It's OUR Economy, (and we're not) Stupid!

Today NPR barraged me with its coverage of "record growth in the economy" bookended with a story on whether Jim Carville's famous campaign message, "it's the economy, stupid" still applies.  How we talk about this matters.  I am in the middle of writing a multi-part series on the Power of the Word in politics (look for "Donald Trump and the Power of the Word," and "Bernie Sanders and the Power of the Word" and "Marianne Williamson and the Power of the Word" on a "newstand"--mommy, what's a "newstand"?--near you soon). 

In some ways it boils down to this, let's use the power of our word(s) for what we want, not what we don't want.  Let's not hope for a recession or that people don't notice that we've hit certain indicators of economic growth; and while we don't want to have our head in the sand, let's not spend all our time lamenting the very real experience that millions today have of working multiple jobs to make ends meet, without affordable healthcare or education.  People know they're suffering.  Let's focus on what we want; let's speak our word for Medicare for all and universal affordable public education including preschool and university.

In remembering that Bill Clinton's political strategist James Carville famously posted "It's the Economy, Stupid" on the wall of their campaign "war room," we're focussing on the wrong thing.  The genius in that phrase wasn't the "economy" it was the "stupid."  The "stupid" wasn't the American people, it was the campaign staff.  Carville was telling them to stay on the winning message.  The message he had crafted was it's the economy.  With social media and the internet today, we ARE the campaign staff.  And we need to stay on message.  That does not mean that the winning message for those hoping to get elected in 2020 is "it's the economy."  

So what is the winning message? Many Democrats seem to think that their winning message is "it's Donald Trump, stupid."  However spiritual law and the president's use of it would advise otherwise.  First of all what we resist, persists.  Second of all, as many elected officials realize, there is no need to ever mention he who must not be named.  It is simply the water we're swimming in.

A better message for now might be "It's Our Economy, (and we're not) Stupid.  Witness Joseph Stiglitz--author of Progressive Capitalism is Not an Oxymoron which recently appeared in the New York Times.  Stiglitz, a nobel laureate in economics and leading progressive economist at Columbia University, argues that we can and should use our political power to restructure the economy so that it works for everyone, instead of only billionaires. "Progressive capitalism," he states, "is not an oxymoron; we can indeed channel the power of the market to serve society."  Stiglitz continues:

There are many other areas in which government action is required. Markets on their own won’t provide insurance against some of the most important risks we face, such as unemployment and disability. They won’t efficiently provide pensions with low administrative costs and insurance against inflation. And they won’t provide an adequate infrastructure or a decent education for everyone or engage in sufficient basic research.
Progressive capitalism is based on a new social contract between voters and elected officials, between workers and corporations, between rich and poor, and between those with jobs and those who are un- or underemployed.

Now Stiglitz, unlike perhaps, Robert Reich and other progressive economists, only goes so far with this logic.  He believes that a "public option" for Obamacare would have been enough to guarantee affordable healthcare for all, stopping short of calling for Medicare for All, which others know is more affordable (precisely because its not profitable to Wall Street).  

And I'll note that the mere presence of this article in The New York Times shows that we are in a time when the ruling elite is, as it probably has not been since the 1930's, genuinely worried that the great mass of people left out of the economic boom are awake.  The mere election of the current president on themes of free trade shows that people recognize that the current free unfettered market approach has failed us.  The author attempting to save
capitalism not the American people.

The mere fact that the professors at Columbia Business School are calling for government action to include the middle class in benefits of a market economy shows that the time is right to speak our word for an economy that works for everyone.  

Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Marianne Williamson and most of the American people are all focused on creating such economy, with varying degrees of success in message discipline.  Let's take a page from James Carville and stick to a winning message, but let's ground that message in a goal of a world that works for everyone--it's our economy, (and we're not) stupid.