“If we broke up the big banks tomorrow . . . would that end racism? Would that end sexism?” Hillary Clinton’s questions, and the resounding “No!” that came from her audience, are a distillation of some of her campaign’s most consistent attacks on Bernie Sanders in the recent Democratic primary. But for a moment, let’s set aside the ridiculous framing of the question — no piece of legislation enacted tomorrow would “end racism” — and let’s set aside the electoral context in which it took place. Instead, let’s turn to a substantive issue at the core of Clinton’s neoliberal politics. Her goals are twofold: to drive a wedge between identity-focused organizing and anti–Wall Street politics; and to make financial reform seem niche, an elite topic that doesn’t register in the lives of Americans — particularly those who face oppression. But financial institutions shape our daily lives in intimate and tangible ways, and since the financialization of Western capitalist economies ramped up in the mid 1970s, their presence in our lives has only intensified. And their business models rely on continuously profiting from social inequalities like racism. This presents those of us on the Left with a set of serious questions: how can we develop a financial politics grounded in everyday experience, and how can we emphasize that anti–Wall Street movements are central to the empowerment of marginalized communities? The short answer is that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Political struggles that would diminish the power and profit margins of financial institutions are part of left politics across the world. But they are not often enough articulated in those terms. We need a left politics of finance that goes beyond “breaking up the big banks” and more systematically addresses the role Wall Street plays in our everyday lives, and the role it plays in reinforcing the oppressions that shape American society. What follows are some ways we might begin to build such a politics." And they are basically- 1. A savings bank public option (most likely via the US Postal Service) 2. Financial Transaction Tax 3. Decommodifying public goods (such as housing, healthcare, retirement, and [not mentioned] education) I like this because it provides succinct goals to focus on and organize towards on Day One of the next presidential term, and all of the goals are supported by at least a majority of the population, sometimes a LARGE majority.
