When most people stop believing that they and their children have a fair chance to make it, the tacit social contract begins to unravel

Trump’s Rise Was Four Decades of Upward Wealth Transfer in the Making

Robert Reich in robertreich.substack.com

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump isn’t the cause of what ails America. He’s the consequence. The real causes go back four decades.

Let me start with a bit of family history. During the 1950s and 1960s, my father, Ed Reich, owned a shop on the main street from which he sold women’s clothing to the wives of factory workers.

This time of year reminds me of his anxious dependence on holiday sales (and in the days after Christmas, the frantic returns). Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, he needed to earn enough to pay the bills and have a sufficient sum to carry us through the first part of the following year.

We weren’t rich but never felt poor, and our standard of living rose steadily through the 1950s and 1960s—as factory workers and their spouses did better and better.

This was an era when the income of a single factory worker or schoolteacher or baker or salesman or mechanic was enough to buy a home, have two cars, and raise a family.

For three decades after World War II, America created the largest middle class the world had ever seen. During those years, the earnings of the typical American worker doubled, just as the size of the American economy doubled.

Over the last 40 years, by contrast, the size of the economy has more than doubled again, but the earnings of the typical American have barely budged (adjusted for inflation). Most of the gains have gone to the top.

Why we MUST cut Social Security

Favorite of evangelical christians

Growing safer spuds: Removing toxins from potatoes

Using genetics to reduce food waste

University of California - Riverside

Scientists have discovered a way to remove toxic compounds from potatoes, making them safer to eat and easier to store. The breakthrough could cut food waste and enhance crop farming in space and other extreme environments.

Potato plants naturally produce chemicals that protect them from insects. The chemicals, called steroidal glycoalkaloids, or SGAs, are found in high quantities in the green parts of potato peels, and in the sprouting areas. They render the potatoes unsafe for insects as well as humans.

"These compounds are critical for plants to ward off insects, but they make certain parts of these crops inedible," said Adam Jozwiak, a UCR molecular biochemist who led the study. "Now that we've uncovered the biosynthetic pathway, we can potentially create plants that produce these compounds only in the leaves while keeping the edible parts safe."

Sunlight can induce the production of SGAs in potato tubers -- the part of the potato plant that is eaten -- even after they've been harvested. By identifying a key genetic mechanism in SGA production, UC Riverside researchers may be able reduce potatoes' toxicity while preserving the plants' natural defenses. Taking SGA out of potatoes will also make them easier to store and transport in open air.

Which infectious disease is likely to be the biggest emerging problem in 2025?

How can anything go wrong with RFK Jr. and Trump in charge?

Conor Meehan, Nottingham Trent University

COVID emerged suddenly, spread rapidly and killed millions of people around the world. Since then, I think it’s fair to say that most people have been nervous about the emergence of the next big infectious disease – be that a virus, bacterium, fungus or parasite.

With COVID in retreat (thanks to highly effective vaccines), the three infectious diseases causing public health officials the greatest concern are malaria (a parasite), HIV (a virus) and tuberculosis (a bacterium). Between them, they kill around 2 million people each year.

And then there are the watchlists of priority pathogens – especially those that have become resistant to the drugs usually used to treat them, such as antibiotics and antivirals.

Scientists must also constantly scan the horizon for the next potential problem. While this could come in any form of pathogen, certain groups are more likely than others to cause swift outbreaks, and that includes influenza viruses.

One influenza virus is causing great concern right now and is teetering on the edge of being a serious problem in 2025. This is influenza A subtype H5N1, sometimes referred to as “bird flu”. This virus is widely spread in both wild and domestic birds, such as poultry. Recently, it has also been infecting dairy cattle in several US states and found in horses in Mongolia.

When influenza cases start increasing in animals such as birds, there is always a worry that it could jump to humans. Indeed, bird flu can infect humans with 61 cases in the US this year already, mostly resulting from farm workers coming into contact with infected cattle and people drinking raw milk.

Compared with only two cases in the Americas in the previous two years, this is quite a large increase. Coupling this with a 30% mortality rate from human infections, bird flu is quickly jumping up the list of public health officials’ priorities.

Luckily, H5N1 bird flu doesn’t seem to transmit from person to person, which greatly reduces its likelihood of causing a pandemic in humans. Influenza viruses have to attach to molecular structures called sialic receptors on the outside of cells in order to get inside and start replicating.

Jimmy Carter’s human rights focus helped dismantle the Soviet Union

A century of service

Robert C. Donnelly, Gonzaga University

Former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29, 2024, at age 100 at his home in Plains, Georgia, was a dark horse Democratic presidential candidate with little national recognition when he beat Republican incumbent Gerald Ford in 1976.

The introspective former peanut farmer pledged a new era of honesty and forthrightness at home and abroad, a promise that resonated with voters eager for change following the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War.

His presidency, however, lasted only one term before Ronald Reagan defeated him. Since then, scholars have debated – and often maligned – Carter’s legacy, especially his foreign policy efforts that revolved around human rights.

Critics have described Carter’s foreign policies as “ineffectual” and “hopelessly muddled,” and their formulation demonstrated “weakness and indecision.”

As a historian researching Carter’s foreign policy initiatives, I conclude his overseas policies were far more effective than critics have claimed.

President Jimmy Carter listens to Sen. Joseph R. Biden, D-Del.,
 as they wait to speak at fund raising reception in Wilmington,
Del. on Feb. 20, 1978. AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File

EDITOR'S PERSONAL NOTE: In 1978, I was offered a job in Washington to work at the Legal Services Corp. Cathy and I went down to DC to talk about what we should do. We were sitting in the rooftop restaurant of the Hotel Washington overlooking the White House when Jimmy Carter's motorcade returned to the White House from the signing of the Camp David accords. I looked at Cathy and said, "Yeah, we could get used to this." She nodded and we spent most of the rest of our careers in DC returning to live in Charlestown in 2002. Thank you, Mr. President, for the inspiration.     - Will Collette

It is what it is

Reality check

Rhode Island among Top Ten states for norovirus outbreaks

Wash your hands

By Will Collette

The Centers for Disease Control norovirus outbreak map shows Rhode Island among the top ten, and that's not a good thing. Norovirus is a very uncomfortable illness that is spread rapidly through food and contract.

The CDC defines it this way:

Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea.

It is sometimes called the "stomach flu" or the "stomach bug." However, norovirus illness is not related to the flu. The flu is caused by the influenza virus. Norovirus causes acute gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach or intestines.

Most people with norovirus illness get better within 1 to 3 days; but they can still spread the virus for a few days after.

The states highlighted in dark blue are those with the highest numbers of outbreaks. The numbers do not reflect the case rates (i.e. the number per 100,000 people), Since all of the other dark blue states have populations much higher than Rhode Island, that makes our numbers even worse. Rhode Island, with its one million people has had 16 outbreaks while California with 40 million people has had 43 outbreaks. See the CDC data tables here.

Here are a set of quick fact graphics from the State of Ohio posted online by the RI Department of Health. I noted their caution that hand sanitizer does not work well against norovirus while washing your hands with soap and water does.

Are particle emissions from offshore wind farms harmful for blue mussels?

Mussels grow around off-shore wind farm footings 

Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research

Mussel growth on and around the base
of the Block Island Wind Farm

After several years of service under harsh weather conditions, the rotor blades of offshore wind parks are subjected to degradation and surface erosion, releasing sizeable quantities of particle emissions into the environment. 

A team of researchers led by the Alfred Wegener Institute has now investigated the effects of these particle on blue mussels – a species also being considered for the multi-use of wind parks for aquaculture. 

In the experiment, the mussels absorbed metals from the rotor blades’ coatings, as the team describes in a study just released in the journal Science of the Total Environment, where they also discuss the potential physiological effects.

In a laboratory-based pilot study, a team of researchers explored the potential effects of rotor blade emissions on the physiology of blue mussels. To do so, the material from these rotor blades was ground to a particle size small enough for the mussels to ingest. 

Are seed oils really as harmful as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims?

RFK sez forget corn oil, fry in beef tallow. 

Raysa El Zein, University of Westminster

RFK Jr., Donald Trump’s pick to head the us Health and Human Services Department, wrote on X that Americans are being “unknowingly poisoned” by seed oils. He joins the growing list of people claiming that these oils are toxic. But are they?

Seed oils include sunflower, rapeseed, corn and grapeseed oils. High heat, chemical solvents and extreme pressure are used to extract the oil from plant seeds. They are then further refined to stabilize it.

These refining processes can affect the chemical compounds of the oil, reducing the amount of healthy antioxidants, polyphenols and phospholipids. However, this process gives the oil a longer shelf life and stabilizes the oil so that it doesn’t burn at high temperatures

Many social media influencers claim that seed oils contain toxins. But most of these compounds, such as pollutants and heavy metals, are removed during refining. The amount that is left is too small to cause humans any harm.

The main issue with these oils is that some fast-food outlets reuse them to cut costs. Once reused and reheated, trans fats, which increase “bad cholesterol” and decrease “good cholesterol”, can form in the oil. However, most health and safety regulations ban the reuse of oils in food establishments.

Most seed oils are rich sources of omega-6 fatty acids. According to decades of rigorous research, these unsaturated fatty acids have many health benefits. They are linked to reduced risk of heart disease and improvements in cholesterol levels.

The best former President this country has ever had. RIP.

No returns, continued

Celebrate New Year's Eve in Charlestown

Fellow Residents of Charlestown, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! 2025 is fast approaching and with it comes the Annual Charlestown Bonfire!!! Tim Quillen, our very own CRU chair, has been busy creating a spectacular event! Fun for the entire family! There will be food trucks including: Sunset Farms, Friskie Fries, Alaina's, and Gansett Poke. Sponsored by: CHARLESTOWN PARKS & RECREATION DEPT Special thanks to: TIM QUILLEN ARNOLD LUMBER DUNKIN DONUTS RPE WASTE SERVICES* and the CHARLESTOWN FIRE DISTRICT Please join us for this sparkling fire as we all welcome the NEW YEAR in style! 4:30 PM - Food Trucks Open 5:30 PM - Fire Ignition Tim Quillen Getting Ready! Looking forward to seeing you!  Jodi Frank CRU Vice-Chair Charlestown Residents United Paid for by Charlestown Residents United P.O. Box 412 Charlestown, RI 02813 Visit our Website

"What becomes of the broken hearted?"

Can the heart heal itself? New study says it can

University of Arizona Health Sciences

A research team co-led by a physician-scientist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine -- Tucson's Sarver Heart Center found that a subset of artificial heart patients can regenerate heart muscle, which may open the door to new ways to treat and perhaps someday cure heart failure. The results were published in the journal Circulation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart failure affects nearly 7 million U.S. adults and is responsible for 14% of deaths per year. There is no cure for heart failure, though medications can slow its progression. 

The only treatment for advanced heart failure, other than a transplant, is pump replacement through an artificial heart, called a left ventricular assist device, which can help the heart pump blood.

Microplastics in the air may be leading to lung and colon cancers

Road friction on tires a major source

University of California - San Francisco

Tires and degrading garbage shed tiny pieces of plastic into the air, creating a form of air pollution that UC San Francisco researchers suspect may be causing respiratory and other illnesses.

A review of some 3,000 studies implicates these particles in a variety of serious health problems.

These include male and female infertility, colon cancer and poor lung function.

The particles also may contribute to chronic pulmonary inflammation, which can increase the risk of lung cancer.

"These microplastics are basically particulate matter air pollution, and we know this type of air pollution is harmful," said Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, MPH, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF.

Woodruff directs the Program on Reproductive Health & the Environment (PRHE) and is the senior author of the study, which appears in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Federal hostility could delay offshore wind projects, derailing state climate goals

Among the many things Trump hates, wind energy is high on the list

By Alex Brown, Rhode Island Current

He really hates "windmills"

Numerous East Coast states are counting on offshore wind projects to power tens of millions of homes and to help them transition to cleaner energy.

But putting wind turbines at sea requires the cooperation of a powerful landlord: the federal government. Soon, that government will be led by Donald Trump, who has frequently disparaged offshore wind and said he will “make sure that ends on Day 1.”

In the eight states that have passed legal mandates to reach certain amounts of offshore wind power, Trump’s second term threatens those timelines.

“This is absolutely going to create problems for how we’re going to meet our emissions goals and the energy needs for the state,” said Massachusetts state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat who serves as vice chair on the legislative Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

For many East Coast states that lack a large land base for extensive onshore development, offshore wind in federal ocean waters is central to their plans for a power supply that doesn’t use fossil fuels. 

Lawmakers in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia have established mandates requiring their states to produce certain amounts of offshore wind power in the coming years. 

Other states have passed laws to allow for offshore wind to be added to their grids or set nonbinding planning targets to prepare for the industry’s development.

State leaders say they will continue to pursue offshore wind but realize there may be delays during the next four years.

In the meantime, some say they will continue to build out the needed electrical grid and ports to get ready for turbines, in hopes of speeding up offshore wind once Trump’s term ends. Others say they may need to consider building more onshore energy projects, including wind and solar, in the next few years to meet near-term climate goals.

New Study Exposes Hidden Risks of Acetaminophen in Older Adults

Discuss the risk vs. benefits with your primary care provider

By University of Nottingham

Researchers from the University of Nottingham have discovered that repeated use of acetaminophen in people aged 65 and older may increase the risk of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and kidney problems.

The study, published recently in the medical journal Arthritis Care and Research, highlights the need for caution when prescribing acetaminophen for chronic pain conditions like osteoarthritis in older adults.

The research team was led by Professor Weiya Zhang from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in the University of Nottingham’s School of Medicine.

“Due to its perceived safety, paracetamol has long been recommended as the first line drug treatment for osteoarthritis by many treatment guidelines, especially in older people who are at higher risk of drug-related complications,” Professor Zhang explained.

Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol, is a widely used over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer. Common brand names include Tylenol, Panadol, and Mapap. It is often recommended for mild to moderate pain such as headaches, muscle aches, and arthritis, as well as for reducing fever.

FTC Kills Hidden Fees in Tickets and Hotel Pricing

Will this stick under Trump?

By Uprise RI Staff

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) just announced a landmark final rule aimed at combating hidden junk fees and deceptive pricing practices in the live-event ticketing and short-term lodging industries. The rule, which takes effect 120 days after publication in the Federal Register, requires businesses to show customers the total price upfront and prohibits them from surprising consumers with hidden mandatory fees later in the purchasing process.

Key Provisions of the New Rule

The rule targets two specific industries where hidden fees have been particularly problematic:

1. Live-event ticketing (concerts, sports events, theater performances)
2. Short-term lodging (hotels, motels, vacation rentals, etc.)

Under the new regulations, businesses must:

• Display the total price, including all mandatory fees, whenever they advertise or show a price
• Show the total price more prominently than other pricing information
• Clearly disclose the nature, purpose, and amount of any excluded fees before customers agree to pay
• Not misrepresent any fees or charges, including their nature, purpose, amount, or refundability

“People deserve to know up-front what they’re being asked to pay—without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan.

Impact on Consumers

The FTC estimates that the rule will save consumers significant time and money:

• Up to 53 million hours per year of wasted time searching for true total prices
• More than $11 billion in time savings over the next decade
• Reduced frustration and stress from surprise fees
• Easier comparison shopping across different providers

The real scam — rail against renewables, run away with factories

Hypocrisy and profiteering threaten renewable energy 

Derrick Z. Jackson

For all that President-elect Donald Trump trashed renewable energy on the stump, much of his ranting may very well become a murmur when he returns to the Oval Office.

Obscured by his “green new scam” rhetoric is a mad scramble by his supporters in Congress to reap the economic benefits of green industry for their states and districts. 

The increasing investments, precisely in the places that voted for him, make President-elect Trump’s pledge to “terminate” many green programs political wolf talk. That is because the renewable energy industry is growing jobs more than twice as fast as the overall economy.

A lasting irony of the outgoing Biden administration will be how no Republican in Congress voted for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Yet 85% of the announced clean energy projects and 68% of the jobs triggered by the IRA, such as those related to electric vehicles, wind power, solar power, and battery storage, have gone to Republican-held congressional districts, according to E2, a nonpartisan group that monitors the clean energy industry.

The representatives of those districts see no apparent contradiction in touting the attractiveness of their areas for clean energy investments, while publicly supporting the President-elect’s rhetoric and proposals to end clean energy programs.

Wow! Gold-plated!

New England scallopers face a tough 2025

At $20+ a pound in the market, how much higher can the price go?

By Adam Goldstein 

This story was originally published in The New Bedford Light, a publication partner of Ocean State Stories.

New England scallopers are looking at another tough year in 2025, as they prepare for a set of federal regulations to protect both their livelihoods and the Atlantic Ocean’s scallop populations.

If approved by NOAA Fisheries, the new rules, called Scallop Framework 39, will reduce the number of times that full-time vessels can go drag in some federally-managed scalloping grounds — called “access areas” — in the 2025 fishing year. 

But they will allow these vessels more time to scallop in the open ocean. The start of the access-area scalloping season will also be pushed back from April 1 to May 15, 2025. It will end on March 31, 2026.

These proposed regulations are meant to conserve the fishery resource as it goes through a period of low productivity, regional fisheries managers say. They were developed by the New England Fishery Management Council.

Surveys showed the overall weight of harvestable scallops in New England waters dropped from 2023 to 2024. 

Local scallopers and industry representatives say the contents of Framework 39 are not a surprise. Landings have been shrinking over the past four years. 

Kids win climate case in Montana

Montana Supreme Court upholds historic youth climate lawsuit win

The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a trial court ruling in a youth-led case against the Montana state government, affirming that the sixteen young plaintiffs have a right to a “stable climate system.” The decision marks what legal observers say is a landmark achievement in US climate litigation that is likely to inspire more lawsuits seeking to hold governments accountable for climate change harms in the US and around the world.

In the 6-1 decision, the court ruled against the state in its appeal of the August 2023 verdict in Held et al. v. State of Montana, which went to trial in June 2023. Seeley found that a pair of state laws effectively shielding fossil fuel projects from public scrutiny over their climate impacts, and from judicial review of those impacts under the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), violate the state’s constitution, including the right to a clean and healthful environment. 

That environmental right includes the climate system, the court determined, and every additional ton of greenhouse gases emitted from fossil fuels – including from projects like coal mine expansion authorized by Montana regulatory agencies – exacerbates climate change damages and harms to Montana’s environment and the youth plaintiffs.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In 2020, Rhode Island judge Melissa Darigan ruled on a similar case brought by a group of Rhode Island young people. She granted DEM's motion to dismiss the case.  - Will Collette

What will Trump, RFK Jr. do to prepare for the next pandemic? Stock up on bleach?

How America Lost Control of the Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic

Amy Maxmen 

Keith Poulsen’s jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack.

But the scale of the farmers’ efforts to treat the sick cows stunned him. They showed videos of systems they built to hydrate hundreds of cattle at once. In 14-hour shifts, dairy workers pumped gallons of electrolyte-rich fluids into ailing cows through metal tubes inserted into the esophagus.

“It was like watching a field hospital on an active battlefront treating hundreds of wounded soldiers,” he said.

Nearly a year into the first outbreak of the bird flu among cattle, the virus shows no sign of slowing. The U.S. government failed to eliminate the virus on dairy farms when it was confined to a handful of states, by quickly identifying infected cows and taking measures to keep their infections from spreading. Now at least 845 herds across 16 states have tested positive.

Experts say they have lost faith in the government’s ability to contain the outbreak.

Trust issues

Tax the rich, or just him if you prefer

New evidence on the relationship between moderate wine consumption and cardiovascular health

Another installment in the on-going debate over wine and health

University of Barcelona

Light and moderate consumption of wine is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular complications, according to a multicenter study led by researchers from the University of Barcelona, the Hospital Clínic and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), the Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBEROBN) and the University of Navarra (UNAV). 

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, is based on the analysis of a biomarker of wine intake — specifically, tartaric acid, present in grapes. It was carried out in 1,232 participants in the PREDIMED project, a major scientific epidemiological study in nutrition on the effects of the Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular health.

According to the researchers, “there is no doubt that excessive alcohol consumption has serious health consequences. However, the effects of moderate and responsible wine consumption are still the subject of debate in the scientific community. The results of this study and others should help to place moderate wine consumption in its rightful place as an element of the Mediterranean diet, considered to be the healthiest in the world”.

Foulkes versus McGee battle intensifies

Sparks fly between McKee, Foulkes after DOJ lawsuit against CVS

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Dan McKee, of all people, implies
wrong-doing by Foulkes

Nowhere in the  97-page federal lawsuit against CVS Health is its former pharmacy leader, Helena Buonanno Foulkes, mentioned by name.

But Gov. Dan McKee’s campaign was quick to point out the connection between the pharmacy giant’s alleged misdeeds and his former gubernatorial rival. Foulkes served as president of CVS Pharmacy Inc. for four years during the decade in which the U.S. Department of Justice alleges the pharmacy giant filled fake prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances.

The DOJ’s complaint, unsealed on Wednesday, alleges that CVS worsened the opioid crisis, pointing the finger at company policies — and the unnamed executives who developed or enforced them — for creating a “soul-crushing” environment for employees with “deadly” consequences for patients.

Less than 24 hours after U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha unveiled the damning accusations in a press conference with reporters, Gov. Dan McKee’s campaign came out with its own response to “the wrongdoing that took place under Helena Foulkes tenure as CEO.”

Have an abiding faith in the common sense and good-heartedness of most Americans.

We the People Will Prevail

Robert Reich 

Friends,

The holidays provide an apt time to pause and assess where we are.

You have every reason to be worried about what happens after January 20. Many people could be harmed.

Yet I continue to have an abiding faith in the common sense and good-heartedness of most Americans, despite the outcome of the election.

Many traditional Democratic voters did not vote — either because they were upset about the Biden administration’s support for Benjamin Netanyahu or they were unmoved by Kamala Harris. Others chose Trump because their incomes have gone nowhere for years and they thought the system needed to be “shaken up.”

An explanation is not a justification.

There have been times when I doubted America. I think the worst was 1968, with the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and then Bobby Kennedy, the riots and fires that consumed our cities, the horrific Democratic convention in Chicago along with protests and violent police response, the election of the dreadful Nixon, and the escalating carnage of Vietnam.

It seemed to me then that we had utterly lost our moral compass and purpose.

But the Watergate hearings demonstrated to me that we had not lost it. Democrats and Republicans worked together to discover what Nixon had done.

I had much the same feeling about the brilliant work done by the House’s special committee to investigate January 6, 2021, including chair Bennie Thompson and vice chair Liz Cheney.

I think it important not to overlook the many good things that happened under the Biden-Harris administration — the most aggressive use of antitrust and most pro-union labor board I remember, along with extraordinary legislative accomplishments.

When I think about what’s good about America, I also think about the jurors, the prosecutors, and the judge in Trump’s trial in Manhattan, who took extraordinary abuse. Their lives and the lives of their families were threatened. But they didn’t flinch. They did their duty.

I think about our armed services men and women. Our firefighters and police officers. Our teachers and social workers. Our nurses who acted with such courage and dedication during the pandemic. I think about all the other people who are putting in countless hours in our cities and towns and states to make our lives better.

A few days ago, I ran into an old friend who’s spending the holidays running a food kitchen for the unhoused.

“How are you?” she asked, with a big smile.

“Been better,” I said.

“Oh, you’re still in a funk over the election,” she said. “Don’t worry! We’ll do fine. There’s so much work to do.”

“Yes, but Trump is …”

She stopped me, her face turning into a frown. “Nothing we can do about him now, except get ready for his regime. Protect the people who’ll be hurt.”

“You’re right.”

After a pause she said, “We had to come to this point, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Biden couldn’t get done nearly enough. The reactionary forces have been building for years. They’re like the pus in an ugly boil.”

“That’s the worst metaphor I’ve heard!” I laughed.

“The boil is on our collective ass,” she continued, laughing along with me. “And the only way we get up enough courage to lance the boil is for it to get so big and so ugly and so mean that no one can sit down!”

“I don’t know whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist,” I said, still laughing.

“Neither,” she explained, turning serious. “A realist. I’ve had it with wishy-washy Democratic ‘centrists.’ A few years of the miserable Trump administration and we can get back to the real work of the country.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“And now I have to get back to work. Lots of people to feed! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy New Year!”

With that, she was gone.

Robert Reich is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.