Notes: Feb 2 – Inequality and Democracy

The heart of Penny U is conversation based on questions posed as springboards.

Why did we come?

At the beginning of this Penny U, everyone said a few words about what incident or ideas drew them to this conversation. We heard: the Penny U  announcement at James Galbraith's Town Hall talk; changes in the work place; Naomi Klein; Robert Reich; ideas in the book Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better, by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett; ideas about "post-work," guaranteed income, and democracy inside work places; Town Hall talks by Matt Taibbi and Robert Reich; the film Inequality for All; health disparities; Jane Jacobs' ideas about cities and economies, Lewis Hyde's book The Gift, and "the fact that my husband is an artist."

Questions for the day

The heart of Penny U is conversation based on questions we pose as springboards. This month the questions were:

•    Why is democracy threatened by inequality?  Democracy is defined as "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly" or "the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges." How does economic inequality threaten it? Why does Thomas Piketty believe that extreme inequality threatens democratic institutions, or why did James Galbraith include as one of his reasons for a strong middle class in the 20th century the fact that the "common wealth" was supported, that is, the things we consume in common like the environment, education, culture? Does this, or how does this, get translated into our civic life in Seattle?

•     Are social movements necessary to fighting inequality?  Matt Taibbi lectured this month on this book, The Divide.  In it he juxtaposes the lenience our government has taken towards financial crimes since the great recession with the harsh policing and prosecution of poor communities of color. These injustices, Taibbi argues, inspired the Occupy and Black Lives Matter movements, respectively, and these movements share a common legacy in challenging the status quo of inequality. Are social movements necessary to challenge inequality in this country, and what role do they have to play?

•     What can we do here to address income inequality? Members of the audience asked James Galbraith his advice for Seattle's City Council and local activists about what specifically our city or region can do to address income inequality. He deferred, citing the "Galbraith rule" to never give advice on local politics. What do you think can be done on a local level to address these problems – what can local government do, and what can we as members of our specific communities do?

THE CONVERSATIONS

After the questions were posed, the 15-20 of us present divided into smaller groups around one of the three questions. One person at each table took notes to share here.

What can be done locally to address income inequality?

•     The conversation started with a discussion of $15 wage policies.

•     We have problems getting accurate economic information.

•     The energy has to be concentrated on geographic areas that need social programs, and to be sustainable, communities themselves must be empowered.

•     What is Seattle's economic/cultural heritage?  Boom and bust.

•     Is inequality an issue here? It's important to ask the people suffering from inequality.

Who is the working class?

•     Housing costs push poorer people out to suburban and semi-rural communities.

•     College subsidies through the federal 529 program ultimately serves the wealthy and the connected.

•     Who is the working class?

•     A stark comparison can be made between health care workers in the current structure and blue collar manufacturing workers in the past who earned a living wage and could support a family.

•     Would it be possible for government to raise capital gains tax at the state level in order to make community college education affordable or free?

•     Looking at tax strategy as a solution is perhaps the worst strategy, especially at the national level. When the tax measure to support the bus system failed in King County, that left the cities to close the gaps, which only happened in Seattle.

Can Seattle be a "democracy laboratory"?

•     What will be the impact of district representation in Seattle? Probably more diversity.

•     Can local government in Seattle serve as an effective model to the outside?  Can we be a "democracy laboratory" ?

Are social movements necessary to fighting inequality?

The big answer from this group came early: "Yes, movements are necessary." Then they asked, "What role do movements play?"

•     They're important in how they interact with laws and social norms, for both immediate and long-term impacts.

•     They build visibility & exposure and have an effect on media and politicians.

•     They can leverage media effectively, and use social media to have an influence.

•     What is the role of nonprofits in creating and sustaining the movement? What role must they play? What role do they have to play?

•     Movements are necessary because they become the momentum for change.

•     What emotional states start or are sustaining forces for a movement?

There's power in a movement of diverse people who share a "common enough" focus.

•    There's power when a diversity of people in a movement come together with a "common enough" focus. There's great potential in movements that come from different life experiences, and from different social classes.

•     How can we pull people into a movement who are not totally aligned? That is, how can we align diverse parties, especially across economic differences?

•     The group discussed timing & leadership, spontaneity vs. planning, and leadership & grassroots.

And then they asked, what are the threats to movements?

•     Not having a voice

•     Internal disagreement

•     Feeling impotent

•     Family pressures

•     Future job limitations

•     When good people do nothing.

If they'd had more time, the group would have taken up another question they asked, What are the elements of effective movements?

Why is democracy threatened by inequality?

The group began by discussing the definition of democracy (above) and related terms.

•     What's the difference between democracy and liberalism? Are they connected? Democracy is concerned with power being distributed as broadly as possible. Liberalism aims to protect people against the state (and more). Is this the distinction between a politics that resolves disputes in courts and one that resolves them through debates and movements?

•     And what is a republic? A government where power is not hereditary [and where power resides in representatives of citizens with the power to vote]. Founding Fathers had a fear of hereditary wealth and a fear of the mob. 

•     How does a representative process affect democracy? And how does accountability fit into this? In the early Greek republic, representatives had to give an annual account of their actions to the people who elected them. Could we do that?

•     At the same time, when 27% of the population doesn't vote it means we as citizens aren't taking responsibility for our own power.

How can the responsibility to participate be real and not just a nominal possibility? 

•     Democracy also involves participation and negotiation – the ability to make decisions about things that affect our lives. Many obstacles can prevent people from participating. Historically slavery was a clear exclusion. Today, poverty and too much work can be a barrier. How can the right or responsibility to participate be real and not just a nominal possibility?

•     Isn't the privatization of public services another obstacle?  People take Uber just because they don't want to get on the bus. They are less invested in the public good, in the common wealth. How can we recover a sense of what government can accomplish, of the positive role it can play?

•     When corporations take over, where's democracy then? Is there something called the vote of the market? Can you vote with your money? Can that be democracy? How do we fight that?  Boycotts maybe. Does this constitute unequal voting rights?

Can you vote with your money? Can that be democracy?

•     A condo I had in the past had unequal voting rights based on the square footage and value of your apartment; the higher and larger (hence, more expensive) your apartment, the more your vote was worth. In Athenian democracy, officials were chosen in large part by lottery (from among the small percentage eligible to vote).

•     What can we do to get people who aren't involved now (or who are excluded) to participate? Perhaps because Americans are such an optimistic people that we think, "Some day I'll be rich, so let's just not change things." The reality is that the U.S. has one of the lowest rates of social mobility.

How do we create a belief that collective action will pay off?

•     Organizing is the key, in the workplace and elsewhere. How do we create a belief that collective action will pay off? It can't just be up to each of us as individuals.