Opinion: The end of the establishment?
Step back from the campaign fray for just a moment and consider the enormity of what鈥檚 already occurred.聽
A 74-year-old Jew from Vermont who describes himself as a democratic socialist, who wasn鈥檛 even a Democrat until recently, has come within a whisker of beating Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucus, routed her in the New Hampshire primary, and garnered over 47 percent of the caucus-goers in Nevada, of all places.
And a 69-year-old billionaire who has never held elective office or had anything to do with the Republican Party has taken a commanding lead in the Republican primaries.
Something very big has happened, and it鈥檚 not due to Bernie Sanders鈥� magnetism or Donald Trump鈥檚 likeability.
It鈥檚 a rebellion against the establishment.聽
The question is why the establishment has been so slow to see this. A year ago 鈥� which now seems like an eternity 鈥� it proclaimed Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush shoe-ins.聽
Both had all the advantages 鈥� deep bases of funders, well-established networks of political insiders, experienced political advisors, all the name recognition you could want.聽聽聽
But even now that Bush is out and Hillary is still leading but vulnerable, the establishment still doesn鈥檛 see what鈥檚 occurred. They explain everything by pointing to weaknesses: Bush, they now say, 鈥溾�� and Hillary聽.鈥澛�
A respected political insider recently told me most Americans are largely content. 鈥淭he economy is in good shape,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ost Americans are better off than they鈥檝e been in years. The problem has been the major candidates themselves.鈥澛犅�
I beg to differ.聽
Economic indicators may be up but they don鈥檛 reflect the economic insecurity most Americans still feel, nor the seeming arbitrariness and unfairness they experience.聽聽
Nor do the major indicators show the linkages Americans see between wealth and power, crony capitalism, declining real wages, soaring CEO pay, and a billionaire class that鈥檚 turning our democracy into an oligarchy.
Median family income聽聽now than it was sixteen years ago, adjusted for inflation.聽
economic gains, meanwhile, have gone to top.
These gains have translated into political power to rig the system with bank bailouts, corporate subsidies, special tax loopholes, trade deals, and increasing market power 鈥� all of which have further pushed down wages pulled up profits.聽
Those at the very top of the top have rigged the system even more thoroughly. Since 1995, the average income tax rate for the 400 top-earning Americans has聽from 30 percent to 17 percent.聽
Wealth, power, and crony capitalism fit together. So far in the 2016 election, the richest 400 Americans have accounted for over a聽of all campaign contributions.聽
Americans know a takeover has occurred and they blame the establishment for it.聽
There鈥檚 no official definition of the 鈥渆stablishment鈥� but it presumably includes all of the people and institutions that have wielded significant power over the American political economy, and are therefore deemed complicit.聽
At its core are the major corporations, their top executives, and Washington lobbyists and trade associations; the biggest Wall Street banks, their top officers, traders, hedge-fund and private-equity managers, and their lackeys in Washington; the billionaires who invest directly in politics; and the political leaders of both parties, their political operatives, and fundraisers.
Arrayed around this core are the deniers and apologists 鈥� those who attribute what鈥檚 happened to 鈥渘eutral market forces,鈥� or say the system can鈥檛 be changed, or who urge that any reform be small and incremental.
Some Americans are rebelling against all this by supporting an authoritarian demagogue who wants to fortify America against foreigners as well as foreign-made goods. Others are rebelling by joining a so-called 鈥減olitical revolution.鈥�
The establishment is having conniptions. They call Trump whacky and Sanders irresponsible. They charge that Trump鈥檚 isolationism and Bernie鈥檚 ambitious government programs will stymie economic growth.
The establishment doesn鈥檛 get that most Americans couldn鈥檛 care less about economic growth because for years they鈥檝e got few of its benefits, while suffering most of its burdens in the forms of lost jobs and lower wages.
Most people are more concerned about economic security and a fair chance to make it.聽
The establishment doesn鈥檛 see what鈥檚 happening because it has cut itself off from the lives of most Americans. It also doesn鈥檛 wish to understand, because that would mean acknowledging its role in bringing all this on.
Yet regardless of the political fates of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, the rebellion against the establishment will continue.聽聽
Eventually, those with significant economic and political power in America will have to either commit to fundamental reform, or relinquish their power.
This article first appeared at .
