This quote appears at the very beginning of our documentary Legalize Democracy.
Economic and political inequality are directly connected. The science of “political economy,” pioneered by Adam Smith, addresses the relationship between power and wealth. For more than a century, however, it's been intentionally separated in academia and culture to prevent widespread understanding of the links.
Economic and political inequality are directly connected. The science of “political economy,” pioneered by Adam Smith, addresses the relationship between power and wealth. For more than a century, however, it's been intentionally separated in academia and culture to prevent widespread understanding of the links.
The rich are much richer than ever before. As of March 18, there were 737 billionaires in the US with a combined wealth of $5.5 trillion, an 87% increase from the combined wealth of the mere 614 billionaires in March, 2020. When it comes to wealth disparities, the U.S “exhibits wider disparities of wealth between rich and poor than any other major developed nation.” The same is true with income, as the “gap between the rich and everyone else has been growing markedly, by every major statistical measure, for more than 30 years.”
Causes of the increasing wealth and income of the super rich and the growing gap with everyone else includes corporate driven technologies/automation and globalization that have hurt lower-skilled workers Corporate concentration has caused rising costs for rental housing health care, food and other basic necessities. Then there’s tax cuts for the rich and flattened public spending for social programs that have disproportionately hurt people of color and been a war on the poor. The Federal Reserve and its support of banks creating money out of thin air as debt and bank bailouts involved in risky investments have enriched financial investors and deepened the debt of most people. Add to all this are the lack of legitimate worker’s rights and collective bargaining.
Greater financial wealth by individuals and corporations have resulted in massive political power: political lobbying, campaign contributions, paid advertising, endowed academic departments, charitable contributions, “regular” and social media control, think tanks, junkets of Supreme Court Justices, corporate-funded research, corporatization of public assets, lawsuits, and, of course, Supreme Court decisions equating a corporation as a person and money as free speech. It’s a vicious cycle of increased political power yielding ever greater economic power – and the further plummeting of whatever amount of “democracy” we’ve ever had.
It would be easy to believe there’s little chance for greater economic and political equality, including democracy.
History shows that the antidote to money power and the political power it purchases and leverages is “people power” (i.e. organized independent and inclusive movements and organizations) focused on democratizing our existing, at least on paper, public institutions and rules. That includes government and the US constitution.
Move to Amend is one important piece of that growing movement, the We the People Amendment, HJR54, one important part of democratizing our current anti-democratic rules, and you one very important participant that supports it all.
The rulers and elites of political and economic systems are not omnipotent or possess self-determining power. They all depend on their continuation of power upon our individual and collective cooperation, obedience and submission. If growing public awareness that our governing system is undemocratic grows in proportion to public participation demanding and organizing for fundamental democratic change, then reducing economic and political inequality becomes profoundly easier to achieve.
Move to Amend supporters understand that fundamental change, such as amending the Constitution to end corporate constitutional rights and money as free speech, is needed more than simply electing better representatives, passing better laws or enacting better regulations. It’s a recognition that we must be the change we want to see to promote equality in all its forms.
In solidarity,
Michael, Katie, Margaret, Alfonso, Jessica, Jason, Tara, Ambrosia, Cole, Shelly, George, Daniel, Jennie, Keyan, & Greg
Move to Amend National Team
