Anger at AIG
“Give the money to us, not AIG or Citibank.” We’re hearing that from angry callers to radio and TV, and from family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers. Many of us are saying it.
The anger is real and growing, though unfocused and therefore unproductive. One reason for the lack of focus is that people don’t know the history. “Give the money to us” is a lot more meaningful when we educate people about the movements for income security in the 1890s and 1930s, and the support in the 1960s from Martin Luther King, Richard Nixon, George McGovern, Gerald Ford, and more than 1,200 economists. That history turns “Give the money to us” from an angry rant into a viable policy.
When people express their anger about the bailouts, that ought to be our cue to talk about basic income. That’s how we can focus our anger and use it to drive the reforms we need.
Steven Shafarman
Tags: economic stimulus, financial crisis