From a family tree of entrepreneurial, hard-working immigrants, for me, this is not about frowning on self-determination and success. This is about a pendulum that has once again swung to the far extreme in favor of an elite few at the expense of everyone else. This is not survival of the strongest. This is about making every one of us less than we could be. This about coddling and enabling weakness through over-indulgence of some through a lack of fairness, lack of transparency and lack of true competition. It is in our collective best interests to understand human history and the aspects of our nature which, when left unchecked, have always been antithetical to a civil and prosperous society.
“The One Percent is not only increasing their share of wealth — they’re using it to spread millions among political candidates who serve their interests. Example: Goldman Sachs, which gave more money than any other major American corporation to Barack Obama in 2008, is switching alliances this year; their employees have given $900,000 both to Mitt Romney’s campaign and to the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future. Why? Because, says the Wall Street Journal, the Goldman Sachs gang felt betrayed by President Obama’s modest attempts at financial reform.
To discuss how the super-rich have willfully confused their self-interest with America’s interest, Bill is joined by Rolling Stone magazine’s Matt Taibbi, who regularly shines his spotlight on scandals involving big business and government, and journalist Chrystia Freeland, author of the new book Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else.”
