Heather McGhee made her career in pushing for economic policy changes at the think tank Demos. But she couldn't help but feel that something was missing from her work. So she embarked on a cross-country road trip to understand what's at the heart of what ails America's economy and our democracy. The result is her book The Sum of Us, which she joins us to talk about in this episode.
In the book, McGhee explores what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm—the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. She details how public goods in this country—from parks and pools to functioning schools—have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world’s advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.
Finally, she offers examples of how this paradigm is changing in communities across the country when people work across differences to achieve a shared goal.
At the beginning of the episode, we reference our conversation with Rhiana Gunn-Wright, one of the architects of the Green New Deal.
When religion and democracy collide
Sore losers are bad for democracy
On democracy's doomsayers
What does it take to sustain democracy?
Fannie Lou Hamer's fight continues today
Andrew Yang and Charlie Dent on the future of America's political parties
The soul of democracy
Jonathan Haidt on democracy's moral foundations [rebroadcast]
Why social media is so polarizing — and what we can do about it
What makes a campaign deplorable?
Fighting for democracy in the GOP
Tom Nichols on democracy's worst enemy
Independent commissions alone can't create fair maps
Voter suppression doesn't repeat, but it rhymes
A love letter to democratic institutions
How Amazon is disrupting democracy
Abortion is not always a clash of absolutes
Millennials' slow climb to political power
A summer of the individual vs. the common good
Extreme maps, extreme politics [reboradcast]
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