Michael Lind on how to restore worker power

In today’s episode I’m talking to Michael Lind. He is a writer and academic and the author of many books, such as The New Class War: saving democracy from the metropolitan elite (Portfolio 2020), which I highly recommend. His latest book just came out and it’s called Hell to pay: How the Suppression of Wages Is Destroying America (Portfolio 2023). It’s a damning book of the last decades of neoliberalism and the myths that turned out to be lies, and of promises never kept. Today we mainly discuss the themes of these two books: how a democratic pluralism has been replaced by technocratic neoliberalism, about the overclass which comprises around 15 percent of the population but amass almost all power today, how come there are so many working poor in the United states and why welfare isn’t helping the problem. We also talk about why automation can’t explain the offshoring of American, and European, manufacturing industries, and how identity politics and immigration has been weaponized to curtail workers bargaining power.We also talk about his Swedish heritage from Småland and how his Swedish ancestors ended up as cotton-pickers and cowboys in Texas. Rak höger med Ivar Arpi is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Inför varje podd…Inför varje avsnitt av podden diskuterar jag ämnet med er och tar med era frågor till samtalet. Det ni behöver göra för att delta i samtalet är att ladda ned Substackappen och vara med i Rak högers chatt. Många är redan med, men jag hoppas givetvis på fler.För att gå med i chatten behöver du ladda ner Substackappen, som nu finns tillgänglig för både iOS och Android. Chattar skickas via appen, inte e-post, så slå på push-notiser så att du inte missar konversationen när den händer.How to get started* Download the app by clicking this link or the button below. Substack Chat is now available on both iOS and Android.* Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.* That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.Utgivaren ansvarar inte för kommentarsfältet. (Myndigheten för press, radio och tv (MPRT) vill att jag skriver ovanstående för att visa att det inte är jag, utan den som kommenterar, som ansvarar för innehållet i det som skrivs i kommentarsfältet.) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.enrakhoger.se/subscribe