Special screening of Inequality For All to be held at the Kress Gallery, 447 N. Third St., in Baton Rouge, Feb. 6, followed by a Q&A with our community panel.
Baton Rouge, LA — The Louisiana Budget Project is proud to offer residents of the capital region an opportunity to view and discuss this award-winning documentary about income inequality in our nation and the way it has shaped our economy and democracy.
Light refreshments will be available starting at 5 p.m. and the screening will begin promptly at 5:30 p.m. A Q&A with our community panel will follow the screening. Please RSVP here to ensure we have enough refreshments. Please note that seating is on a first-come, first served basis and an RSVP does not guarantee a seat at the event.
The American economy is in crisis. Enter Robert Reich: Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, revered professor, charismatic pundit and author of 13 books. “Bob” as he’s referred to in the film, is our hero and guide, shining a light on the urgency of this issue. Economic imbalances are now at near historically unprecedented levels. In fact, the two years of widest economic inequality of the last century were 1928 and 2007 — the two years just before the greatest economic crashes of modern times. What is the link between high inequality and economic crashes? What happened to the middle class?
As Americans, we’ve been taught that there is a basic bargain at the heart of our society: work hard, play by the rules and you can make a better life for yourself. But over the last 35 years, this bargain has been broken. Middle-class incomes have stagnated or dropped during a period when the American economy has more than doubled. So where did all that money go? The facts are clear — it went to the top earners. In 1970 the top 1 percent of earners took home 9 percent of the nation’s income. Today they take in approximately 23 percent. The top 1 percent holds more than 35 percent of America’s overall wealth, while the bottom half controls a meager 2.5 percent. The last time wealth was this concentrated was in 1928, the eve of the Great Depression.
What’s the big deal? Didn’t the wealthy earn it? INEQUALITY FOR ALL is happy to acknowledge that. There is no vilifying of the rich here. The problem is that wide income divisions threaten the health of both our economy and our democracy.
When middle class consumers have to tighten their belts, the whole economy suffers. We saw this in the years before the Great Depression just as we see it today. The middle class represents 70 percent of spending and is the great stabilizer of our economy. No increase in spending by the rich can make up for it.
This is the moment in history in which we find ourselves: unprecedented income divisions, a wildly fluctuating and unstable economy, and average Americans increasingly frustrated and disillusioned. The debate about income inequality has become part of the national discussion, and this is a good thing. INEQUALITY FOR ALL connects the dots for viewers, showing why dealing with the widening gap between the rich and everyone else isn’t just about moral fairness.
The issues addressed in this film are arguably the most pressing of our times. The film alternates between intimate, approachable sequences and intellectually rigorous arguments helping people with no economic background or education better understand the issues at stake. INEQUALITY FOR ALL allows viewers to start with little or no understanding of what it means for the U.S. to be economically imbalanced, and walk away with a comprehensive and significantly deeper sense of the issue and what can be done about it.
For more information about Inequality For All and to view the trailer, please visit InequalityForAll.com.
This event is free, Please RSVP here to ensure we have enough refreshments. Please note that seating is on a first-come, first served basis and an RSVP does not guarantee a seat at the event.