We started this series with a simple question: What is wrong with us?
Why does the richest country in human history rank 44th in life expectancy?
Why do we spend twice as much on healthcare as other developed countries but get worse outcomes?
Why can’t people afford housing even though we have more vacant homes than homeless people?
Why is the American Dream—work hard, get ahead, give your kids a better life—dead for most people?
We’ve now spent 24 parts answering that question. And the answer is clear:
**The system is rigged. Deliberately. Systematically. By both parties. To extract wealth from the bottom 90% and concentrate it at the top.**
Let me summarize what we’ve learned:
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED: THE COMPLETE EXTRACTION SYSTEM
Healthcare (Parts 1-6):
• We rank 44th in life expectancy, worse infant mortality than Slovenia
• We spend $12,555 per capita, other countries spend $5,000-6,000 and get better outcomes
• Why? Insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospital monopolies extract $trillions
• UnitedHealth made $22 billion profit while denying your claims
• Congress has gold-plated healthcare they won’t give you
• Solution exists: Universal healthcare (every other developed country has it)
Housing (Part 7):
• Median home price to income ratio has doubled (from 3x to 6x+)
• BlackRock and institutional investors buying up single-family homes
• Financialization of housing (treating homes as investment assets, not shelter)
• You can’t afford to buy because they’re extracting wealth through housing speculation
Education (Part 8):
• $1.7 trillion in student debt
• For-profit colleges scam students
• Bankruptcy protections removed for student loans (thanks Joe Biden)
• You’re trapped in debt because loan servicers profit from your payments
Immobility (Part 9):
• Healthcare tied to employment (can’t leave job)
• Housing unaffordable (can’t move)
• Student debt (can’t start over)
• You’re economically immobile by design—easier to exploit trapped workers
Prisons (Part 10):
• For-profit prisons lobby for harsher sentences
• Mass incarceration disproportionately targets Black and Brown communities
• Profit from human caging while destroying families and communities
Military (Part 11):
• $877 billion annual budget
• Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman profit from endless wars
• Cost overruns are features, not bugs (F-35: $1.7 trillion program)
Political System (Part 12):
• Both parties serve corporate donors on economic issues
• Differ on social issues (abortion, guns, LGBTQ+) to maintain tribal loyalty
• But on healthcare, taxes, trade, monopolies? Bipartisan consensus for extraction
Structural Reforms Needed (Part 13):
• Electoral college, Senate malapportionment, gerrymandering, Citizens United
• Political system designed to prevent majority rule
• Money = speech = oligarchy
Tribalism (Part 14):
• Culture war issues keep us divided
• While we fight about bathrooms, they extract trillions
• Bottom 90% have unified economic interests—but we’re kept fighting each other
Religion as Control (Parts 15-16):
• Prosperity gospel justifies wealth extraction
• Megachurches extract wealth from congregants
• Religious right provides political cover for economic policies that hurt religious conservatives
Tax Extraction (Parts 17-19):
• Pensions replaced with 401(k)s (Wall Street fee extraction)
• Capital gains taxed lower than wages (wealth favored over work)
• Corporations pay $0 in taxes despite billions in profit
• Tax code deliberately rigged to extract from workers, favor wealthy
Monopolies (Part 20):
• Comcast, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, tech giants
• No competition = monopoly pricing = extraction
• Vertical integration (UnitedHealth owns insurance + PBM + pharmacies)
• “Corporate socialism” for monopolies, “capitalism” for workers
Coordinated Sabotage (Part 21):
• USPS pre-funding requirement (designed to fail)
• IRS underfunded (then blamed for being inefficient)
• Schools defunded (then privatized via charters)
• Public services deliberately sabotaged to justify privatization
Media Consolidation (Part 22):
• Six corporations own 90% of media
• Media manipulates to serve corporate/advertiser interests
• Fox is explicit propaganda (Dominion lawsuit proved they knowingly lied)
• You don’t know about extraction because extractors own the media
The Efficiency Lie (Part 23):
• “Government is inefficient” is propaganda
• AI could make government services instant (Medicare claims, DMV, IRS, Social Security)
• Technology exists NOW—they choose not to use it
• Inefficiency justifies privatization = profits
Environmental Extraction (Part 24):
• Fossil fuel subsidies ($20B+/year to profitable companies)
• Pollution externalities (corporations profit, public pays health costs)
• Climate change (corporations extracted trillions, we pay for disasters)
• Extraction from public commons and future generations
Gig Economy (Part 24):
• Uber/Lyft/DoorDash misclassify employees as contractors
• No minimum wage, no overtime, no benefits, no protections
• Prop 22: Spent $200M to legalize exploitation
• This is the future corporate America wants for ALL workers
Financial System (Part 24):
• 2008 bailouts (socialize losses, privatize profits)
• Predatory lending (payday loans, subprime auto, credit cards)
• Medical debt ($200B—uniquely American problem)
• Consumer protection rollbacks (arbitration clauses, class action bans)
Trade Deals (Part 24):
• NAFTA, China trade (millions of jobs lost)
• Bipartisan support for shipping jobs overseas
• Corporations profit from $2/hour labor, American workers lose jobs
Worker Power Destroyed (Part 24B):
• Union membership deliberately crushed (from 35% to 10%)
• Wage stagnation directly correlates with union decline
• Your parents/grandparents had pensions and could retire at 55 because unions were strong
• You’ll work until 70 with no pension because unions were destroyed
THE PATTERN: IT’S ALL CONNECTED
Every system we’ve examined follows the same pattern:
1. **Service/resource that should benefit everyone is controlled by corporations**
2. **Corporations extract maximum profit**
3. **Workers/consumers/taxpayers bear the costs**
4. **Politicians in both parties enable extraction** (they take money from extractors)
5. **Media hides or justifies extraction** (media is owned by extractors)
6. **Anyone who opposes extraction is called “socialist”** (to discredit opposition)
This isn’t 24 separate problems. This is ONE coordinated system of extraction.
The same corporations donate to the same politicians in both parties.
The same think tanks (Heritage, Cato, AEI) justify extraction across all sectors.
The same media companies (Comcast, Disney, Fox) hide extraction from public view.
The same propaganda (“government doesn’t work,” “free markets,” “socialism”) is used to defend every extraction mechanism.
**This is systematic wealth transfer from the bottom 90% to the top 10%, especially the top 1%.**
And it’s bipartisan. Both parties do this. That’s the most important lesson from this series.
THE BOTTOM 90% HAVE UNIFIED ECONOMIC INTERESTS
Here’s what the bottom 90% need, regardless of political party, race, religion, geography, or culture:
**We all need:**
• **Affordable healthcare** (not monopoly insurance that denies claims)
• **Affordable housing** (not financialized speculation)
• **Education without debt slavery**
• **Jobs with fair wages, benefits, and protections** (not contractor misclassification)
• **Fair tax system** (not rigged for the wealthy)
• **Pensions we can retire on** (not 401(k)s that extract fees and put all risk on us)
• **Public services that work** (not sabotaged then privatized)
• **Media that informs** (not manipulates)
• **Government that serves us** (not corporate donors)
• **Clean environment** (not extraction that makes us pay for pollution and climate disasters)
• **Banking system that serves us** (not predatory lending and bailouts)
• **Trade deals that protect our jobs** (not just corporate profits)
• **Worker power through unions** (not corporate domination)
These aren’t partisan issues. These are bottom 90% issues.
**A rural conservative factory worker and an urban progressive teacher have more in common with each other than either has with the corporate executives extracting from both.**
We need to understand this. We need to act on this.
Because as long as we’re fighting each other over culture war issues, they keep extracting trillions unopposed.
BUT WE’RE KEPT DIVIDED
The extraction depends on division.
If the bottom 90% united around economic interests, we’d be unstoppable. We outnumber them 9 to 1. We could elect politicians who serve us, pass laws that protect us, break up monopolies, raise wages, tax the wealthy fairly, fund public services, and end extraction.
So they keep us divided:
**Culture war issues:**
• Abortion
• Guns
• LGBTQ+ rights
• Immigration
• Religion
• Race
• Urban vs. rural
• “Woke” vs. “traditional values”
These are real disagreements. I’m not dismissing them.
But here’s the key: **These disagreements shouldn’t prevent us from acting on shared economic interests.**
You can disagree with someone about abortion or guns and still both support:
• Universal healthcare
• Fair wages
• Affordable housing
• Breaking up monopolies
• Fair taxes
• Strong unions
**We don’t need to agree on everything to unite on the economics.**
Example: Your in-laws (Part 24B)
• Conservative
• Hate unions
• Got to retire at 55 with pension and healthcare BECAUSE unions negotiated it
• Their grandchildren won’t get those benefits because unions were destroyed
Their political identity says “unions bad.” Their economic reality was “unions gave us good life.”
**This is the disconnect we need to bridge.**
Rural Trump voters and urban progressives both:
• Can’t afford healthcare
• Can’t afford housing
• Have stagnant wages
• Face monopoly pricing (Comcast, pharmaceuticals, etc.)
• Pay higher taxes than billionaires (as percentage of income)
• See public services failing (deliberately sabotaged)
**We have the same enemies. We just don’t realize it yet.**
WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS: INTERNATIONAL PROOF
We know these systems can work because other countries prove it:
**Healthcare:**
Every other developed country has universal healthcare:
• Canada, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Nordic countries, etc.
• Better outcomes, lower cost, covers everyone
• This isn’t radical—it’s normal everywhere except the U.S.
**Education:**
Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, etc.: Free university education
• Students graduate debt-free
• Society invests in education as public good
• Result: Educated workforce, high productivity, strong economy
**Labor Protections:**
Nordic countries, Germany: Strong unions, worker board representation, sectoral bargaining
• High wages, low inequality, strong middle class
• Capitalism works for workers, not just owners
**Public Services:**
Estonia: Digital government, 3-minute tax filing
• Government can be efficient when properly funded and using modern technology
**Pensions:**
Most developed countries: Strong public pension systems
• Elderly poverty rates much lower than U.S.
• People can actually retire
**The lesson:** These aren’t pipe dreams. They’re NORMAL in the developed world.
We’re the outlier. And we’re the outlier because corporate interests have captured our political system to prevent reforms that would benefit the bottom 90%.
WHY WE DON’T HAVE THESE THINGS
Not because they don’t work.
Not because we can’t afford them.
Not because “Americans don’t want them.”
**Because powerful interests profit from dysfunction.**
UnitedHealth doesn’t want universal healthcare (would eliminate their $22B profit).
Pharmaceutical companies don’t want drug price negotiation (would cut profits).
Insurance companies don’t want single-payer (would eliminate the industry).
Intuit doesn’t want automatic tax filing (would eliminate TurboTax’s $12B revenue).
Comcast doesn’t want municipal broadband (would eliminate monopoly pricing).
Amazon doesn’t want unions (would have to pay workers fairly).
Wall Street doesn’t want pensions (would eliminate 401(k) fee extraction).
For-profit prisons don’t want sentencing reform (would eliminate revenue).
Defense contractors don’t want peace (would cut contracts).
**Every reform threatens someone’s profits. Those someones donate millions to politicians in both parties to prevent reforms.**
That’s why we don’t have what other countries have.
Not inability. Not ideology. **Corruption.**
THE OBSTACLES WE FACE
Fixing this requires overcoming massive obstacles:
Obstacle 1: Corporate Money in Politics
Corporations and billionaires donate billions to politicians:
• 2020 election: $14+ billion spent
• Corporate PACs, Super PACs, dark money groups
• Both parties take corporate money
Result: Politicians serve donors, not voters.
Solution: Get money out of politics (overturn Citizens United, public financing, etc.).
But: Corporations fight this because money in politics benefits them.
Obstacle 2: Media Manipulation
Six corporations own 90% of media (Part 22).
• Media won’t seriously cover wealth extraction (they ARE the extractors)
• Media keeps us divided on culture war issues
• Fox explicitly lies to viewers (Dominion lawsuit proved it)
Result: People don’t know about extraction, stay divided.
Solution: Break up media monopolies, fund public media (NPR/PBS at $25B+/year), support independent journalism.
But: Media companies fight this because media monopolies benefit them.
Obstacle 3: “Socialism” Accusations
Every reform gets called “socialism” to discredit it:
• Universal healthcare = “socialism”
• Free college = “socialism”
• Strong unions = “socialism”
• Fair taxes = “socialism”
• Public services = “socialism”
This framing is deliberate propaganda. But it works because:
• 50+ years of Cold War conditioning
• Americans fear “socialism” (even though most don’t know what it means)
• Effective at shutting down conversation
Solution: Reframe reforms in ways that appeal across political spectrum (see next section).
Obstacle 4: Political Tribalism
People identify as Democrat or Republican first, American second.
• “My team” vs. “other team”
• Defend “my team” even when they screw me
• Attack “other team” even when they’d help me
Result: People vote against their own economic interests to support their political tribe.
Solution: Emphasize bottom 90% economic interests transcend party lines.
Obstacle 5: Lack of Worker Power
Without unions, workers have no leverage:
• Can’t negotiate wages/benefits
• Can’t strike
• Can’t organize politically
• Individually powerless
Result: Corporations can extract with impunity.
Solution: Rebuild unions (Part 24B covered this extensively).
THE FRAMING: HOW WE TALK ABOUT THIS TO WIN
The way we talk about reforms matters enormously.
If we frame reforms as “socialism,” we lose conservatives.
If we frame reforms as “progressive,” we trigger partisan resistance.
We need framing that appeals to the bottom 90% across political spectrum:
Don’t Say “Socialism” – Say “Economic Freedom”
**Bad framing:** “We need socialism to fix capitalism’s problems.”
**Good framing:** “We need economic freedom from corporate monopolies that rig the system.”
Most Americans aren’t socialists. They’re being screwed by monopolies and want fair shot.
Frame reforms as:
• **Freedom FROM corporate control**
• **Economic liberty** (ability to start a business without being crushed by monopolies)
• **Fair competition** (breaking up monopolies so small businesses can compete)
• **Anti-corruption** (getting money out of politics)
Don’t Say “Free Healthcare” – Say “Freedom to Choose Your Job”
**Bad framing:** “Free healthcare for everyone.”
**Good framing:** “Healthcare not tied to your employer, so you’re free to start a business, change jobs, or retire early without losing coverage.”
This appeals to:
• Conservatives: Freedom, entrepreneurship
• Liberals: Universal coverage
• Everyone: Not trapped in job because of healthcare
Don’t Say “Tax the Rich” – Say “Fair Share”
**Bad framing:** “Soak the rich!”
**Good framing:** “Billionaires should pay the same tax rate as teachers and firefighters.”
Right now, billionaires pay lower tax rates than working people (capital gains vs. wage taxation). This is indefensible to anyone.
Frame as: **Fairness, not redistribution.**
Don’t Say “Big Government” – Say “Government That Works For You”
**Bad framing:** “We need bigger government programs.”
**Good framing:** “Government should work for you, not for corporate donors. Right now, politicians serve whoever pays them. We need to fix that.”
This appeals across spectrum:
• Conservatives hate government because they see it serving special interests (they’re right)
• Liberals want government to work for people (they’re right)
• Frame: Get corruption out, make government serve citizens
Use “Corporate Welfare” and “Corporate Socialism”
**Frame monopolies and subsidies as “corporate welfare” and “corporate socialism.”**
This flips the script:
• Conservatives hate welfare and socialism
• So call corporate subsidies and monopolies what they are: Corporate welfare, corporate socialism
• “We don’t need socialism for workers—we need to end socialism for corporations”
This reframes the debate in our favor.
Emphasize “Rigged System”
Everyone—left, right, center—feels the system is rigged.
Because it is.
Frame reforms as: **Un-rigging the system.**
• Breaking up monopolies = un-rigging
• Getting money out of politics = un-rigging
• Fair taxes = un-rigging
• Unions = un-rigging (workers getting power to negotiate)
“Rigged system” resonates across political spectrum.
Use “Corporate Greed” Not “Capitalism”
Don’t attack capitalism as a system. Most Americans support capitalism.
Attack: **Corporate greed and monopoly power that pervert capitalism.**
Frame:
• “Capitalism requires competition. Monopolies kill competition.”
• “Capitalism should reward innovation and hard work. Right now it rewards whoever has the best lobbyists.”
• “We’re not against capitalism. We’re against corporate socialism and monopoly power.”
This allows conservatives to support reforms without abandoning capitalism.
The Bottom Line on Framing:
Words matter. We’re fighting 50+ years of corporate propaganda. We need framing that:
• Avoids “socialism” (triggers conservative resistance)
• Emphasizes freedom, fairness, anti-corruption
• Appeals to bottom 90% across political spectrum
• Flips corporate propaganda against them (“corporate socialism”)
If we frame well, we can build bottom 90% coalition.
If we frame poorly (“socialism,” “big government”), we lose before we start.
THE STRATEGY: HOW THE BOTTOM 90% ACTUALLY ORGANIZE
Okay, we know what’s wrong. We know what needs to change. We know how to frame it.
Now: **How do we actually do this?**
Step 1: Organize Workplaces (Unions)
This is the foundation. Everything else depends on worker power.
Part 24B covered this extensively:
• If you’re a worker: Organize your workplace
• Contact union in your industry
• Build organizing committee
• Win election
• Negotiate contract
**Why this comes first:**
Workers with unions have:
• Economic power (negotiate wages/benefits)
• Political power (vote as bloc, donate, lobby)
• Ability to strike (ultimate leverage)
Without unions, bottom 90% are politically weak.
With unions, bottom 90% have power to demand change.
**This is the hardest, most important work.**
Step 2: Primary Incumbents (Both Parties)
Most incumbent politicians take corporate money and serve corporate interests.
**They need to go.**
Strategy:
• Identify incumbents who take corporate PAC money, vote for extraction-enabling policies
• Support primary challengers who refuse corporate money
• This applies to BOTH parties (Democrats and Republicans both do this)
Example:
• Joe Manchin (D-WV): Took coal money, blocked climate action → Primary
• Republicans who vote for monopolies, against unions → Primary
• Democrats who take pharma money, oppose Medicare for All → Primary
**Primary elections are where change happens.** General elections are often “lesser of two evils.” Primaries are where you get good candidates.
**You don’t need to agree with primary challenger on everything** (abortion, guns, etc.). You need them to:
• Refuse corporate PAC money
• Support breaking up monopolies
• Support unions
• Support fair taxes
• Support universal healthcare
• Serve bottom 90%, not corporate donors
Step 3: Build Cross-Partisan Coalitions
Bottom 90% includes Democrats, Republicans, and independents.
We need coalitions that unite across party lines on economic issues:
Example: Breaking up Comcast
• Rural conservatives hate Comcast (monopoly pricing, terrible service)
• Urban progressives hate Comcast (monopoly power, media control)
• Coalition: Everyone vs. Comcast
This already exists in some places:
• Missouri passed Medicaid expansion (universal healthcare lite) despite being red state
• Florida passed $15 minimum wage despite being red state
• Both parties’ voters support breaking up tech monopolies (Facebook, Google, Amazon)
**The bottom 90% agree on economics when freed from partisan framing.**
Strategy:
• Find local issues where left and right agree (monopolies, corruption, corporate welfare)
• Build coalitions around those issues
• Win reforms locally
• Scale nationally
Step 4: Support Independent/Alternative Media
Corporate media won’t cover extraction honestly (Part 22).
We need alternative media:
• Support independent journalists (Substack, YouTube, podcasts)
• Fund nonprofit journalism (ProPublica, investigative outlets)
• Massively increase NPR/PBS funding (from $450M to $25B+/year)
• Break up media monopolies (antitrust)
**Information is power. If people don’t know about extraction, they can’t fight it.**
Step 5: Educate and Persuade
Most people don’t know what we’ve covered in this series.
They know something is wrong, but they don’t know:
• How systems are rigged
• Who profits
• How it’s coordinated
• What solutions exist
**Our job: Educate.**
Share this information:
• With family, friends, coworkers
• On social media
• In conversations
• At union meetings, community gatherings, etc.
**Counter corporate propaganda with facts:**
• “Unions are bad” → Show data on union wage premium
• “Government is inefficient” → Show how sabotage creates dysfunction
• “Free market solves everything” → Show how monopolies kill free markets
• “We can’t afford universal healthcare” → Show how we’d save money
Education is organizing. Changed minds become changed votes.
Step 6: Run for Office (Or Support Those Who Do)
If existing politicians serve corporate donors, we need new politicians.
This means:
• Run for local office (school board, city council, state legislature)
• Support candidates who refuse corporate money
• Build political infrastructure for bottom 90% candidates
**You don’t need to be perfect.** You need to:
• Refuse corporate money
• Commit to serving bottom 90%
• Fight extraction
This is happening:
• DSA candidates winning local races
• Progressive Democrats primarying corporate Democrats
• Even some populist Republicans running on anti-corporate platforms
Step 7: Strike and Protest
When organizing, primaries, and education aren’t enough, we strike and protest:
**Strikes:**
• Workers withdraw labor until demands are met
• UAW strike (2023) won 25% raises
• Hollywood strikes won AI protections, residuals
• Strikes work when workers have solidarity
**Protests:**
• Occupy Wall Street (2011) put inequality on national agenda
• Black Lives Matter put police violence on national agenda
• March for Our Lives put gun violence on national agenda
Protests alone don’t win reforms. But they:
• Raise awareness
• Build movements
• Pressure politicians
• Show strength
Combined with organizing, primaries, coalition-building, and electoral action, protests are powerful tool.
Step 8: Think Long-Term
This won’t be won in one election cycle.
Corporate power took 50+ years to build.
Union decline took 50 years.
Wealth concentration took 50 years.
**Rebuilding will take time.**
We need:
• Long-term commitment
• Persistence through setbacks
• Sustained organizing
• Generational strategy
Think: Civil Rights Movement (decade+ of organizing to win Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act).
Think: Labor movement (decades of strikes and organizing to win New Deal, labor protections).
**Movements take time. But they win when people don’t give up.**
THE POLICIES: WHAT WE’RE ACTUALLY FIGHTING FOR
Okay, we’ve organized. We’ve built coalitions. We’ve won elections. Now what do we do?
Here’s the bottom 90% policy agenda:
Healthcare:
• **Medicare for All** (universal healthcare, single-payer)
• **Drug price negotiation** (Medicare can negotiate pharmaceutical prices)
• **Ban pharmaceutical advertising** (like every other country)
• **Break up health insurance monopolies**
Housing:
• **Ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes**
• **Build public housing** (like Vienna’s model—high quality, mixed-income)
• **Zoning reform** (allow more housing to be built)
• **Tax vacancy** (if home sits empty, gets taxed heavily)
Education:
• **Free public college/university** (like Germany, Nordic countries)
• **Student debt cancellation**
• **Restore bankruptcy protections** for student loans
• **Eliminate for-profit colleges** (they’re scams)
Labor:
• **Pass PRO Act** (protect union organizing)
• **Repeal Taft-Hartley**
• **Ban right-to-work** nationally
• **Sectoral bargaining** (unions negotiate for entire industries)
• **$20+ minimum wage** (indexed to inflation)
• **Mandatory paid sick leave, vacation, parental leave**
Taxes:
• **Treat capital gains as ordinary income** (no preferential rate)
• **Eliminate basis step-up** (close buy-borrow-die loophole)
• **Wealth tax** on fortunes over $50M
• **Corporate minimum tax** (15% globally, can go higher domestically)
• **Close offshore tax havens** (end corporate tax avoidance)
Monopolies:
• **Break up tech monopolies** (Google, Facebook, Amazon)
• **Break up media monopolies** (Comcast, Disney, etc.)
• **Ban vertical integration** (can’t own production AND distribution)
• **Aggressive antitrust enforcement**
Public Services:
• **Remove USPS pre-funding requirement** (let postal service work)
• **Fund IRS properly** (return $6-12 for every $1 invested)
• **Fund public education** equally (not tied to property taxes)
• **Automatic tax filing** (like every other developed country)
Campaign Finance:
• **Overturn Citizens United** (constitutional amendment if necessary)
• **Public financing of elections**
• **Ban corporate donations to politicians**
Retirement:
• **Strengthen Social Security** (remove wage cap)
• **Restore defined-benefit pensions** (require employers offer pensions or contribute to multi-employer plans)
• **Expand Social Security** (raise benefits to livable level)
Environment:
• **End fossil fuel subsidies**
• **Carbon tax** (make polluters pay)
• **Massive green energy investment**
• **Make polluters pay for cleanup** (Superfund expansion)
Financial System:
• **Break up too-big-to-fail banks**
• **Ban predatory lending** (payday loans, subprime auto, etc.)
• **Strengthen CFPB** (restore consumer protections)
• **Ban mandatory arbitration** (restore right to sue)
• **Cap credit card interest** at 15%
Trade:
• **Renegotiate trade deals** to include labor and environmental standards
• **No more deals that allow companies to offshore jobs** without penalty
This is ambitious. But none of it is radical.
Most of this is NORMAL in other developed countries.
We’re not asking for communism. We’re asking for what Germany, Denmark, Japan, Canada already have.
THE MATH: WE OUTNUMBER THEM MASSIVELY
Here’s why this is winnable:
**The extraction benefits maybe 10% of Americans** (top 10% by wealth). And really, most benefits go to top 1% or even 0.1%.
**The extraction hurts 90% of Americans** (the bottom 90%).
**We outnumber them 9 to 1.**
In a democracy, that should mean we win. Overwhelmingly.
The only reason we don’t is:
• Division (culture wars keep bottom 90% fighting each other)
• Propaganda (media hides extraction, frames reforms as “socialism”)
• Money in politics (politicians serve donors, not voters)
• Lack of worker power (unions destroyed, workers can’t organize politically)
**But if we overcome these obstacles:**
The bottom 90% includes:
• 300 million+ Americans
• Across all races, religions, geographies, political parties
• Rural and urban, red states and blue states
• Workers in every industry
If we organize politically around economic interests, we’re unstoppable.
**The extraction depends on us NOT REALIZING this.**
As soon as we realize we have unified economic interests and we outnumber them massively, the game is over.
That’s why this series matters. Information is power.
WHAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY DO (CONCRETE STEPS)
Reading this series is step one. But reading isn’t enough.
Here’s what you can do:
Immediate Actions (This Week):
1. **Join or form a union**
• If your workplace isn’t organized, contact a union
• If it is organized, become active member
2. **Register to vote and register friends/family**
• Primaries and general elections both matter
• Bring people who don’t usually vote
3. **Follow the money on your representatives**
• Go to OpenSecrets.org
• Look up your senators, representative, state legislators
• See who donates to them
• If they take corporate PAC money, they serve corporate interests
4. **Share information**
• Share this series with friends, family, coworkers
• Share on social media
• Talk about it in conversations
Short-Term Actions (This Month):
5. **Attend a local political meeting**
• City council, school board, town hall
• See what’s happening in your community
• Speak up about corporate influence
6. **Support worker organizing**
• When workers strike (Starbucks, Amazon, etc.), support them
• Don’t cross picket lines
• Share their stories on social media
7. **Support independent media**
• Subscribe to independent journalists
• Donate to nonprofit journalism
• Stop getting news only from corporate media
8. **Start conversations**
• With family who disagree politically
• Find common ground on economic issues (everyone hates monopolies)
• Don’t lead with partisan framing
Medium-Term Actions (This Year):
9. **Vote in primary elections**
• Primaries are MORE important than general elections
• Support candidates who refuse corporate money
• Vote out corporate-funded incumbents
10. **Join or support political organizations**
• Labor unions (most important)
• Working Families Party
• Democratic Socialists of America
• Local progressive/populist groups
• Or start your own
11. **Run for local office or support someone who is**
• School board, city council, state legislature
• Local politics matters enormously
• It’s where you can actually make change
12. **Organize your community**
• Tenants unions
• Neighborhood associations
• Worker centers
• Whatever brings people together around shared interests
Long-Term Actions (Next Decade):
13. **Stay engaged**
• This is a marathon, not a sprint
• Corporate power took 50 years to build, will take time to dismantle
• Don’t get discouraged by setbacks
14. **Build alternative institutions**
• Worker cooperatives
• Credit unions instead of banks
• Community land trusts for housing
• Platform cooperatives instead of Uber
• Build what you want to see
15. **Educate the next generation**
• Talk to young people about how systems are rigged
• Encourage them to organize
• Support their activism
16. **Think strategically about career**
• If you can: Work in organizing, journalism, law, politics, or other fields where you can fight extraction directly
• If you can’t: Support those who do, organize in your own workplace
THE OBSTACLES ARE REAL, BUT SO IS THE POWER
I won’t lie to you: This is hard.
Corporate power is entrenched. Media is consolidated. Politicians are bought. Unions are weak. People are divided.
**But:**
The bottom 90% have more power than we realize:
• We outnumber them 9 to 1
• We do all the work (they’d have nothing without our labor)
• We can withhold our labor (strikes)
• We can vote them out (if we organize politically)
• We can build alternative institutions (co-ops, unions, independent media)
• We have the moral high ground (we’re fighting for fair system, they’re fighting for extraction)
**History shows this is winnable:**
• **1930s:** Workers organized, struck, and won New Deal (Social Security, labor protections, minimum wage)
• **1960s:** Civil Rights Movement won Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act despite massive opposition
• **1970s:** Environmental movement won Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, EPA
• **Recent:** Same-sex marriage went from impossible to legal in a decade
**Movements win when people don’t give up.**
It takes years. It takes organizing. It takes sacrifice. But it happens.
And right now, conditions are favorable:
• Public approval of unions at 50-year high (71%)
• People know system is rigged (left and right agree on this)
• Young people especially support unions and reforms (77% of 18-34)
• Organizing is happening (Starbucks, Amazon, etc.)
• Information is more accessible than ever (internet bypasses corporate media)
**We have a chance. A real chance.**
But only if we take it.
REMEMBER WHERE WE STARTED
We began with rankings:
• 44th in life expectancy
• Worse infant mortality than Slovenia
• Spending twice as much on healthcare for worse outcomes
• Richest country in history, bottom-tier outcomes
This doesn’t have to be this way.
Other countries prove it. Germany, Japan, Denmark, Canada, UK—they all have:
• Universal healthcare
• Strong labor protections
• Fair taxes
• Public services that work
• Lower inequality
• Higher life expectancy
• Better quality of life
**They’re not smarter than us. They’re not richer than us. They just have governments that serve citizens instead of corporations.**
We can have what they have.
But only if we fight for it.
THE CHOICE
We’re at a crossroads.
Path 1: Continue as we are
• Extraction continues and accelerates
• Inequality widens
• Middle class disappears
• Democracy becomes oligarchy
• Your children’s lives are worse than yours
• Unrest and instability
Path 2: Organize and fight back
• Build worker power through unions
• Win political reforms
• Break up monopolies
• Fair taxes, universal healthcare, strong public services
• Restore middle class
• Democracy works for bottom 90%
• Your children’s lives are better than yours
**It’s really that simple. And really that important.**
The extraction won’t stop on its own. Corporations won’t voluntarily give up power. Politicians won’t spontaneously serve citizens instead of donors.
**We have to make them.**
And we can. If we organize. If we stay united on economics despite disagreements on other issues. If we don’t give up.
FINAL WORDS
We’ve spent 25 parts documenting how the system is rigged against the bottom 90%.
Now you know:
• What’s broken (everything)
• Why it’s broken (extraction by design)
• Who broke it (corporations, enabled by politicians in both parties)
• How they hide it (media manipulation, propaganda)
• What would fix it (policies that work everywhere else)
• How to win (organize, build power, fight back)
**Knowledge is the first step. But it’s not enough.**
Action is what matters.
This series isn’t meant to make you feel helpless. It’s meant to make you ANGRY. And channel that anger into ORGANIZATION.
You have more power than you think:
• As a worker (organize your workplace)
• As a voter (primary corporate politicians)
• As a consumer (boycott, strike)
• As a community member (build alternatives)
• As a human being (educate others, refuse to give up)
The bottom 90% built this country. We built the roads, the schools, the hospitals, the infrastructure. We do the work every day that makes society function.
**We deserve a fair share of the prosperity we create.**
And we can win it. If we remember that we outnumber them. If we stay united on economics. If we organize for the long fight.
**They’re counting on us to stay divided, distracted, and defeated.**
**Let’s prove them wrong.**
Organize. Educate. Agitate. Vote. Strike. Build. Fight.
The bottom 90% can win.
But only if we try.
—
**THE END**
Thank you for reading. Now go do something about it.
Even that's Odd 
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