By Robert Reich
It’s
not merely Republicans versus Democrats, or conservatives versus
liberals. The larger battle is between regressives and progressives.
Regressives want to take this nation backward — to
before Social Security, unemployment insurance, and Medicare; before
civil rights and voting rights; before regulations designed to
protect the environment, workers, consumers, and investors.
They want
to sabotage much of what this nation has achieved over the last
century. And they’re out to do it by making the rich far richer,
turning Americans against one another in competition for a smaller and
smaller slice of the pie, substituting private morality for public
morality, and opening the floodgates to big money in politics.
Progressives are determined to take this nation
forward — toward equal opportunity, tolerance and openness, adequate
protection against corporate and Wall Street abuses, and an economy
and democracy that are working for all of us.
The upcoming election is critical but it’s not the end
of this contest. It will go on for years. It will require that you
understand what’s at stake. And that you energize, mobilize, and
organize others.
Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public
Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in
three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor
under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including
"Locked in the Cabinet," "Reason," "Supercapitalism," "Aftershock," and
his latest e-book, "Beyond Outrage." His 'Marketplace' commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.
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