America Wakes Up to the Reality: Inequality Matters

How would you react if you learned that 21 U.S. CEO’s had golden parachutes of $100 million each? On top of that, what if you learned that poverty has increased by 27% between 2006 and 2010? Bill Moyers talks a bit about an obvious inequality that exists and why it matters.

Here’s his take on the Occupy Wall Street movement:

The people we met from Occupy Wall Street get it—you could tell from their slogans. One of the younger protesters wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the words: “The system’s not broken. It’s fixed.”  That’s right – rigged.  And that’s why so many are so angry. Not at wealth itself. But at the powerful players who win by fixing the game instead of by honest competition; at the crony capitalists who resort to tricks, loopholes, and cold cash to make sure insiders prosper – and then pull up the ladder behind them.

After reviewing what many within the Occupy movement had to say, my reaction was pretty much the same. People know there’s something wrong but can’t tell you exactly what it is. Crony capitalism and plutocracy are a few of the obvious byproducts for sure though.

David Stockman, former budget director for President Reagan, talks with Bill Moyers about the rise of crony capitalism. This is a segment that aired on Moyers & Company, a new program by longtime journalist Bill Moyers.

I met Moyers back when I was in school while he was on a book signing tour. He struck me as a fair, balanced, pragmatic journalist. He was very kind and generous and offered the best advice when signing his book, “Talk about it with others!”  Indeed, when you look at Bill’s show, you’ll notice that he doesn’t surround himself with just people who share his viewpoint.  Rather, he tries to get people who share different viewpoints in an attempt to create a well-rounded understanding of an issue.

This pragmatic view can be seen in the Crony Capitalism segment with David Stockman. What’s interesting about it is that Bill and David are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Bill openly says he’s a Democrat and David is a Republican. But when it comes to seeing the true nature of politics in Washington, both of them are able to put political difference aside and view things as they are. I really wish more folks out there in the media can do the same.