[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fCAFwpBT2cm5U5Y6t_vBmZzZGyjHS1xBMBAgg_S8f3g4":3,"$fRRbz1oMdgWYWFRkyTvLm3OqZVbb7ZVx0d8UmuQZjxG4":12},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},10151,"Robert B. Reich","R",177,null,"robert-b-reich",[],{"quotes":13,"pagination":78},[14,23,29,35,41,47,53,60,66,72],{"id":15,"quote_text":16,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":19,"source":20,"quote_tag":21,"commentary":22},3382081,"Democracy depends on citizens who are able to recognize the truth, analyze and weigh alternatives, and civilly debate their future, just as it depends on citizens who have an equal voice and equal stake in it. Without an educated populace, a common good cannot even be discerned. This is fundamental.",6,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nRobert B. Reich, a renowned economist and former US Secretary of Labor, likely penned this quote in the context of his extensive writings on the importance of education and civic engagement in a democratic society. This sentiment is consistent with his work during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a time marked by growing concerns over the erosion of civic discourse and the widening gap between the educated and uneducated populations. Reich's emphasis on the need for an educated populace to discern a common good resonates with the era's debates over education policy and its impact on social cohesion.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nWhat lies beneath the surface of this quote is the tension between the ideals of democracy and the reality of human cognition. Reich is not simply advocating for education as a means to an end, but rather highlighting the inherent complexity of democratic decision-making, which relies on citizens' ability to navigate competing information, values, and interests. This nuanced perspective underscores the idea that education is not a panacea, but rather a fundamental prerequisite for the very fabric of democratic discourse.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset today, recognize that effective civic engagement requires a critical and nuanced understanding of the issues at hand, rather than simply relying on emotional appeals or ideological dogma. By cultivating a habit of careful analysis and debate, professionals and creatives can foster a more informed and inclusive decision-making process, ultimately enriching the democratic discourse and promoting a common good that benefits all stakeholders.",{"id":24,"quote_text":25,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":26,"source":27,"quote_tag":28,"commentary":9},3382074,"It’s no mere coincidence that over the last century the top earners’ share of the nation’s total income peaked in 1928 and 2007 – the two years just preceding the biggest downturns.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":30,"quote_text":31,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":32,"source":33,"quote_tag":34,"commentary":9},3382069,"Bill Clinton was a great politician. Bill Clinton loved a fight. He was willing to fight. But he also wanted to be loved. He wanted to be admired.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":36,"quote_text":37,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":38,"source":39,"quote_tag":40,"commentary":9},3382062,"I think the Obama Administration has done a lousy job marketing and selling and explaining this entire thing. And, as a result, all of these right-wing front organizations financed by the Koch brothers, are blanketing the airwaves with lies about Obamacare. And people are scared.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":42,"quote_text":43,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":44,"source":45,"quote_tag":46,"commentary":9},3382058,"The economy exists to serve us. We do not exist to serve it.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":48,"quote_text":49,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":50,"source":51,"quote_tag":52,"commentary":9},3382051,"They found that flights with a first-class section were nearly four times more likely to have incidents of “belligerent behavior” or “emotional outbursts” in their economy class. Such incidents were even more likely when economy passengers had to walk through the first-class section to get to their seats than when they entered through the middle of the plane and bypassed the first-class section.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":54,"quote_text":55,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":56,"source":57,"quote_tag":58,"commentary":59},3382050,"As the economic historian Karl Polanyi recognized, those who argue for “less government” are really arguing for a different government – often one that favors them or their patrons.1.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nKarl Polanyi's insight is rooted in the economic turmoil of the early 20th century, particularly the Great Depression. As a scholar, he observed how those who advocated for minimal government intervention in the economy often had a vested interest in the existing power structures. This quote is likely from his influential book \"The Great Transformation,\" where he critiques the ideology of laissez-faire capitalism.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nThe counter-intuitive truth in this quote lies in the recognition that the call for \"less government\" often serves as a veil for those who seek to consolidate power and protect their own interests. This means that the rhetoric of small government can be a thinly veiled attempt to shift the burden of economic responsibility from the powerful to the vulnerable.\n\n**How to Use This**\nWhen navigating the complex landscape of economic policy or advocating for social change, be aware of the potential for ideological rhetoric to mask self-interest. To effectively challenge systems of power, it's essential to critically examine the motivations behind the calls for \"less government\" and to look for the underlying power dynamics at play.",{"id":61,"quote_text":62,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":63,"source":64,"quote_tag":65,"commentary":9},3382044,"But in modern America we often shame the wrong people. Instead of deterring behavior that undermines the common good, shame is too often deployed against people who don’t fit in – to ostracize them even further.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":67,"quote_text":68,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":69,"source":70,"quote_tag":71,"commentary":9},3382041,"For three decades almost all the gains from economic growth have gone to the top. In the 1960s and 1970s, the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans got 9–10 percent of our total income. By 2007, just before the Great Recession, that share had more than doubled, to 23.5 percent. Over the same period the wealthiest one-tenth of 1 percent tripled its share. We haven’t experienced this degree of concentrated wealth since the Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":73,"quote_text":74,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":75,"source":76,"quote_tag":77,"commentary":9},3382040,"Without voluntary adherence to a set of common notions about right and wrong, daily life would be insufferable. We would be living in a jungle where only the strongest, cleverest, and most wary could hope to survive. This would not be a society. It wouldn’t even be a civilization, because there would be no civility at its core.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"currentPage":79,"totalPages":80,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":81},1,18,10]