"The government always seeks to give just enough wealth to just enough people to avoid revolution." That is an over arching theme of Howard Zinn's writing.
Today, after 45 years of rapidly growing economic inequality and barely staving off a political revolution through primary election rigging, we see a Congress and a president who are traditionally right wingers giving poor families a few hundred extra dollars, providing stimulus checks and now, pushing a green infrastructure bill, despite Biden's refusal to ban fracking and actually increasing oil drilling.
What we are seeing is not neoliberals not being as bad as we've been saying all along, it is not Joe Biden trying to be progressive and it is not some big awakening where Nancy Pelosi has realized she's just a government employee.
It is the government, seeing that discontent is very high, and trying to give just enough to just enough of us to keep doing what they do- enriching themselves and their big donors using public money.
Do not be fooled into thinking these people are "on your side". A few hundred dollars to parents temporarily is not REALLY cutting child poverty in half. That's just the establishment building up the little it is doing so it will have to do as little as possible.
$3800 in one-time checks did not cover anyone's rent for year. Many of us didn't even get any of those stimulus checks. Do not be satisfied with "better than Trump". That is a very low bar indeed. We can do MUCH better! In Europe, most countries covered at least 80% of paychecks. And THEY have universal healthcare and universal college education. Not just that, most European countries have higher wages and weeks of guaranteed vacation that most Americans don't get. We can do much, much better. Don't be sold short!
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