Where Are We Heading—Bedford Falls or Pottersville?

Robert Reich: Where Are We Heading—Bedford Falls or Pottersville? -Truthdig .column > div, .eartotheground > div, .uncovered > div, .report > div, .interview > div, .arts_culture > div, .avbooth > div, .dig > div, .cartoon > div, .podcast > div, .margin {padding: 10px 10px 20px 10px;margin: 0 0 0 0px;border-bottom: 1px dashed #999999;}/*\*//*/ @import "http://www.truthdig.com/?css=home/site_styles_mac.v.1314771156";/**/body div#share_footer {margin-bottom: 30px;}body div#instory_newsletter_signup {margin-top: 30px;}.nav {font-size:90%;} December 23, 2012
Log in / Register

Text Size

HOMEEar to the GroundLarry's ListPolitics TodayAll Ear to the groundColumnsBill BoyarskyJuan ColeMarcia Alesan DawkinsAmy GoodmanChris HedgesRobert ScheerRichard SchickelCol. Ann WrightTruthdigger of the WeekMoreCartoonsMr. Fish CartoonsAll CartoonsArts & CultureAuthor InterviewBook ExcerptsBook ReviewsEssaysFilm ReviewsTheater ReviewsDigsShopTruthdig MerchandiseTruthdig BooksAuthor BooksRobert Scheer BooksChris Hedges BooksMr. Fish T-shirtsMr. Fish PrintsMultimediaA/V BoothTruthdig RadioPhoto EssaysPodcastsQ&A: Live ChatsAdvertiseDonateAboutdiv#src_container {width: 175px;background: #b59d91;height: 24px;padding: 5px;display: block;float: right;margin-top: 6px;z-index: 2;}#src_container input {width: 137px;height: 23px;border: 1px solid #5b5b5b;padding: 5px;}input#src_btn_raquo {width: 30px;height: 24px;background-color: #6f4434;color: #fff;border: none;}>" id="src_btn_raquo">Trending:     chris hedges     connecticut school shooting     gun control     robert scheer     westboro baptist church Truthdigger of the Week: Zack Kopplin

Underwater Landslide Could Trigger Australian Tsunami

French Actor's Tax Move Sparks Debate About Patriotism and Greed

Crony Capitalism's Power Couple

What Americans Should Learn From the 'Republican Apocalypse'

Where You Going Joe With That Gun in Your Hand?

Daniel Berrigan

Life and Death

Super

Leader of Revolution

Where Are We Heading—Bedford Falls or Pottersville?
By Robert Reich Truthdigger of the Week: Zack Kopplin
By Alexander Reed Kelly What Americans Should Learn From the ‘Republican Apocalypse’
By Joe Conason Still Here? Happy New Bak’tun
By Eugene Robinson
More Bad News for Boehner Underwater Landslide Could Trigger Australian Tsunami French Actor’s Tax Move Sparks Debate About Patriotism and Greed Aviation Industry to FAA: Forget About Privacy Teens: Smoke, Don’t Drink? Guns Galore
Debunking NRA Power, Apocalyptic Myths and the Fiscal Cliff ‘Left, Right & Center:’ Guns and the Naked Fiscal Cliff Happy Holidays From Truthdig Fox News Interviews Santa Claus to Make Point About ‘War on Christmas’
We Value Belonging More Than Privacy
A Simple, Excellent and Surprising Film
By Richard Schickel A World Without Words
By Lauren B. Davis Hollywood’s Raid on Convention
By Richard Schickel
The Questions Education Reformers Aren’t Asking
Dig led by Mike Rose

Gore Vidal: His Life and Legacy
Dig led by Truthdig Staff

advertisement

-->
Fidel Castro Readerby Fidel Castro (Author), David Deutschmann (Editor)
$13.57

advertisement

-->
Tuna: Love, Death, and MercuryBy Richard Ellis
$10.88

advertisement

-->
Hooded Sweatshirt$40

  Where Are We Heading—Bedford Falls or Pottersville? Email    Print    Share

Tweet Posted on Dec 23, 2012 Screenshot from "It's a Wonderful Life"

By Robert Reich

This post originally ran on Robert Reich’s Web page, www.robertreich.org.

It’s easy to feel discouraged about the bullying by right-wing Republicans and their patrons over everything from gun control to taxes and social safety nets to trade unions and jobs.

Every year about now I watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” again to remind myself what Frank Capra understood about America — its essential decency and common sense.

In many ways the nation is better than it was in 1946 when the movie first appeared. Women have gained economic power and reproductive rights; we enacted civil rights and voting rights and, through Medicare and Medicaid, dramatically reduced poverty among the elderly; we began to tackle environmental devastation; we stopped treating gays as criminals and have even started to recognize equal marriage rights. We elected and then re-elected the first black president of the United States. We have enacted the bare beginnings of universal healthcare.

But we are still in danger of the Pottersville Capra saw as the consequence of what happens when Americans fail to join together and forget the meaning of the public good.

Advertisement

If Lionel Barrymore’s Mr. Potter were alive today he’d call himself a job creator and condemn George Bailey as a socialist. He’d be financing a fleet of lobbyists to get lower taxes on multimillionaires like himself, overturn environmental laws, trample on workers’ rights, and shred social safety nets. He’d fight any form of gun control. He’d want the citizens of Pottersville to be economically insecure – living paycheck to paycheck and worried about losing their jobs – so they’d be dependent on his good graces.

The Mr. Potters are still alive and well in America, threatening our democracy with their money and our common morality with their greed.

Call me naive or sentimental but I still believe the George Baileys will continue to win this contest. They know we’re all in it together, and that if we succumb to the bullying selfishness of the Potters we lose America and relinquish the future.

Happy holidays.

Robert B. Reich, chancellor’s professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration. Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective Cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written 13 books, including the best-sellers “Aftershock” and “The Work of Nations.” His latest, “Beyond Outrage,” is now out in paperback. He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.

Beyond Outrage Expanded Edition: What has gone wrong with our economy and our democracy, and how to fix it


TAGS: christmas economy fiscal cliff holiday holiday season it's a wonderful life politics republicans



Related Entries More Bad News for Boehner Debunking NRA Power, Apocalyptic Myths and the Fiscal Cliff Debunking NRA Power, Apocalyptic Myths and the Fiscal Cliff ‘Left, Right & Center:’ Guns and the Naked Fiscal Cliff

Email to a friend

Get truth delivered to
your inbox every week.

Previous item: Truthdigger of the Week: Zack Kopplin

New and Improved Comments

If you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page. Still having problems? Let us know. If you find yourself moderated, take a moment to review our comment policy.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Get Truthdig in your inbox

Newsletter

Become a Fan

Follow Us

Subscribe

     
       #donation_div {display:none;}.popup {background:#FFF; border:1px solid #333; padding:1px;}.popup-header {height:65px; padding: 30px 40px 10px 50px;}.popup-header h2 {margin:0; padding:0; font-size:18px; float:left;}.popup-header .close-link {float:right; font-size:11px;}.popup-body {padding: 20px 70px 20px 50px;}a {color: #990000;}Close

Give the gift of independent journalism.

Support Truthdig by making a donation of at least $25 in someone's name, and we'll send him or her a signed letter of appreciation from our publisher.

With your support, we've been able to pay writers such as Chris Hedges, Col. Ann Wright, Mr. Fish and Nomi Prins.

We've sent reporters around the world, from Afghanistan to Cairo to Cuba.

Thanks to you, our mission to find and publish a range of insightful opinion and analysis from a progressive point of view continues.

Support Truthdig

HOME|Digs|Reports|Arts & Culture|Uncovered|Ear to the Ground|A/V Booth|Cartoons
Tags|Bazaar|Podcast|About Us|Contact Us|User Agreement|Privacy Policy|FAQ: Comments and Moderation | Google+ Google+
A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
© 2012 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved. Web site development by Hop Studios 

View the Original article