I WAS
IN MISSOURI.
I WAS ON A BOOK TOUR WITH MY
LATEST BOOK, AND I WAS MEETING
WITH FARMERS.
I HAD ASKED THE
PUBLISHER TO PLEASE NOT MAKE A
BOOK TOUR.
A NORMAL BOOK TOUR YOU MEET
PEOPLE YOU ALREADY KNOW OR
PEOPLE OF A SORT YOU ALREADY
KNOW.
YOU GO TO BOSTON AND NEW YORK
AND WASHINGTON AND SAN FRANCISCO
AND PORTLAND AND SEATTLE AND
LOS ANGELES AND MAYBE CHICAGO.
YOU DON'T REALLY TALK TO ANYBODY
ELSE.
THIS BOOK TOUR I ASKED THE
PUBLISHER THAT I WAS GOING TO
HAVE A CHANCE TO TALK WITH OTHER
PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT NECESSARILY
MY READERS.
THERE WAS A GROUP SMACK IN THE
CENTER OF MISSOURI, A GROUP OF
FARMERS.
THEY WERE TRYING TO DECIDE AT
THE TIME.
WE HAD A DISCUSSION ABOUT
ECONOMICS AND POLITICS.
I TALKED TO THEM ABOUT THE UP
COMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
BY THEN FALL OF 2015 WAS STILL A
WHILE AWAY.
I SAID TO THEM THEY WERE ALL
VERY FRIENDLY AND NOBODY SEEMED
TO HAVE ANY PARTICULAR ATTITUDE
RIGHT VERSES LEFT, DEMOCRAT
VERSES REPUBLICAN.
WHO ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT
SERIOUSLY?
A LOT OF THEM SAID SOMETHING TO
THE EFFECT OF WE ARE TRYING TO
MAKE A DECISION BETWEEN TWO
PEOPLE WE FIND VERY ATTRACTIVE.
ONE IS DONALD TRUMP.
ONE
IS BERNIE SANDERS.
I FOUND THAT INTERESTING.
FROM WHERE I WAS TALKING ABOUT
NOBODY WAS TALKING ABOUT DONALD
TRUMP AND BERNIE SANDERS IN THE
SAME SENTENCE.
NOBODY I KNEW WAS HAVING A HARD
TIME MAKING A DECISION BETWEEN
BERNIE SANDERS AND DONALD TRUMP.
IT SEEMED ODD TO ME.
AS I BEGAN TALKING AT GREATER
LENGTH TO THE FARMERS IN THE
MIDDLE OF MISSOURI OR MISSOURI
THAT'S WHAT THEY CALLED IT.
I STARTED TO UNDERSTAND
SOMETHING THAT HAS A BEARING ON
ALL OF THE VARIOUS STRANDS THAT
I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU TONIGHT.
WHAT'S THE
CONNECTION BETWEEN FOOD AND
DONALD TRUMP AND WHAT GOT HIM
ELECTED AND THE DEMONSTRATIONS
AND THE SPEECH TONIGHT AT
ANOTHER PART OF CAMPUS.
HAVE WE DRAWN ANY LINES FROM ONE
DATA POINT TO ANOTHER?
THEY SAID TO ME WHEN I SAID,
WELL, HOW CAN YOU -- I DIDN'T
SAY IT RUDELY.
JUST I AM INTERESTED.
DONALD TRUMP AND BERNIE SANDERS.
THEY BEGAN TALKING ABOUT THE
PRESSURES THEY HAVE FELT UNDER
FINANCIALLY.
THEY SAID TO ME THAT THEY ARE
HAVING A HARDER AND HARDER TIME
MAKING IT.
THEY ARE SMALL FARMERS AND AS
WILL BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT AND THE
DIAGRAM WAS VERY, VERY HELPFUL,
THE SMALL FARMERS FEEL SQUEEZED
THEY SAID.
THEY ARE NOT MAKING ANY MONEY.
IN FACT, THE RISK THEY ARE
FACING ECONOMICALLY KEEPS
ONGOING UP.
PARTLY BECAUSE THEIR SUPPLIERS
ARE CHARGING MORE AND MORE FOR
SEEDS AND FOR FERTILIZER AND FOR
STUFF LIKE THAT.
AND THE PEOPLE
THEY SELL TO WERE PAYING LESS
AND LESS.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A VERY
GOODY CON MIST TO UNDERSTAND
THAT PUTS PEOPLE IN A VERY
AWKWARD ECONOMIC
POSITION.
THESE FARMERS DIDN'T JUST FEEL
THEY WERE IN AN AWKWARD ECONOMIC
POSITION, THEY ACTUALLY THOUGHT
SOMETHING WAS ROTTEN.
SOMETHING IS GOING ON HERE.
THEY HAD BEEN FARMING FOR YEARS
FOR THREE OR FOUR GENERATIONS.
THEY NEVER ENCOUNTERED THE
NOMINATION OF RISING SUPPLY
PRICES AND FALLING PRICES FOR
WHAT THEY WERE SELLING.
AS THEY BEGAN INQUIRING WHAT WAS
GOING ON THEY BEGAN TO SEE
THEIR SUPPLIERS WERE
MONOPOLIZING.
MONSANTO FOR SEEDS AND ALSO
DUPONT AND OTHERS FOR FERTILIZER
WERE BECOMING BIGGER AND BIGGER
AND BIGGER.
IF YOU ARE VERY BIG, ONE OF THE
ADVANTAGES OF SIZE, WELL, YOU
CAN HAVE ECONOMIES OF SCALE,
THAT IS YOU CAN DO THINGS MORE
EFFICIENTLY WE HOPE.
ANOTHER THING THAT COMES WITH
SIZE IS THE PEOPLE YOU SELL TO
HAVE FEWER
AND FEWER CHOICES AND IT IS
POSSIBLE WITH GREAT SIZE TO
ACTUALLY GAIN CONTROL OVER A
MARKET.
THAT'S WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO THE
FARMERS OR AT LEAST WHAT THEY
SUSPECTED WAS HAPPENING.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE VERY GOOD DATA
BUT THEY SUSPECTED IT.
THEY FELT IT.
WHEN IT CAME TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE
THEY SOLD TO, THE FOOD
PROCESSORS, THEY FELT THE FOOD
PROCESSORS WERE ALSO GETTING
BIGGER AND BIGGER AND
MONOPOLIZING MORE AND MORE OF
THE FOOD PROCESSING MARKET, AND
THEY, SMALL FARMERS HAD VERY
LITTLE POWER.
THEY WERE GETTING SQUEEZED
ECONOMICALLY BECAUSE THEY HAD
THE LEAST
POWER IN THAT CHAIN.
BECAUSE THEY HAD VERY LITTLE
POWER AND THEY WERE GETTING
SQUEEZED AND THEY WERE WORRIED,
THEY WERE ON A DOWNWARD
ESCALATOR ECONOMICALLY
THEY WERE MAKING LESS AND LESS
EVERY YEAR AND WORRIED ABOUT
THEIR FUTURE AND THEY WERE
GETTING ANGRIER.
THEIR TONE OF VOICE WITH ME WAS
ONE OF INDIGNATION.
THEY FELT THE GAME WAS RIGGED
AGAINST THEM.
I KEPT ON HEARING THAT PHRASE
FROM THEM.
THE GAME IS RIGGED.
I HAD HEARD THOSE KINDS OF
EXPRESSIONS BEFORE, THE DICE ARE
LOADED, THE DECK IS STACKED,
THE GAME IS RIGGED, BUT I HAD
NOT HEARD IT AS MUCH AS I HEARD
IT ON THIS BOOK TOUR IN THE FALL
OF 2015.
NOT JUST FROM THE FARMERS IN
MISSOURI, BUT ALSO FROM SMALL
BUSINESSES IN
CINCINNATI AND FROM EVEN SOME
BIGGER BUSINESSES AND CONSUMERS
AND FROM PEOPLE WHO WERE POOR.
AND THEY WERE REPUBLICANS.
I MET WITH, DURING THE COURSE OF
THE BOOK TOUR, A MAN WHO -- THE
CONSERVATIVE DIGEST PICKED AS
ONE OF THE TWO MOST CONSERVATIVE
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
BY THE NAME OF
DAVID BRATT.
ANYBODY KNOW WHO DAVID BRATT IS?
(LAUGHTER) MAN: WAS THAT A SIGN
OF POSITIVE FEELINGS ABOUT
DAVID BRATT?
WELL, I WILL TELL YOU, DAVID
BRATT REPRESENTS THE 7TH
DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA.
DAVID BRATT BEAT IN THE
REPUBLICAN PRIMARY OF 2014,
FIRST TIME IT HAS EVER HAPPENED,
HE BEAT THE MAJORITY
LEADER OF THE HOUSE, A GUY
NAMED ERIC CANTOR.
HOW DID DAVID BRATT DO THIS?
HE BEATER RICK CANTOR BY TALKING
ABOUT CANTOR AS BEING EXHIBIT
NUMBER 1 FOR CRONY CAPITALISM.
HE USED THE TERM CRONY
CAPITALISM.
WHEN I WAS ON BOOK TOUR I KEPT
ON HEARING PEOPLE USE THAT TERM,
TOO.
A LOT OF REPUBLICANS,
CONSERVATIVES USING THAT TERM.
I WENT TO MEET DAVID BRATT.
CALLED HIM UP.
I SAID, HI, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO
SIT DOWN WITH YOU, TALK TO YOU.
YOU ARE A REPUBLICAN AND
CONSERVATIVE, I AM NOT.
BUT I AM INTERESTED IN YOUR
PHILOSOPHY AND HOW YOU BEAT
RICK CANTOR AND WHAT YOU FEEL IS
GOING WRONG WITH THE SYSTEM.
WE HAD A COUPLE OF HOURS AND WE
TALKED AND TURNED OUT WE
DISAGREED ABOUT EVERYTHING
EXCEPT WHEN IT CAME TO THE
ISSUES OF POWER IN THE
ECONOMY.
WHAT HE WAS MOST CONCERNED ABOUT
WAS HIS VIEW THAT CERTAIN
ACTORS IN THE ECONOMY, CERTAIN
COMPANIES AND INDUSTRIES WERE
GETTING NOT ONLY TOO
CONCENTRATED.
HE WAS NOT JUST LOOKING AT
CONCENTRATION MARKET POWER, HE
WAS LOOKING AT A GAME HE FELT
WAS BECOMING MORE AND MORE, AND
HE USED THE TERM RIGGED IN
FAVOR OF BIG MONEY.
REMEMBER, THIS IS ONE OF THE TWO
MOST CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS
IN
CONGRESS.
IT GOT ME THINKING, THAT BOOK
TOUR, THE FARMERS, MY DISCUSSION
WITH DAVID BRATT AND MANY OTHER
PEOPLE AROUND THE COUNTRY,
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS AND
OTHERS WHO I SAW AND HEARD VERY
SIMILAR THINGS, THE MARKET
WASN'T WORKING, THEY WERE ON A
DOWNWARD ESCALATOR ECONOMICALLY,
THEY WERE BECOMING MORE AND
MORE FRIGHTENED.
THE GAME WAS RIGGED.
CRONY CAPITALISM WAS BASICALLY
REWARDING CERTAIN PEOPLE AND
HARMING A LOT OF OTHERS.
AND BERNIE SANDERS AND DONALD
TRUMP WERE IMMERGING IN THEIR
MINDS AS THE REAL
CHOICES.
SO HOW DOES ALL OF THIS WORK?
WELL, LET ME SPEND A LITTLE BIT
OF TIME TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAS
HAPPENED TO THE UNITED STATES
ECONOMY OVER THE PAST 35 YEARS.
I CAN SPEAK FROM A LITTLE BIT OF
DIRECT EXPERIENCE, BECAUSE THIS
IS NOT JUST -- IF I JUST WANTED
TO GIVE YOU ECONOMIC DATA I
WOULD HAVE BROUGHT A LOT OF
SLIDES.
I WANT TO GIVE YOU ECONOMIC DATA
IN TERMS OF MY OWN EXPERIENCE
AS WELL.
MY FIRST JOB IN THE GOVERNMENT
WAS AS AN INTERN TO SENATOR
ROBERT F. KENNEDY IN 1967 BEFORE
HE WAS ASSASSINATED.
THOSE WERE TIMES WHEN THE
NATIONAL ECONOMY WAS WORKING FOR
ALMOST EVERYBODY.
IF YOU WERE IN THE BOTTOM 20
PERCENT BY INCOME DURING THE
PERIOD THAT STRETCHED FROM 1946
TO 1978, IF YOU WERE IN THE
BOTTOM 20 PERCENT, YOU SAW YOUR
INCOME DURING THAT ROUGHLY 30
YEAR PERIOD MORE THAN DOUBLE, IF
YOU WERE THE NEXT QUINN TILE,
YOU SAW YOUR INCOME DO ALMOST AS
WELL WITH THE SURGE, THE PEOPLE
WHO DIDN'T DO QUITE AS WELL BUT
STILL SAW THEIR INCOME INCREASE
DRAMATICALLY WERE IN THE TOP
QUINN TILE.
OR YOU FOLLOW THE ARGUMENT WHEN
I WENT TO WASHINGTON FOR THE
FIRST TIME AND WORKED FOR ROBERT
F. KENNEDY THE UNITED STATES
ECONOMY WAS BECOMING MORE AND
MORE EQUAL.
IT WAS GROWING PRETTY FAST.
NOW, I KNEW THAT THERE WERE A
LOT OF PROBLEMS AND ROBERT F.
KENNEDY, ONE OF THE REASONS I
WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT WORKING FOR
HIM WAS HE WAS WORKING VERY
HARD AT THAT TIME IN THE SENATE
TO TRY TO WIDEN THE CIRCLE OF
PROSPERITY SO MORE AFRICAN
AMERICANS AND MORE LATINOS AND
OTHERS WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE AN
OPPORTUNITY.
HE WAS WORKING ON EDUCATION.
HE WAS WORKING ON HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT.
HE WAS WORKING ON A LOT OF
IMPORTANT ISSUES.
I WAS NOT.
I WAS JUST AN INTERN.
I BARELY SAW HIM, BUT I WAS
EXCITED TO BE THERE,
NONETHELESS.
THE FOLLOWING YEAR, NOT ONLY WAS
HE ASSASSINATED, BUT SO WAS
MARTIN LUTHER KING, WITHIN
REALLY WEEKS OF EACH OTHER.
ALSO OUR CITIES WERE BURNING
DOWN AS A RESULT OF THE KING
ASSASSINATION AND ALSO A LOT OF
EXPECTATIONS PARTICULARLY THAT
POOR PEOPLE HAD THAT WERE UNMET.
THERE WAS VIOLENCE
IN THE STREETS.
ON TOP OF THAT THE VIETNAM WAR
WAS RAGING.
ALMOST EVERYBODY MY AGE WAS
CONCERNED ABOUT BEING DRAFTED
AND MANY OF MY FRIENDS WENT TO
THIS NOTION IF YOU WERE IN
COLLEGE YOU WERE SAFE.
NO.
SOME OF MY FRIENDS WENT TO
VIETNAM.
I LOST A GOOD FRIEND.
I FELT, BY THE WAY, WHEN RICHARD
NIXON WAS ELECTED A FEW MONTHS
LATER, THAT THIS COUNTRY HAD
GONE TO HELL.
SO WHATEVER YOU ARE FEELING
RIGHT NOW, I ASSURE YOU MY
FEELING IN 1968 WAS AT LEAST IN
THE SAME
BALLPARK.
BUT I DID NOT KNOW
HISTORICALLY THAT EVEN IN THE
70'S OR MOST OF THE 70'S, THE
TRAJECTORY I HAD GIVEN YOU ABOUT
MOST PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY
DOING BETTER AND BETTER,
INCLUDING FARMERS, INCLUDING
SMALL FARMERS, THAT STORY
CONTINUED UNTIL THE LATE 1970s.
THEN THERE WAS A BIG U TURN.
BY THE LATE 1970s I WAS WORKING
AT A PLACE CALLED THE FEDERAL
TRADE COMMISSION.
I DON'T KNOW WHETHER YOU KNOW
ABOUT THE FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION.
IT IS ONE OF THOSE INDEPENDENT
REGULATORY AGENCIES STARTED IN
1914 UNDER WOODROW WILSON.
ONE OF ITS PRIMARY DUTIES IS TO
ROOT OUT CONCENTRATIONS OF
ECONOMIC POWER THAT ARE LIFTING
PRICES ABOVE WHAT A COMPETITIVE
RATE MIGHT BE.
INDUSTRIES THAT ARE ABUSING
THEIR POWER, THE FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION AND ANTITRUST
DIVISION OF THE JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT ARE THE TWO PLACES
WHERE YOU GET THAT KIND OF POWER
IN WASHINGTON TO GO AFTER USING
THE ANTITRUST LAWS TO GO AFTER
CONCENTRATED ECONOMIC POWER.
I WAS AT THE FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION, AND WE WERE
PROSECUTING CASES, AND THERE WAS
A LOT OF ACTION.
WE ALSO WERE GOING AFTER SOME
BIG COMPANIES AND THEN I
DISCOVERED SOMETHING THAT
ABSOLUTELY AMAZED ME.
WE HAD SOME VERY LARGE CASES AND
RULE MAKINGS GOING ON THAT WERE
VERY POPULAR WITH CERTAIN
INDUSTRIES.
-- SO UNPOPULAR MEMBERS OF
CONGRESS STARTED WARNING US NOT
TO PURSUE THEM.
I IN MY NAￏVETY FROM THE DAYS OF
ROBERT F KENNEDY INTERNSHIPS
AND ALL I KNEW ABOUT CIVICS AND
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, I DIDN'T
REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE
POSSIBILITY THAT BIG COMPANIES
OR INDUSTRIES COULD SAY TO
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, YOU HAVE
GOT TO STOP THEM, A REGULATORY
AGENCY OR THE ANTITRUST DIVISION
FROM PURSUING US.
THAT DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.
IT WAS SOMETHING THAT I DIDN'T
EVEN KNOW COULD HAPPEN.
NAIVELY.
THEN THE FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION LOST ITS FUNDING
ENTIRELY.
WE WERE SHUT DOWN UNTIL WE WITH
MENDED OUR WAYS.
THAT WAS MY FIRST BRUSH WITH
SOMETHING THAT I HAVE SINCE SEEN
AGAIN AND AGAIN.
AND YOU CAN SEE HOW IT MIGHT
POSSIBLY BE CONNECTED TO
FEELINGS THAT EMERGE IN 2016
ABOUT THE GAME BEING RIGGED.
I AM GIVING YOU DATA POINTS, AND
I AM TRYING TO CONNECT THE DATA
POINTS AND I AM TRYING TO SHOW
YOU THAT MY EXPERIENCE, MY
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IS TRACK
SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON
IN THE UNITED STATES.
IN THE 1980'S, RONALD REAGAN WAS
PRESIDENT.
THE ECONOMY CONTINUED TO GROW.
IN FACT IT CONTINUED TO GROW
JUST ALMOST AS FAST IF NOT
FASTER THAN IT HAD GROWN FOR THE
FIRST 30 YEARS AFTER THE SECOND
WORLD WAR.
THE BIG DIFFERENCE WAS THAT THE
MEDIAN WAGE HAD STARTED TO FLATTEN.
IN OTHER WORDS, FROM 1946 ALL OF
THE WAY UP THROUGH THE LATE
1970s THE MEDIAN WAGE HAD
TRACKED DIRECTLY THE GROWTH OF
THE ECONOMY.
AS THE ECONOMY GREW EVERYBODY
DID BETTER.
AS I SUGGESTED TO YOU A MOMENT
AGO, EVEN THOSE IN THE BOTTOM 20
PERCENT DID BETTER THAN THOSE
IN THE TOP 20 PERCENT.
BUT THEN THIS STRANGE THING
HAPPENED.
MEDIAN WAGES STARTED TO FLATTEN
ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION,
EVEN THOUGH THE ECONOMY KEPT ON
GROWING.
THERE BECAME A DIVERGENCE.
NOBODY UNDERSTOOD IT.
A DIVERGENCE BETWEEN THE WAGE,
THE MEDIAN WAGE AND THE GROWTH
OF THE ECONOMY.
WHY?
WHAT HAPPENED?
ECONOMISTS KIND OF SCRATCHED
THEIR HEADS.
MOST OF THE ECONOMISTS I KNEW
AND TALKED WITH SAID IT IS ONLY
A MOMENTARY ABERRATION.
IT WASN'T A MOMENTARY
ABERRATION.
MEDIAN WAGES CONTINUED TO
STAGNATE THROUGH THE 1980'S.
I THEN CAME BACK INTO GOVERNMENT
IN 1992 AS BILL CLINTON'S LABOR
SECRETARY.
NOW I DON'T KNOW HOW ANYBODY
ELSE BECOMES LABOR SECRETARY OR
ANY OTHER KIND OF SECRETARY, BUT
I KNEW BILL CLINTON BECAUSE HE
HAD I HAD GONE TO GRADUATE
SCHOOL TOGETHER AT OXFORD.
I EVEN INTRODUCED HIM TO HIS
FUTURE WIFE.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING
AT THE TIME.
(LAUGHTER) I SHOULD CONFESS THAT
I HAD KNOWN HER, HILLARY RODHAM
WHEN SHE WAS AN UNDERGRADUATE AT
WELLESLEY.
I WAS AN UNDERGRADUATE AT
DARTMOUTH, AND
I EVEN ONCE DATED HER.
(LAUGHTER) IT WAS ONE DATE.
SHE WOULDN'T EVEN CALL IT A
DATE.
SHE WAS PRESIDENT OF HER CLASS,
I WAS PRESIDENT OF MY CLASS, IT
WAS SORT OF A PRESIDENTIAL
SUMMIT.
IN 1992 WHEN BILL CLINTON BECAME
PRESIDENT HE CALLED ME UP.
I WAS TEACHING AT HARVARD AND HE
SAID, BOB, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO
COME AND RUN MY ECONOMIC
TRANSITION.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT AN ECONOMIC
TRANSITION WAS.
I DIDN'T REALLY UNDERSTAND
EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED ME TO DO
BUT I WENT DOWN
ANYWAY.
IT WAS INTERESTING AND IT WAS
STRANGE AND DIFFERENT THAN WHEN
I WAS AT THE FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION 12 YEARS BEFORE AND
VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHEN I WAS
IN WASHINGTON IN
1967.
WHAT I FOUND WAS WASHINGTON HAD
BECOME MUCH RICHER.
IN THE LATE 60'S IT WAS KIND OF
A SEEDY TOWN.
IN THE 1970s IT STAYED PRETTY
SEEDY.
I HAD LOBBYISTS WHO OCCASIONALLY
WANTED TO TALK TO ME WHEN I WAS
AT THE FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION.
I SAID LET'S MEET FOR LUNCH
ACROSS THE STREET AT BARNEY'S.
BARNEY'S HAD COCKROACHES ALL
OVER IT IS WALLS.
I NEVER SAW THE LOBBYISTS AGAIN.
IT WAS A GOOD WAY OF RIDDING
MYSELF OF THE HUMAN COCKROACHES.
BY THE TIME WE GOT TO THE 1990'S
WASHINGTON HAD BECOME VERY,
VERY WEALTHY.
THEY WERE VERY, VERY ELEGANT
RESTAURANTS AND BISTROS WITH
HEAVY SILVERWARE AND HEAVY
NAPKINS AND BEAUTIFUL HOTELS.
WASHINGTON NEVER REALLY HAD A
BEAUTIFUL HOTEL.
ALL OF THE HOTELS WERE BECOMING
REFURBISHED.
I AM NOT TALKING THE TRUMP
INTERNATIONAL HOTEL.
THAT WAS LATER.
BUT HOW DID WASHINGTON GET SO
RICH?
TWO OF THE FIVE RICHEST COUNTIES
IN THE UNITED STATES BECAME
COUNTIES THAT WERE CONTIGUOUS TO
WASHINGTON, D.C. WHAT WAS
GOING ON?
WELL, AS I GOT DEEPER AND DEEPER
INTO THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION
AND BECAME SECRETARY OF LABOR, I
HAD A CHANCE TO GET A CLOSER
LOOK AT THE ECONOMIC AND LABOR
STATISTICS.
I SAW THAT THE MEDIAN WAGE KEPT
ON FLATTENING.
THERE WAS NO INCREASE IN THE
MEDIAN WAGE AT ALL BUT
EVERYTHING WAS DOING VERY WELL.
THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE WAS DOING
VERY WELL.
WHERE DID ALL OF THAT MONEY GO?
IF THE MEDIAN WAGE IS FLAT AND
THE ECONOMY CONTINUES TO GROW,
I KEPT ON ASKING, WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?
CLASS?
THE MONEY STARTED ACCUMULATING
UP AT THE TOP.
WHEN I BEGAN SEEING THIS AND
BEGAN TALKING ABOUT IT, YOU CAN
IMAGINE HOW UNPOPULAR I BECAME.
PEOPLE ACCUSED ME OF BEING A
CLASS WARRIOR.
I SAID I AM NOT CRITICIZING
ANYBODY.
THIS IS NOT -- I AM JUST
POINTING OUT THE DATA.
THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY -- I AM
NOT DEMONIZING.
I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO FEEL
LIKE I AM SINGLING THEM OUT.
I AM JUST INTERESTED IN HOW THIS
IS HAPPENING.
INEQUALITY IS WIDENING IN WAYS
WE HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN
THIS COUNTRY.
I AM DETERMINED TO FIGURE IT
OUT.
WITH A GROUP OF ECONOMISTS AND
SOME OTHERS WE POURED THROUGH
THE DATA AND WE KEPT ON LOOKING
AT THE STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE
ECONOMY THROUGH THE 1990'S AND
I BEGAN SEEING SOME PATTERNS.
NOW OBVIOUSLY GLOBALIZATION AND
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE WERE
DRIVING SOME OF THIS, A BIG
PORTION OF IT.
IN THE EARLY 1990'S WE ALL SAID
A LOT OF IT IS GLOBALIZATION.
BECAUSE OF GLOBALIZATION YOU
HAVE A LOT OF MANUFACTURING JOBS
BEGINNING TO LEAVE.
BILL CLINTON WANTED TO DO THE
NORTH AMERICAN
FREE TRADE ACT AND I SAID,
YEAH, THAT'S FINE, I THINK TRADE
IS A GOOD
THING BUT THERE ARE GOING TO BE
CERTAIN GROUPS NEGATIVELY
IMPACTED BY THIS AND MAYBE WE
SHOULD SPEND A LOT OF TIME AND
ENERGY AND MONEY MAKING IT
EASIER FOR PEOPLE WHO LOSE THEIR
JOBS BECAUSE OF TRADE TO GET
NEW JOBS THAT PAY AS WELL AS THE
OLD JOBS THEY LOST.
IN OTHER WORDS, EXPAND
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE, MAKE IT
INTO A REEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
SYSTEM.
HAVE A SYSTEM WHERE BY PEOPLE
CAN GET JOB SEARCH ASSISTANCE
AND JOB COUNSELING AND
RETRAINING AND USE COMMUNITY
COLLEGES, AND BILL CLINTON
THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA.
WE WORKED VERY HARD ON IT AND WE
GOT REPUBLICANS TO WORK WITH US
AND TO AGREE AND WE HAD THIS
WHOLE BIG JOB DISPLACEMENT
PROGRAM IN PLACE
WHEN NAFTA WENT THROUGH AND
WHEN WE DID THE WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATION, THE ASCENSION OF
CHINA, WE HAD THIS BIG
COMPLICATED REEMPLOYMENT SYSTEM,
BUT THE
PROBLEM WAS WE COULD NEVER GET
MONEY FOR IT.
CONGRESS NEVER APPROPRIATED ANY
MONEY FOR IT.
I ASKED MYSELF, WHY?
WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
WOULDN'T YOU THINK IT IS BETTER
TO APPROPRIATE MONEY SO PEOPLE
CAN GET NEW JOBS, RETRAIN,
IMPROVE EDUCATION THAN HAVE
PEOPLE JUST LOSE THE JOBS AND
GET LOUSIER JOBS AND BECOME MORE
RESENTFUL?
ISN'T THAT KIND OF RESENTMENT
DANGEROUS POLITICALLY AS WELL AS
IN TERMS OF SOCIAL TRUST THAT
BINDS A
SOCIETY TOGETHER?
I COULDN'T CONVINCE THE
POLITICIANS.
I LATER LEARNED, AND I LATER
UNDERSTOOD THAT THERE WAS NO
CONSTITUENCY IN FAVOR OF
REEMPLOYMENT.
THAT IS, THERE WERE A LOT OF
PEOPLE, INCLUDING LABOR UNIONS
WHO WANTED TO SUPPORT JOBS
THAT WERE HERE NOW.
BUT THERE WAS NOBODY WHO WAS
REALLY EAGER TO POUR MONEY INTO
JOBS THAT WERE
NOT HERE NOW THAT MIGHT BE BUT
NOBODY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THE
JOBS COULD BE
OR WOULD BE.
THE FREE TRADERS LOVED FREE
TRADE, BUT THEY WERE NOT
INTERESTED IN REEMPLOYMENT.
THEY WERE INTERESTED IN THE
MARKET.
LET THE MARKET DO ITS THING.
THE PROTECTIONISTS WERE
INTERESTED IN JUST KEEPING
THINGS AS THEY WERE, BUT THERE
WAS NOBODY IN THE MIDDLE.
THERE WAS NOBODY WHO WAS ARGUING
FOR ADAPTING THE LABOR FORCE TO
CHANGES.
AND THEN I BEGAN NOTICING
SOMETHING ELSE.
AS THE MEDIAN WAGE FLATTENED,
THE WAY A LOT OF FAMILIES WERE
COPING WITH THAT FLATTENING OF
THE MEDIAN WAGE WAS BY WORKING
LONGER HOURS AND HAVING MORE AND
MORE MIDDLE CLASS WIVES AND
MOTHERS ENTER THE WORK FORCE TO
PROP UP FAMILY
INCOMES.
IN OTHER WORDS, I HAD BEEN UNDER
THE ASSUMPTION ALL OF THE
OPPORTUNITIES WERE OPENING UP
FOR WOMEN IN THE WORK FORCE WAS
BECAUSE OF TITLE 9 AND ANTI
DISCRIMINATION POLICIES AND THE
WOMAN'S MOVEMENT.
THE MORE I LOOKED AT THE DATA,
THE NUMBER OF JOB OPENINGS FOR
PROFESSIONAL WOMEN WERE GROWING.
BUT THAT'S NOT WHY MOST WIVES
AND MOTHERS WERE MOVING IN THE
WORK FORCE
THEY WERE MOVING INTO THE WORK
FORCE BECAUSE THEY HAD TO IN
TERMS OF PROPPING UP FAMILY
INCOMES.
THEY WERE GOING TO BE DROPPING
BECAUSE MALE WAGES WERE DROPPING
ADJUSTING FOR INFLATION.
MANY OF THE UNION JOBS WERE
DISAPPEARING.
AND WIVES AND MOTHERS AND MEN
WERE WORKING ALL HOURS.
BY THE LATE 1990'S, WE THE
UNITED STATES, THE TYPICAL
FAMILY WAS PUTTING IN MORE WORK
HOURS THAN THE TYPICAL JAPANESE,
THAN THE TYPICAL EUROPEANS.
WE WERE WORKING HARDER THAN WE
HAD EVER WORKED BEFORE.
THAT WAS MOSTLY MIDDLE CLASS,
LOWER MIDDLE CLASS, WORKING
CLASS FAMILIES JUST TRYING TO
MAINTAIN THEMSELVES IN THIS
CHANGING ECONOMY.
THEN IN THE EARLY 2000'S THEY
USED ANOTHER TECHNIQUE AND THAT
WAS TURNING THEIR HOUSES INTO
PIGGY BANKS.
BECAUSE HOME PRICES WERE GOING
UP AND THEY COULD REFINANCE
THEIR HOMES OR GET A HOME EQUITY
LOAN AND THE MONEY WOULD COME
IN AND THEY COULD CONTINUE TO
ACT AS IF THEY WERE NOT DEALING
WITH STAGNANT OR DECLINING
WAGES.
AND THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED.
THE HOUSING
MARKET BUBBLE BURST.
THE FINANCIAL BUBBLE BURST.
AND YOU HAD A HUGE NUMBER OF
MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING CLASS
FAMILIES THAT EITHER LOST THEIR
HOMES OR THEIR JOBS OR THEIR
SAVINGS.
WALL STREET GOT BAILED OUT BY
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS DID GM
AND CHRYSLER.
THE TROUBLED ASSETS RELIEF
PROGRAM WAS SUPPOSED TO DEAL
WITH HOUSING AND SUPPOSED TO
HELP PEOPLE WHOSE HOUSES WERE
UNDER WATER.
THEY OWED MORE ON THEIR HOMES
THAN THEIR HOMES WERE WORTH BUT
TARP NEVER REALLY DID THAT.
IT BASICALLY ONLY BAILED OUT THE
BIG BANKS AND CHRYSLER AND GM.
AND YOU KNOW SOMETHING?
IN THE FALL OF 2015, WHEN I WAS
TALKING WITH FARMERS AND PEOPLE
IN CINCINNATI AND REPUBLICANS
AND DEMOCRATS AND AVERAGE
PEOPLE IN THE MIDWESTERN AND
SOUTHERN STATES AND TALKING
ABOUT WHAT THEY PERCEIVED TO BE
A RIGGED GAME AND A SYSTEM OF
CAPITALISM THAT WAS CRONY
CAPITALISM, WHEN I WAS TALKING
TO THEM DO YOU KNOW HOW QUICKLY
THE WALL STREET BAILOUT CAME UP?
WITHIN ABOUT A MINUTE.
THAT WAS WHEN THEY ALL BEGAN
SEEING SOMETHING.
IT WASN'T THAT TECHNOLOGY AND
GLOBALIZATION WERE THE ONLY
THINGS THAT WERE TAKING AWAY
THEIR JOBS.
THE IT WAS THAT THERE WAS
SOMETHING HAPPENING IN THE
UNITED STATES.
GLOBALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL
DISPLACEMENT WERE OCCURRING IN
EUROPE AS WELL.
THEY WERE OCCURRING IN JAPAN.
THEY WERE OCCURRING EVERY WHERE.
WHY WERE WE GALLOPING TOWARD
WIDER INEQUALITY THAN ANYWHERE
ELSE IN THE WORLD?
WHY WAS INEQUALITY BREAKING OUT?
WHY WERE WAGES REALLY FLATTENING
AND WHY WAS SO MUCH OF TOTAL
NATIONAL PRODUCT GOING TO THE
TOP, HERE MORE THAN IN ANY OTHER
COUNTRY?
COULDN'T HAVE BEEN JUST
GLOBALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY.
THEY BEGAN TO SEE THAT IT ALSO
HAD TO DO WITH POLITICS AND
POWER.
BECAUSE THERE IS A VICIOUS CYCLE
AT WORK, AND I SAW IT FIRST
HAND WHEN I WAS IN THE CLINTON
ADMINISTRATION.
I SAW ALL OF THE MONEY.
I SAW THE LINCOLN BEDROOM OF
BILL CLINTON AND HILLARY CLINTON
IN THE WHITE HOUSE BEING
ESSENTIALLY RENTED OUT
TO CEO'S AND OTHER WEALTHY
INDIVIDUALS WHO WOULD PAY A LOT
TO THE DEMOCRATIC
NATIONAL COMMITTEE.
I SAW THE BIG POLITICAL PARTIES
OF OUR COUNTRY TURN INTO MORE
THAN THEY HAVE EVER BEEN BEFORE,
INTO FUNDRAISING MACHINES
DESIGNED TO GET A LOT OF BIG
MONEY FROM A LOT OF WEALTHY
PEOPLE AT BIG COMPANIES AT
WALL STREET.
IT ALL STARTED TO COME TOGETHER
FOR ME A FEW YEARS AGO I BEGAN
TO SEE WHY BERNIE SANDERS AND
DONALD TRUMP WERE SO ATTRACTIVE.
THEY WERE SO ATTRACTIVE BECAUSE
THEY WERE SAYING, YOU KNOW
SOMETHING?
YOU ARE
ENTITLED TO BE INDIGNANT.
THE GAME IS RIGGED, AND I AM AN
OUTSIDER, AND I AM GOING TO
CHANGE IT FUNDAMENTALLY.
NOW, DONALD TRUMP SAID SOMETHING
DIFFERENT THAN BERNIE SANDERS.
DONALD TRUMP SAID, I AM
ESSENTIALLY GOING TO BE YOUR
TRIBUNE, I AM GOING TO BE YOUR
VOICE.
I UNDERSTAND HOW ANGRY YOU ARE,
AND SOME OF YOUR ANGER HAS TO DO
WITH THE FACT THAT THOSE PEOPLE
OVER THERE, THOSE IMMIGRANTS,
THOSE MEXICANS, THOSE MUSLIMS,
THOSE -- THOSE, THOSE,
THOSE, THOSE PEOPLE WERE THE
SOURCE OF YOUR PROBLEM.
IN OTHER WORDS, IT WAS THE SAME
INDIGNATION AND THE SAME ANGER
BUT HE WAS CHANNELING IT TOWARDS
SCAPE GOATS, WHICH IS NOT
NEW IN HISTORY.
ECONOMIC ANXIETY BEING
CHANNELLED TOWARDS SCAPE GOATS.
BERNIE SANDERS, WHO YOU REMEMBER
-- PEOPLE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT
BERNIE SANDERS ANY MORE.
THE MOST UNLIKELY PERSON TO
CHANNEL INDIGNATION NOT TOWARD
SCAPE GOATS BUT TOWARD CALLED IT
POLITICAL REVOLUTION.
CHANGING THE ENTIRE DEMOCRATIC
SYSTEM GETTING BIG MONEY OUT OF
POLITICS.
BERNIE SANDERS THE MOST UNLIKELY
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE 72 YEARS
OLD, 73 YEARS OLD WHEN HE
STARTED.
A SELF-STYLED DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALIST FROM VERMONT?
JEWISH.
SORT OF BEDRAGGLED BROOKLYN.
NOT EVEN A DEMOCRAT.
I MEAN, WHO IN THE WORLD WOULD
HAVE EXPECTED BERNIE SANDERS TO
TAKE 20 STATES?
WHO WOULD HAVE EXPECTED THAT
FARMERS IN THE MIDDLE OF
MISSOURI WHEN I WAS THERE IN THE
FALL OF 2015 WOULD SAY THAT
THEY WERE ACTUALLY THINKING
ABOUT VOTING FOR THIS GUY
NAMED BERNIE SANDERS?
I HAVE KNOWN AS I HAVE SAID,
HILLARY CLINTON FOR ALMOST 50
YEARS, BUT SHE WAS IN MANY
PEOPLE'S VIEW IN 2016 THE
EMBODIMENT OF THE ESTABLISHMENT.
AND THE ESTABLISHMENT FOR MANY
PEOPLE WAS
CRONY CAPITALISM.
DONALD TRUMP, AS UNLIKELY A
TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE, IN FACT
LESS LIKELY THAN BERNIE SANDERS,
A MULTI BILLIONAIRE WHO HAS
BEEN SORT OF FLOUNCING AND
TROTTING AROUND AMERICA FOR
YEARS, ALMOST A JOKE, BUT HE
SAID CONVINCINGLY TO THOSE
FARMERS IN MISSOURI, I AM AN
OUTSIDER, I AM GOING TO DISRUPT
TOTALLY OVER THROW BUSINESS AS
USUAL.
SHE, HILLARY CLINTON, IS THE
INSIDER.
MOST AMERICANS, 3 MILLION
AMERICANS DIDN'T BELIEVE HIM,
VOTED FOR HER, SHE GOT THE
POPULAR VOTE AS YOU KNOW, HE GOT
THE ELECTORAL
VOTE.
BUT -- AND HERE'S THE CONNECTION
TO THE FARMERS.
HERE'S THE CONNECTION TO
EVERYTHING ELSE.
IF YOU HAVE A SYSTEM IN WHICH AT
ITS CORE YOU HAVE GOT A VICIOUS
CYCLE OF
ECONOMIC POWER TRANSLATED INTO
POLITICAL
POWER, TO GET RULES AND LAWS
THAT ENHANCE THE ECONOMIC
POSITION OF THE PEOPLE AT THE
TOP WHO ARE IN EFFECT PULLING
THE STRINGS ON THE POLITICAL
POWER, YOU CAN SEE HOW THAT
COMPOUNDS ITSELF
OVER TIME.
WHY AT SOME POINT THERE'S GOING
TO BE A POLITICAL AND
SOCIOLOGICAL TIPPING POINT WHERE
PEOPLE SAY,
I HAVE HAD ENOUGH.
SO I WANT TO SUGGEST TO YOU IN
OUR FINAL MINUTES, THAT IT IS
NOT JUST MONOPOLIZATION.
A LOT OF IT IS MONOPOLIZATION.
IT IS
MONOPSINISTIC BEHAVIOR.
IF YOU WANT ME TO GET INTO THAT
I WILL.
IT IS ALSO ABOUT BASIC RULES OF
THE GAME.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
HOW LONG CAN YOU HOLD A PATENT?
HOW LONG CAN YOU HAVE A COPY
RIGHT?
HOW LONG CAN YOU HAVE A
TRADEMARK?
MUCH LONGER THAN EVER BEFORE.
IN EFFECT WHY ARE WE PAYING
MORE FOR PHARMACEUTICALS THAN
ANY OTHER ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL
COUNTRY?
WHY ARE WE PAYING MORE FOR
INTERNET SERVICE CONNECTIVITY
THAN ANY OTHER CITIZENS OF
ADVANCED COUNTRIES.
WHY ARE AIRLINE PRICES SO HIGH
WHEN FUEL COSTS ARE GOING DOWN?
WHY ARE BANKING COSTS,
PARTICULARLY FOR THE BIG BANKS
HIGHER THAN THEY ARE IN MANY OTHER
COUNTRIES?
IF WE GO THROUGH ALL OF THE WAYS
IN WHICH THE RULES OF THE GAME
CONTRACT PROPERTY
TORT LAW,
ENFORCEMENT, HOW THEY ARE BEING
WARPED, NOT BECAUSE ANYBODY IS
BAD, BUT BECAUSE ECONOMIC POWER
AND POLITICAL POWER HAVE BECOME
INTERWOVEN.
YOU SEE WHY DAVID BRATT AND THE
FARMERS IN MISSOURI AND A LOT OF
OTHER PEOPLE HAVE
HAD ENOUGH.
BECAUSE ALL OF THOSE
MANIPULATIONS OF LAWS AND RULES
MEAN THERE IS LESS MONEY IN
PEOPLE'S POCKETS.
THEY'RE WORKING HARDER THAN EVER,
BUT THEIR MONEY, THEIR INCOME IS
BEING REDISTRIBUTED IN QUIET
UPWARD
REDISTRIBUTIONS.
TO TOP EXECUTIVES AND MAJOR
SHAREHOLDERS.
THOSE SHARE HOLDERS BY THE WAY
THE TOP 10 PERCENT OF WEALTH IN
THE COUNTRY HAS 80 PERCENT OF
SHARES OF STOCK, EVEN INCLUDING
401K'S.
DON'T FOOL YOURSELF INTO
THINKING THE STOCK MARKET IS SO
BROADLY BASED IN TERMS OF WEALTH THAT IF CORPORATIONS DO BETTER THAT
MEANS HIGHER SHARE PRICES THAT
FLOWS INTO EVERYBODY'S POCKETS.
IT DOESN'T.
IT DOESN'T TO THOSE
FARMERS.
SO, THAT SHOULD LEAVE YOU WITH A
QUESTION, I HOPE, OR MAYBE
FIVE OR 10, ONE OF THEM IS WHAT
DO WE DO ABOUT THIS?
I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT
NOTHING DONALD TRUMP HAS
PROPOSED OR IS DOING IS ACTUALLY
GOING TO MAKE LIFE VERY MUCH
BETTER FOR THE WORKING CLASS,
THE MIDDLE CLASS OR
THE POOR.
IF YOU WANT ME TO TALK ABOUT
WHAT WE CAN DO, I WILL.
BUT I HOPE YOU GET THE DRIFT OF
WHAT I AM SAYING, THIS IS ABOUT
POWER, NOT POLICY.
WE CAN COME UP WITH GREAT
POLICIES, BUT THAT IS PIE IN THE
SKY IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE POWER
TO ACTUALLY MAKE THEIR POLICIES
REAL.
THE DISCUSSION WE OUGHT TO BE
HAVING IS ABOUT POWER, NOT
POLICY.
AND ON THAT NOTE, I AM GOING TO
END MY LECTURE AND ANSWER
WHATEVER QUESTIONS YOU HAVE.
THANK YOU.
(APPLAUSE)
MAN: WHERE IS PHOEBE LEE?
STAND UP, PHOEBE.
WAVE TO EVERYBODY.
PHOEBE HAS A QUESTION FOR
PROFESSOR REICH.
FROM OUR READINGS WE LEARN THE
AGRICULTURE HAS A FEW KEY MARKET
PLAYERS IN THE VALUE CHAIN.
MONSANTO IS A BIG PLAYER IN THE
SEED MARKET WHILE WAL-MART HAS A
SIZABLE INFLUENCE OVER U.S.
GROCERY RETAIL AGAINST SUCH A POWERFUL
LANDSCAPE.
HOW CAN FARMERS WHO STILL STRIVE
TO DELIVER QUALITY PRODUCE HOLD
THEIR GROUND AND LOBBY FOR FAIR
AND JUSTIFIED PRICES WITHOUT
HAVING TO RAISE MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS IN THE HOPES OF LOBBYING
POLICYMAKERS?
MAN: PHOEBE, YOU MUST HAVE READ
MY BOOK OR HEARD MY LECTURE
BEFORE I GAVE IT.
THAT'S A VERY CENTRAL QUESTION.
PART OF THE HINT
OF AN ANSWER HAS TO GO BACK TO
THE PERIOD BETWEEN 1946 AND
1978.
WHAT WAS THERE ABOUT THE
STRUCTURE OF THE POLITICAL
ECONOMY, POLITICAL ECONOMY.
NOTICE THE WORDS I USED.
NOT ECONOMY.
POLITICAL ECONOMY THAT LED TO
DIFFERENT OUTCOMES THAN AFTER
THE LATE
70'S, EARLY 1980'S.
ONE BIG THING IN THE STRUCTURE
OF THE ECONOMY IS WE
HAD COUNTERVEILING POWER.
AS AN ECONOMIST, POLITICAL
ECONOMIST FROM HARVARD WROTE IN
A BOOK IN 1952 CALLED AMERICAN
CAPITALISM: THE CONCEPT OF
COUNTER VEILING POWER.
HE AT A PERIOD OF TIME WHEN A
LOT OF POLITICAL SCIENTISTS AND
ECONOMISTS WERE CONGRATULATING
AMERICA FOR NOT SUCCUMBING IN
THE GREAT DEPRESSION OR TO
COMMUNISM OR FASCISM AS OTHER
COUNTRIES DID THERE WAS A SORT
OF SELF CONGRATULATORY PERIOD.
HE WROTE A BOOK SAYING THE KEY
TO MAKING SURE WE AVOIDED
FASCISM WAS COUNTER VEILING
POWER.
COUNTER VEILING POWER FOR JOHN
KENNETH GALBRIGHT WAS LABOR
UNIONS TO COUNTER VEIL AGAINST
BIG COMPANIES, SMALL FARMERS AND
AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES TO
COUNTER VEIL AGAINST SOME OF THE
BIG FARMERS, SMALL RETAILERS
AND RETAIL CHAINS TO COUNTER
VEIL AGAINST SOME OF THE BIG
MANUFACTURERS.
HE WENT THROUGH A LIST OF WAYS
IN WHICH IN HIS VIEW THE GENIUS
OF THE POLITICAL ECONOMY COMING
OUT OF THE NEW DEAL.
HE TRACED A LOT OF THIS BACK TO
THE NEW DEAL.
THEY HAD ALLOWED COUNTER VEILING
POWER TO OCCUR IN AMERICA.
IT HAD THROUGH A BUNCH OF NEW
LEGISLATION IN JOHN KENNETH GAL
BRAIT'S VIEW THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE NEW DEAL WAS CREATING
COUNTER VEILING POWER.
IF YOU TAKE, PHOEBE, IF YOU TAKE
JOHN KENNETH GALBRAIT'S THEORY
TO HEART, I THINK IT IS
BASICALLY RIGHT, WHAT WE HAVE
LOST IN THE UNITED STATES IS THE
SOURCES OF COUNTER VEILING
POWER.
THE QUESTION IS, HOW DO WE
COUNTER VEIL AGAIN AGAINST
GREAT CONCENTRATIONS OF POWER?
HOW CAN FARMERS COME
TOGETHER, SMALLERS FARMERS, HOW
CAN THEY EXERCISE A GREATER
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWER.
HOW CAN WE GET THE ANTITRUST
DIVISION AND THE FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION TO TAKE ON
MONSANTO?
AND TO SOME EXTENT, WAL-MART IN
TERMS OF CONCENTRATING THEIR
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWER
UNDULY?
I DON'T HAVE A GOOD ANSWER, BUT
MY ANSWER HAS TO DO WITH THE
POWER STRUCTURE.
MAN: YOU TALK ABOUT IN YOUR BOOK
DIFFERENT MOMENTS IN HISTORY
WHEN PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER TO
CHANGE THE TIDE.
IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY IN THE
FOOD MOVEMENT DO YOU THINK?
IS THERE A COMMON GROUND TO
FIND, WHETHER IT BE EMPATHY,
COMPASSION, NOURISHMENT, WE ALL
HAVE TO EAT.
IS THERE A WAY TO CROSS OVER OR
BRIDGE THIS DIVIDE WE FIND IN
MENTAL MODELS THROUGH FOOD
RECOGNIZING IF WE DON'T TAKE
CARE OF WHAT WE HAVE NONE OF US
WILL HAVE ANY QUALITY OF LIFE?
MAN: I AM SURE THERE IS.
I AM SURE THERE MAY BE.
I DON'T THINK IT MATTERS WHERE
WE BEGIN.
IT COULD BE THE ENVIRONMENT.
IT COULD BE FOOD.
IT COULD BE HOUSING.
YOU HAVE THINGS PEOPLE CARE A
GREAT DEAL ABOUT.
THEY CAN COME TOGETHER.
I THINK THE ONLY SILVER LINING
I SEE IN TERMS OF WHAT HAPPENED
IN THE
U.S. IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS.
WHEN PEOPLE BECOME ACTIVE, THEY
UNDERSTAND PART OF WHAT THEY DO
AS CITIZENS IS TO BE ENGAGED IN
POLITICS IN A VERY ACTIVE WAY.
THERE'S A POSSIBILITY FOR ALL
KINDS OF CHANGES IN TERMS OF
COUNTER VEILING POWER.
ALICE WATERS IS, I HAVE SAID,
OTHER PEOPLE HAVE SAID, THE ONLY
1960'S REVOLUTIONARY WHO
SUCCEEDED.
I MEAN, SHE DID CREATE A
REVOLUTION.
THE REST OF US, YOU KNOW ARE
SITTING HERE 50 YEARS LATER SORT
OF UPSET, LET'S PUT IT THAT
WAY.
THERE MUST BE SOMEWHERE IN THAT
NEXUS OF ISSUES, SOME REAL
POSSIBILITY FOR A CONTINUING
REVOLUTION.
MAN: DO YOU THINK THE
DISPLACEMENT CAUSED BY
GLOBALIZATION WILL PALE COMPARED
TO WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO SEE
WITH AUTOMATION THAT THE
ECONOMIST JUST SAID IN THIS
WEEK'S EDITION THAT 47 PERCENT
OF THE JOBS THAT WE HAVE RIGHT
NOW COULD BE GONE IN 25 YEARS.
ARE WE PREPARED STRUCTURALLY TO
HANDLE THAT?
MAN: NO, WE AREN'T PREPARED.
WHAT I SHOULD HAVE SAID WHEN I
TALKED ABOUT STAGNANT WAGES,
THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENING
ALONG WITH STAGNANT WAGES AND
THAT'S LESS AND LESS JOB
SECURITY.
AS AUTOMATION TAKES AWAY A LOT
OF JOBS, IT'S NOT THAT PEOPLE
HAVE FEWER JOBS, IT IS NOT THE
NUMBER OF JOBS, IT IS THE
QUALITY OF THE JOB.
THE JOBS WILL PAY LESS AND THEY
WILL BE LESS SECURE.
I SPENT MOST OF THE DAY BEFORE
YESTERDAY AT GOOGLE TALKING TO
PEOPLE WHO WERE INVOLVED IN
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
THEY ARE MAKING THE SELF-DRIVING
CARS AND TRUCKS.
THEIR BIGGEST CONCERN IS THE
SOCIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF WHAT
THEY ARE DOING WHEN PEOPLE NO
LONGER HAVE GOOD JOBS.
NOW THERE'S ALSO AN ECONOMIC
IMPACT AS I KEPT SAYING TO THE
GOOGLE FOLKS, BECAUSE IF YOU
HAVE A MIDDLE CLASS THAT'S
SHRINKING, EVENTUALLY NOBODY
WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE
GADGETS THAT GOOGLE IS COMING
OUT WITH.
HENRY FORD UNDERSTOOD WHEN HE
GAVE HIS WORKERS A BIG RAISE AND
GOT A LOT OF OTHER
MANUFACTURING EMPLOYERS TO DO
THE SAME THING.
THOSE PEOPLE COULD AFFORD TO BUY
MODEL T'S.
YOU HAVE ALWAYS GOT TO KEEP
TRACK IN A BUSINESS SENSE OF
WHAT'S HAPPENING TO AGGREGATE
DEMAND.
IT'S NOT JUST CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY, IT'S BUSINESS,
PLANNING.
YOU HAVE GOT TO THINK OF IT IN
BUSINESS TERMS.
MAN: WHO HAS A QUESTION TORE
PROFESSOR REICH?
SOMEBODY HAVE A MICROPHONE?
WE ARE GOING TO GET THIS ON THE
VIDEO.
RIGHT HERE IN FRONT.
HE'S GOT A BERNIE BUTTON ON.
THAT'S WHY HE GOT TO ASK THE
QUESTION.
MAN: SO YOU ENDED YOUR SPEECH
WITH POWER AND ITS LESS ABOUT
POLITICS THAN TODAY.
IT'S ABOUT POWER --
MAN: LESS ABOUT POLICY.
MAN: LESS ABOUT POLICY THAN IT
IS ABOUT POWER TODAY.
RIGHT NOW WHEN REPUBLICANS
CONTROL ALL THREE BRANCHES OF
GOVERNMENT AND EVEN IN
DEMOCRATS, YOU THINK THERE WOULD
BE A LITTLE MORE CLOSING OF
RANK, BUT THERE'S STILL SOME
DIVISION BETWEEN CENTER LEFT AND
FURTHER LEFT AS WELL AS JUST
INABILITY TO WIN BACK POWER WHEN
SOMETHING LIKE THIS ELECTION
HAS HAPPENED, WHERE DO WE GO
FROM HERE?
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT GETTING
POWER?
WHICH IS SUCH AN INNOCUOUS
THING IN AND OF ITSELF.
MAN: I THINK IT STARTS AS IT HAS
STARTED PARTICULARLY OVER THE
LAST SEVERAL WEEKS WITH PEOPLE
BEING OUTRAGED AND EXERCISING
THEIR OUTRAGE, DISPLAYING THE
OUTRAGE, MARCHES,
DEMONSTRATIONS.
THAT IDEALLY COAGULATES INTO
SOME POLITICAL STRATEGY.
REMEMBER AFTER 19 -- AFTER 2008
AFTER THE WALL STREET BAILOUT,
YOU HAD TWO MOVEMENTS EMERGING.
YOU HAD THE TEA PARTY THAT WAS A
DIRECT OUTCOME OF THE WALL
STREET BAILOUT.
PEOPLE WERE ANGRY.
THEIR ANGER WAS AGAINST
GOVERNMENT RATHER THAN THE
BANKS.
BUT THEY WERE STILL ANGRY ABOUT
THE KIND OF CRONY CAPITALISM AND
YOU HAD BRIEFLY THE OCCUPY
MOVEMENT.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TEA PARTY
IS THE TEA PARTY GOT CO-OPTED BY
THE REPUBLICAN ESTABLISHMENT.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OCCUPY
MOVEMENT IS THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT
GOT CO-OPTED BY BASICALLY WHAT
HAPPENS VERY OFTEN TO THE LEFT
AND THAT IS, DON'T EVEN TALK TO
ME ABOUT POLITICAL STRATEGY.
I AM MAKING
A POINT.
I THINK THE LESSON THERE IS THAT
POLITICAL STRATEGY IS THE NEXT
DISCUSSION.
I HAVE BEEN VERY INTERESTED TO
OBSERVE OVER THE LAST WEEK.
I KNOW MANY OF THE PLAYERS,
CHUCK SCHUMER, CHARLES SCHUMER
WHO IS THE MINORITY LEADER IN
THE SENATE IS NOT A BOMB
THROWER.
HE IS THE OPPOSITE OF A BOMB
THROWER.
HE IS SOMEBODY WHO HAS SPENT
MOST OF HIS LIFE TRYING TO CALM
EVERYBODY DOWN AND TRYING TO
AVOID BEING LABELED OR EVEN SEEN
AS AN EXTREMIST.
HE'S VERY CLOSE TO WALL STREET.
WHAT DO WE SEE?
HE HAS BEEN SO DELUGED BY
OUTRAGED CITIZENS WHO CALL
THEMSELVES DEMOCRATS AND MANY
ARE IN HIS CONSTITUENCY IN NEW
YORK, THAT HE IS NOW SAYING
THINGS THAT CHUCK SCHUMER WOULD
NEVER EVER HAVE SAID BEFORE.
IT'S NOT JUST THE PAST TWO
WEEKS.
WHEN HILLARY CLINTON STARTED HER
CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT, IN HER
CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT SHE SAID
SOMETHING THAT I WOULD HAVE
NEVER EXPECTED HER OR BILL
CLINTON -- BILL CLINTON WOULD
NEVER HAVE SAID.
SHE SAID, THE DECK IS STACKED IN
FAVOR OF THOSE AT THE TOP.
THIS IS HOW SHE STARTED HER
CAMPAIGN.
WHEN POLITICIANS DO THINGS LIKE
THAT, IT'S NOT BECAUSE
NECESSARILY THEY FEEL THIS
STRONG PASSION.
IT IS BECAUSE THEIR POLITICAL
ADVISORS, THEIR POLLSTERS AND
OTHERS ARE SAYING TO THEM, HEY,
THE PUBLIC IS REALLY UPSET AND
FEELS LIKE THE GAME IS RIGGED
AND THE DECK IS
STACKED.
SO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE SO
MANY PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO ARE
NOW TURNING TO EITHER
AUTHORITARIAN POPULISM OR WHAT
WE MIGHT CALL PROGRESSIVE
POPULISM TO ME INDICATES WE ARE
AT AN INFLEXION POINT
POLITICALLY.
AND IF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
DOESN'T REALIZE THIS AND DOESN'T
RESPOND TO IT, THEN THERE WILL
BE A POLITICAL VACUUM, AND THAT
VACUUM WILL BE OCCUPIED, I
BELIEVE, HASN'T HAPPENED VERY
OFTEN IN THIS COUNTRY, BY A NEW
POLITICAL PARTY IF THE DEMOCRATS
COULDN'T TAKE ADVANTAGE AND SEE
IT.
MAN: I THINK SPEAKING OF
INFLECTION -- INFLECTION POINT
THIS IS THE PERFECT POINT TO
LOOK AT THE IMPORTANCE OF
UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIA AND THE
PRESS PERHAPS MORE THAN EVER.
THAT'S WHY I WANTED TO INVITE
NAOMI THIS EVENING, AND MAYBE AS
A SEGUE, I WILL SHOW THE CLASS
A LITTLE BIT HOW YOU ARE
MODELING OUTRAGE ON YOUR MEDIA
PLATFORM, AND THEN TURN IT OVER
TO NAOMI TO TALK A LITTLE BIT
ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF A FREE
PRESS AND AN INDEPENDENT PRESS
AND THE IMPORTANCE OF US BEING
ABLE TO DISCERN FACT FROM
ALTERNATIVE FACT.
LET'S THANK PROFESSOR REICH FOR
BEING WITH US TONIGHT.
(APPLAUSE) TIME.
THANK YOU.
LET ME
SHOW YOU THIS WONDERFUL
LITTLE INTRODUCTION
.
MAN: HISTORICALLY TYRANTS TRIED
TO CONTROL THE PRESS USING FOUR
TECHNIQUES THAT WORRYINGLY
DONALD TRUMP IS ALREADY USING.
NUMBER ONE, BERATE THE MEDIA AND
TURN THE PUBLIC AGAINST IT.
TRUMP REFERS TO JOURNALISTS AS
DISHONEST, DISGUSTING AND SCUM.
MAN: LIES, DECEIT,
VICIOUSNESS, DISGUSTING
REPORTERS, HORRIBLE PEOPLE.
MAN: THEY ARE SCUM.
MAN: ABSOLUTE SCUM.
REMEMBER THAT, SCUM.
DISHONEST PRESS.
MAN: WHEN HE LIES CLAIMING FOR
EXAMPLE MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD IN
THE ELECTION AND HE WON IN A
LAND SLIDE AND THE MEDIA CALLS
HIM ON THAT HE SAYS THE MEDIA IS
LYING.
EVEN THE SATIRES HE CALLS
ONE-SIDED AND PATHETIC.
NUMBER TWO LIMITED MEDIA ACCESS.
TRUMP AVOIDS NEWS CONFERENCES.
HE BLOCKED THE MEDIA FROM
TRAVELING WITH HIM AND EVEN FROM
KNOWING WHO HE IS MEETING.
THE FAUX PAS WITH RUSSIAN
PRESIDENT PUTIN SHORTLY AFTER
THE ELECTION WAS FIRST REPORTED
BY THE KREMLIN.
NUMBER THREE, THREATEN THE
MEDIA.
DURING THE CAMPAIGN TRUMP
THREATENED TO SUE THE NEW YORK
TIMES FOR LIBEL IN RESPONSE TO
AN ARTICLE ABOUT TWO WOMEN WHO
ACCUSED TRUMP OF TOUCHING THEM
INAPPROPRIATELY YEARS AGO AND
ANOTHER TO REVEAL THE 95 TAX
RETURNS.
HE SAYS HE PLANS TO OPEN UP OUR
LIBEL LAWS SO WHEN THEY WRITE
HORRIBLE AND NEGATIVE FALSE
ARTICLES WE CAN SUE THEM AND WIN
LOTS OF MONEY.
FOUR, BYPASS THE MEDIA AND
COMMUNICATE WITH THE PUBLIC
DIRECTLY.
TRUMP TWEETS INCESSANTLY ISSUES
VIDEOS AND HOLDS LARGE RALLIES
ALL WHICH ENABLE HIM TO LIE
DIRECTLY TO THE PUBLIC WITH
IMPUNITY.
THE WORD MEDIA COMES FROM AN
INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN THE
POWERFUL AND PUBLIC.
RESPONSIBLE MEDIA HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE BY
CORRECTING MISSTATEMENTS ASKING
HARD QUESTIONS AND REPORTING ON
WHAT THEY DO.
APPARENTLY TRUMP WANTS TO
ELIMINATE SUCH INTERMEDIARIES.
HISTORICALLY THESE FOUR
TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN USED BY
DEMAGOGUES TO ERODE THE FREEDOM
AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE PRESS.
DONALD TRUMP SEEMS INTENT ON
DOING EXACTLY THIS.
MAN: I THINK THIS HAS 10 MILLION
VIEWS OR SOMETHING.
THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT.
PLEASE WELCOME
NAOMI STARKMAN.
(APPLAUSE)
IN THE BACK?
YOU
HOW ABOUT NOW?
BETTER?
OKAY.
GOOD EVENING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME
TONIGHT.
THANK YOU, WILL, AND THANK YOU
PROFESSOR REICH.
I COULD LEAVE NOW BECAUSE I
THOUGHT THE VIDEO WAS SO
EFFECTIVE AND IT HAS HAD OVER 10
MILLION VIEWS.
HOW MANY OF YOU GET YOUR NEWS
FROM FACEBOOK?
IT IS OKAY.
YOU CAN ADMIT THAT.
I GET MY NEWS FROM FACEBOOK,
TOO.
HOW MANY OF YOU GET NEWS FROM
OTHER SOURCES, TV, SHOW HANDS?
RADIO, NPR?
SHOUT OUT A FEW MORE NEWS
SOURCES AND PLACES YOU GET YOUR
NEWS FROM?
TWITTER.
OVER THERE?
WASHINGTON JOURNAL, HUFFINGTON
POST, ANY OTHER PLACES?
ANY OTHER SOURCES?
MAN: INTERCEPT.
GREAT INVESTIGATIVE OUTLET.
MAN: TEEN VOGUE.
WOMAN: TEEN VOGUE IS KILLING IT
RIGHT NOW.
THEY ARE ONE OF THE BEST OUTLETS
RIGHT NOW.
THEY ARE INFLUENCING YOUNG
GENERATION LIKE YOURSELF.
I CALLED THEM OUT.
THEY WROTE A GREAT ARTICLE ABOUT
HOW TRUMP IS GAS LIGHTING THE
PUBLIC AND THAT'S A TERM THAT
COMES FROM A MOVIE THAT MEANS
BASICALLY MESSING WITH YOUR
SANITY AND MAKING YOU THINK YOU
ARE CRAZY.
THEY ARE A GREAT SOURCE.
I DEFINITELY WOULD RECOMMEND
CHECKING THEM OUT.
I KNOW WILL HAS BEEN A BIG
SUPPORTER AND HAS CALLED US OUT.
WE ARE A DAILY NEWS FOCUSED ON
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE.
WE WON THE JAMES BEARD
PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR IN 2014.
I WAS A NIGHT FELLOW LAST YEAR
AT STANFORD FOCUSING ON
SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS
MODELS IN JOURNALISM.
THERE IS NO BUSINESS MODEL FOR
JOURNALISM WHICH IS PROBABLY WHY
WE ARE IN THE PLACE WHERE WE
ARE RIGHT NOW.
I AM HERE TONIGHT TO TALK TO YOU
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU CAN
COAGULATE YOURSELF AND YOUR
OUTRAGE AS BOB SAID, AND YOU CAN
DO IT AND YOU CAN PARTICIPATE
JUST AS YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN
THIS FOOD SYSTEM, BECAUSE
THERE'S A REAL CRISIS OF
PARTICIPATION NOT ONLY IN OUR
FOOD SYSTEM, BUT IN OUR MEDIA
SYSTEM.
I WANT TO PROPOSE TO YOU THAT
FOOD AND MEDIA ARE
TWO SIDES OF ONE COIN.
WE WANT A CHEAP FOOD SYSTEM AND
WE WANT CHEAP FOOD.
AS A RESULT WE ARE GETTING JUNK
FOOD AND JUNK JOURNALISM.
BOTH HAVE A PRICE AND BOTH
SHOULD BE SUPPORTED AND BOTH ARE
PUBLIC GOODS.
I STARTED OFF AS A LAWYER.
I WORKED IN PUBLIC POLICY.
I REALIZED I WAS WAY TOO
IMPATIENT FOR PUBLIC POLICY
BECAUSE IT IS A SLOW MOVING
TANKER SHIP.
I DECIDED TO WORK IN MAINSTREAM
MEDIA BECAUSE I FELT LIKE COURT
OF PUBLIC MEDIA WAS A PLACE YOU
COULD PUSH IT FURTHER.
LITTLE DID I KNOW SOCIAL MEDIA
WOULD INCREASE THAT PACE
TREMENDOUSLY.
I ALSO AGREE WITH MANY OTHER
JOURNALISTS WHO THINK THIS
RECENT ELECTION IS A RESULT OF
SOCIAL MEDIA.
WE ARE SEEING AN UNPRECEDENTED
AMOUNT OF NEWS AND MEDIA AND
ACTIVITY, IT IS ENOUGH TO MAKE
YOU KIND OF CRAZY.
THERE'S A NUMBER OF ARTICLES
RIGHT NOW ON HOW TO TAKE CARE
OF YOURSELF AND WHAT NEWS YOU
SHOULD READ.
SOMEONE WHO IS A JOURNALIST WHO
IS CONSIDERED THE QUOTE, UNQUOTE
OPPOSITION PARTY BY THE
ADMINISTRATION AND A DISGUSTING
PERSON AND DISHONEST PERSON I
HAVE A HARD TIME TAKING MY EYES
AWAY FROM FOLLOWING THE NEWS.
BLINK AND YOU WILL MISS IT.
THAT'S PART OF THE TACTIC.
THE TACTIC IS TO OVERWHELM US
WITH INFORMATION AND DO A LOT OF
THINGS ALL OF THE TIME WHILE WE
ARE SLEEPING IN FACT.
SOME OF THOSE THINGS ARE
HAPPENING EVERY DAY.
WHAT I WANT TO PROPOSE TO YOU
TONIGHT IS YOU CAN PARTICIPATE
TO THE EXTENT IT MAKES SENSE TO
YOU.
FOLLOW THE NEWS SOURCES THAT ARE
TRUSTED.
FOLLOW THE SOURCES THAT YOU KNOW
ARE REAL.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE
"WASHINGTON POST," ALSO SOURCES
LIKE THE INTERCEPT, PROPUBLICA
AND A NUMBER OF OTHER SOURCES
THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO FOLLOW.
NOT EVERY STORY IS IMPORTANT BUT
THERE ARE IS A LOT OF REPORTING
AND A LOT OF GREAT REPORTERS
OUT THERE.
I DON'T NEED TO REMIND YOU ALL
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IS
GUARANTEED BY THE U.S.
CONSTITUTION.
IT IS PART OF WHAT MAKES US A
DEMOCRATIC NATION.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IS ONE OF
THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECES TO
WHAT WE CARE ABOUT.
IT IS ABOUT A FREEDOM OF IDEAS,
ABOUT SAYING THINGS AND
REPORTING THINGS THAT ARE IN
FACT THE TRUTH AND NOT
ALTERNATIVE FACTS.
YOU GUYS HAVE HEARD ABOUT THIS.
NOW WE HAVE ALTERNATIVE FACTS.
WE ALSO HAVE SOMETHING THAT IS A
RAMPANT EPIDEMIC CALLED FAKE
NEWS.
WHAT IS FAKE NEWS?
WHO EVEN KNOWS ABOUT FAKE NEWS?
FAKE NEWS IS BASICALLY STUFF
THAT IS MADE UP ALL OF THE TIME
AND IT IS BEING SHARED AT A
RAPID PACE AND HAS BEEN NOW
CATEGORIZED AS THE REASON WHY
THE ELECTION EVEN HAPPENED.
BUZZ FEED DID A GREAT ANALYSIS
AND LOOKED AT ALL OF THE STORIES
LEADING UP TO THE ELECTION ON
FACEBOOK IN PARTICULAR REPORTED
THOSE FAKE NEWS STORIES WERE
SHARED THREE TIMES MORE THAN
ACTUAL REPORTED NEWS FROM THE
"WASHINGTON POST," THE NEW YORK
TIMES OR OTHER SOURCES.
FAKE NEWS HAS FOUND A WILLING
ENABLER IN TRUMP WHO MAKES STUFF
UP ALL OF THE TIME AND RELIES
ON FAKE NEWS TO TELL US REAL
NEWS IS FAKE.
HIS FAVORITE RECENTLY IS TO
QUOTE-UNQUOTE ICE OUT CNN.
HE WON'T LET ANY ADMINISTRATION
OFFICIALS GO ON CNN.
HE HAS CALLED CNN AND NEW YORK
TIMES AND OTHER OUTLETS FAKE
NEWS.
LAST YEAR THE OXFORD
DICTIONARY'S SELECTED QUOTE POST
TRUTH, AS ITS WORD OF THE YEAR.
IT REALLY SAYS A LOT WHEN WE ARE
LIVING IN A POST TRUTH WORLD.
FAKE NEWS IS THE BOLDEST SIGN OF
A POST TRUTH SOCIETY.
IF WE CAN'T AGREE ON BASIC FACTS
OR WHAT IS A FACT, HOW DO WE
EVEN BEGIN TO TALK TO EACH
OTHER?
IT IS A MEDIA ECOSYSTEM WHERE
EVERYTHING IS TRUE AND NOTHING
IS TRUE SAID FORMER PRESIDENT
BARACK OBAMA IN A POST ELECTION
INTERVIEW WITH THE NEW YORKER.
I WANT TO READ TO YOU WHAT HE
SAID.
QUOTE AND THE CAPACITY TO
DISSEMINATE MISINFORMATION, WILD
CONSPIRACY THEORIES TO PAINT
THE OPPOSITION IN WILDLY
NEGATIVE LIGHT WITHOUT ANY
REBUTTAL, THAT HAS ACCELERATED
IN WAYS THAT MUCH MORE
SHARPLY POLARIZED THE ELECTORATE
AND MADE IT DIFFICULT TO HAVE A
CONVERSATION.
THOSE OF US WHO CARE ABOUT
ACCURACY AND FACTS AND EVIDENCE,
IT IS TIME TO REALIZE THAT
SOMETHING HAS GONE REALLY
SIDEWAYS.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF REASONS
WHY FAKE NEWS EVEN EXISTS.
THERE WAS A COLLEGE STUDENT WHO
TOLD THE NEW YORK TIMES HE
STARTED A FAKE NEWS WEB SITE FOR
$5, HE WOULD RECEIVE A THOUSAND
DOLLARS AN HOUR AND HE BRAGGED
TO THE TIMES HE USED THAT MONEY
TO PAY OFF HIS COLLEGE
DEBT.
THERE'S ANOTHER REASON FOR FAKE
NEWS TO MESS WITH THE MAINSTREAM
MEDIA.
IT IS ALSO A WAY TO QUOTE
WEAPONIZE AN ACT OF DIGITAL
TERROR.
WE ARE SEEING THAT RIGHT NOW.
WE SAW THAT WITH THE
INTERVENTION OF THE GOVERNMENT
AND OUR ELECTION AND WHAT'S
HAPPENING IN EUROPE RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT AFTER THE ELECTION A
PROFESSOR AT MERRIMACK COLLEGE
PUT TOGETHER A GOOGLE DOC THAT
LISTED ALL OF THE FAKE NEWS
SITES.
I SHARED IT ON FACEBOOK.
THAT LIST CAME DOWN AND THE
PROFESSOR SAID SHE WAS REALLY
CONCERNED FOR HER SAFETY.
THERE WERE A NUMBER OF OTHER
WAYS TO IDENTIFY IF WHAT YOU ARE
SHARING IS FAKE NEWS.
DON'T JUST READ THE HEADLINE.
CLICK ON THE SOURCE, SEE IF IT
IS A REAL NEWS SOURCE.
IF YOU ARE NOT SURE ASK SOMEBODY
OUTSIDE OF YOUR FILTER BUBBLE.
A PROFESSOR AT DARTMOUTH WHO
STUDIES FACT CHECKING SAID THIS.
STANDING UP FOR FACTS IS A KIND
OF PATRIOTIC ACT AND A NECESSARY
ONE.
IF THERE IS AN INTERESTING THING
HERE ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAVE
ACTUALLY PLAYED INTO FAKE NEWS,
A LOT OF YOU PROBABLY GET YOUR
NEWS OR HAVE IN THE PAST
RECEIVED YOUR NEWS FROM SHOWS
LIKE THE DAILY SHOW.
THERE WAS THIS CROSS OVER BETWEEN
WHAT WAS PARODY AND WHAT WAS
NEWS.
MANY JOURNALISTS THINK THAT HAS
BLURRED THE LINE, THAT IN FACT
THE QUESTION ABOUT WHAT IS NEWS
AND WHO IS A REPORTER HAS FOR
THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS BEEN VERY
CONFUSED.
OKAY.
ALTERNATIVE FACTS.
WE HAVE HEARD THIS HAPPEN LAST
WEEKEND.
THIS HAPPENED IN PARTICULAR WHEN
AFTER CHIEF STRATEGIST AT THE
WHITE HOUSE STEVE BANNON, WHO BY
THE WAY WAS THE FOUNDING MEMBER
OF THE ALT RIGHT WEB SITE
BREITBART, TOLD THE NEW YORK
TIMES THAT QUOTE THE MEDIA
SHOULD JUST KEEP ITS MOUTH SHUT,
END QUOTE.
THIS WAS IN A WEEK WHEN BANNON
AND THE PRESIDENT DESCRIBED THE
MEDIA AS THE QUOTE OPPOSITION
PARTY, AND HIS OTHER TOP ADVISOR
KELLY ANN CONWAY USED THE TERM
ALTERNATIVE FACTS TO DESCRIBE
THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS
SECRETARY'S INSISTENCE ON THE
SIZE OF THE INAUGURATION.
WHEN SHE WAS ON THE SHOW "MEET
THE PRESS" WITH CHUCK TODD, HE
SAID SIMPLY, QUOTE, ALTERNATIVE
FACTS ARE NOT FACTS.
THEY ARE FALSE HOODS.
THAT'S THE POINT I REALLY WANT
TO MAKE.
CALL A LIE A LIE.
CALL A FALSE FOOD A FALSEHOOD.
IT IS NOT ALTERNATIVE FACTS THEY
ARE LIES.
THERE ARE A LOT OF REPORTERS WHO
ARE CALLING IT THAT INCLUDING
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WHICH IS NOW
USING THE WORD LIE WHEN THEY
REFER TO WHAT TRUMP IS SAYING
INACCURATELY.
IT IS NOT JUST ALTERNATIVE FACTS
AND IT IS NOT JUST FAKE NEWS.
WE ARE ALSO SEEING A RESHAPING
OF THE NARRATIVE.
ONE OF THE WORST WAYS WE SAW
THIS LAST WEEK WAS IN THE
REMEMBRANCE OF INTERNATIONAL
HOLOCAUST DAY.
WHEN SUDDENLY WE WERE NOT EVEN
SEEING OR HEARING ANY MENTION
OF THE 6 MILLION JEWS KILLED
DURING THE HOLOCAUST.
THERE WAS A SWIFT, SWIFT OUTCRY
BY MANY WHO CALL THE PRESIDENT
ON HIS STATEMENT FOR NOT
INCLUDING EVEN THE MENTION OF
ANTI-SEMITISM.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SAYING
WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE?
ARE WE NOT JUST GETTING FAKE
NEWS OR ALTERNATIVE FACTS, IS
THERE A RESHAPING OF THIS
NARRATIVE.
SOMETHING TO WATCH FOR
IN PARTICULAR.
THERE'S AN UNFORTUNATE LESSON
FROM RUSSIA.
SOMEBODY I REALLY WANT TO DRAW
TO YOUR ATTENTION IS A RUSSIAN
JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR.
IF YOU WATCH SAMANTHA B I
RECOMMEND GOOGLING HER SHORT
SNIPPET TALKING TO
SAMANTHA B IN A BUNKER.
SHE TALKS ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LAKE
TRYING TO COVER PUTIN AS A
JOURNALIST.
THERE IS THIS DEGRADATION OF
INFORMATION AND ACCESS.
ALL THREE BRANCHES KIND OF
COLLAPSING.
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE STARTING TO
SEE AND PEOPLE ARE VERY
UNDERSTANDABLY NERVOUS AND
PANICKED ABOUT IT.
IS THERE ANY SILVER LINING IN
ALL OF THIS?
MY SENSE IS THERE IS.
BOTH WILL AND BOB MENTIONED IT.
THAT IS THAT ALL OF YOU IN THIS
ROOM ARE PROBABLY JUST AS
FREAKED OUT AS WE ALL ARE, YOU
ARE INFORMING YOURSELF, YOU ARE
BECOMING MORE PATRIOTIC IN YOUR
CITIZENSHIP.
PEOPLE ARE LEARNING MORE ABOUT
THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS AND
ACTIVATING IN ALL SORTS OF WAYS.
WE ARE SEEING A KIND OF GROWTH
AND A SOCIAL MOVEMENT ONLINE
THAT IS TAKING OVER.
WE SAW A RESPONSE IMMEDIATELY
AFTER THIS IMMIGRATION BAN, THIS
MUSLIM BAN AS SOME PEOPLE ARE
CALLING IT.
WE SAW PEOPLE AT THE AIRPORT AT
SFO AND PEOPLE HERE ON CAMPUS
PROTESTING OR PEOPLE ASKING IF
THERE WILL BE A GENERAL STRIKE
PLANNED AND APRIL 29TH THERE'S A
CLIMATE MARCH.
SCIENTISTS ARE MARCHING.
ONE OF THE COOLEST THINGS I
THINK FROM A REGULATORY
PERSPECTIVE IS ALL OF THESE
ALTERNATIVE FEDERAL AGENCIES
THAT WENT ROGUE, THE NATIONAL
PARK SERVICE WENT ROGUE.
THERE ARE ALL OF THESE ALT
TWITTER ACCOUNTS NOW THAT GAVE
THE BIG MIDDLE FINGER TO THE
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND SAID WE
CARE ABOUT FACTS AND CLIMATE
CHANGE.
WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO
TWEET AND SHARE INFORMATION WE
THINK IS VALUABLE.
ALSO TODAY SOMETHING THAT WAS
INTERESTING ALL OF THESE
CELEBRITIES CAME OUT IN FAVOR OF
THE PRESS WITH THIS NEW
HASHTAG, HASHTAG PRESS ON.
THEY ARE SAYING AND SHOWING
THEIR RECEIPTS FOR SUPPORT FOR
NEWS ORGANIZATIONS AND SAYING A
FREE PRESS
MATTERS.
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH
THE FOOD SYSTEM.
YOU ARE IN EDIBLE EDUCATION.
YOU CARE ABOUT THE FOOD CARE
ABOUT THE FOOD SYSTEM VERY MUCH
LIKE I DO.
HOW DO YOU FIT THIS IN?
PART OF IT HAS TO DO WITH YOUR
PARTICIPATION IN THE FOOD
SYSTEM.
EACH OF US IF WE ARE LUCKY
ENOUGH WE GET TO CHOOSE THREE
TIMES A DAY WHAT WE ARE GOING TO
EAT.
THE POWER OF THE POCKET BOOK IS
TREMENDOUSLY STRONG.
WE ARE SEEING THAT WITH RECORD
GROWTH IN THE ORGANIC FOOD
MARKET AND ORGANIC FARMLAND IN
MANY PLACES OF THE SOCIETY THAT
THIS LOOSE, NASCENT MOVEMENT,
FOOD MOVEMENT HAS GROWN.
THAT'S WHY YOU ARE TAKING THE
CLASS.
YOU ARE LEARNING ABOUT THE FOOD
MOVEMENT.
I WANT TO SAY THE FOOD MOVEMENT
AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT THAT IS
GOING RIGHT NOW THIS RESISTANCE
MOVEMENT HAVE VERY MUCH TO DO
WITH ONE ANOTHER AND SHOULD BE
JOINED TOGETHER.
THEY HAVE TO DO WITH A CULTURAL
MOVEMENT THAT WANTS SOMETHING
MORE DIFFERENT, MORE TRUTH, MORE
TRUST, MORE TRANSPARENCY.
YOU GUYS GET TO ASK FOR IT.
YOU GET TO ASK FOR IT WITH YOUR
POCKET BOOK AND WITH
YOUR VOTE.
I WANT TO READ TO
YOU SOMETHING THAT FAROOD
MANGULE WROTE IN THE NEW YORK
TIMES.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU READING
IT.
WE ARE WITNESSING THE STIRRINGS
OF A NATIONAL POPULAR MOVEMENT
AIMED AT DEFEATING THE POLICIES
OF TRUMP.
IT IS A MOVEMENT WITHOUT
OFFICIAL LEADERS.
IN FACT TO A NOTE WORTHY DEGREE
THE FORMAL APPARATUS OF THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS BEEN NEARLY
ABSENT FOR THE UPRISING.
CALL IT THE ALT LEFT.
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO DRIVE
TRUMP UP THE WALL THE ALT
MAJORITY.
THE MOVEMENT ISN'T CHAOTIC
BECAUSE IT WAS HATCHED ON SOCIAL
NETWORKS AND DISPATCHED BY
MOBILE PHONES IT APPEARS TO BE
ORGANIZATIONALLY SOPHISTICATED
AND SAVVY ABOUT CONQUERING THE
MEDIA.
OVER THE LAST TWO WEEKENDS
AVERAGE PEOPLE GATHERED TOGETHER
AND USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO TELL
THIS ADMINISTRATION, TO TELL THE
PRESS WHAT MATTERS.
EACH OF YOU CAN DO THE SAME.
MY ADVICE IS IT IS OUR DUTY TO
STAY INFORMED AND AWAKE.
IT IS OUR PATRIOTIC DUTY TO
CONTINUE TO SUPPORT A FREE
PRESS.
AND I REALLY LOVE MAS' COMMENT
ABOUT COLLABORATION.
THE FOUNDER OF SLOW FOOD, ONE OF
HIS MAIN COMMENTS IS WE AS
EATERS, WE ARE CO-PRODUCERS IN
THE FOOD SYSTEM.
EACH OF YOU IS A CO-PRODUCER IN
THE FOOD SYSTEM AND THE MEDIA
SYSTEM AND THE FUTURE YOU WANT
TO SEE.
SO I WANT TO ASK YOU TO JOIN
THIS DEMOCRATIC PROCESS, TO JOIN
THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS BY
CHOOSING WHAT FOOD SYSTEM YOU
WANT TO SEE IN THE FUTURE AND
WHAT MEDIA FUTURE YOU WANT TO
SEE, WHAT DEMOCRACY YOU WANT TO
SEE.
THAT'S WHAT I HAVE TO SAY
TONIGHT.
(APPLAUSE) MAN: WE HAVE A LITTLE
CUSTOM AT EDIBLE EDUCATION.
WE BESTOW THE CHERISHED FRUITS
ON OUR
SPEAKERS.
(INAUDIBLE) IT IS A WONDERFULLY
AROMATIC FRUIT, AND FOR NAOMI, I
WILL GIVE YOU
THIS.
NEXT WEEK WE HAVE PROFESSOR SARU
JAYARAMAN WHO IS A VERY
ACCOMPLISHED EXPERT IN LABOR.
SHE WILL BE HERE WITH US NEXT
WEEK.
PLEASE READ HER EXCERPT FROM HER
BOOK "FORKED."
PLEASE TRAVEL SAFELY TONIGHT AND
WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK