Capitalism Is Broken. It’s Time for Something New.

Capitalism Is Broken. It’s Time for Something New.

Capitalism Is Broken. It’s Time for Something New.

And time is of the essence.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

The presidential race has surfaced divisions among Democrats over progressive ideas such as a wealth tax, a Green New Deal and Medicare for All. The often-intense debates about these policies aren’t just important because they could reshape the US economy. They also reflect a larger, more fundamental disagreement about capitalism itself.

Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) believe that the American system of extractive capitalism is fundamentally broken—Sanders to the point of identifying as a democratic socialist—and see its failure as one of the forces that carried President Trump to the White House. Former vice president Joe Biden voices an opposing view: At an October fundraiser in Silicon Valley, he characterized Trump not as a product of American capitalism but rather a threat to it. “You don’t need some radical, radical socialist kind of answer to any of this—you’ve just got to make capitalism work like it’s supposed to work,” he said. “We’ve got to save capitalism from this guy.”

Last week, as part of the Munk Debates series in Toronto, I had the opportunity to debate capitalism and the potential alternatives to it alongside Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis, former American Enterprise Institute president (and current Washington Post contributor) Arthur C. Brooks and New York Times columnist David Brooks. I argued that the American system is broken in three ways.

Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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