Transcripts For ALJAZAM Inside Story 20160322

Sold out workingclass morning, leaving them to fake concern for those who arent making it in todays america. So democrats look in the mirror, its the inside story. The republicans are the party of rich people, white collar workers, the investor class. The americans who make a living from investments, dividends capital gains. The democrats are the party of the working class. People who make their living from wages alone. Depend on Public Institutions like schools. In his embracing critic, author thomas frank says those old ideas are gone, in listen liberal, frank traces the journey to the party of educated socially liberal, white collar elites. Dont blame the other guys, the author of listen liberal, thomas frank is with me here in washington. When you put that critic to a member of the democratic apparatus, they will say, what did you expect us to do . What this guy this thomas frank is suggesting in this book would have been a kind of unilateral disarmament, because the guys were fighting against were grabbing money with both hands to fund a Political Program that you think what we did was bad, it was worse. That is certainly true. Im not one of these people who say the two parties are the same. There are enormous distinctions, but i understand that argument, but an arms race is actually a good metaphor for it, because there is so much money required to run for office these days that basically the a parties have to represent elite, but this change in the Democratic Party goes back to the 1970s, and another thing that were learning now just this year, well, we sort of learned it with barack obama candidacy in 2008 was that you dont necessarily need to go to wall street in order to run a president ial campaign. This is one thing that Bernie Sanders is showing us this time around is that it can be done, and i thought about that a lot, when i think the old days, for somebody like me the glory days, the days of Franklin Roosevelt there were no Campaign Finance laws like we have today. And the republicans out spent democrats routinely. One of my favorite elections i have favorite elections [ laughter ] was the election of 1896, and mckinley outspent brian by 10 to 1, and he beat him too i was about to mention that. [ laughter ] it was close, but roosevelt who was massively outing spent by republicans, you know, still won these enormous landslides. It can be done. I think its an unfortunate choice that they made. Well, they they felt that they had to respond to these conditions even though they didnt create them. Were there choices along the way . And i know there are sort of hinge points that you identify in the book if they could have gone that way, and they went that way instead. Exactly. Were there choices they made that mark this movement in the Democratic Party. Exactly. In my book im sorry. Im never supposed to say in my book. But there were a number of occasions when the democrats made this decision, and they rarely did it with wall street money in line. That came later, but the first Inflection Point was during the vietnam war from 1968 to 1972. There were these riots, it looked like the party was coming apart, so they sat down and basically reorganized themselves. There was a famous group that was charged with reorganizing the way democrats chose their president ial candidate, and they basically they brought in the primary system as we know today. But they chose to remove organized labor from its point organized labor had an institutal presence in the Democratic Party. Up until the 1970s. A structural position and that ended in those days. Now democrats still have a close relationship with organized government, and they want their manpower, and those guys out there handing out fliers, but they are no longer a critical structural part that they were. You identify one of the reasons that might by referring at several points to the where else are they going to go idea. And to be fair both republicans with evangelical voters, and democrats with labor say we dont have to pay that much attention to them because what else are they going to do . It was a common saying in the 90s, but they found somewhere else to go. Prerogatively from the 70s up until now. I dont mean generally Union Members dont vote for republicans but lots of working class people do. And you look at the trump phenomenon and thats what is driving it. These are a lot of former democrats out there falling for this stuff, and its i mean i its its a its taking a very frightening turn. Let me put it that way. Can is it as problematic as that, that they realize they have been taken for granted, so they are turning another day, or was there a gradual dawning, unease, distaste. I think it starts in the 70s, and goes and goes and goes. But the story do you remember i wrote a book years ago called what is the matter with kansas. But the story i tell here is the opposite one how liberals found this new group that they decided was so glamorous and wonderful, and was oh, also, by the way, their own social class that that is the people that they really wanted to reach out to. Let me stop you right there, because i think it is one of the most important things that you write about in the whole book, and it really takes some time, and i want to get to this break and come back. With dont blame the other guys, as we look at postwar politics. From rural midwest to wartorn mideast. She went for the money and found a greater calling. You are watching inside story. Im ray suarez. Dont blame the other guys. This time Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are working hard to attract working class democrats. Do they have to work hard because those voters are not necessarily a natural constituency anymore. Thomas frank is here with me in washington. And you were just about to talk about the new democrats. The people who value technocrats, who love experts, who actually care what college is written on your resume. Not necessarily your gpa, but where you went. What happened . Its funny, because were doing this city in washington, d. C. And i live in this town. And everybody that lives in this town carries around the hig high hierarchy offal ma maw ders. And these are liberals 245 were talking about here. The new snobs. Yeah, in a certain way. There are so many fun directions i could have gone in this book. The ways that cities and states reach out to what they call the Creative Class which is another term for this group that im talking about, the processional class, but to reach out and attract them to your city with bike paths and organic food markets and subsidized art scenes. So you build the art district. In kansas city they have this subsidized art district that is supposed to bring in the art people. So they built this Democratic Party around these people, but as i was reading about bill clintons and Barack Obamas particularly vulnerability to doing that, i thought about that them. Because they both were not wellborn men. They both were bright. And because they were bright and cultivated by that world, were able to rise on their smarts. They have to believe. Exactly. Because they are guying from nowheresville who took advantage of it. Thats exactly right. Both of these men were plucked from prosecurity by prestigious institutions. Bill clinton becomes a rode scholar. And barack obama its the same thing. He went to colombia and then harvard. Harvard law school. Was the editor of harvard law review, and they surround themselves with people from this exact same kind of background, and all of these people, they are the sort of leaders of the professional class, and they end to view the world with mertocracy, where how you do in life is defined by where you went to school and how well you did in school. Them. And our own department of education spends 10s of millions that. Exactly. I spent 25 years in school. What i dont like is the idea that our democrats are the moderate liberals we have, which is that every economic problem we have is an educational problem. The answer is Charter Schools and more student loans, or more job training or Something Like that. And thats not the answer, and thats not really going to help out. But it goes back to an 18th and 19th century idea in america about poverty. When we saw poverty as a reflection of your own moral work, and your own fiber as a human being, and its a very deep and persistent problem in American Life that we kind of conclude without ever saying so that if someone is poor they probably did something wrong. Thats right. And this world that you describe in the book is that at large. Where a bunch of people went to the best schools in america, tut, tut at the rest of america. Absolutely. And were talking about democrats. The supposed party of the people. But one of the things that really struck me was when they talk about inequality, which is the main overarching issue that hangs overall of these issues, when they talk about education this is not a way of mitigating it, its a way of legitimating it. And say why inequality is right and correct. Its because you have somehow failed at the game of life. You didnt go to college or go to the right college or study the right subject in college. Show me your sat, and ill tell you who you are. Exactly. Its all about you and your sat scores and your diploma. But theres no solidarity. But there is with other members of your class. Exactly with people at the very top. And by the way i am a member of this class. I got a p hd, and i came out in the teeth of the academic job crisis. My degree was in history, and suddenly nobody could get a 10year track job anymore. We were pushed on any adjunct labor market, earning incredibly low amounts of money for Teaching College classes. And theres very little sympathy for people suffering on this adjunct path from the people at the top of the path. There is this amazing indeference to other people at the top. Barack obamas cabinet filled with harvard grads, but there is no solidarity, no sympathy like when one of your colleagues get fired or Something Like that. Solidarity is the virtue of the working class. Solidarity says i have the right to be treated fairly, because im a human being, and thats where the great middle class came from. You know, we stand together as a people. But thats an idea i would have once associated with the Democratic Party, solidarity. Listen, liberal, dont blame the other guys. People out here are struggling and just trying to get by with whatever they can. Al Jazeera America proud of telling your stories. Somebody to care about us man. Were live in ferguson, missouri. Brick by brick, i will open it. It will take more than a few rocks to stop me from doin what i have to do. Suddenly heroin seems to be everywhere. Theres no way i am willing to give up my family for a drug ever again. I know you all have strong opinions about the border. I dont believe in borders. Our government is allowing an invasion. I dont really know as much as i thought i did. People dont just need protection, they need assistance. Whats your message then . We need help now. Oh my god. The towns out of water. We came up here to talk to some people who are selling fresh water. Fresh water for fracking. We are a town that greed destroyed. What do we want . Justice these people have decided that today they will be arrested. I wanted to dance, and eventually i started leaving the gangs in the street alone. Were pushing the envelope with out science every day, we can save species. Im walking you guys all i wanted to see was her walk. It was amazing. These were emotions that i had been dreaming about for so long. Getting to the heart of the matter. Proud to tell your stories. Al Jazeera America. Hey hows it going, hotcakes . Hotcakes. This place has hotcakes. So why arent they selling like hotcakes . With comcast Business Internet and wifi pro, they could be. Just add a customized message to your wifi pro splash page and youll reach your customers where their eyes are already on their devices. Order up. Its more than just wifi, it can help grow your business. You dont see that every day. Introducing wifi pro, wifi that helps grow your business. Comcast business. Built for business. When it comes to the fithings you love,. You want more. Love romance . Get lost in every embrace. Into sports . Follow every pitch, every play and every win. Change the way you experience tv with x1 from xfinity. Welcome back to inside story. Im ray suarez. Im looking at the modern Democratic Party with thomas frank. Author of listen liberal whatever happened to the party of the people . One of the hardest arguments to make is hey, you may not realize it, but if i hadnt been there, it would have been much worse. If they had the chance to act in working peoples interest, they didnt, dont we also have to remember that the other side wasnt just sitting there waiting to see what democrats could do, but planning their own set of very aggressive plans for the country. Absolutely. There is a context. Of course. Thats right. And, you know, i feel very comfortable talking about that, ray, because i have written three books about conservatism now. Im taking a break from going after conservatives. But there are also certain times when you can test the theory. Lets talk about when barack obama was massively popular. When he was inaugurated this enormous throng that filled the national mall. And he had a majority in the house and senate. Thats not to say he could get anything he wanted through, but with a little hard work and a little creativity, he could have probably gotten a lot more than he did. Think about what he did with wall street. What he basically did. These are the investment banks that are largely responsible for the financial crisis, and the big recession of a few years ago, and he basically continued the bush bailout policies unchanged, or with very few modifications, and to this day there. You think theres other examples. There are still things to this today. Today barack obama is very constrained. He doesnt have control of congress anymore. So he cant get a grand legislative program through congress, but there are still a lot of things he could do, and he chooses not to. For example, the prosecution of elite bankers for what i consider to be very obvious series of frauds in the last decade. These are things that are right out there. And theres never been any kind any Justice Department hasnt done anything about it. And you dont think it is because they feel they were hemmed in. Yeah. They needed these people. I think it is because they look at those people and this is where the class deference comes into play. They look at those people and see these are classmates. Not just their friends, remember the early years, so much of his team came from investment banking. And this is an interest because democrats they look at this industry and say this is the Creative Class in the flesh. They are bringing prosperity out of thin air, with writing their extremely creative and fancy jargon. They think that is admirable. They think there is something neat about that. You dont want to take a sledge hammer to this industry. Maybe give them a nudge, but dont do the things that i thought were necessary. How come the cult of expertise didnt take such a brad knocking between the war in iraq and the collapse in wall street . You would think that expertise would have been given such a thorough hiding that barack obama would have really been able to put his hunger on it. And i would add to that the vietnam war. The best and the brightest came out in the early 70s, and it is a very similar story to what im trying to tell. And these blunders happen again and again and again, i call it a meritocracy of failure. You have this whole roster of guys who deregulated the banks and wall street, this was one of the running themes was to deregulate the financial sector. That needs to enroll and the great recession. And obama gets in and they all come right back. I was a big obama supporter in 2008. I had a lot of hope. I thought he was a great man. I still think he was a pretty good guy, but i thought he would break the strangle hold of clintonism on the Democratic Party, and the exact opposite is what happened. Bill clinton, and were coming to the end of our time ended his two terms as president with a popularity rating above 60 , and it was almost like they didnt think that was a useful tool. Like popularity for its own sake, rather than popularity to do good things. You are talking about the Clinton Foundation . The clinton years. You had the closest to full employment that we have had in my lifetime, well, since the 60s. Things looked really good for about three years. What is difficult to remember is that it was good because it was a bubble. It was the nasdaq bubble, new economy bubble all propped up by these things he engineered. Telecoms, banks, and it burst fortunate for bill clinton just as he was leaving office, and it really collapsed with george w. Bush when he was in the saddle. But to look back and say that bill clinton was a good president by that logic, you would have to say that Calvin Coolidge was a great president. Can i go back to obama for a second. Quickly. This idea that he didnt do anything awesome because the republicans will stop him. He doesnt even use one of the greatest weapons, which is antitrust enforcement. The whole logic of the new economy these days to norm monopolies and use market power on other players, and he has the tool and never uses it. Thomas frank, get to have you with us. Hes the author of listen liberal whatever happened to the party of the people. My colleague Sheila Macvicar will very ably take my place in the next three days. Ill see you friday. Until then, im ray suarez. Good night. Thanks for joining us im joie chen. 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