The Oligarchy's Ultimate Political Weapon | Robert Reich

Script and Sources

If you're discouraged by what's happening in the country, that is by design.

The forces undermining our democracy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up.

But we must not let them.

The moneyed interests have lobbyists. 

They have media megaphones.

And they have an even more powerful weapon—one that’s harder to spot but incredibly effective: Cynicism. 

They want us to feel like we can’t make a difference, so we give up. And then they win. 

They spend a lot of money to make it seem like progress on the issues we care about—from climate change to social justice—is impossible.

They use their allies in political office to grind the gears of government to a halt, so people see government as the problem, not the solution.

But if there's one thing we learned from this wretched pandemic, it's that government intervention can reduce poverty and suffering, and we can afford to pay for it.

They scheme to make our politics divisive and ineffectual, so we fight among ourselves instead of challenging their power and privilege.

The more overwhelmed we feel, the happier they are.

They want us to become so discouraged that we stop showing up to vote. Another victory for them. 

Now I get it. All this struggle, all these big problems, can be exhausting and infuriating.

If you have good strategies for coping with this fatigue, please share them in the comments. It could help all of us. 

But remember: time and again, history has shown us that seemingly hopeless struggles are not hopeless. 

Right now, we are fighting for the very way we tell the story of America.

There are those who want to go back to a simplistic and false narrative — one where we have been perfect from our founding, where we don’t need to tell the unpleasant truths about slavery, colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia, where we can ignore both past and present injustices.

But there is another story of America — one of imperfection but progress. In this story, which is far more accurate, organizers have changed this nation many, many times for the better. 

We secured labor rights, civil rights, women's rights, and LGBTQ rights.

Much of what we take for granted today -- Social Security, Medicare, national parks, the 40-hour workweek, even interstate highways -- were the results of hard-fought battles.

On their own, these wins may seem small. But history proves that major change comes through countless small victories won over many years by people who refuse to back down. Over time, the impossible becomes possible.

Those who want you to believe that change is not possible are counting on you to forget that history and give up. Don’t.