Saving our country starts here: taxing the wealthy

There was a time when we taxed the wealthy a lot more than we do now. That post-war period also coincided with the greatest economic growth our country has ever seen. And then the wealthy decided they were tired of sharing productivity gains and profits with regular workers like you and I, and brought about neoliberalism, thought of by market-fundamentalists like Milton Friedmen.

That neoliberalism brought in cuts to regulations and taxes and the dismantling of unions and public institutions. We were sold on the idea that this would free up the private market and that these "efficiencies" would trickle down to the rest of us. 40 years later, it is clear that we were duped by economists and politicians alike.

Even before recent inflation driven mostly by global supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine, and now corporate profiteering, almost everything is becoming more expensive (especially housing, education, and food), our public institutions like healthcare and education are crumbling (as intended by market fundamentalists), and most of us are making less and less each year versus inflation and cost of living. All while productivity is still rising.

We have much ground to make up, but reversing increasing economic inequality and preventing a collapse of democracy and the ecoystems we rely on, we must start with one thing: raising taxes on the wealthy. If we don't do this and continue to naively hope that economic growth will eventually trickle down from the wealthy voluntarily, we are going to head over the cliff, likely in my lifetime. Unless you are rich enough to afford a parachute, of course.