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Friends,
Here’s what a young person wrote to me a few days ago:
Dear Professor Reich,
I heard you say on Colbert’s show that you believe a new Progressive Era will follow this dark second Gilded Age. I’m wish I shared your optimism.
Opportunities to contribute or be a part of something are so rare and are getting rarer. I feel as though I'm connected to no one and nothing. Politics is nothing but a sham, serving nothing better than entertainment like wrestling. And the news, if not there for entertainment or propaganda, is bad, all bad.
While young people like me are committed to change for the better, without a genuine seat at the table, we can do nothing better than bark like a dog beside the family dinner table. How is this not instead a sign of civilization's decline, that all great empires face?
Perhaps you disagree, but if you do, then the onus rests with you to provide evidence that the second Gilded Age will bring about the second Progressive Era as you predicted. I know your busy, but as I'm sure you can imagine, I would very much like a response to this inquiry, as it would offer me some measure of comfort knowing that someone (anyone) really does read, and respond to these emails.
Respectfully yours,
[name withheld]
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Here’s what I wrote back:
Dear […]
With due respect, the onus doesn't rest with me to provide evidence that we can have a second progressive era. The onus rests on you to make it a reality.
If you believe you can do nothing better than bark like a dog beside the family dinner table you don't know your power. Martin Luther King Jr., had no seat at the table. Jane Addams had no seat at the table. Rachel Carson had no seat at the table. Ralph Nader had no seat at the table. John Lewis had no seat at the table. They made their own seats.
They built power. They gave hope and inspiration to others. They worked from the bottom up. They changed society.
Go do it!
Robert Reich
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Friends, I’d be very interested in your response to this exchange.
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