A friendly outsider's view of American democracy: critical yet optimistic
The author's dates are wrong. The erosion of worker rights started in 1965, when the Kennedy-Johnson tax cuts took effect. The decline in purchasing power for workers began there. Reagan just gave the project a push. Twice. Once in 1981 and once in 1986. These "reforms" gave Wall Street the money to create all kinds of bad investments, which were then sold to the middle class (they had to buy them when the rules on pension stability were changed). The Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 finished the job, leading directly to 2008. Obama fixed some of it, but Trump and Ryan broke it again.
According to Richard Florida, The Creative Class go where they like and the jobs follow. Lassus seems to agree. His reference to European Social Democracy is a band-aid. More fundamental changes are needed to restore some degree of equality and the orderly transition of power from the C-Suite to the shop floor and the lab. This won't happen, however, until the rich find it in their interest to do so. Until Europe learns the lessons Hamilton teaches, they are in no position to challenge the Class Warfare implicit in the ballooning of the National Debt. Read this book for more information. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FRQFF8S
As far as religion, it reflects our current partisanship and undercurrent of inequality. It always has.
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