Please distribute to interested individuals • Public domain, free to use and reproduce • References for statistics cited in this commentary are available in Falling Behind: Why Wealth Gaps Are Preventing You and Half of America from Getting Ahead, a draft of which is available online at https://www.DrDavidDemers.com/falling-behind.html
An Open Letter to Kamala Harris
How Robin Hood Can Help You Win This Election
Dear “Robin” Harris: Total Words: 1,109
Or would you prefer Kamala “Hood”?
In either case, I’ll explain shortly how Robin Hood can help you win this election.
First, though, I have to say that you rocked at the debate with the Sheriff of Mar-a-Lago (SML). It reminded me of the time that Robin beat the Sheriff of Nottingham in an archery contest. The sheriff threatened to jail Robin. Things don’t change much when it comes to villains, do they?
I especially liked it when you pointed out that SML’s proposed tariffs would cost middle-class families $4,000. My own research shows that Republican tax cuts since 1980, including SML’s $1.7 trillion tax cut in 2017, are largely responsible for today’s massive wealth gaps as well as the skyrocketing national debt.
The debate boosted your numbers in national polls. But you are still running neck-and-neck with SML in all of the swing states, and you can’t win the election if you lose all of those states.
The fact that you have no clear lead in those states is baffling; after all, you beat the tights off SML. Yet his less-than-merry band of followers still think he’s a winner. They obviously have been drinking too much ale, wine, and Kool-Aid.
As a sociologist and former newspaper reporter, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how a convicted felon so far out of step with America’s dominant values, norms and mores could become so popular. Mainstream political elites and the news media historically have pushed extremists like him to the margins. But not this time.
As I see it, this is a case of failing to see the Sherwood Forest for the trees.
For decades, America’s political elites have brushed aside the concerns and interests of the “peasants” (the working and middle classes) when it comes to their personal financial security. Today, two-thirds of them are having trouble paying their bills, according to national polls. They are mad as hell and have every right to be so.
Corporations and employers have spent much of their profits on boosting executive salaries and bonuses rather than increasing worker wages. In fact, wages for the bottom 90 percent of Americans have increased at an inflation-adjusted rate of only 1 percent per year since 1976. In contrast, the top 10 percent have seen their income grow at a robust 5 percent a year, and the wealthiest 25,000 have seen their incomes grow at an obscene rate of 14 percent per year.
Another problem is that hard-working Americans are paying 59 percent more in local, state and federal taxes than they did during the 1950s, when the American Dream was still attainable. Many red states also now have laws that hogtie worker unions. In Europe, those unions have successfully kept rapacious capitalists in check.
SML, however, has convinced many working-class Americans that immigrants and minorities are largely to blame for their economic problems, even though scientific research fails to support his claim. Many of my scholarly colleagues also downplay the “economic insecurity” problem as a cause of his support, arguing that racism is a more important reason for SML’s popularity. They are partly right.
A recently published study of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in Review of Income and Wealth found that “perceived reverse discrimination” was the single best predictor of candidate choice. In other words, if voters agreed that “discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against Blacks and other minorities,” they were much more likely to vote for Trump.
But racism or reverse discrimination can’t explain why some younger Black men and other minorities are supporting SML. Why would they support a candidate who openly embraces white nationalism? That’s akin to the peasants throwing their support behind the Sheriff of Nottingham, who had taxed them into poverty.
The election study found that many blacks are tired of waiting for the American system to give them an equal shot at the American Dream. In fact, the study’s researchers, Alessio Rebechi and Nicholas Rohde at Griffith University in Australia, found that people who currently are experiencing personal finance problems, especially young black men, are more likely to vote for SML.
“Black voters support for Donald Trump can be interpreted as an anti-establishment vote,” the researchers wrote in September 2023. “The inability of the Democratic Party to address economic issues and racial disparities may have further contributed to a sense of disillusionment and resentment among Black voters. The significant reduction in Black support for the Democratic party in those working-class states (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan) that proved to be key to Donald Trump’s victory ... would seem to reflect this.”
So, Kamala, draw your bow and take aim.
If you want to win this election, you need to follow in the footsteps of Robin:
First, broaden the base of your tax cuts. Your proposed tax cuts and tax credits are too narrowly focused on parents, food servers, home buyers and small-business people. Your plan does nothing for the vast majority of working people who don’t fall into any of these categories, including young Black men who are struggling. You must broaden your tax cuts and credits to include everyone in the bottom 90 percent (those who earn $200,000 or less). Remember, Robin stole from the rich and gave to the poor. He didn’t give to certain segments of the poor. He gave to everyone. (And his behavior is not considered immoral, by the way, because the political-economic system was corrupt.)
Second, to pay for your tax cuts and reduce the national debt, you need to increase taxes on the wealthy. Two-thirds of Americans think the wealthy should pay more taxes. Your plan to increase capital gains and corporate taxes from about 21 percent to 28 percent is sound and reasonable. But you need more to bring down the spiraling national debt, which poses a grave threat to long-term economic stability of the nation.
Remember that the wealthy have enjoyed massive cuts in their tax bills over the last half century, partly because politicians have catered to their needs (as they usually do). This explains in part why wealth gaps are growing so rapidly. But you also need to boost the estate and/or inheritance taxes. Half of all wealth in America is inherited, and if this goes unchecked, future generations will be living in a real state of feudalism, where birth-right determines everything.
Finally, when things get tough, keep in mind what they said about Robin.
“Robin Hood is no thief. He is a friend of the poor and the weak, and an enemy of the proud and the cruel.”
Your Peasant Friend,
David Demers
Demers is author of Falling Behind: How Wealth Gaps Are Preventing You and Half of America from Getting Ahead, a book that will be published in 2025. He worked as a newspaper reporter and college professor before retiring to spend more time writing. He can be reached at [email protected] or 623-363-4668 or DrDavidDemers.com
An Open Letter to Kamala Harris
How Robin Hood Can Help You Win This Election
Dear “Robin” Harris: Total Words: 1,109
Or would you prefer Kamala “Hood”?
In either case, I’ll explain shortly how Robin Hood can help you win this election.
First, though, I have to say that you rocked at the debate with the Sheriff of Mar-a-Lago (SML). It reminded me of the time that Robin beat the Sheriff of Nottingham in an archery contest. The sheriff threatened to jail Robin. Things don’t change much when it comes to villains, do they?
I especially liked it when you pointed out that SML’s proposed tariffs would cost middle-class families $4,000. My own research shows that Republican tax cuts since 1980, including SML’s $1.7 trillion tax cut in 2017, are largely responsible for today’s massive wealth gaps as well as the skyrocketing national debt.
The debate boosted your numbers in national polls. But you are still running neck-and-neck with SML in all of the swing states, and you can’t win the election if you lose all of those states.
The fact that you have no clear lead in those states is baffling; after all, you beat the tights off SML. Yet his less-than-merry band of followers still think he’s a winner. They obviously have been drinking too much ale, wine, and Kool-Aid.
As a sociologist and former newspaper reporter, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how a convicted felon so far out of step with America’s dominant values, norms and mores could become so popular. Mainstream political elites and the news media historically have pushed extremists like him to the margins. But not this time.
As I see it, this is a case of failing to see the Sherwood Forest for the trees.
For decades, America’s political elites have brushed aside the concerns and interests of the “peasants” (the working and middle classes) when it comes to their personal financial security. Today, two-thirds of them are having trouble paying their bills, according to national polls. They are mad as hell and have every right to be so.
Corporations and employers have spent much of their profits on boosting executive salaries and bonuses rather than increasing worker wages. In fact, wages for the bottom 90 percent of Americans have increased at an inflation-adjusted rate of only 1 percent per year since 1976. In contrast, the top 10 percent have seen their income grow at a robust 5 percent a year, and the wealthiest 25,000 have seen their incomes grow at an obscene rate of 14 percent per year.
Another problem is that hard-working Americans are paying 59 percent more in local, state and federal taxes than they did during the 1950s, when the American Dream was still attainable. Many red states also now have laws that hogtie worker unions. In Europe, those unions have successfully kept rapacious capitalists in check.
SML, however, has convinced many working-class Americans that immigrants and minorities are largely to blame for their economic problems, even though scientific research fails to support his claim. Many of my scholarly colleagues also downplay the “economic insecurity” problem as a cause of his support, arguing that racism is a more important reason for SML’s popularity. They are partly right.
A recently published study of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in Review of Income and Wealth found that “perceived reverse discrimination” was the single best predictor of candidate choice. In other words, if voters agreed that “discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against Blacks and other minorities,” they were much more likely to vote for Trump.
But racism or reverse discrimination can’t explain why some younger Black men and other minorities are supporting SML. Why would they support a candidate who openly embraces white nationalism? That’s akin to the peasants throwing their support behind the Sheriff of Nottingham, who had taxed them into poverty.
The election study found that many blacks are tired of waiting for the American system to give them an equal shot at the American Dream. In fact, the study’s researchers, Alessio Rebechi and Nicholas Rohde at Griffith University in Australia, found that people who currently are experiencing personal finance problems, especially young black men, are more likely to vote for SML.
“Black voters support for Donald Trump can be interpreted as an anti-establishment vote,” the researchers wrote in September 2023. “The inability of the Democratic Party to address economic issues and racial disparities may have further contributed to a sense of disillusionment and resentment among Black voters. The significant reduction in Black support for the Democratic party in those working-class states (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan) that proved to be key to Donald Trump’s victory ... would seem to reflect this.”
So, Kamala, draw your bow and take aim.
If you want to win this election, you need to follow in the footsteps of Robin:
First, broaden the base of your tax cuts. Your proposed tax cuts and tax credits are too narrowly focused on parents, food servers, home buyers and small-business people. Your plan does nothing for the vast majority of working people who don’t fall into any of these categories, including young Black men who are struggling. You must broaden your tax cuts and credits to include everyone in the bottom 90 percent (those who earn $200,000 or less). Remember, Robin stole from the rich and gave to the poor. He didn’t give to certain segments of the poor. He gave to everyone. (And his behavior is not considered immoral, by the way, because the political-economic system was corrupt.)
Second, to pay for your tax cuts and reduce the national debt, you need to increase taxes on the wealthy. Two-thirds of Americans think the wealthy should pay more taxes. Your plan to increase capital gains and corporate taxes from about 21 percent to 28 percent is sound and reasonable. But you need more to bring down the spiraling national debt, which poses a grave threat to long-term economic stability of the nation.
Remember that the wealthy have enjoyed massive cuts in their tax bills over the last half century, partly because politicians have catered to their needs (as they usually do). This explains in part why wealth gaps are growing so rapidly. But you also need to boost the estate and/or inheritance taxes. Half of all wealth in America is inherited, and if this goes unchecked, future generations will be living in a real state of feudalism, where birth-right determines everything.
Finally, when things get tough, keep in mind what they said about Robin.
“Robin Hood is no thief. He is a friend of the poor and the weak, and an enemy of the proud and the cruel.”
Your Peasant Friend,
David Demers
Demers is author of Falling Behind: How Wealth Gaps Are Preventing You and Half of America from Getting Ahead, a book that will be published in 2025. He worked as a newspaper reporter and college professor before retiring to spend more time writing. He can be reached at [email protected] or 623-363-4668 or DrDavidDemers.com