Living Democracy, Feeding Hope

Perhaps the most important takeaway from Mr. Mamdani’s campaign is this: Hope grounded in possibility is the fuel for democracy. Originally Published in Common Dreams , Nov 8th, 2025. (Photo Credit Bingjiefu Hu/Creative Common) Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory on Tuesday is a bright light in this otherwise terrifying political time, and the messages propelling his political ascendance offer many lessons. One particularly is music to our ears—indeed, it’s a song we’ve long been singing. We’ll let the words from his acceptance speech speak for themselves: Tonight we have spoken in a clear voice. Hope is alive. Hope is a decision that tens of thousands of New Yorkers made day after day, volunteer shift after volunteer shift, despite attack ad after attack ad. And, while we cast our ballots alone, we choose hope together: hope over tyranny. Hope over big money and small ideas. Hope over despair. We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible. Right on! Mr. Mamdani’s message is both powerful and incisive. To launch his campaign to become mayor of our largest city required hope—and great courage. A long-shot candidate—a 34-year-old South Asian Muslim and democratic socialist assemblyman—he is a departure from mayoral convention. Nevertheless, he, and a dedicated team of volunteers, took the plunge, pouring heart and soul into one of the most impressive grassroots campaigns. Mr. Mamdani’s candidacy was an act of hope—rooted not only in a belief in the necessity of his ideas and capacity to govern but also of hope that the political landscape would embrace a leader like him. And that hope turned into victory—justifying itself. Adamantly and consistently, he worked to convince voters that a better New York is achievable—that hope need not be an abstract and ephemeral feeling but rooted in actual political possibility. Doing so, Mr. Mamdani championed the concerns New Yorkers—but, really, most Americans—feel acutely: our affordability crisis in housing, food, and healthcare ; the burden of wages failing to keep up with cost of living; the immense struggle required just to survive. At every step of his campaign, he addressed these deep structural problems with real, innovative policy solutions. He didn’t ask voters to find hope from his politicking. Rather, he offered real grounds for belief. We have long said that hope is power. Mr. Mamdani’s political success is evidence of this truth. So perhaps the most important takeaway from Mr. Mamdani’s campaign is this: Hope grounded in possibility is the fuel for democracy . We find this a particularly powerful line from Mr. Mamdani’s acceptance speech: “We won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do.” This sentiment is, indeed, the crux of hope’s power. When we believe, the door to action opens. We become agents capable of making real the changes we so desperately. As Mr. Mamdani says, politics is not done to us, but what we do. This spirit is contagious and key to fighting back successfully against the Trump administration’s fascist policies and reversing widespread democratic backsliding. We must challenge ourselves to hope! Why not run for office with a bold, hope-infused platform? Volunteer for a candidate we believe in? And cast our votes for a different and better future? Organizations including Run for Something empower us to step up and consider ourselves as changemakers, and several other national groups such as Common Cause and Indivisible provide clear paths for citizen action. Who knows what may come from taking the next hopeful step in your community, whether its electoral or any other form of advocacy. Remember hope is not for “wimps.” It requires courage to do what we thought we could not do. The root of the word courage is the French word for heart, “coeur.” So, when you step up and feel yours pounding, don’t doubt. It’s just your heart cheering you on! Leading with hope, we can build the engaged and just “living democracy” we want and know is essential. We can become proud of our country again.

New data about global food consumption confirms what we know: our meat based diets are our downfall. Originally Published in Common Dreams , Oct 15th, 2025. Earlier this month, the Eat-Lancet commission released new data about global food consumption. Its findings are sobering but not at all surprising. The report highlights the extreme destruction driven by our meat-based diets, emphasizing not only the threats to our health but the many environmental harms. We learn that our food systems are responsible for about a third of global green house gas emissions, with livestock alone contributing 12-19 percent. No surprise that “the diets of the richest 30% of the global population contribute to more than 70% of the environmental pressures from food systems.” The report also estimates that shifting our global eating patterns to follow its guidelines would prevent 15 million deaths per year— almost 30 percent of global death . Lest we forget that in 2015 the World Health Organization declared processed meat a carcinogen and red meat a likely carcinogen. Eat-Lancet’s findings, while shocking, are not new. They are the same song I’ve been singing since I wrote Diet for a Small Planet in 1971. Chart b y Vox Of course, consumption goes hand in hand with production, and I find it just as necessary to highlight that side of things. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data confirms suspicion : our production is misaligned with diets that benefit both us and the planet. Note the many parallels between these two charts. Chart by Econofact Meat remains the chief culprit. In an excellent article about Eat-Lancet’s report, Vox’s Kenny Torrella reminds readers of the strong industry-led backlash to the commission’s 2019 report. Since then, meat producers have lobbied and campaigned tirelessly to shift climate discussions way from our plates even as data about meat’s sizable impact compounds. Public appetite has shifted accordingly, with meat sales reaching a record high over $100 Billion in 2024. We know what a healthy diet looks like--one rich in vegetables, legumes, seeds, and nuts. It will take a massive effort to get us there and thankfully Eat-Lancet offers many solutions--from using taxes and subsidies to shift dietary incentives, to school lunch programs, to reforms aimed at reducing waste and inefficiency at all levels of the food chain. There are so many clear steps we can take. The report also highlights another key fact: Without “secure social foundations” all of this is moot. It speaks to the fact that the challenges we face from today’s food system are symptomatic of larger social imbalances. Consider the meat industry’s strong lobbying campaign: Such coordinated effort is only possible in a highly concentrated market. Over three-quarters of the global beef market is controlled by just four corporations. In pork, three firms account for two-thirds. Such profound power shared among so few hands is the story of today’s economy. We need more reports like Eat-Lancet’s that both affirm the stakes of industry’s powerful hold and strongly assert that another way is possible. There are many doing this vital work from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food to Sentient Media. As we shift what’s on our plates, let’s uplift them, too.

Making it easier for young people to vote is a great way to increase participation, making our democracy live up to its ideals. Originally Published in Common Dreams , Aug 26th, 2025. (Photo Credit Garry Knight/Creative Commons) With democracy under attack in the US, a worldwide movement to lower the voting age is growing. This July, the United Kingdom announced it would lower the voting age from 18 to 16 in general elections. When the bill passes, the UK will join Brazil, Austria, Cuba, Argentina, Nicaragua, and Ecuador as nations which already allow 16-year-olds to vote. In others, including Greece and Indonesia, the voting age is 17. While there is no clear partisan advantage in lowering the voting age, collective benefits abound—including a more engaged democracy judged by civic engagement and political attitudes . Voting habits are established early, and support in the classroom can make a big difference. But, when the voting age is 18, fewer voters are in school during their first election. Depending on the election cycle, many will not have the opportunity to vote in a national election until they are 21. Thus, many first-time voters lack vital resources and thus face higher barriers to entry. The case is true in the United States . Nearly a third of unregistered voters between 18-29 say they were simply too busy to go through the registration process. As political scientist Joshua Tucker explains , “If you vote when you’re young in the first three elections, [for which you are eligible] that’s likely to predict you continue voting.” If you don’t, “you’re less likely to vote for the rest of your life,” and “even one failure lowers the chance of voting later.” So, the stakes are high and opportunity during the early years can have lifelong impacts. Nations lowering voting age have experienced an increase youth activism . Argentina, for example, lowered voting age in 2012. Then in 2015 , years before the surge of the # MeToo movement, the Ni Una Menos (Not one less) movement in Argentina began. Through mass protests and strikes, it aimed to combat and bring awareness to gender-based violence. Another youth-led action—the Marea Verde (Green Wave) Movement—pushed to legalize abortion and significantly influenced development and passage of a 2020 national Argentine law that did just that. Here, too, young Americans have stepped up for a stronger democracy, even helping to spark two of the most influential Supreme Court cases. In 1951, 16-year-old Barbara Johns, a student in a segregated school in Prince Edward County, Virginia, took action. Her school held over twice as many students as was legally permissible, used second-hand supplies, and lacked adequate bathrooms or heating. So, Johns led her peers in a school assembly and ultimately organized a student-body strike. With the support of the NAACP, her courageous efforts turned into one of the five legal cases of Brown v. the Board of Education that declared public school segregation illegal. About a decade and a half later, five students in Des Moines, Iowa came together to protest the Vietnam War , each wearing an armband to school. For this they were suspended, but they fought back. Their fight eventually made its way to the Supreme Court and what would become Tinker v. Des Moines defining public-school students’ First Amendment rights. In a more recent example of the power of student activism, a survivor from the Parkland shooting, high school junior Cameron Kasky, organized the March for Our Lives protests in 2018. In a fight for gun control , they would become one of the largest in US history, with a million participants—mostly students—taking the streets to fight for gun control. These formidable young people offer inspiring evidence that an early understanding of civics, along with the experience of political empowerment, can ripple out to make history. These stories underscore our responsibility to bring these principles and opportunities to all young Americans, not only with better civics education but also by lowering the voting age, and thereby affirming their voices matter. As data from the most recent election confirm, states with the least restrictive voting had the highest turnout among young voters, while the opposite was true in the more restrictive states. Thankfully, we are making progress: In a third of US states , 17-year-olds can now vote in primaries if they turn 18 before the general election. Even more exciting are the dozen cities where 16-year-olds can now vote, either in school-board elections or all local elections. The facts are clear. Making it easier for young people to vote is a great way to increase participation, making our democracy live up to its ideals. Here 16- and 17-year-olds drive, pay taxes, work unrestricted hours; yet they cannot exercise the fundamental, democratic right to vote. Let us step up to join our peer nations and change that now.

We must explicitly name the culprits that are creating an environment rife with both climate catastrophe and conditions hostile to children and families—corporate power and concentrated wealth. Originally Published in Common Dreams , July 25th, 2025. (Photo Credit Rose Shpernik/Creative Commons) Mounting concern over declining birth rates , the devastation of the climate crisis , and a rising conservative pronatalist movement have led to a renewed focus on population. People across the political spectrum express show up on both sides of the debate, whether about the economic challenges of an aging population, our planet’s destruction (and its very real human toll), or pushing a regressive agenda. Late last month, The New York Times published “Depopulation is Coming, Don’t Expect it to Solve Our Problems.” I read it eagerly. Economists Michael Geruso and Dean Spears do make important points. They write: “Confronting climate change requires that billions of people live differently. It does not require that billions of future people never live.” Here, here! And, in making their argument against depopulation, they also share a vision for the future where systemic barriers driving birth rates down, like the high duress placed on mothers, are no longer so prominent. Those are great points, but they don’t tell the whole story and we need to be honest about the real crisis. These questions bring me back to the beginning of my life’s work. The authors reference Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb (1968), which argued that, if the population kept growing, humanity would implode from famine or disease due to a lack of resources . It came out when I was a young woman and took the world by storm. I wondered, “Is this true?” The resulting research led me to write my first book, Diet for a Small Planet (1971), which proved that our growing population was not the problem. Instead, concerns over scarcity—at least in the realm of food—pointed to a larger culprit: Concentrated corporate power and extreme economic inequality which together promoted meat-centered diets. In a moment when population is again in the limelight and meat-based diets are increasingly valorized, I want to return to the argument I made then. It feels more important than ever. About three-quarters of the world’s agricultural land is devoted to livestock that provide only about 11% of our calories. And just four corporations—JBS, Tyson Foods, and Cargill, and National Beef— control over three-quarters of the global beef market. In pork, three firms account for two-thirds. We can see concentrated power still hard at work here. Meat is the most in efficient way to feed ourselves. Here’s the key point: Meat production is not only wasteful, it’s incredibly destructive. For one, it furthers destruction of carbon-absorbing rainforests while adding cattle-emitting methane—a particularly intense greenhouse gas. According to one report , “Cows pack such a punch that, if they were a nation, ‘cow country’ would rank as the world’s sixth worst greenhouse gas emitter.” And, tragically, cattle farming alone is responsible for 41% of tropical deforestation . These mega-corporations—with their substantial hold on the meat market—have no real reason to slow or stop their production; instead, they profit, while we bear the brunt of the destruction. Let’s return to the question of population. We know that the meat industry—as one of the big drivers of our climate crisis—is a huge part of creating scarcity-based depopulation rhetoric. At the same time, we know that depopulation is no longer an idea simply made mainstream by Ehrlich et al., but a reality driven by declining birth rates. The decline in birth rates is a phenomenon across the West, but the U.S. has a distinct landscape. In a 40-country comparison, we come in 38th— third worst —for childcare affordability. For single parents in the United States , a gargantuan 32% of income is spent on childcare. According to The Guardian , in Massachusetts , infant care costs almost $27,000 per year on average--“21% more than the average rent, and 83% more than in-state tuition at a public college.” While the cost of childcare is mind-boggling, it’s not a stand-alone issue: We are in a full-blown cost of living crisis. The U.S.’ median income is just over $80,000 a year, yet to live comfortably in Mississippi—the U.S.'s most affordable state--a family of four would need to make around $190,000 in 2025. All of this in a nation where the richest 1% of Americans make 139 times as much as the bottom 20%. When we discuss population, we must take care to clearly identify the constellation of social and economic factors at play. This means explicitly naming the culprits that are creating an environment rife with both climate catastrophe and conditions hostile to children and families—corporate power and concentrated wealth. We face neither a crisis of scarcity nor a crisis of population. Rather, we face a crisis of capitalism . The solution is a democratic economy with rules against monopoly and an adequate safety net that provides the resources we all need to thrive

By Frances Moore Lappé, May 22, 2023 Only with democracy —specifically a living democracy— can we transform our wasteful, destructive food system to ensure everyone’s fair access to healthy, ecologically grown food. "What if we reconceive good eating as not just 'plant-based,' but 'planet-healing'?" asks Lappé. (Photo: harvesturbanfarms.com) Originally Published on Common Dreams , May 22 , 2023 Republished on LA Progressive , May 22, 2023 Planetarian. What’s that?” I am eager to explain. In the late sixties, as I struggled to find my path, Paul Ehrlich’s Population Bomb had just exploded, admonishing humanity for overpopulating the Earth and creating food scarcity. Soon, several friends even pledged never to have kids. So, I had to know: Was Ehrlich right? I dug in at U.C. Berkeley’s agricultural library with my dad’s slide rule in hand, asking: Is it true that we’re running out of food? No. Emphatically no, I soon learned. We did then—and do now—produce enough food for all. Yet decade after decade we turn abundance into scarcity for too many: Today, 1.3 billion people —1 in 6 of us—lack consistent access to the calories we need. And safe and healthy diets? They’re out of reach for almost 40 percent of humanity, and the crisis is predicted to worsen. Why? Simply put, our world’s gross power inequities—political and economic—are the root cause. As the richest 1 percent control about half the world’s wealth, food policies serve elite interests, not commonsense or our planet’s health. When our dietary habits incorporate environmental, justice, and health awareness as well as animal welfare, might we be "planetarians"? One result? Staggering inefficiency. Humans directly eat only about half the calories we produce. And the other half? While some become biofuel, in the U.S. we devote three-fourths of agricultural land to livestock production. And, of every 100 feed calories that cows eat, we get only three calories back in that burger or steak on our plate. With dairy cows, we get less than half the calories they’re fed. The big picture? Worldwide, almost 80 percent of our agricultural land produces livestock that give us only 18 percent of our calories. Other costs include vast environmental harms: Producing animal foods generates greenhouse gas emissions 10 to 60 times greater than producing plant-based foods. Plus, 60 percent of biodiversity loss worldwide is caused by livestock. Moreover, livestock grazing is responsible for almost 40 percent of global deforestation , worsening the climate and biodiversity crises. Natural historian David Attenborough warns us we are facing the 6th great species extinction , which requires a dietary shift toward plant food. Plus, “industrialized livestock” generate 85 percent of soil erosion, also a major threat. Next, water. Our heating climate diminishes fresh water supplies; yet to produce just one pound of beef we use 1,800 gallons of water . Globally, “animal agriculture” accounts for nearly a fifth of all freshwater use. Here in the U.S. cattle farming uses more than half the water drawn from the Colorado River, for example, even as area’s current water crisis already threatens many farms and puts dozens of fish species at risk. Meat-centered diets also directly damage our health: In 2015, the WHO declared red meat a probable carcinogen and processed meat a carcinogen . In sharp contrast, plant-centered diets have been shown to lower body weight, boost the immune system, and decrease cancer risk, coronary heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes. So, no surprise: A plant-centered diet is associated with “ lower risk of all-cause mortality ” in U.S. adults. It makes no sense. Why would we humans—supposedly the brightest species—actively shrink our food supply? Why? Because the deeper scarcity we’ve failed to address is that of democracy. On political rights and civil liberties, Freedom House—confounded by Eleanor Roosevelt—ranks us way behind nations we think of as peers. The U.S. comes in 59th between Panama and Samoa. Yet, only with democracy can we transform our wasteful, destructive food system to ensure everyone’s fair access to healthy, ecologically grown food. Thus, much of my life energies have gone toward what I call “living democracy” in which we each have both economic and political power. So, how does shifting my diet serve democracy? In nourishing ourselves we make multiple choices daily. That alone gives food special power. With each choice I know I am sending signals back through the food chain for sane, fair use of our Earth. Suddenly, my every bite has delicious purpose. As a vegetarian, I’ve loved knowing I was protecting animals and avoiding massive waste. But now I wonder whether “vegetarian” captures the full impact of such food choices. So, what if we reconceive good eating as not just “plant-based,” but “planet-healing”? When our dietary habits incorporate environmental, justice, and health awareness as well as animal welfare, might we be "planetarians"? I believe that with every step aligning our lives with our deepest truths, we become more convincing to ourselves and thus to others—and more likely to take our next step and the next…with ever greater courage. And that’s exactly what our planet needs now more than ever. So, “planetarian” feels great.

In focusing on Trump’s shocking amorality we risk sliding over a painful truth we must embrace to create the democracy we need and want: His rise is a symptom . Originally Published in Common Dreams , July 8th, 2025. Americans are waking up to President Donald Trump’s assaults on our democracy. In just four years, his documented lies have topped 30,000. He has also broken laws, including his attempts to dismantle  government agencies, his blatant conflicts of interest  with Elon Musk , and his disregarding courts  on a number of fronts. We honor those courageously stepping up to hold Trump accountable—from Indivisible  to Common Cause  to Democracy Forward , and many more citizen-organizing efforts. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images But our appropriate outrage might hide a danger—that in focusing on Trump’s shocking amorality we could slide over a painful truth we must embrace to create the democracy we need and want: His rise is a symptom. Donald Trump was able to triumph because of deep dysfunction long built into our governing structures. While we must resist his actions and work to limit the immediate damage, we must also commit to fighting for an even more democratic future, free of our current limitations. Simply put, some features of our democracy are baked-in   barriers to one-person-one-vote. The Senate , to name one. Wyoming , with a population of just over half a million has the same number of Senate seats as California , home to nearly 40 million. In other words, a voter in Wyoming has almost 68 times greater representation than a voter in much more densely populated California. Our fight can’t merely be against Trump but in pursuit of a positive vision of an America where each of us counts, and we work together building the world we want. And the challenges don’t stop there. Gerrymandering of electoral districts—the redrawing of district lines to favor the party in power—creates unrepresentative legislatures. As a result, one report found Republicans had an advantage of about 16 House seats in 2024’s congressional election. And then, there’s voter suppression as well as the hugely corrupting role of money in politics and the limits of our two-party system . Despite being unfit, Trump rose to power in large measure because our antidemocratic rules have led to deep dissatisfaction with government that he was able to tap. Indeed, it’s been nearly four decades since 60% of us expressed satisfaction with “the way democracy was working.” Since then, approval has tumbled steeply. By early 2023, just 28% of U.S. adults expressed satisfaction with how our democracy is working. And by early 2025 well more than half of Americans—61 percent— remained dissatisfied.   And Americans’ view of our standing in the world? Despite deep doubts about our democracy, interestingly, over half of us still see our country as one of the world’s greatest . One in five even place the us at the top, and only 27% acknowledge there are better democracies. Hmm. Self-perception can be self-deception: In global comparisons we rate shockingly low. Each year, Freedom House, founded by Eleanor Roosevelt, ranks nations by the quality of their political rights and civil liberties—a reasonable measure of democracy. Sadly, the U.S. ranks 57th worldwide, and not even in the ballpark of nations we imagine to be our peers. Almost all European Union nations rank in the top 25. Really? That bad? Yes. So, how do we explain the disconnect? And how might we use this bad news for good? Domestically, we know that there are deep roots to dissatisfaction with our democracy. But it’s not just the structural features named above: At the same time, our extreme economic inequality—deeper than more than 100 nations —means economic stress for most Americans, even as we hold onto the myth that we’re a middle-class country. Still, the myth of American exceptionalism blinds us. Instead, let us heed this truth: Be it a rocky marriage or a sprained ankle, healing starts when we get honest with ourselves—when we stop averting our eyes, making excuses, or just hoping one day it will all go away. Today, as our democracy is diminishing before our eyes; let’s drop these dangerous escapes and choose constructive action. The good news in our sad scores is proof of possibility—hard evidence that we can do better as we learn lessons from the leading democracies. So, let our dissatisfaction fuel determination and bold action. Our fight can’t merely be against Trump but in pursuit of a positive vision of an America where each of us counts, and we work together building the world we want. Democracy is not a dull duty but a thrilling vision and empowering action.

by Frances Moore Lappé, Jan 25, 2024 How can we hope to empower ourselves when we are shackled by the false promises of deregulated capital and exploited by Wall Street greed? (Photo Credit: Daniel Lloyd Blunk-Fernández/ Unsplash) Originally Published  on Common Dreams , Jan 25, 2024 Republished   on  LA Progressive , Jan 26, 2024 The headline of this column makes a big claim, but I’ll go even further. Free-market mythology denies us not only political and economic freedom, but psychological liberty as well. In his 1980 inaugural address, Ronald Reagan declared : “Government is not the solution to our problem: government is the problem.” Soon, in the Reagan White House, neckties sporting an image of 18th century philosopher Adam Smith —oft touted as the founding father of free market ideology—became all the rage. Reagan’s message was clear: Lower taxes, minimize government regulation, cut social programs, and the outcome will be a strong economy with more jobs. With less government intrusion in our lives, we’ll all be free to do better. Unfortunately, Smith’s insights were oversimplified to the point of distortion. His 1776 The Wealth of Nations was used to justify the premise that a society works best when we each act solely in our self-interest. What’s virtually never noted is Smith’s judgment that “subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible…in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.” Free-market mythology prepares the ground for polarization, often at the expense of those already struggling to stay afloat. Contrary to the view that acting for self is only “natural,” Smith noted in The Theory of Moral Sentiments that it is the “ precept of nature to love ourselves only as we love our neighbor . ” And today studies confirm that humans enjoy giving more than receiving. Yet, blind allegiance to a myth that puts innate selfishness at our center still undergirds the almost sacred notion that unimpeded-market competition is not only superior, but natural. For believers in the free-market myth, public involvement in the market is a grievous sin. The consequences are harsh. For one, we are made to doubt the essential, positive role of democratic governance in enabling and protecting widespread economic prosperity, as well as in achieving many essential public goods—from healthcare and education to environmental protection. Market mythology ignores the fact that all markets have rules, even if unwritten. In a capitalist market like ours, what is the unspoken “rule”? It’s simple: The more you have, the more you accrue. The pursuit of wealth thus becomes not merely a means to an end, but the end—the sole aim justifying personal enrichment at the expense of others. The result is wealth inequality in the United States that does not comport with our self-image as a beacon of fairness. Of 200 countries ranked from the most extreme wealth inequality, we come in 28th from the worst, between Peru and El Salvador. Here, the top 1 percent control about a third of household wealth, the bottom 50 percent—over 165 million Americans—control a meager 2.5 percent . Moreover, such a market ensures tightening corporate power, undermining the very competition touted as a prime goal. Between 1985 and 2017, yearly corporate mergers jumped almost sevenfold. So today the top five healthcare companies enjoy 99.4 percent of market revenue. Three companies control over 94 percent of carbonated soft drinks. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo alone account for 69 percent of the retail market. The harms from such concentrated wealth show up in citizens unable to afford decent housing as well as in deprivation of essential public goods. No surprise, therefore, that in both access and outcomes, our healthcare ranks last among “high-income countries.” Sadly, market mythology also leads to self-blame. Once swallowing the myth that—regardless of circumstance, anyone in America can make it if they work hard—self-doubt and shame become unavoidable. And that’s a big problem for any society. Shame is among the most painful of human emotions, which we often fight by seeking others to blame. Maybe it’s immigrants who will take our jobs. Maybe it’s those liberals who want to reward the lazy. In any case, free-market mythology prepares the ground for polarization, often at the expense of those already struggling to stay afloat. Thus, to build a strong democratic culture, let us challenge the pernicious mythology of a “free market” purporting fairness but thwarting opportunity. How? We can start by facing the sad truth that the United States ranks 60th among the world’s nations in political rights and civil liberties, between Panama and Samoa, according to Freedom House—co-founded by Eleanor Roosevelt. And, as we have in the past, we can create rules that break up monopoly power and strengthen the labor movement. We can expand social services to right the shortcomings of the “free market” and bring us closer to the standards of our peer nations. Once debunking disempowering free-market myths, we are free to embrace our empowering, widely shared values—those putting human and environmental wellbeing first.

by Frances Moore Lappé, May 9, 2024 What happened to the middle class in the United States? The rich ate it. (Photo Credit: Giorgio Trovato/Unsplash) Originally Published on Common Dreams , May 09, 2024 Almost 90 percent of us think of ourselves as being “middle class,” but we’re way off. In 1970, 62 percent of Americans did qualify; but by 2021, our shrinking middle class was down to 42 percent . By 2022, the value of our minimum wage has fallen by 40 percent since the late 60s. And our poverty rate? Today, at 12.4 percent, it’s the highest among almost all 38 OECD nations . Only the newest member, Costa Rica, suffers a higher poverty rate. So, how did our view of ourselves become so distorted? We were once indeed primarily middle class because we had stepped up to tackle poverty. In the late 1950s, our official poverty rate was about 22 percent, but Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty cut that rate in half, hitting a low of 11 percent in 1973. Then Reaganism struck, and by 1983 poverty had spread to nearly 15 percent . And now? While our official rate is indeed lower, it is still high and misses millions struggling to meet essential needs. Our path to this sad outcome began in the 1980s. Reversing the War on Poverty, Reagan began dismantling welfare protections while slashing taxes on the ultrarich. Capturing the tenor of the time, in the 1987 film “Wall Street”, Gordon Gekko declared “ greed is good .” Reaganomics paved the way for today’s shocking inequality. In 1978, the top 0.1 percent held roughly 7 percent of wealth. By 2018, this tiny group enjoyed about 18 percent. Most shocking: By 2019, America’s three richest families held more wealth than the bottom half of us. Hardly a middle-class nation, today’s concentration of wealth ought to make a Russian oligarch blush. Out of 178 countries the CIA ranks by income inequality, the U.S. lands between Micronesia and Morocco—at 56th. No industrial democracy is near us. The closest—New Zealand—is 31 places less extreme, at 86th. An additional injustice? While workers’ share of national wealth has been shrinking, their productivity has soared. Between 1979 and 2017, worker productivity grew by 70 percent, while hourly compensation rose by a meager 11 percent. And who benefited? As earnings for the bottom 90 percent of Americans rose by just over a fifth, the wealth of the top 0.1 percent grew by 343 percent. That's 17 times more! Thus, we shouldn’t be surprised that in 2019 the bottom half of us held only 2 percent of the nation’s wealth. Moreover, while American workers had to take on more hours to boost their relatively stagnant earnings and as healthcare and housing costs climbed, the wealthy increased their gains and used it to further warp our nation’s democratic institutions: By funding candidates and hiring lobbyists to ensure their interests were heard at the expense of ours. From 1998 to 2023 alone, dollars spent paying Washington lobbyists grew almost three-fold, from $1.5 billion to $4.1 billion. Thus, when our rules are set to bring the highest return to those with the most, a market economy not only selectively rewards the already wealthy; it undercuts democracy. The pain of Reaganomics should have taught us one clear lesson. A market economy can only work for the common good within rules set democratically—free from private control—to ensure opportunity for all. The beginning of these rules would be basics such as an enforced, livable minimum wage, as well as strong and enforced anti-trust laws. Such steps could move us toward a market serving the most basic freedom of all—the freedom to thrive.

by Frances Moore Lappé, June 14, 2024 (Photo Credit: History in HD/Unsplash) Originally published on Common Dreams , June 14, 2024 It’s easy to seek relief from fear of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s return by imagining that soon his outrages will stack so high that even loyal supporters will begin to fall away. If 34 felony indictments from falsifying business records didn’t crack the spell, surely recent news of Trump’s stunning record of business failure will feed doubt about the man’s judgment. Right? Hmm. Maybe not. Yes, it’s true that Trump is now the first U.S. president to be tried and convicted of crimes. Yet, almost half of Americans believe these charges are politically motivated, and thus unjust. Only about a third disagree . So, as we face one of the most critical elections in our nation’s history, extreme care is in order. Just how do we reach those still leaning toward Trump, but who might be deterred? Probably not by insulting them, or railing against them in any way. Instead, Democrats could broadcast empathy for the anger animating Trump supporters by condemning the deep unfairness in our economy that makes their lives so difficult and offering real solutions. Too often even progressives let stand the myth of America as a middle-class country, failing to acknowledge that our income inequality is more extreme than in over 100 nations, worse even than El Salvador and Kenya. We can alert and hopefully motivate our fellow Americans by using this sad truth as proof that we can do better, much better. At the same time, we can help awaken Americans to the urgency of electing leadership determined to strengthen our democracy. We can spread the shocking truth that we are ranked lowest among liberal democracies by the Electoral Integrity Project. Globally we come in a sad 75th overall and 15th among the 29 states of the Americas. In Germany’s Wurzburg University Democracy Matrix we place somewhat better: 36th worldwide between Israel and Cape Verde. This news can be hard to swallow. But we can reframe our poor rankings as proof of possibility. We, too, can reverse our extreme economic inequality as we establish a more accountable democracy. Also, Democrats can center election efforts on helping to register those hurting most from Republican policies. In that vein, note that in 2022 voter turnout in households with incomes below $20,000 was only a third—half the 67% turnout of those with household incomes above $100,000. What if Democrats focused more on closing that huge gap? One tool is the vote-by-mail option, already proven to increase turnout among low-income communities. Defenders of the status quo and corporate power often charge that any rule to keep markets fair is a form of creeping “socialism” antithetical to democracy. Progressives can counter by pointing out that democracy itself depends on market rules serving us all—rules that prevent wealth from consolidating in the hands of a few who can then use that advantage to gain inordinate political power. Progressives can also underscore that control over wealth has tightened to a shocking degree. The Congressional Budget Office tells us that the wealthiest 10% hold 72% of total wealth. And the bottom half? Just 2% . In other words, a market economy could work for all of us, but only if we set democratic rules around it. We can, for example, reinstate rules preventing monopolies, which go way back to 1890 when the Sherman Antitrust law prohibited “monopolization.” However, in the 1980s Ronald Reagan’s administration killed them . So today our economy is greatly more consolidated than it was a generation ago, reports the Open Market Institute. Examples? Today, Walmart alone controls 72% of “warehouse clubs” and super centers. Amazon sells two-thirds of all e-books and 40 percent of hard copy books sold online. For 79% of groceries produced, just four or fewer companies control at least 50% of the market—for example, just three companies own 93% of sodas. And in grocery retail, just four companies control 65% of the market, as mom-and-pop stores close all across the U.S. and food prices increase. Equally important, we can reduce—and eventually remove—the power of private wealth over democracy via public financing of elections and greater transparency. In the past, public funding has given voters a wider choice of candidates, including two underdogs who went on to win the Oval Office—Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Reagan in 1980. It worked well in presidential races for a quarter of a century. Undoubtedly, most Americans desire a society grounded in basic fairness enabling opportunity for all. So, we can also underscore the obvious: Do we really think that a person whose life has focused on becoming one of the world’s wealthiest—Donald Trump is worth an estimated $7.5 billion —is a probable leader to move us toward greater fairness? Perhaps we need to think again, and set our sights on reducing the inequalities that are driving Trump supporters to think otherwise.

by Hannah Stokes-Ramos and Frances Moore Lappé, June 21, 2024 Originally published on Common Dreams , June 21, 2024 The latest development in the battle against a possible Trump takeover of our government is the Stop Project 2025 Task Force to combat the conservative Project 2025 agenda. If Trump were elected, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 would replace as many as 50,000 federal employees with those more amenable to Trump’s directives. It would reduce the independence of the Department of Justice, stop FBI efforts to fight disinformation, and end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the government. Its goal? To eliminate administrators and legislators who refused to break the law or standard protocol to follow Trump’s orders. In all, Project 2025 would greatly expand executive power and diminish the power of Congress. By the end of the Trump administration in 2021 our democracy had sunk to a new low in international rankings, reports Freedom House, founded by Eleanor Roosevelt. We’d dropped in just a decade by 11 points on a 100-point scale, ending up on par with Panama and behind Argentina. Sweden-based V-Dem institute concluded that Trump “undermined American democracy substantially during his previous tenure, not least regarding media freedom, judicial independence, and executive oversight.” Trump also famously praised autocratic leaders around the world. Expanding executive power under a second Trump term could therefore mean disaster for our democracy. Understandably, across party lines Americans are worried about our democracy. Earlier this year a CBS poll found 70 percent of Americans consider democracy a major issue in the coming election, while 82 percent said the same about the economy. Additional polls have found similar percentages. And here is an additional and worrisome puzzle. Roughly the same share—only about a third —of Americans, whether Red or Blue, believe democracy will be safe, be it Biden or Trump next in the White House. So, Democrats have a lot of work to do. In 2018 Democrats won key battleground areas as they focused on protecting democracy. But today, while of course President Biden must focus on free and fair elections , that is not enough. Biden and all Democrats must commit to curbing political corruption from corporate-political donations through various channels, which reached almost $344 million in the 2022 midterm, according to OpenSecrets , split 45 percent/55 percent between Democrats and Republicans. And while Democrats are right to focus on preserving core individual rights and freedoms like the right to abortion, they also must address the pain and humiliation of those feeling left behind by their government. To understand the roots of why Trump’s anti-establishment talk has such appeal, we see a taproot: Inequality . After all, what was so great about the America that MAGA just can’t let go of? True, half-century ago race, gender, and sexual oppression were even more rampant, but note well: In that time economic inequality was at an all-time low. We had stronger unions, a more robust middle class, and a higher minimum wage relative to the economy. One ( predominantly white male ) income could support a family, even from many blue-collar jobs. This is not our America of today. We’ve been falling backward. Rhetorically, MAGA proponents seem to refuse to let this happen. Democrats seem only weakly to acknowledge that it is happening. Neither party is addressing its roots. So, there’s a huge opportunity here. But lest we get ahead of ourselves, let’s review some facts. America’s economic inequality was at a low point from the 1940s to 1970s, but Reaganomics brought a sharp increase , even outpacing by far inequality in Europe. Between 1979 and 2016, the share of wealth owned by the top 1 percent compared to the bottom 90 percent completely flipped. By 2016, the top 1 percent had 39 percent of all wealth, while the bottom 90 percent were stuck with a mere 26% . Today, the bottom half owns just 2 percent of the wealth. In 1970, the top 100 CEO’s earned $45 for every $1 earned by the average worker, but by 2014, those CEO’s made 844 times the average worker. And, where did this extra income come from? The hard labor of working Americans. An often-cited graph shows U.S. productivity in output per hour growing almost four-fold since 1945. But since the 1970s, real median family income has nearly plateaued. Benefits from greater productivity have gone to the top, not to the workers. But has the broad public at least managed to benefit from this great increase in productivity and wealth via taxation used for public good? If you guessed no, you’re right. Since the 1980s, wealth by held by the top 0.1 percent has quadrupled, while its tax rate is unchanged. But is economic inequality really something we should be worried about? Whether Republican or Democrat, the answer is “yes.” Aside from basic justice, the IMF itself reported that economic inequality is bad for overall economic growth. Perhaps even more insidious, inequality is bad for democracy . For one, it erodes trust in political institutions - “economic inequality may affect citizens' perceptions of the responsiveness of the political system. It may also affect their perception of their own potential to influence political processes,” explain Simon Bienstman and colleagues about their recent article in the European Journal of Political Research . Thus, to skirt the real threat of Project 2025, Democrats must vigorously acknowledge the root of anti-establishment sentiment, leading so many Americans to feel a loss of status and identities right now. And not just in better messaging, but by offering strong, substantive policy promises addressing the root: America’s shamefully unjust economic inequality.

by Frances Moore Lappé and Hannah Stokes-Ramos, July 10, 2024 (Photo credit: Tim Mossholder/Unsplash) Originally published in Common Dreams , July 10, 2024 In the presidential debate Donald Trump cast himself as our great protector against dangerous immigrants including the “insane” and “terrorists” who take our jobs and commit crimes. A top advisor reports that Trump plans to increase deportation 10-fold . Such charges aren’t new. The terms “threat” and “immigration” have together soared through our media since the ‘90s. To many Americans it’s seemed self-evident that “others” are robbing us of opportunity, draining our resources, and even inflicting immediate harm. But these charges are wrong, completely wrong. Immigration is being used by economic elites as a powerful tool to shift our attention away from the real roots of crises, both economic and political. Plus, casting immigration as a crisis blinds us to the multiple ways immigrants contribute to our national well-being. First, the basics. Immigrants—more than half of which are naturalized citizens—make up about 14 percent of our population. And they are an even bigger share of our civilian labor force— 19 percent . Thus, they do a lot to keep our economy going—generating $1.6 trillion in spending power. Immigrants also contribute to the public good, paying $579 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. That’s a lot! It is over three-quarters of what we spend each year on defense , which is among our largest national expenditures. Of course, millions more Americans are children and grandchildren of earlier immigrants—as am I—which has been a source of America’s pride. Yes, our foreign-born population has been increasing, but barely. Between 2020 and 2022 the percent of foreign-born grew one point, reports the U.S. Census Bureau . According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) , between 2019 and 2023, our immigrant labor force grew yearly on average 2.3 percent; yet there’s no evidence of harm to the native-born, as our economy has also been growing. In fact, EPI also found that for U.S.-born workers, 2022-2023 was a time of “very low unemployment—and strong employment growth.” Robust growth continues to exceed expectations. And what about the claim that immigrants are “taking” jobs, especially of the less-educated? This, too, is misleading, as immigrants without a high school diploma fill very different jobs than comparable native-born Americans. Immigrants typically take jobs as maids and house cleaners, cooks, and agricultural workers. In California, for example, 69 percent of farmworkers are migrants. By contrast, native-born Americans with no high school education are apt to be cashiers, truck drivers, janitors, and building cleaners. Among undocumented workers, the largest share of work is in agriculture, construction, administrative support, and tourism, hospitality, and food service. In rural Ohio, I once had the opportunity to speak with such workers, and my heart broke as one woman expressed bewilderment at how she was treated. “Why don’t people here respect us?” she asked me. “We bring you your food.” Some worry also that immigrants increase crime, but data doesn’t confirm this fear: From 1990 to 2013 unauthorized immigration tripled while the U.S. crime rates fell by almost half. Furthermore, over decades unauthorized immigrants have proven to be less likely to commit crimes than the native-born, reports Northwestern University. And their incarceration rates are also lower. Among young, less-educated men from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador—who are a large share of undocumented immigrants—incarceration rates are at most about a quarter that of the native-born. Some studies also find delinquency rates of immigrant youth to be lower than their native peers. Trump has charged repeatedly that immigrants drain Social Security, when the opposite is true. Almost all undocumented immigrants work and pay taxes into Social Security and Medicare. From 2004 to 2014, they paid over $100 billion into Social Security alone. Yet, immigrants are not allowed to access the Social Security into which they’ve paid. Note, too, that most immigrants by far are documented. In 2022, the undocumented were only a bit over one-fifth of all immigrants and added no more than 3 percent of our population. Yet, they contributed over $35 billion in taxes. Refugees make up an even smaller segment of the population and pay over $30 billion in taxes each year. Trump’s proposed mass deportation of undocumented workers would strike a huge blow to the American economy. Our GDP would shrink by about $1.6 trillion, triggering a 5.7 percent decline in the economy while costing the U.S. government about $400 billion. Moreover, offering current undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship would add $116 billion in federal tax revenue, $68 billion in state and local tax revenue. GDP would grow by $1.7 trillion over the next decade. Plus, it’s false to assume that jobs vacated by deported immigrants would be filled by the native-born. After Arizona passed its restrictive SB 1070 law in 2008, the overall number of jobs shrank by 2.5 percent by 2015, and only 10 percent of vacated jobs had been filled by the native-born. So, let’s spread the word that many Americans are struggling not because of immigrants taking their jobs and using up their resources. The real threat is the worsening and highly alarming concentrations of wealth and income in our country—more extreme here than in over 100 nations. The top 1 percent of Americans control 30.4 percent of the wealth. Just 806 billionaires hold more wealth than the entire bottom half of all Americans. Such concentration continues because of our corrupt political system allowing big donors and private-interest lobbyists way too much power. Here, too, we are an outlier among our peer nations. Blaming immigrants is thus a dangerous distraction. It harms not only them but virtually all of us. It distracts us from digging to the root causes of illegal immigration—extreme poverty, gang violence, and autocratic governments. So let us redirect attention from false blame to face the truly critical challenges of fixing our democracy—via initiatives such as Equal Citizens —and to assume leadership internationally to address the root causes of poverty driving immigration.

by Frances Moore Lappé, August 2, 2024 (Photo credit: Natilyn Photography/Unsplash) Originally published in Common Dreams , August 2, 2024 In the presidential race, Democrats and Republicans remain neck and neck. But how could this be? Afterall, free-market mythology, politically popular since the 1980s, has led us to believe that humans are essentially selfish creatures, eager to put ourselves first. Yet, Trump’s many policies that harm the vast majority of us do not seem to diminish his appeal. Before puzzling over “why,” here are a just a few examples of party differences that one might think would have brought the truly self-interested to abandon Trump and jump on the Democratic bandwagon. On Social Security. Trump remains ambiguous, failing to provide any specific measures on how he would protect Social Security. In contrast, Democrats promise not only to protect but to strengthen benefits, including—if needed to cover the cost—raising taxes on those earning more than $400,000. They have also expressed support for raising benefits for low-income recipients and improving Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment formula. On taxes. The 2017 Republican tax reform was skewed to benefit the rich and Trump now proposes reducing taxes on capital gains. Democrats, however, seek to expand tax credits for workers and families and to increase tax rates on wealth for corporations and individuals. On the minimum wage. Trump says he would consider raising it but prefers to leave the decision to states. The Democrats pledge an increase , underscoring that the minimum wage has not risen since President Obama and still only brings the worker to the poverty line . On abortion. Trump promised in 2016 to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade . He also appointed abortion opponents to the federal judiciary, including three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the federal right to abortion. However, Democrats support women’s right to choose, as do two-thirds of Americans. On education. As president, Trump called for eliminating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness initiative and ended loan forgiveness for students defrauded by their schools. In contrast, President Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan—the largest one-time investment in education— helped schools reopen and regain ground faster. On healthcare. Trump calls Medicare “ socialism ” and supports appealing or overturning the Affordable Care Act in favor of a private market. He also supports spending caps and work requirements on Medicaid. With these changes, certain low-income populations, pregnant women, and people with disabilities would lose Medicaid coverage . Democrats support the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid as a federal program. On climate. Trump has promised to roll back regulation of the fossil fuel industry in exchange for $1 billion in campaign contributions . Under Biden’s presidency, carbon emissions fell by 2 percent even as the economy grew, and his administration is devoting $2 billion to encourage electric vehicles. On immigration. Trump declared an “illegal immigrant invasion, the worst that’s ever been seen anywhere in world.” Yet, between 2020 and 2022 the percent of foreign-born grew just one point, reports the U.S. Census Bureau . Between 2019 and 2023, our immigrant-labor force grew yearly on average 2.3 percent; yet there’s no evidence of harm to the native-born, as our economy has also been growing. Thus, for U.S.-born workers, 2022-2023 was a time of “very low unemployment—and strong employment growth,” notes the Economic Policy Institute . Plus, job growth continues to exceed expectations . Hmm. If on policy questions, direct self-interest seems to take a back seat, what is shaping today’s highly charged political divergence that might be less obvious? Our free-market mythology teaches us that anyone worth their salt can make it if they try. So, those who don’t are, well, either too lazy or too stupid. From that root myth, it is easy to grasp why those at the lower rungs of the economic ladder can feel shame . I know I’d be vulnerable, too. But we also know enough about our nature to realize that shame is perhaps the most painful of human emotions. We can cope with loss, anger, and embarrassment…but shame? Hmm, it hits hard. So, what can we do to evade that terrible feeling? Well, there seems to be one easy, effective way: Blame . As long as we can blame “the other,” we can find some solace. Feeling oneself to be a victim isn’t great, of course, but it’s definitely preferable to shame. For one, we can enjoy self-righteousness and create bonds with others based on common grievances. Another plus? We don’t have to be troubled by coming up with solutions ourselves, including how to tackle profound economic inequality . Note that worldwide in income inequality, the U.S. is ranked more extreme than 115 countries, while most of our peers come in far above us in the top 50. Acknowledging our standing and coming up with solutions is hard. Blaming “them”—immigrants, LGBTQ+, welfare recipients—is easy. Recognizing that blaming is an all-too-human pitfall, let’s strive to replace its simple satisfaction with those enriching, positive emotions that emerge through mutual empowerment as we shape and offer solutions through interaction with others. Millions of Americans are now building that courage through groups such as those in the broad network Declaration for American Democracy . Among the deepest of human needs is power—from the Latin posse , meaning “to be able.” It is not power over others, but rather a sense of agency that only democracy can offer. Yet, for most of us, action requires courage—risking the new by reaching out, asking tough questions, and doing something we’ve never done before. Courage, however, is also a human need. Its root lies in “coeur,” meaning “heart” in French. With the courage to step out comes the joy of bonding, not from shared finger-pointing but through acting together in shared problem-solving. And… in all, it is vastly more satisfying than blaming.