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FDR believed anti-trust legislation and regulation would contain monopolization and the power of Big Banks. It didn't.
We need a "growing concentration of public power in the government to cope with such concentration of private power." That public ownership must be "diffused among the many", which means ownership at the level of states, cities, regions, federal when scale is necessary, but in all cases with some form of democratic control. Without such diverse forms of ownership, the concentration of public ownership could be as dangerous as private.
Advances in computerization and artificial intelligence make such planning possible, something that was impossible with a pencil and paper.
Breaking up the Big Banks is a good strategy, but it only achieves its objective if it takes place as a public banking system is created.
The process starts with purging The Federal Reserve Boards of their private banking directors and democratizing the process of choosing directors. Perhaps appointments should be confirmed by the House, not the Senate. The Fed can then fund the development of public banks.
The public banking system created needs to be on a large scale so the government can tell the "too big to fail" banks, they are no longer that big. If their speculation leads to failure, then no more public bailouts.
A public banking system would make investments in a green economy a priority.
No doubt this objective does not get realized in the near term, and I have zero expectation a Biden administration on its own, would entertain the idea.
I think the movement needs a vision and a plan, so the next time banks crash, instead of bailing them out, the people demand they are taken over. There was serious talk about nationalizing a few banks in 2007, so this isn't as outlandish as it might sound. The banks only survive today because of public money flowing into their coffers.
One thing is for sure, to fight growing fascism, the power of finance over the government has to be broken.
A Transformative New Deal or a New Fascism
Only a people's movement, a broad popular front outside the Democratic Party, can prevent the rise of fascism and face up to the climate crisis. We have to figure out what's holding the development of such a front back. I hope theAnalysis.news can be a place where this gets discussed and worked out.
The work of progressives working in the Democratic Party is essential, especially the elected members at every level of government. Their work, together with a popular front, may help create conditions for a new party.
I think it naà �ve to think it's possible to create a new party disconnected from the process going on in the Democratic Party. It's a product of the undemocratic character of the system that it's so difficult to do, but as they say, it is, what it is.
A new party could gain strength at local and state levels, and this is already happening. Or in non-swing states in presidential elections at times, but a third party that in any way facilitates a victory of Trump will never recover from it. Let's be realistic about what's possible living in the heart of the empire.
If Biden wins, the tactical truce between progressives and the corporate Dems will end and another stage of struggle will begin. As I said above, if a popular movement doesn't win that fight, or at least score some important victories, we will likely see worse than Trump in 2024. The idea that workers that vote for Trump want a centrist Democratic Party is wrong. They want their lives to get better.
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