Saturday, October 19, 2013

Democracy vs. Wealth

(Harold Ickes, director of the Public Works Administration, and Secretary of the Interior, during the New Deal. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Of the troubles that existed during the Great Depression, Harold Ickes said in a speech: "It is the old struggle between the power of money and the power of the democratic instinct." And in his diary, he wrote: "The fight in this country today is one between the great mass of the people and wealth."

His words were true then, and they are true today. As more and more corporate money pours into our electoral & political systems, our government turns increasingly cold to the great mass of American people who seek justice, democracy, and some basic level of economic security.      

Quotes found in the book The New Deal: A Modern History, by Michael Hiltzik (2011).

No comments:

Post a Comment