4th of July special: "Jefferson’s vision of equality is clearly in peril" (Harold Meyerson)

In a 4th of July column, "Thomas Jefferson’s view of equality under siege," Harold Meyerson harks back to the Jeffersonian vision of not just legal but social equality, and the challenge his agrarian vision faced from the urban development favored by his rival Alexander Hamilton, and the reforms devised in the first half of the 20th century by the two President Roosevelts --

to restore some of Jefferson's egalitarianism in what was, by then, Hamilton's America. Progressive taxation, the establishment of wage and labor standards and the legalization of unions reduced economic inequality, while the prohibition of corporation donations to political campaigns diminished, somewhat, the wealthy’s sway over government.

"But that, as they say," he continues, "was then," explaining how "the war that the American Right and corporate elites have waged against the Roosevelts’ Jefferson-Hamilton synthesis for the past 40 years has largely prevailed."

I'll leave you to read his setting forth of the case, and jump to his conclusion:

So how is our foundational assertion of equality faring on this July Fourth? As to social parity, it has seldom looked more robust. As to economic equality and the political equality with which it is inextricably intertwined, the picture is bleak. The mega-banks that plunged us into deep recession have had the political power to forestall their breakup. A handful of billionaires continues to donate unprecedented sums to election campaigns. The share of national income and wealth that goes to the vast majority of Americans continues to decline. The Republican Party — and the five Republican appointees to the Supreme Court — are committed to doctrines that will make these disparities more glaring. The recent exception to this trend is the health-care-reform act, which partially extends the Declaration’s assertion of equal rights to the realm of medical access. That’s no small achievement, but, with that single exception, on this July Fourth, Jefferson’s vision of equality is clearly in peril.

A healthy and happy 4th to all!

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