Politics Plus

Here at Politics Plus, I believe all of us think quite highly of Robert Reich. He is just so darned good at being right, when the "Reich" on the right consistently gets everything wrong.

http://robertreich.org/post/132819483625

His newest book, "SAVING CAPITALISM: For the Many, Not the Few" came out on September 29.  This gave him the opportunity to to do a book tour, which he used as an opportunity to get to know voters in red and bright red and dark red states.

I intended to put into practice what I tell my students – that the best way to learn is to talk with people who disagree you. I wanted to learn from red America, and hoped they’d also learn a bit from me (and perhaps also buy my book).

One of the things he learned talking with conservative Republicans and Tea Partiers was that they agreed with much he had to say.  Really.  Scout's honor.  For instance, though most probably would say they believe in capitalism, they emphatically do NOT believe in "crony capitalism" – big money in politics – just as we don't.  Further:

I met with group of small farmers in Missouri who were livid about growth of “factory farms” owned and run by big corporations, that abused land and cattle, damaged the environment, and ultimately harmed consumers.

Banks?

Whenever I suggested that big Wall Street banks be busted up – “any bank that’s too big to fail is too big, period” – I got loud applause.

Trade?

Most are also dead-set against the Trans Pacific Partnership. In fact, they’re opposed to trade agreements, including NAFTA, that they believe have made it easier for corporations to outsource American jobs abroad.

Reich goes on to expand on these points and a couple of others, and to sum it up that "They call themselves Republicans but many of the inhabitants of America’s heartland are populists in the tradition of William Jennings Bryan."

He asked enough pointed questions to get some feel for why so many have rallied to Donald Trump.  Hint:  It's not immigration.

Please click through to his full article.  It's not very long and it is very important. 

Admittedly, we and the Tea Party remain far, FAR apart on social and cultural issues.  But economically – not so much.  We economic populists in both parties need to do some coming together on things we really do agree about.

Before it's too late.

It is rare when a big company with hundreds (thousands?) of chain stores does something totally touching and worthy. But that's what happened this year with Target Stores.

Jen Kroll, a mother of three who lives in Grand Rapids, MI, got so excited when she opened last week's Target flyer that she rushed to Facebook to say thank you to Target – thank you for this:

You see, Jen's youngest child, Jerrensia, just happens to love Elsa from Frozen.  Here's Jerrensia:

Jerrensia came to her family on a medical visa from Haiti.  You can read more details about her diagnosis and treatment on Upworthy.  But the condensed version is that her hip sockets never formed properly, two years of therapy didn't accomplish much, and the difficult decision was made to amputate both legs through the knees.  Today, Jerrensia "walks and RUNS everywhere on prosthetic legs and uses arm crutches to compensate for the lack of muscular development in her legs."

Jen Kroll is very articulate, and can probably tell her (and Jerrensia's) story better than anyone else.  So I encourage everyone to click through to Upworthy and/or to my other sources for this article.  But what is so important to Jen, as the mother of a child with a disability (and I suspect also as a compassionate human being), is what normalizing disabilities through media and through advertising can accomplish, not just for kids wih disabilities, but for everyone else in the world. 

When abled people look at a person with a disability, they tend to see the disability, not the person.  Special needs people, special needs families, are virtually invisible to "normal" people.  To quote Jen again:  "As far as media is concerned — there is a vast emptiness of children with whom she can relate. A Target ad with one precious little girl dressed as Elsa met her where she was and made the world a little more beautiful and friendly."

These sources were used for this article:
http://www.upworthy.com/a-moms-post-about-a-halloween-costume-is-going-viral-on-facebook-thank-you-target?c=upw1&u=6ffb12f2d750fff1c628f4ed4366938bb526f1d5
http://www.today.com/parents/special-needs-mom-cheers-target-ad-featuring-girl-crutches-t52246
https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/priceless-target-ad-goes-viral-for-all-the-right-184054339.html
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/10/27/target-ad-model-disability/20905/