Here's a trailer. Are you interested in seeing Robert Reich's upcoming movie on increasing inequality?

Sure, I would watch it, but since I live it on the daily, I’m pretty aware of what he’s talking about, as are the majority of Americans that aren’t rich, I would assume.

Since I’m Republican, I doubt we agree on the reasons for the widening gulf, though. :)

I think I’d be bored out of my mind watching that. I’m sure it’s very important and enlightening, but I wouldn’t pay $10 to see that in theaters. Perhaps on Netflix, but I don’t know a single person that would watch it with me.

Certainly the movie is interesting, a hot topic, and sure to be of success for Reich. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his tactics or conclusions is inconsequential. The fact he is stirring conversation is most important.

From the trailer, I take a bit of issue with his ideas behind “inequality”. I think that is an easy keyword meme that gets lots of attention, yet holds little substance. But I cannot knock him for using it to draw attention to the confusing state we’re in.

“Equality” is a bit of a dangerous word. “Inequality” is even more so dangerous because more folk are ready to accept that label for themselves.

So when “inequality” is packaged next to the shots of a homeless person on the street, I think that’s a bit misleading. It presumes that person wants to have, or deserves to have equal opportunity… when they may not have done anything to deserve equal opportunity.

Opportunity is made or discovered. Either way, it must be capitalized upon and earned. I’m skeptical that everyone has the intestinal fortitude to earn opportunity, and thus secure their perceived equality amongst peers.

I’m a photographer. Everyone is free to become a photographer. But chances are, I’ll get the job because I’ve earned the opportunities upon me. It would be silly for a soccer mom with an iPhone camera to claim she didn’t get the job because of “inequality”.

We must also be careful not to let our own preferences judge the standards of equality. Some might think everyone should have the perfect white picket fence house in the suburbs with two cars in the garage. But they don’t do me any favors by trying to make it easier for me to attain. I may not want that.
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Inequality is a part of society. From the most primitive tribe, to the most advanced culture. Inequality is present down to the very genes of our bones… (I’m glad not all genes are equal).

Inequality is a symptom, not a cause. I’d rather address the cause. We’d be better off discussing how government has become overrun with corruption and tyranny at the bequest of corporate influences that have more rights than a human being.

But kudos to Reich for stirring the conversation. We cannot speak too much on these matters.

“Who is looking out for the working man? The answer is no one.” Great quote and very true. Inequality in terms of wealth and opportunity is already huge in the USA and it is growing. The middle class is being squeezed out of existence. If you aren’t concerned about this you are sleepwalking.

@KNOWITALL . . . Since I’m Republican, I doubt we agree on the reasons for the widening gulf, though. :)

This is what drives me crazy. Both parties are wealthy beyond what the everyday American is worth and neither one is interested in allowing us to catch up. Until folks wake up and realize that, it’s a moot point.

Ooh – I would like to see that movie – thanks for sharing! I will probably wait until it is on DVD, though. Also, I am a sociologist and one of my areas of interest is social stratification/mobility. I think that this would be a great movie to show my students!

@KNOWITALL Why are you a Republican when that party launched the slow destruction of the Middle Class under Reagan and strongly supports policies that continue and accelerate the trend to this day, and you are suffering due to those policies?

@livelaughlove21 Being frugal about your choice of venue I fully get. Being indifferent to the US being turned into a banana republic, unless you are certain your family will be one of the ruling oligarchies, I do not understand.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies There is a vast difference between inequality, which is indeed a part of every society, and a constantly growing level of inequality, which is what we see today and which is the roadmap to becoming a banana republic.

@flutherother Amen.

@Blondesjon Aman and amen.

@answerjill I’m now doubly glad I shared it.

@ETpro Whether I see this film or not will have no bearing on what happens to the US economy, I assure you.

@livelaughlove21 Maybe not a great deal, but the Zeitgeist moves ahead (always progressively ahead) based on what all of us see, and internalize, and talk about. And it is unquestionable that it moves ahead. Not so long ago, it was perfectly normal that women were considered property. The idea that they ought to be allowed to vote, or serve on an jury, or run a company was incomprehensible. Slavery was not just tolerated, it was endorsed over and over again in scripture. Men considered the progressives of their day in Victorian times wrote lengthy treatises on how women and inferior races could not be allowed self determination. It’s embarrassing to read today, but they were the extreme liberals of their time.

It wasn’t so long before that that serfdom (wage slavery) and rape-and-pillage conquest were the only way to live. Genocide wasn’t a horror, it was a rule of life. Yes, some people still try to live by those rules but they are now universally shunned, considered Neanderthals among a civilized society.

Things absolutely do change, but only when we care enough to change them.

@ETpro I think you’re confusing my caring (or not caring) about this film with caring about the economy in general. I don’t remember saying I didn’t care about the economy.

@livelaughlove21 Very well. But it you do care about it, and care about how to change it, then plugging into information that might lead toward that goal would be in your own self interest.

@ETpro Are you on the payroll for this film or something?

@livelaughlove21 Ha! I wouldn’t be living in this dump if I was a movie insider. :-)