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COMMENTARY THE COFFEE KLATCH ... DECEMBER 28TH 2024 Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse The Coffee Klatch Holiday Special PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKOy1_RU6tM Peter Burgess COMMENTARY In my view ... not the best of discussions from Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse. Peter Burgess
The Coffee Klatch Holiday Special \| The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Robert Reich 977K subscribers ... 35,288 views ... 3.6K likes December 28th 2024 Premiered 6 hours ago The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich As we count down the final days of 2024, Heather and I are opening up our mailbag and answering your questions for this final Coffee Klatch of the year. Explore the podcast 60 episodes The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Transcript 0:00 and it is the coffee clutch with Heather loft house and yours truly Robert R uh today we are celebrating the holidays with something a little bit unusual Heather right we we we we asked you uh for your questions of us and you came back with questions and Heather and I have barely looked at the questions so what you're going to get is an kind of unreflective response which is genuinely honest right to your questions of us and uh hope it helps the holidays become even brighter for you Heather well these are great first of all thank you everyone who wrote in yeah so the idea was what things would you like to pose so here we are and thanks to Michael on the team and Mo'Nique for pulling them for us we have not looked at them also happy holidays to everyone I hope everyone has had a good Christmas and it's happy it's Hanukkah 1:00 going on it's the holiday season and the new year is coming up and Donald Trump is in Mar Lago you had to I had to um but anyway to your questions okay your question what's the first random question that comes random question okay so this is a question from trash Jack 3000 trash Jack 3000 my old high school friend these these handles how are you not falling into despair right now oh a good upbeat question I'm desperately in need of advice on this front given recent events and upcoming Horrors uh trash may I may I call you trash um look I I have my bad days do you oh for sure I mean I have uh there are certain days that I I look and see what Trump is doing and think about a trump Administration coming and a second Trump Administration and I really get I get depressed to be honest I bet you do Bob I I really do I mean I I have spent 2:00 not to be too you know grandio grandio selfish about it but I've spent uh you know the last uh 65 years or 60 years trying to get the government and get the country and and for him to come along and Elon Musk and all of these characters these just disgusting people uh but I you know what I really rely on are friends and family uh and all of you and substack the people who respond on substack how about you Heather what's your so I'm like you I have moments of lows the other day I was sometimes it hits when you don't expect it so I was driving on the freeway and it just felt so heavy I thought really this is the reality we're living in and this is the reality I've given to my 12-year-old child not that I'm solely responsible but you you know you take I don't know as a parent I think uh so you kind of process it for yourself you process it for other people 3:01 you process it for the more unfortunate in the country I mean all of those things but so I often think about it in terms of my son um and the way I don't fall into despair is the little winds right I mean some of the things you and I focused on after the election are what happened on the local level that were positive seeds of change yes and there were actually there was a lot of good news on the local and even the state level um but I uh and I do believe and this is totally naive but I do believe in Martin Luther King Jr's notion that the you know the the Arc of of of Justice Bend The Arc of History bends toward Justice and I and I really do uh I think it's because uh I was involved with the civil rights movement and the anti-vietnam war movement and I kind of assume uh a certain progress toward social justice right and it's IR it's irrational given what's happened I I mean I think it's irrational in the 4:01 short term maybe but I think your point is the longer view do you still do you believe now you're a different generation do you believe that I do but I have I force myself to I mean I do I think it's the long game and I think that yeah I mean progress is interesting especially when you think about technology too and is it are we really on a trajectory I me upward it's not just Trump and a democracy I worry about when I get down I mean I worry about the fact that we are not doing anything about climate change the fact we're not doing anything about artificial intelligence the fact that we are not doing anything about nuclear I mean you could really really list a list pretty dark uh and gloomy but um but you don't you also go for walk I do a physical activity helps change the brain chemistry and distract what kind of physical activity well I take my dog for hikes and walks 5:00 and I go and do you know exercise yeah yeah the gym and other places yeah I do too yeah too yeah okay that's our advice on that one trash Jack okay next up is thank you trash um 90 Garder 6235 MH how do the Democrats try to hold the line against the incoming tyrants who want to dismantle so much of our government that actually helps people and opposes the Constitution a long said question also how how to keep hope alive in the meantime well we sort of talked about how a common thre and I understand a lot of people do uh want to know how to keep hope alive but the Democrats I think have got to start taking on the moneyed interests uh they've got to say uh look the billionaires that are turning their money into political power like Elon Musk uh are violating the fundamental social contract uh they are violating 6:00 our understanding of what our our society should be and what the meaning of America has been um you know John Adams was very concerned about oligarchy he wrote a lot about oligarchy uh and that's what we have now ruled by a few yeah um were you a Latin major I was no I wasn't no I took Latin that was Greek actually yeah exactly um but uh but I think the Democrats have got to do something the Democrats have not done since Frankin D Roosevelt and that is take on the moneyed powers it's very difficult to do obviously because you don't want to bite the hands that feed you but unless the Democrats do that uh and explain to people the reason that most people's wages in real terms adjusted for inflation have gone nowhere for years and the reason that most people's jobs are less secure and the reason that CEOs are now earning 300 times what the typical worker is earning and the reason that the whole country seem to be at the beck and call of the 7:01 billionaires uh is because wealth has moved to the top and although the economy has grown most people haven't benefited from it most of the gains have gone to the top and it's because of the the game itself has been rigged by the moneyed interest but I think it's twofold I think one they have to actually take on the moneyed interest and then two they have to convey that they are taking on the money interest and teach people about what has happened because I think although KLA Harris was a terrific candidate I think she did a beautiful job uh her debate with Trump was the best I've ever seen uh in plans laid out everyone says she was she had plans laid out but you know what she didn't do I mean the and I don't this is Monday morning quarterbacking of the worst degree uh but she didn't take on the muddied interests at all she talked barely at all about inequality uh she talked about an opportunity economy that's great but unless the Democrats 8:01 actually delineate who are they against in terms of who they're for that is you can't be for average working Americans unless you are talking about why average working Americans have got to be uh so frustrated and angry and and and they've been working harder and harder and getting nowhere uh you you've got to explain that right and what are the decision points we have in front of us we have who's going to run the DNC we have the midterms and then we have 2028 and then we have all of the decisions that obviously the Republicans are going to make in terms of tax cuts for the rich uh regulatory uh roll backs right of health and safety and environment uh and people have got to explain Democrats have got to explain to average people what these mean and why it's so important that we get uh Democrats or for that matter you know I'm not I'm not wedded to the Democratic party it could be um I don't know how 9:01 you feel about this but I'm open to a third party taking over it's very difficult it's very difficult right uh because you have a you know a system that is a winner take all system but nevertheless uh we ought to be willing uh if the Democrats can't do it a third party can do it yeah it's true okay let's do another one Onan Army uncore ELO oneman Army Elo uncore Elo underscore ELO as a young activist looking to engage deeply in politics here I am what advice would you offer to yourself at a younger age especially when trying to speak against powerful people let's I like the middle question the best what advice would you offer yourself at a younger age so I guess this is you know your working self not just your personal self though you could feel free to answer that too well I'll tell you I didn't really know what I was going to do and I was interviewed uh when I was a senior in college what did you do can you describe serious well 10:00 I I mean I are you a writer a teacher a politician what order do you do it in I did all of that writer teacher politician uh and policy da da da and I I ran a cabinet department and I argued cases before The Supreme Court I mean I did a lot of stuff you co-founded some nonprofits you have a sub inequality media um but I didn't have a plan right uh and I think it's it's I think it's it's it's it's sort of silly to have a five year or a 10 year or 20 because you don't know what's going to happen feel the same uh you you've got to have a a pretty clear idea of what you want to do and why you want to do it and what makes you satisfied what gives you a sense of uh of of calling if you're very lucky uh well how about you no but but then but the question was what advice would you offer to your younger self well what I good job not having a plan no I'd say don't worry about it oh good Bob yeah Bob just 11:00 you know Follow Your Instinct and um and be true to yourself and and be honest and and do what you can for your Society I was very much influenced by John F Kennedy's inaugural address when he said ask not what you America can do for you ask what you can do for America I thought absolutely right y um service but you were not even born no but I so I Public Service wasn't my thing but I always wanted to work for nonprofits I mean I remember someone told me when I was 27 and I was doing eeny meeny miny Masters what master's degree should I get and someone said oh the public policy degree is kind of like the MBA for the nonprofit in government sectors you can do anything with it it'll teach you to analyze and it'll teach you to think better and I said okay I'll do that do you think that's right no no it's a terrible degree no I'm kidding no I do think it's kind of I mean you can specialize but it's more I treated it as a generalist degree and I do think it teaches you to be an analyst on many levels yeah but and I 12:02 do I think it doesn't prepare you enough for the private sector for sure it doesn't I think the people were right I fell for it um and yeah so I've always worked in nonprofits and those kinds of things I've always worked in education and messaging and but in terms of the in terms of money how important has money been to you in terms of not important but I'm fortunate enough to have done well enough that it's also not it it never was important to me but but I grew up at a time when the gap between the rich and poor was not nearly I mean the middle class was you know I assumed I would be middle class I was from the lower middle class I would maybe if Lucky move into the middle middle class but there wasn't the lure there wasn't the possibility I would like to think that I would not be lured by great wealth but I can't be 100% sure y I like your advice though not to worry and to just go forth and be confident and is that what you tell your son I guess do I 13:02 tell him that I know I think I say learn something at school and put your plate in the dishwasher I know I to my granddaughter who's now 16 I say you're going to be great you are great you're going to be fine you are fine you're wonderful I love you and just but so I say those things too but I think it's different hearing from that from a grandparent I think it's different than the parent who tells you to get out of bed that's true okay okay next so this is Dan Raven 516 Dan Raven 516 Andes names Dan Raven is asking who have been your most significant Role Models SL idols and why and how have they influenced your thinking my mentor uh was John Kenneth gallb a professor uh of Economics um at at Harvard but he was more than that he was a he was a social philosopher a public intellectual he was a political activist uh he was in uh the 14:02 administrations of uh Franklin D Roosevelt and in John F Kennedy's Administration so I I kind of uh I he was a wonderful man I just love the man how did you meet him uh I was teaching at Harvard and he was a professor there uh and we our paths crossed and um now he was 6'8 so your has well you saw him but he might have not seen you he looked down and there I was U and we used to have lunch pretty regularly and I just I always so not so he wasn't a professor of yours well he no not directly no he was a but I I had read all I had read all his books uh as a younger man so I was kind of in awe of him uh I also Paul wellstone had a big effect on me the the senator from Minnesota uh and an extraordinary man uh totally dedicated 15:02 to the public good to social justice uh and very funny that's the thing both both Ken GTH and Paul wellstone uh had a great theyve had great senses of humor uh but also total dedication to the truth and to making America better yeah how about you so I would say that um the woman that ran the first nonprofit I worked for for about five years in the mayor's office in Los Angeles her name was Carla Sanger was fantastic her name is Carla um and she was incredible to watch run a nonprofit that was at the intersection of the mayor's office and the private sector um she was a terrific leader and manager and motivator so she inspired you she really did yeah so that that's one and then professors I've had terrific professors who inspired me to I would say think big um and then I've had 16:01 some family friends that have been kind of like grandparents to me or aunts and uncles who have been incredible teachers and so that's that's I feel grateful for that we're very fortunate both of us and that re we really are okay um what else okay I'm going to skip a few of these oh this is a good one SLO 11111 slooh 11111 I guess slw but not capitalized what is your favorite thing to do in your free time or if you have a bucket list what's one thing on it this feels like a bad Icebreaker well I don't have I don't have very much free time swo swoo swoo 11111 I don't have that much free time but when I do have free time I love to watch movies uh I like to listen to music uh I love to dance uh salsa um I love this oh and I've I've 17:00 really for the last I guess the last five years I've gotten into fiction I mean great fiction and we can talk about those but but all of those are kind of Escapist everyone everything I've given you is escape wonderful escapism Y and what about a Bucket List have you done most of the things on your bucket list uh yes pretty much what else is on let me I'll think about that but you tell us what you what you what do what is my favorite thing to do in the fre I mean I think hang out with my kids I mean we go to the park and we play basketball or we um go on you're kind of a jock are you thank you well no you are I did Sports yeah but I didn't do college sports so I'm not you are you you have a a kind of a I like sports yeah I do and so yeah and so does my son so we'll play we'll play sports we do a lot of sports we'll go to the park and we'll or we'll attend Sports we'll go to baseball games that's great what a great mom cuz I take him to a baseball game yeah well no because you you're with them and you're playing with 18:00 them and you're doing all kind of I a lot a lot of us try to do that I don't know we try to be good bucket list I have a lot more things on my bucket list well I didn't give you one what's on your bucket list um you know what I was thinking about recently this is so not exciting but I want to go off the grid I want to get off my phone and off all things and go camping with my you know that's possible that's not a kind of a bucket list you know I thought that's the nature of 2024 for me is that you know in 2025 as I think about the year ahead I want to do less but when people talk about bucket list they're talking about things know the Great Wall of China yeah I mean I'd like to go to see wild animals in in in Africa I've always wanted to do that so but it's hard to get the time and the money and everything else you need so what's your also you have to go to a good Safari because some of them are if you're going to do it I don't know I'm not even sure but what's the thing that is you know not just the normal go camping okay take my kiddo to Athens oh yeah and 19:03 Greek history and he will be so bored what but why ath why Athens and why I don't know I just think it would be so fun to go to the Parthenon and to do all of that stuff you know I when I first went and saw the Parthenon for the first time I I didn't know I mean I knew I had seen pictures but I got up to the parthan on and I I started to cry wow I was overwhelmed I said to well I said to myself how did they know how did they know how to create something so perfect and uh and I was surprised myself you know yeah but I went when I was little um my mom took me but I think you can't go up to it anymore right I don't know it'll be different when did you I mean you saw it eons ago I saw it in the uh late 19th century you know that was when everybody that you were in a yeah okay this is a heavier one um 20:03 Vivan swine Vivian swine maybe it's Sween what can we do to reverse the concentration of wealth in the upper class of well the simplest Vivian the simplest way of doing it uh is a wealth tax it is now people you know a lot of wealthy people pay a lot of public relations people and economists to say that's impossible you can't do it baloney uh you can do it uh we have a wealth tax in terms of property taxes are wealth taxes uh the estate tax uh used to be when it was real we had an estate tax we used to have an estate tax we have a capital gains tax but we needed overall wealth tax uh because the at the upper levels we're getting you know the Elon Musk level uh you can see how easily people turn that wealth into political power and that's what's undermining our entire system so wealth tax is critical I also o want to plug um 21:00 your wealth and poverty class that we at inequality media Civic action recorded and we've stuck online so maybe we can put that in the description but I think that's it's a it's it's out there I mean it's on how do people find it it's on YouTube wealth and poverty Robert R you just type it in yeah okay just like that just type it yeah okay so I mean there are a number of things to do but that's a good question okay we have a couple more here um Dena 73 6614 secretary R any economic predictions for 2025 thank you um I think the economy is going to be Rocky Dina uh because you have the possibility first of all uh people who are moving the economy hate uncertainty and I'm talking mainly about Investors but also big companies and all the all the major players in the economy and there is so much uncertainty about what Trump is actually going to do 22:00 with the tariffs with the tax cuts uh with uh you know the uh the draget uh taking supposedly 11 to 20 million undocumented workers out of the country I mean can you imagine what that does to the economy all these things are very dangerous uh so I I think merely the uncertainty about how he's going to do these and whether he's going to do do these is going to create some problems uh now in the we've talked about the stock market before uh only the you know the top 1% by wealth owns about half of all of the shares of stock owned by Americans and the top 10% by wealth in the United States owns 92% of all the shares of stock so the stock market is not really an indicator of where most people uh where how most people live right the stock market is not the economy you've said that many times um someone snuck this in from the team name one boring thing about each other I 23:02 what's a boring thing about me about you there's nothing boring stop it no there Heather maybe I snuck that question you did because you wanted me to say that there is nothing boring uh but Elon Musk has a has a company called a boring company doesn't he does he actually he does yeah that's funny it's the company that's supposed to Oh I thought it was a child Nam boring no okay so if you what about me what's what's about nothing's boring about you no what's boring I think no you're hiding something well you do wear that one sweater a lot you mean the smelly one yeah the stinky one thank you with the cat hair on it oh yeah I like that I I I think that's something we should change that's just y monotonous it's not really boring it's just something that could improve thank you for the constru criticism what is your favorite cliche these are getting bad um my my favorite cliche is what's 24:00 your favorite cliche yeah that's a good one yeah also a burd in the hand to in the bush you know it's worth it's that's something to think about yeah I don't I think there must be better questions are how how how many do we have left and are these we have one more which is any New Year's resolutions you've had to ask that one yeah well I my New Year's resolution uh is that I am going to well first of all do the not have any more New Year's resolutions if I can Poss do that I know that I make that resolution every year and I then create New Year's resolutions and the the ones that I always succumb to I'm going to lose some weight I'm going to eat better I'm going to get you know more exercise and blah blah blah blah blah uh but this year there is one thing that I am going to do and that goes right back to what we were talking about initially and that is I'm going to find more sources of fun and joy because I think we're going into this dark period uh uh with Trump and 25:01 all of the and musk and everything else and I just have to find ways of staying joyful now I mentioned family friends you know Salsa Salsa and that and chips yeah um well I'm going to hold you to that then maybe sometimes on a clutch I'll say have you been fun enough this week yeah you do uh so Heather Loft do how about you what do you I love your I don't do New Year New Year's resolutions cuz I don't follow through on them so therefore I'm no longer going to do them anymore I think that's great I don't really do New Year's resolutions I try and do resolutions often and not keep them well let me just have to um stick to the beginning of the year more coffee clotches more coffee coffee clotches not darn it I really enjoy our coffee clutches and I hope I hope you do too uh and I want to say again as I've said before a thank you to the person who makes all of this possible and that is Jordan alport and uh if if it weren't 26:03 such a actually you know what I'm going to do I'm going to ask Jordan to come into this picture Jordan no he's ref he can't he can't step away from the command this is the special this is our our holiday special Jordan Jordan he refuses he's G he's refusing yeah okay well we'll have to bring a picture of Jordan okay we'll put one on the screen but um Heather it has been a pleasure I know we've done a lot of clotches we should figure out how many we've done we've we've done 127 clotches look at you and this is 128 but thank you for being such a terrific colleague in inequality media and such a terrific colleague in the clotch and such a terrific person overall thank you and you've been I should have mentioned you as one of my mentors down there on the list down there pretty far down and all of you uh uh look I know times are hard and your questions reflect a lot of that 27:02 difficulty that many of you are having and we're having as well uh we are going into a dark period there is no question about it uh just in a few weeks Donald Trump and his regime I'm not even going to call it an Administration it's a regime uh takeover uh but look uh there will be a new dawn there will be an opportunity for us to resume all of our activism in fact I don't think it's possible uh to have a good Society unless all of you and all of us stay and continue to be activists for social justice for equality for the values that we care about in terms of making the society a better Society so for 2024 My Hope for all of you wait 2025 oh this is 2025 next year's 2025 that's right I'm I'm getting 28:01 old2 for 2025 um I My Hope for all of you is that you have a great and enjoyable and rewarding uh and meaningful year [Music]

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