From an email distributed today by Roger Hickey Co-director, Campaign for America’s Future:
Inequality for All – By Robert Reich
We’re in the biggest economic slump since the Great Depression, and we can’t seem to get out of it. Why? Because, exactly as in the 1920s, so much of the nation’s income and wealth are going to the top, that the vast middle class doesn’t have the purchasing power to keep the economy going.
I’ve spent most of my working life concerned about what’s happening to American workers – their jobs, their wages, their hopes and fears. My father sold clothing to the wives of factory workers in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. I watched as the factories began to close, and as those families struggled with a new economy. Households kept their living standards by sending those wives and mothers into paid work – a strategy that did the trick for a time. But when it no longer generated enough income, American families went deeper and deeper into debt – and that’s been the vicious cycle most middle class Americans have been in ever since.
People are stressed. They’re angry and frustrated, and the tide is only rising on that front. Their debt obligations are staggering, yet (if lucky enough to have a job), they’re working harder and longer than ever before. People need to understand what’s happening to them – because from their perspective, the picture looks pretty bleak.
Until we can take a step back and understand the big picture, we can’t do anything to get ourselves out of this mess. Our democracy as we know it depends on it. I’m an educator. I love the classroom. But I also write books, appear on television and on the radio, and do everything else I can do to help people understand the economic truth. It’s my life’s work and it’s more important than ever. One of the best ways to help people understand the challenges we face, is with a movie that can grab an audience and move them to action.
And this movie will do exactly that.
Cities, Theaters, and Opening Dates
September 27, 2013
Atlanta: Tara Atlanta
Austin: Arbor Cinema at Great Hills
Boston: Kendall Square Cinema & Cape Cinemas
Charlotte: Manor Theatre
Chicago: Landmark Century Centre Cinema 7 & Renaissance Place 5
Dallas: Angelika Film Center and Cafe
Indianapolis: Keystone Art 7
Los Angeles: Landmark
Minneapolis: Uptown Theater
New York: Lincoln Plaza & Angelika Film Center 6
Phoenix: Camelview 5 Theatre
Philadelphia: Ritz 5 Movies
Plano: Angelika Plano
Portland: Fox Tower 10
San Diego: Hillcrest Cinemas and La Jolla Village 4 Cinemas
San Francisco: Camera 7 Pruneyard
Seattle: Harvard Exit Theatre
Washington, DC: E Street Cinema 8 & Bethesda Row Cinema & Angelika Film Center Mosaic 8
October 4, 2013
Ann Arbor: Michigan Theater
Cleveland: Ceder Lee 6
Denver: Mayan Theater
Nashville: Belcourt Theater
Sarasota: Burns Court
Santa Barbara & Irvine, CA: University Town Center 6 Cinemas & Plaza Del Oro
Sacramento: Tower Theatre
Baltimore, MD: Charles Theater 5
October 11, 2013
Atlanta: Downtown West Cinema 6
Buffalo/Albany: Cinemapolis 5
Charlottesville, VA: Downtown Mall 6
Hawaii: Kahala Theaters
Kansas City: Tivoli @ Manor Square
Providence: Avon Cinema
Santa Rosa: Summerfield 5
Waterville, ME: Railroad Square Cinema 3
Winston-Salem: Aperture Cinema
October 18, 2013
Dayton: The Neon Cinema
The Secular Jurist 
Reblogged this on Family Hurts Inc – Inquiry, News & Critique and commented:
Parts from the superbly written blog conveying a central message that concerns a rapidly growing majority, not only in the US, but in ALL countries of the neoliberal globalised world:
“People are stressed. They’re angry and frustrated, and the tide is only rising on that front. Their debt obligations are staggering, yet (if lucky enough to have a job), they’re working harder and longer than ever before. People need to understand what’s happening to them – because from their perspective, the picture looks pretty bleak.
Until we can take a step back and understand the big picture, we can’t do anything to get ourselves out of this mess. Our democracy as we know it depends on it.”
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Indeed.
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Robert,
The 800 pound gorilla in the room is privately owned central banks around the world (Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, World Bank etc.). Public Banking, which takes the power to control the quantity of money in circulation away from private hands and returns it to the people, is the solution for many of the economic problems Robert Reich points to. Many are satisfied that deregulation king Larry Summers withdrew from consideration as Fed chairman. What is ignored is that the Federal Reserve System is the problem. You and your readers may be interested in visiting Ellen Brown’s website publicbankinginstitute.org to peruse ideas whose time has come.
Thanks,
Jerry
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Thanks Jerry, for your insightful comments and referral. I couldn’t agree more. I was active in the “Move Your Money” campaign a couple of years ago, and have spoken out against central banking on numerous occasions. Most Americans are probably unaware that opposition to these financial institutions goes back to the founding of the nation (First Bank of the U.S.) and into the Jacksonian Era (Second Bank of the U.S.). And you’re right, Summers nominative withdrawal for the Fed Chair was just a minor symbolic victory.
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