Kurt Anderson: “Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America" | Amanpour and Company

[@jennifers6435]

Those of us who have seen a better America, understand it.

[@battle-techs]

@Jennifer S When did we ever see a better America???? Aren't you listening??? They've been lying to you all this time. It's all been an illusion. You were bamboozled, as someone commented.

[@merlvinc]

True! Climate change is real! --Bonnie Robinson

[@skidderskunk649]

@@battle-techs no, YOU aren't listening. I'm almost through Kurt's book and Americas economic policies between the 30's and 70's were much better for the average American. It's clear that the author wants us to return to those economic policies of the past.

[@battle-techs]

@@skidderskunk649 Yes I listened. Those Policies were shit for Americans back then. The Fed Had already taken over by the 30's.Then in the 70's They totally removed us from the Gold Standard. The Dollar, and Credit were king by then. Those who could get credit, not really knowing how it worked became new slaves of it. And still are!!! Amerikkka is owned and totally influenced by foreign entities now. Allll the politicians are puppets. We've been duped!!!!Yet, some of you still don't know it .

I miss the 40s and the 50s, even the early 60s. What happened to our America?

[@mk1st]

Just like children, capitalism needs boundaries to develop good behavior.

[@mariacosta2211]

Stupidity at its best!

[@agentxyz]

Maybe Joe will follow in Obama's Footsteps in bailout Goldman Sachs

[@travcollier]

@David Renton Socialism vs Capitalism is a false dichotomy. Neither can possibly work by itself... Which is every developed country has a mixed economy.

[@Braveheart.22]

@@travcollier exactly right!

[@travcollier]

@Kaptain Kid How about "Just like a school playground," ... ;) Of course you're 100% correct about people. With respect to Trump, he isn't really the problem. The problem is that there are enough people who will support an obvious bullshitting conman that he can gain real power. Imagine if someone who was both malevolent and competent ran the same campaign playbook he has... That's how totalitarian nightmares happen. All that said... We have to work around "human nature" to some degree. It isn't absolutely immutable, but it isn't nearly a changeable as some other folks/ideologies would like. Which takes us back to capitalism being a pretty good basic system IF there are sufficient rules and checks-and-balances. PS: Gov should be a check on markets. In a market, you can vote with your wallet. In gov, you can vote with your vote. If we don't allow too much corruption, then they are complimentary. (Sorry, that went from a one line quip to a long rant...)

[@larrybean379]

This encapsulates all I've learned in 16 years since my career at HP was outsourced. 21 years of production, innovation, engineering, sold to the lowest bidder for corporate profits. I obtained, but lost the American dream. My dream of a career in electronics to change the world. I saw the birth of cell phones, internet, laptops, cable TV. Yes Louis Powell spured Nixon to put down Unions and take back controll of business so CEO's could send our jobs and generations of invocation to the new labor market which Nixon opened up, China. Their economy grew by 10% year over year while we struggled to maintain a subsistence living. What is the result? Thousands of Billionaires. An American populate disenchanted with "career politicians " who elected an outsider to be Commander in chief and the restorer of American promise. But alas, we now are Subject to a Playboy-Mobster, who is not equipped or experienced to meet the requirements of the office he holds. Where do we go from here? Semper Fi

[@coreyham3753]

Well stated. It could be fixed with some relatively simple focus on a few of the major areas. But not going to happen as politicians have sold their souls to corporate america. We need a modern day FDR.

[@samanthamariefreeman335]

Thank YOU, stated with what is sorely missing these days, 'HONESTY'. We could turn our entire nation around if ONLY Honesty could be the most valuable commodity! If greed and cheating and lying were exposed to the light of awareness, we WOULD grow forward automatically.

[@bkm2797]

Definitely feel the same! I can't believe people have failed themselves by rewarding psychopaths to most respected positions in the land. We have been sliding down this self destruct path for too long. Biggest problem to overcome is finding a way to take back the media, from these monsters, it's the main way they manipulate the masses.

[@aliceinwonder8978]

@@coreyham3753 we don't need an fdr, we need a movement of people. The people were the ones who pushed fdr to make the new deal happen

[@coreyham3753]

@@aliceinwonder8978 Wrong ..... FDR is the man with the ideas and the implementation. Most people at that time did not have a clue what to do to turn things around. It takes leadership to get change.

[@ibenzawla]

The crazy thing is the very people that are screwed are busy celebrating the system that screwed them up. That's just to show you the brilliance and power of these "evil geniuses". Great conversation.

[@ibenzawla]

@G&MM LOL. Crazy stuff.

[@SocialmotionMedia]

Yes, like falling in love with your kidnapper as a captive. Curious indeed.

[@geoffreynhill2833]

That's not "genius", that's owning the media!

[@Waingro808]

@Antonio S Trumpers celebrating hard right now

[@bigmargie]

These very people, 40 years ago, voted for Reagan, who broke up the unions and destroyed the middle-class, still see Reagan as one of the greatest presidents.

[@lohphat]

Yep. Not ONE Wall Street banker CEO in federal prison for the mortgage lending fraud in 2007-2008. All the "fines" were just cost of doing business.

[@suzannebatinovic6239]

right-offs - like humans, these days

[@azizaibrahim1155]

lohphat , and Steve Mnuchin is one of the worst. He bought up houses that were in foreclosure and cleaned up , if one can use that expression from such dirty deeds !!!!

[@judiesuh6858]

@Obviously True Exactly!!

[@aliceputt3133]

That’s why I didn’t like Kamala Harris. She was prosecuting Steve Mnuchin and settled out of court instead of taking him to trial and prison. He later contributed 200,000.00 to her campaign.

[@lohphat]

@@aliceputt3133 He only donated $2k not $200k. But she still has to answer for it. Often plea deals happen if the settlement is high enough for the victims as you don't want the taxpayer to pay for imprisoning a non-violent offender. www.huffpost.com/entry/kamala-harris-has-to-answer-for-not-prosecuting-steve_b_5980d18ee4b09d231a518205

[@b4ned]

Ms. Amanpour--You are the best! keep doing this kind of programming...please!!!

[@blueoak116]

Bravo! Finally Anderson nails it! His previous book, Fantasyland, distracted us with the antics of hippies. Now his vision penetrates to the the heart of our matter. There are real evil geniuses at the helm.

[@bgs03548]

Trumps IQ is 85. Hardly a genius. Tyrant, yes. 100%.

[@ongogablogian3431]

"The chronic American weakness of entertaining falsehoods." 😵 This video presents quite a comprehensive view. Well done, Anderson and host.

[@proudhavenot]

I'm glad there is a spotlight on this. After 2008 I realized the narratives we grew up with were all lies. A reset won't help me but it will help everyone in the future.

[@chironOwlglass]

Millennials are a lost generation. We will never recover from the economic trauma that we faced immediately upon entering the workforce. Boomers and GenX sold us into slavery in exchange for cheap goods from Walmart and a bubble in every industry caused by significant widespread manipulation, artificially inflating the value of many things while completely devaluing others. America is fundamentally a scam.

[@sprobablycancr4457]

@@chironOwlglass Hey! Genexxer here, Most of us got royally screwed too.

[@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry]

PLEASE don't buy the deliberately divisive "generational" nonsense. This is about class conflict. You're forgetting about the millions of older people who lost good jobs at mid-life and have struggled to make do ever since, if they've been lucky enough to be able to do so. All so they can make it to an even more precarious hand to mouth retirement. This is not about one generation sticking it to another- it IS very much about one CLASS sticking it to everyone else. And there are plenty of them under 35, too.

[@erink.4398]

@@chironOwlglass If you want a future get out of your doldrums and being put upon. I have had it way worse than you could ever imagine. I don't want pity, I want change. I am not Gen X nor a Millennial(thank God), I have no "generation" literally. But we all must come together to get out this jerk. Most thinks are fundamentally good just when things go bad it is hard to see it. I have dealt with Narcissists(drumpf os one with other things) before they are parasitic and really mess you up. But we will heal. We will build back better. It takes action, discernment and movement.

[@erink.4398]

@@sprobablycancr4457 I am in between Gen X and Millennial. I like having no label. I bring this up to realize that labels can limit. I have been horribly effed over. But I just love myself and remain happy with myself. So what does that take? It all comes down to what we eat, think and do. I am pissed and I am taking action. I am thinking of getting a legal degree because I want to jelp change a lot of things not for greed or power but because it is what is right. The problem with power is that it is for those responsible enough to utilize it and respect it. Drumpf took advantage of every loophole he could and looking to his past we would have seen this pattern already formed. But honestly I never liked the scammer. I trust my guy and he always gave this creeper feeling. All said...we will build back better. Have faith and be part of the solution.

[@justgivemethetruth]

How many times do we all have to hear this before we demand that action be taken ?

[@CuriousEarthMan]

enough times until you begin and take the action yourself, without waiting for "them", and you become the center of your own cell of change you bring to others; when you become a a daily source of positive change. Demanding action "be taken" belies a perspective of fawning to power. Ever hear these two things? Listen for the definitions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWmzlZeGlreUgM0 and kzbin.info/www/bejne/robdoXlonMSmj8U The answer lies in your own personal psychology and connection to the Truth.

[@dsddala467]

It's baked into the system. Their goal? To impoverish people so much that between working horrible jobs with low pay and low hours, no disposable income, the threat of an illness or injury putting workers into bank bankruptcy (no health care), workers don't have time to organize, participate in democracy fully or the money to do either. Most American families have less than $400 in savings, and that was BEFORE the pandemic. They have us right where they want us. I just went to a protest today, organized by some big name, national groups, to take a stand against the Supreme Court considering reversing human rights, which is unprecedented. Only about 25 people showed up. It was supposed to be a highly organized event with events going on around the country. I was at California's capitol. Plenty of people honked horns supporting us (more than I have ever seen in a decade of civic activity/protest), but no one could be bothered to show up. It's what these evil doers are hoping: Public apathy.

[@justgivemethetruth]

@@dsddala467 You're right. Thank you for protesting, by the way. I never protest or demonstrate because I never thought it does any good, but at the very least it does let those drivers going by that there are people who care. But, I don't live in the Sacramento area, I'm down in the Bay Area - though I would like to live out in the country around Sacramento at some point I if could find a cheap home in the country. I don't think people know what is possible, but also our leaders, the people who write all the books and get on shows and talk about how bad things are - this strategy doesn't do anything. Most people do not read, and do not see the folks on TV interviews, and most of them far right nuts anyway. Looking on KZbin, for every 100 comments I might make, I rarely get any response as intelligent and clear as yours. Mostly I think it is fake far Right trolls designed to further fractionate the people.

[@noself1028]

The people who need to hear this won’t because they’re watching Newsmax, OAN, Fox News, etc. I fear they will just continue trusting the pro-gun, anti-abortion, “magic Jesus,” racist propaganda spewed by the right.

[@edwardtatum6136]

I have to agree. I started as a steelworker in 1976, layoffs started in about 1982 till about 1985. My company, Inland Steel didn't really start hiring again until about 1990. I was able to get a 41 year career. Company got screwed up when a guy named Wilbur Ross showed up.

[@victoriameyers5870]

OMG. Wilbur Ross! A monster!

[@12magus]

Ah yes, Wilber "the Vulture" Ross, one of Trumpistan's cabinet members.

[@johnkelly7217]

Ross was another criminal appointed to the cabinet of Trump.

[@finddeniro]

Foreign Imports..Lester Thurow = Global cheap and cheaper..

[@dthomas9230]

@@finddeniro The Powell Memo to SCOTUS action was only one part of Nixon's clusterfrack. Volcker told him to cancel Bretton Woods Accords, a multilateral trade agreement holding China and rogue regimes to human rights and labor standards before trading could begin. Between 1948-1974 Bretton Woods double global GDP and created the most wealth for the most people on earth in history, based on demand and multi-lateral middle class. Nixon trashed it, went to China unilaterally, screwing all the partners, so America could be the first car on the Outsource Train that china could not even get on the tracks yet. USA offered them a locomotive and steel for rails so their outsource train could come to US ports, fist. GOP always screw treaty partners, and Friedman likely told Nixon to screw Bretton Woods before France does, to get 1st dibbs on the outsource contracts. Nixon went behind LBJ's back to get South Vietnam to cancel the '68 ceasefire they agreed to as a treaty and if he won in Nov he'd make sure the South won. (southern strategy?) Death toll was 37,500 (3,750,000 Asians) . Nixon sentenced 22,000 US and 2,200,000 Asians to die for a campaign tactic and 4 SCOTUS seats, one being Powell who killed the middle class.

[@sniferlip]

This interview is true, exactly right, and depressing

[@richardcory5024]

The one indispensable ingredient in this farcical tragedy is the outright gullibility of the American people, as Kurt Andersen chronicles unerringly.

[@dthomas9230]

The late Joe Bageant*s "Deer Hunting with Jesus" states how stupid Americans are. 59% of trumpanzees think Obama was a Kenyan Muslim in '96 exit polls. That is 1 in 8 voters think tucker's F arcical A lt- R ight T urpitudes are common scents. But, his lies are nonsense and only make cents..for tucker. DYK, homonyms are outlawed in FL?

[@richardcory5024]

@@dthomas9230 A country with one of the worst public education systems in the developed world just happens to be the world's No. 1 economy. No Brains in a significant minority of the population but plenty of cheap energy.

[@dthomas9230]

@@richardcory5024 I had a good education as it was in the '60s and teaching was a profession safe from the draft. Suburbs were young so schools were new. Take a look at the true taxes levied vs what the 77% of media's 6 corporate owners' version of taxes . US is 42 on the Press Freedom Index. 4% of the world population but 20% of covid deaths, with vaccines. 80% of covid death were 65 and over said the CDC's 1st wave bulletin. Tucker, rupert and 5 other media ceos were facing FICA payroll tax hikes, so telling people to trust Jesus over Fauci boosted the mortuary services index, filled the pews for the funerals, and canceled the payroll tax hike. People punched nurses as they were being intubated because it was a hoax! Before they died alone, but saved tucker from a tax hike.

[@patriciamasterson4721]

We need to Tax The Oligarchy. Most powerful who underpay their working staff and create a welfare Country. They need to pay back those who they have stolen from. End of discussion. I recently heard someone suggest a Wealth Tax during Pandemic. The working class or as I define as "worker bees" deserve that which they have truly earned in past decades. Bring Federal minimum wage up to where it belongs. Stop thinking of hardworking people like slaves. When My generation finished High School, State Colleges were basically free. Let's get back to basics. Our young adults owe tens of thousands of dollars in debt now.

Patricia.... I love your heart. I get that all your words are indeed kind and intelligent and logical-But whom among the rich will step back from their GREED. A few might.... but the only recourse we have is to rebel in some form. I don't know how we can have a revolution without a bunch of heartless death. I suppose if the greedy could be punished and made to STOP, but how can that happen? The rich are SO RICH now.... if they never made another dime, we're still screwed.

[@patriciamasterson4721]

@ I am of a peaceful nature. Awaiting Divine Justice, Me Thinks! Or knowledge from the Higher Worlds...All who now live on this planet's are witnessing a great shift. Only Truth sets us free. No more WAR!

[@patriciamasterson4721]

@Obviously True Have been in corporate world. But have love of world so never considered all hard working people as a handicap. Quite the contrary. Your moral loss my friend. You may want to rethink your soul and lifestyle journey. We all must experience death someday. Treat all people equal. It brings great happiness.🤷‍♀️

[@patriciamasterson4721]

@ Thank you for sharing your sweet bit of history. Our life Is a journey. We must learn our lessons well. Our world was not intended to be hostile bvb territory. However in this Era we are quite obviously still on a "path of initiation." Struggles along each pathway. If I can be awake, possibly some answer may pop into my brain to find solutions to fix our mangled world. But it takes our entire planet to make The Difference. When Will We Ever Learn? It will take a Miracle. Imagine if only every soul in our Universe as we know it, could all at same moment, Live In That Given Moment. Total Bliss. Maybe then there would be PEACE!

[@lauraw.7008]

Patricia - that’s so right! I had very little student debt, and Alaska forgave debt based on how long one worked & contributed to society in Alaska. State universities used to be for the state’s students.

[@reganjo1955]

Jane Mayer’s ‘Dark Money’ tells the same story. Deep reporting and covers Devoss, Olin, Bradley’s and of course the Koch’s all the way back a century.

[@davidduffy2046]

Yes, But they can't function without laws making it all legal

[@xelakram]

America's future looks bleak. Americans' thinking is so convoluted and warped. They would be well-advised to think clearly rather than try and intellectualise everything. Put simply: Build a fairer society for all Americans!

[@peace8373]

Sorry, the whites mostly do not care about the "common good" to think others should have a right to exercise their rights.

[@xelakram]

@@peace8373 I think you're right. In fact, I think you are spot-on!

[@theswiftschoolofselfhealing]

@@peace8373 some whites. That is as much a racial prejudice as any. Many white folk are fighting for equality and black lives, LGBTQ people. Never lump anyone together. Just isn't so.

[@misstunes1765]

@@theswiftschoolofselfhealing Well please allow Peace some generalization. Between the wealthy racist Whites and the countless others who are complicit in discrimination, it's gotta be extremely difficult to differentiate.

[@merlvinc]

Not hard to tell the difference! America must include all Americans, not just White Evangelicals! --Bonnie Robinson

[@johnpringle9967]

Don Henley from the musical group, "The Eagles" when asked about why he still pushed on so hard to succeed after all the band's musical and likely, financial success so far, replied, "It's a fine line between the American Dream.... and the American nightmare".

[@birhan2006]

Look at Regan the beginning of the end, the number of homeless people grew in the 1980s, as one indicator

[@wesleygordon1645]

Capitalism of itself is not evil! It is evil people who use it unjustly!

[@birhan2006]

@@wesleygordon1645 you have a circular argument. You can also say the system is a bottomless chasm of greed, it will drive people to do evil things

[@JW-vd4il]

I graduated high school in 1985 and lived in big cities. I saw the rich getting richer and mentally ill people becoming homeless. I also worked at a state University all through the 90s and saw the complacent boomers with tenure cutting salaries, job security, and benefits for everyone coming up after them. I honestly don't know who I have more hate for; the republicans that started this bullshit or the democrats who went along with it. It's also been really weird to see that all my worst suspicions about "Republicans" were true: that they really had no moral compass or belief system except to make the rich richer and things like "fiscal responsibilty" and "upholding the Constitution" were just window dressing talking points with no substance behind them. Not only true, but even more depraved and venal than my worst fears! And most DNC Democratics are STILL playing the old frikkin games without putting work into the major course corrections that are needed, nor even acknowledging how bad our problems have become and what THEY'VE done wrong. I only hope we can outlast the Silent Generation and Boomers hanging on to power by their fingernails until the days they die.

[@henrymcallister5064]

Birhan2006 ; I've been saying this for years.

[@christal2641]

And as Reagan was Gov. of CA and Pres., the deficits bloomed.

[@joelkavanagh1464]

all it takes for evil to triumph is the " good " people to stand down ...

[@readynowforever3676]

Joel Kavanagh Yes, but also for the disenfranchised to stay disengaged. Imagine the potential power if the American disenfranchised destitute marginalized maligned were to make it a priority to get an ID passport &a voter’s registration card/number.

[@erink.4398]

But it is just as evil to do or say nothing.

[@belindaintexas8789]

That's why we are not standing down! We are demanding ethical fair transparent elections... unlike our Democratic brethren who don't seem too concerned about it as long as their guy wins.

[@secondjar]

@@belindaintexas8789 The book is a detailed description of how right-wing thinktanks have destroyed America's middle class, hindered progress, and paved the way for people like Trump to take office-all for the sake of protecting corporate interests. This isn't even debatable, that's literally what the book description says "Evil Geniuses examines coordinated efforts to achieve conservative economical and political changes in the United States from the 1970s to 2020."

[@secondjar]

​@@belindaintexas8789 The part of the video where he mentioned democrats was calling out people like Bill Clinton for compromising too much with right-wing interests in an attempt to create unity. The sad thing is, you will read my comment, get angry, and think "HMPH this guy is being rude to me, what a moron." You are a type of person that these think tanks wanted to create, religious zealots that think conservativism is linked with Christianity, that way you will always feel justified in your beliefs because you think you are fighting for god.

[@LizFromDecencyUnited]

Crazy! I haven't read Anderson's book. But just yesterday I was saying almost this exact concept to a friend. And, I've been saying it for some time, tho I jokingly say it as, 'How Disco killed the American Middle Class'. It wasn't disco itself, but that's when everything changed so drastically. That's when designer jeans became a thing. When consumer products started getting priced into the stratosphere. That's when personal dept started to rise, because 'having the IT thing' consumed people. It's also when CEO salaries went thru the roof. When income inequality went from cracks to canyons. And, that's when the cost of housing went crazy. Prices never go down. Rents don't ever go down. Salaries don't go down. Our fate was sealed.

[@CS-tj1jz]

you should read "the system" by Robert Reich. Lays this historical trajectory out in a very coherent and accessible way..

[@magicunicorn4070]

It was all about GREED - on both sides - and we regular American people paid the ultimate price... our futures.

[@ey67]

True

[@Merriwether-w8k]

AMericans voted for Reagan - there is no excuse

[@terriej123]

It’s not about “going back”. It’s about gathering what has worked in the past & in the present, and then forming a future that includes both, & then some.

[@dandavis4469]

Wow, I went to work for The GE Co. in NY in 1970 after returning from combat in Viet Nam, not knowing how wounded I was by moral injuries. GE was a very good place to work then: paternalistic, community-minded, and employee-focused. Then in 1980, Jack Welch took over GE.and turned it into a mean and evil short-term profit oriented, and then 'a very short-term monster, eating its own. Remember this was also the Reagan era of me first, no matter what. I was forced out in 1983 -with great benefits (Thanks to earlier Union organizers) - because I earned too much and a younger cheaper guy could do my job as well (or better perhaps) and I started a business then and became successful as the antithesis of greed , treating employees very well in salary, benefits, and respect. The employees made the biz successful. (nutshell). GE, Schenectady went from 22,000 employees in 1970 to around 2,000 when I left and almost, or probably zero now. Progress (?) Jack Welch must or at least should be in the book - I will find out!

[@danf4447]

he was a monster who was held up as a paragon and icon of how business should be done. all he did was enrich himself and ruin thomas edisons company and destroy thousands or tens of thousands of workers lives. a true bastard

[@dthomas9230]

Make sure your employees get a passport : “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” ― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad / Roughing It I worked all my life as a flight attendant and my company tried to kill me on the job 3 different times before maiming me for life in order to terminate me 4 weeks before retirement. But, that's just American business and airlines kill their employees for cost reductions, so I knew how to survive and did. They have the finest route system for employees with passports to see the rest of the world is not devouring their neighbors and arming themselves while donning kevlar. America's media loves getting their moronic followers riled so violence sparks!! Ratings are never better than when the manure they spread ignites!!!

[@TeaParty1776]

>The employees made the biz successful. (nutshell). You should have left the company.

[@kelcritcarroll]

The basis of all crap that basically happens on the earth is caused from greed. GREED

[@katherinejones850]

Followed by testosterone & religion!

[@kathleenmarsters511]

Institutional greed.

[@b4ned]

this is the best series on the Web...thank you Christiane

[@radwulfeboraci7504]

Sorry, the capitalism of greed began with Reagan in the 80s. Has everybody forgotten corporate raiders like Carl Icahn and T. Boone Pickens? Sleazy junk bond pushers like Micheal Milken who raided pensioners? Yah, this did not start in the 90s.

[@paulmccarter908]

He said exactly it started in 1980..

[@theswiftschoolofselfhealing]

I believe he said the '80's.

[@ey67]

True

[@dulcieparker7425]

"Material Girl" was the song of the 80's. I was called a "hippie"!!!! My sister was a hippie not me & she was 13 years older than me! That was the 60's. And I think it was said in a derogatory way, also. I hated 80 parties when they became popular. Try to find the most neon color jogging outfit n there it was! Gross. 80's were sh*t for music, less it be punk.

[@staciasmith5162]

It started much earlier than 1980.

[@franklinhastings4253]

The "it's all about more money for us" capitalists should remember that the French Revolution solution ended the last era of super rich surrounded by the starving poor, back in the 1700's. Kachunk, Kachunk.

[@lyndaweister9984]

EXACTLY 🎯 💯 %TRUE CORRECT 🗽🇺🇲⚖🙏Revolution🤔🕰🗽🇺🇲⚖🙏Tired of the American Political 🤡

[@izzy1563]

Bernie Sanders has been talking about this for 30 years and the political parties both treat his message with contempt. I don’t understand why we haven’t learned a lesson. I fear we could enter a period like the English before their 17th c civil war where Charles I met an untimely end. We never talk about that one in our schools - only the French Revolution in the late 18th c. We could learn some lessons from past revolutions because we are at the cusp of one now and neither party really speaks to our problems. We could just put the oligarchs where the Royalists were at that time. I live in NYC and it’s insane what it costs me to rent a small apartment and neither party has helped. I don’t want help from our government but do expect them to play fair to benefit the majority of Americans. The whole system stinks. Something is totally wrong and we have an election between two men who don’t have a clue that our entire financial structure and government are a problem.

[@lyndaweister9984]

EXACTLY 🎯 💯 %TRUE CORRECT UNBELIEVABLE 🗽🇺🇲⚖🙏

[@beckyroyle6644]

This scenario is exactly what happened. How it happened. Great conversation. Hopefully people will listen and READ!

[@gracevalentine1666]

In the early aughts an acquaintance shared a digital news letter describing how unions would be eliminated by sending jobs overseas forcing an adjustment- the tone ? Gloating. He was trying to impress me with his detachment and ability to think abstractly. I was devastated and knew it would happen. Teachers unions took hits, all unions except police unions became company unions just to survive. The sadness of knowing so many other Americans relish the destruction of our middle class is the hardest part.

[@sammavitae114]

grace Valentine And during the same time the unions for business known as lobbyists were multiplying and given complete access to government policy makers.

[@bobbinicosia8017]

The Koch brothers had their hands all over teachers unions ..just look at how Kansas is going

[@gracevalentine1666]

Bobbi Nicosia yes, it was and is a mess. The unions had scripted responses and quashed organized, science based resistance. I learned this when working with a former Detroit teacher - unions and districts in CA and MI word for word scripts the same.

[@butchmitch731]

Fascinating. What a remarkable vitally necessary informed perspective, well expressed. Highly Recommended for listening and sharing. How We Got HERE Now 101 .

[@Blake-Urizen]

"Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities" - Voltaire

[@davidelias13]

Thank you Amanpour & Co.

[@boa9535]

Ms. Amanpour, Thank you so much for these pieces. They are so insightful and help define in me a focus on a future that supports the middle class.

[@Blake-Urizen]

"“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” ~ Isaac Asimov

[@rebeccarayburn3312]

I see it every day in family and in general.

[@12magus]

It's a very odd binary system wherein we have had the cream of the crop of fine minds running things (before the last 40 or 50 years) and the recurring phenomenon of the dolt.

[@Blake-Urizen]

@@12magus Regression to the mean. (In both senses.)

[@Daniel____DiJ]

Excellent and spot-on interview.

[@edwulet]

Chris Hedges ideas getting into the mainstream - sounds like he read "Empire of Illusion" and rewrote it.

[@omowhanre]

Yes! Thanks so much! I read this years ago in college. I KNEW this sounded familiar. Thanks

[@joyleenstrozier4295]

This is another great video about the current state of The United States of America. I cannot wait to see who will be a guest and what they will be discuss.

[@tomjohn8733]

Christine, glad to see you came back to reporting, I remember years ago, when you were doing field work, in some pretty hostile areas...this site along with Democracy Now are the go to for honest truthful news and interviews...about time the successful left came forth to admit how they sold out American workers to elect someone like trump, I couldn’t help thinking that when CEO started making such Hugh income and every banker lawyer retired with a Hugh retirement pension, like my step father did, I knew things had gone really wrong, good title, Evil Geniuses, I think most lawyers and politicians have sold out America for wealth and power, not to mention, many Doctors who oppose socializing healthcare along with insurance companies...

[@rkeller8141]

I quit AT&T decades ago when I found out the CEO made 22 million a year. Tom Brady when he does retire already has a job as Fox Sports announcer, 10 years, $375 million.

[@tomjohn8733]

@@rkeller8141 thank you for sharing your experience, hope your going good and staying well, Peace !

[@Torontobravedave]

The way forward is for sustainable, healthy and inclusive workplaces in a WFH future environment. The employer-employee relationships has changed forever.

[@lesablackwell6592]

Amazing interview! Walter asks such excellent questions!

[@KaritKtana]

I learned about the Powell memo in "Requiem for the American Dream". My jaw dropped. It's incredible documentary, watch it on Netflix asap. I knew there were these forces that changed society and economy in the US, but to understand how concerted and deliberate the effort was is mind blowing. You can lay blame at the feet of specific people, there actually WERE meetings in smoke-filled rooms. This is the real conspiracy, the most successful and long term plan ever executed.

[@donaldcarpenter5328]

We LIVED it & KNEW what was going on , however, NO ONE WOULD LISTEN!!! FOR 40 YEARS I WARNED about the FACIST SOCIETY the GOP was SHOVING DOWN OUR THROATS!!! CORPORATE DEMOCRATS=GOP don't you DARE BLAME the LEFT, USEFUL IDIOT!!!

[@MF-ty2zn1]

The Coup Part 2 is in progress as we speak. Vote BLUE November 8, 2022 to get 4 more Democrat senators in Congress to rein in the Supreme Court .

[@Have_A_Nice_Day242]

To simplify with the old expression, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[@bobcompton9810]

An absolutely brilliant exposure of what sadly seems like a hopeless situation; one that will destroy us before it can be remedied Born in 1953 (along with the Corvette Stingray, Playboy Magazine, and the Hydrogen Bomb, I am more aware every day that I had the great good fortune of living through the peak of the American Experience; what I see now (and see coming) breaks my heart

[@rkeller8141]

Born in 45 and grateful time for me is short. Where did America go? The criminals in government, J6, not held accountable further destroys what was once our Democracy.

[@Keyspoet27]

I was born in 1958, a year that ushered in a major recession, and saw the invention of the laser, and of the microchip. I concur; the world in which we find ourselves barely resembles the world in which I grew up, which depresses me more than I can convey. I graduated high school, and started college, in January 1976; a most hopeful moment in time for those of us with an appetite for changing the world for the better, to benefit humanity AND wildlife, worldwide. Then came Reagan, already familiar to me as the governor bent upon bankrupting California; who then gained the presidency, for which his GE handlers had been grooming him for years. It was under Reagan that we saw the war against drugs, the war against public school funding, and the war against the middle class fully take root, and start undermining what actually MADE America great in the first place. #traitortrump merely took an already bad situation, and made it FAR, FAR WORSE, for us all.

[@garypeacock951]

Yes.

[@fmcg5364]

@@Keyspoet27 you are so right, I lived through that period where he was governor here and watched him mess up our state systms and then go on and mess up the whole coutnry.His so-called war on drugs "just say no" what a laugh

[@kenfrank3782]

Keyspoet-. Don’t forget Reagan also ushered in the privatization movement to have most of our government functions flipped over to corporations because “ corporations were more efficient “. But secretly it meant big paydays for his buddies And we see it continue with Trump appointing Louis deJoy as Postmaster General with a plan to privatize it. Trump wasn’t a fluke in politics who happened to win -. He’s the product of a continuum of GOP movements to a progressively further & further rightward politics. Which encapsulates the worst of capitalism and religion rolled into one giant party of undermining the idea of American democracy and one Man/ one vote

[@suziperret468]

Yes, Kurt Anderson, is a voice of reason and perspective.

[@geoffgriffiths3381]

After the 60s Love Revolution morphed into the 1970s decade of meditation and spiritual disciplines and emotional healing, the illusionary matrix was at its minimum. Reaganomics was a 1980s return to 1920s style corporatism and nothing was new at all. Before the imposition of Reaganomics, Reagan made a televised speech requesting that people stop think about helping the US and concentrate on their own affluence, and that way the US will become more wealthy as a consequence. Never before in the history of western civilisation has a leader implored his people to become more greedy. He shifted Americans from service to others, to service to self, which will now have to happen in the future. Such was the unselfishness of people in the 70s, many of whom were clearly Self-Actualising, when the matrix was at its thinnest, and the consciousness of the American people was at its highest, and society was at its humane and compassionate finest. This is what has been destroyed, and replaced with war and greed mentality.

[@pjpredhomme7699]

I accept a lot of your premises- but honestly people give Reagan far more credit than is due . He was an actor basically hired to play a part - he more or less was finished as an actor - and became a corporate pitchman . Mr Kennedy decided to make a movie about how he used communication media to make his son president . It is only natural that big corporate decision makers decide they had the formula - they only needed someone to play the role . The kitchen cabinet is what they were called . Perhaps the most fascinating / scary part is he was just playing a role

[@dogeared100]

Amen.

[@pohkeee]

Reminds me of the day my older son had triumphed and won everything on the Risk game board...when his frustrated younger brother realized there was no longer any moves...he promptly stood up and flipped the game board over and scattered everything little bit over the entire room. If you’re in a game that everyone is enjoying...you’d best not corner and leave the other players no options! It reminds me of a poster I saw regarding engaging with “ win at any cost” player...” ...”like pigeons, they knock over all the pieces, crap on the board,...then strut around like they won”!

[@rollingwheelie1]

It started with Reagan, when he gave a speech for Goldwater in '64. Showtime has an excellent four-part documentary on Ron and Nancy.

[@lyndaweister9984]

Definitely want 2 watch this!!

[@maxheadrom3088]

This guy makes me put even more trust in Adam Curtis' works - when two people who research a subject reach the same conclusions through similar findings I tend to trust the conclusions, the findings and the people. And on a domestic (Brazil) note, the fact this guys does his mea culpa on those terms makes Sen. Critovam Buarque's "Where we failed" more important.

[@bridgettjohnson7437]

There has never been "a fair, just distribution of wealth" in this country EVER.

[@dogeared100]

Right..but it has been much better.

[@DK-zu6tt]

True, but in the late 1940's-1960's wealth grew in the middle class. GI bills from WWII helped an unprecedented number of people into home ownership, and the patriotic spirit of the WWII encouraged vets to be hired into good jobs. Even for as much as African Americans were discriminated against with policies like redlining and other bank discrimination, they bought homes at an unprecedented rate, though not homes of their choosing. Some home is better than not owning a home, because it allows for inter-generational wealth transfer.

[@leealexander3507]

We need the balance of both a left and a right economically

[@thisutuber]

Left Right Yin Yang Roots Leaves ..

[@wesleygordon1645]

yes

[@leealexander3507]

@@wesleygordon1645 Unfortunately we no longer have a viable left wing in government. We have a far right and a right wing with a handful of moderately left wing within one right wing party.

[@TheMonolake]

This guy is honest and real about how he Navigated the changes

[@ChristiaanHartNibbrig]

Really good interview. Kurt Andersen's self-awareness is impressive and refreshing.

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Anthony Lukacs and Tom Hayden were saying the same thing all along, right back to 1960.

[@mickeywood3012]

Our faults began when we stopped exercising our responsibilities as a Democratic Republic. This occurred when we stopped teaching William Bennett Munro's version of what Social Civic's should consist of. William Bennett Munro designed the model for Civic's, that was required to graduate during the 60s'.

[@amystery7754]

Kurt, I loved your show on public radio. Time to be real now. There are no liberal Democrats. We have moved at least a quarter turn of the earth since May 28, 2020. Democrats are middle of the road. The liberals and progressives are in the streets every day since that day. The moderate Democrats are a part of the history you talk about. The leftie friends you speak about are not doing"well". Nor or BIPOC Americans. These guys? Nice to be in your ivory tower. Nobody changed our beliefs. The right wing took over the principles, dialogue, money funneled unchecked into politics. "Educated Democrats"? What is that? No part of this race. You sound very privileged. I am your age and have never been privileged. Female. You compromised. You got yours. Same as moderate Republicans. It is the past. It never served any liberal or BIPOC. We are still fighting the same battles 50 years in. You are nostalgic for your privileged 20's.

[@ey67]

True

[@keyissues1027]

Going back to the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s, a one worker family was the trend. After that, the poor became more poor, and middle class wages began to stagnate or barely, rose.

[@mypetcrow9873]

Using spell check is not yet a crime.

[@billmitchell1955]

My Pet Crow. Are you an uppity English teacher?

[@wesleygordon1645]

Unfortunately this has been the trend throughout the world since those days!

[@AllPeopleUnite]

Democrats have also been part of the 4 decades of privatisation, deregulstion and austerity as well. Always an elite party that happened to incorporate labour interests in the 1930s and the African American population in the 1960s, they adopted some progressive policies and orientations. They have moved right in step with the Republican party from the 70s onwards. Look at the legislation and policies of the past 40 years, it wasn't just Republicans who implemented it. Social issues (as long as they don't clash with corporate interests and accumulation of wealth) the Democrats have been progresive, but in terms of their governing policy around spending, taxation and the public sector they have been a party of neoliberalism (the result of Friedman and the Chicago School's ideology referred to in this interview). Ex. Suppprt Women's rights? Yes, but failed to implement any policies to support those rights beyond very limited token efforts. Things like strong unions, public sector jobd, a living wage, garuanteed child care, parity of wage, parentsl leave, income support for low income parents, child benefit, those are all things that make a real difference to power and wealth disparities and would especially benefit women, but they require resources (which are hander to come by when the tax rate on corporations and the wealthy has been halved) or directly increase labour costs (so less money for corporations and the wealthy). Hence no repeat of the grand across the board policies like the implementation of minimum wage, the creation of social security (1930s), Medicare/Medicaid (60s). Instead we get piecemeal, very limited or very localised poliies that creste a few childcare places here, wage growth or paternity leave there.

[@ey67]

True

[@dinahnicest6525]

There will never be any reckoning. To paraphrase Upton Sinclair: "A man will not understand something when his paycheck depends on his not understanding it."

[@phyllisjeanfulton]

I was in Mexico near Monterrey traveling by taxi to my destination. I saw the appalling upheaval of NAFTA descending into the desert and how the people were bused to these ginormous buildings in 1999. All our manufacturing decimated small towns into ghosts.

[@niterockerone]

Reagan sold it ,Bush Sr signed it. Gingrich passed in in Congress. And when it became unpopular ,Republican stinking lying crooks blamed Bill Clinton....

[@niterockerone]

Lying swamp monsters criminal devil's.

[@Cooper43642]

A young man told me several years ago there would be a revolution. He said if not his generation then the one after. The younger people hear all this which is spot on by the way and they are going to grow up angry. Greed has ruined everyone.

[@ronaldronald8819]

What brilliant insights. How useful to compare then and now and identify the driving forces.

[@pitchforkparty]

You'll never from this guy again. He's speaking truth.

[@danitacrouse1834]

I am afraid it may be too late for America. I can only cry right now.

[@richardpope3063]

Take 10 deep breaths.

[@kathyadair8552]

@@richardpope3063 Or, Breathe In. ~ HOLD for 5 secs; AND Exhale Slowly.

[@TerryB751]

In short, there will always be wolves who think the earth is theirs for the taking rather than being stewards of the earth. Reasonable thinking and not letting ambition turn to greed is the key to sustainment of the earth.

[@bobbinicosia8017]

Watts

[@DK-zu6tt]

Except, Native Americans largely held values of stewardship of the land, as they saw themselves as part of it, and not wanting to hurt a part of themselves. The idea of owning the land, the sky and the water was completely foreign to them, and the cause for many miscommunications, which led to the demonizing of the "savages." Funny, even in our country's early days, settlers were projecting their own actions. They were the savages they accused the Native Americans of being.

[@suzannebatinovic6239]

is this show ever live on youtube? I would love to be able to watch live; like PBS; Love you Amanpour!! most Croatians, do, btw :) cheers

[@vintagethings9187]

Great discussion. What may have been understated is that the strength of nations in the future will only be increased by their diversity and inclusiveness. America has shown, despite all its past prejudices, that strength, in the widest and most egalitarian sense, comes from an identity of shared difference in a common framework.

[@dntodo6749]

People still praise Reganomics/Thatchernomics but the theory is dreadfully flawed. Basically it turns a useful and egalitarian economy into one where soulless corporations remain 'citizens' and are free to positively act against the interests of the nation as "we the people". Creating think-tanks to lie effectively about the dangers of tobacco, or those of global warming means these corporations are not 'virtual citizens' but "the enemy within". And that enemy within now has so much hold on America that the people are starving, homeless, and dying - some for lack of money to pay for a covid test. And meanwhile, in Congress, relief is denied to the people by Mitch McConnell because his corporate backers (and those backing the Republican Party) won't *permit* the government to serve the people or the constitution. America has to treat these corporations as 'enemies within' and - at the very least - withdraw their right to have a 'vote'.

[@Oniweeki]

This was extremely enlightening. I need to get his book. It explains a hell of a lot about what's go UK ng on now.

[@zeke8701]

Just like children, Americans wait to be told what to believe.

[@taradrolma2774]

This explains the cruelty exhibited by large corporations and the wealthy elite ruling class.

[@7788Sambaboy]

Anderson...insightful and brilliant, as usual. Great writer

[@zaprunes9986]

That's a nice way of putting it ...taking a step back from hyper capitolism...

[@patrickcarpenter4524]

it's a bit off that we gloss over the 1970s as part of this post-war idea of a better america where things still worked. vietnam? inflation? watergate? oil crisis?

[@jacobfinder7476]

So very true.. Born in 1952 into a lower middle class family . Times were fair and if you worked hard you could be something. Not today. You have to be born into money to achieve success.

[@debralegorreta1375]

Apologists for capitalism always qualify it when it suits them. They call it "hyper capitalism" or something like that as if regular capitalism is not to blame. WRONG. Capitalism is capitalism. "Hyper capitalism" is nothing more than a more mature, more evolved, more entrenched capitalism. It's capitalism all grown up and in full powers. You cannot go back to a time when capitalism was good, a time when there was prosperity for all etc., etc.. Those good things that we had back then we had them DESPITE capitalism. The 8-hr work day costs the lives and blood of thousands of socialists and communists who stood up to the "robber barons." Capitalism now wants to take credit for those benefits? Pathetic. Capitalism was a snake back then; it's a fully grown up snake today.

[@raymondgranda201]

Thanks for spreading the word.

[@gloriouse4458]

ABSOLUTELY, FABULOUS INTERVIEW 👍🏼🧐💙

[@LukeKendall-author]

The book Winner Take All Politics supports everything he says here, and gives detailed documentation of almost every step of the organised change to benefit the powerful at the expense of the public.

[@portlandcommunityhealthcen9401]

EXCELLENT ANALYSIS ... PERFECT

[@CrucialSpeaks]

Dave McCauley "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln

[@dawnglessner7432]

“We were played.” Mic drop.

[@DK-zu6tt]

We need to change Corporate Law. When a company incorporates, their bylaws state: The CEO must increase profits, quarter by quart or year by year. If they don't increase profits at any cost, they are derelict in their duty as a CEO. By comparison, Benefit Corporations, also known as B-Corps, have to put the social good (workers and the communities where their business sits) and the environmental good on par with profit. No arm of this 3 pronged system can be more emphasized. There are literally thousands of B Corporations in the world (Tom's of Maine, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, New Balance shoes, to name a few) and they are profitable with this model If the US could ever adopt this as THE corporate law of the nation, we would have a more just society and a better environment, to meet climate change needs sooner. But thanks to the corrupt Supreme Court said: Money is speech and corporations are people. That genie will never go back in the bottle, and we will never free ourselves from the lobbying influence of big business. It will be our downfall.

[@LeftCoastStephen]

The oil companies who denied the climate change science learned their trade from the tobacco companies in the 50’s & 60’s. With enough money you can buy any number of “experts”

[@12magus]

Excellent analysis. Kudos to Mr. Anderson.

[@MortalWeather]

Bernie Sanders was the candidate of a lifetime -- TWICE -- and we still couldn't figure it out. Hard to have much hope for the USA.

[@donaldcarpenter5328]

BERNIE SANDERS JUST SOLD OUT!!! SO MUCH FOR SANDERS!!!

[@kathyadair8552]

@@donaldcarpenter5328 It seems the ULTRA, "Brassy" Blues forked him over. Twice!

[@allisonandrews4719]

An interesting conversation to have in two hyper posh interiors.

[@diankreczmer6595]

When companies sent.jobs overseas is when the middle class Started to decline

[@johnhumphries505]

Every single person in America should watch this

[@katesterling6443]

Anderson refers to so many outstanding foundational documents in this interview. I find myself pausing and Google searching for a document. It would be GREAT if Democracy Now would post links to them. In fact, it would be GREAT is DN did that all the time whenever documents/videos/etc. are referred to in a program.

[@finddeniro]

Excellent Play by Play.. And a Real passion for the Facts.. Behind the Curtain of Oz.. Library Available .

[@Wormfarmergeorge]

Fifty years ago I was seventeen and I have witnessed first hand everything this guy is talking about. I have fought the assholes every step of the way but I'm just one ordinary guy. If I could have gotten twenty million to join in, this shit could not have happened.

[@kathleenmarsters511]

Yes, many of us saw the writing on the wall and resisted back then. Only $$$ talked.

[@ingridgrattidge5637]

Here in Florida the big REITS now control the rental market to a point where Mobile Homes and Apartments that are the bottom of the rung are charging $800 to $1200 for 1 bedroom apartments that are minimal whilst the average wage here is certainly not equal to the required 3 times income. Surreal

[@lyndaweister9984]

EXACTLY 🎯 💯 %TRUE CORRECT UNBELIEVABLE! ❣🇺🇲⚖

[@aggedyran]

Excellent interview and such important information!

[@aprilcalhoun8984]

Wealth disparity is one of the key ingredients in a revolution because it will never self regulate. The more greed is indulge the more it consumes.

[@poulthomas469]

The generations that were shaped by the Great Depression began to lose power in the 1980s. That was the shift that allowed the changes to happen. All that happened is that the GOP reverted to form. The GOP was always about making money at all cost. The Great Depression was so traumatic it scarred entire generations and made 'greed' a dirty word.

[@barbginther2171]

Every struggle, negative point in our lives or our country's, made us who we are today, and , we're not done learning and evolving, ever!!

[@elsjeeastaugh1998]

Creating profits via capitalism is not the problem, it's the distribution & sharing of those profits that's the problem. A profitable society & a wealthy society are related but different things. Perhaps the pandemic & the strictures it has imposed on us all has exposed the more obvious structural weaknesses we have created in our complex societies - it certainly has in South Africa. But will it change anything? I'm not so sure, but I hope so. The sceptic in me fears we might just end up rearranging the deck chairs on The Titanic, whilst ignoring the more obvious, but deeply ingrained, structural problems. It seems to me that 'too big to fail' can too easily be conflated with 'too big to try and repair'. Talking about human rights is easier than dealing with human wrongs.

[@michaellynn7745]

I like his use of "hopeless nostalgia" vs. "useful nostalgia". I think the nativists and populists don't make that distinction, which is where their politics go astray. At the same time, I do like his critical introspection of how the college-educated class could afford to take the long view, since their jobs weren't affected by job losses at the time. However, even now, more white collar, college-educated jobs are under siege, which is feeding radicalism on both sides. Effective safety nets are important for any capitalist system to catch the fallen, while providing incentives to get back on their feet and try out a new skill set.

[@fredganoe9791]

I agree with critique of Milton Friedman. James Buchanan, a prior economics "Nobel" laureate was exposed by Nancy MacLean in her book, "Democracy in Chains."