Phasing out leaded gasoline accounted for up to 56% of the massive drop in U.S. violent crime during the 1990s and 2000s.

Mass lead exposure is a textbook example of what happens when corporate profit drives society's decision-making.

The same can be said for climate change and now artificial intelligence. 

The idea that free markets will magically solve all these issues is pure fantasy.

In 1381, tens of thousands of exhausted, tax-squeezed working-class people marched on London. 

They held every card, until King Richard II rode out and yelled: "I'm on your side! I will be your leader!"

The peasants genuinely believed the king was a man of the people who was just being held back by "corrupt advisers" and "evil elites."

So they trusted him, stood down, and went home.

Of course, the king completely reneged on his promises, revoked their charters, and had thousands of them hunted down and executed.

His famous response when they asked about his promises? "Serfs you were, serfs you shall remain."

Fast-forward 650 years: Americans are feeling an economic squeeze in an era of massive wealth inequality.

And once again, a member of the economic establishment (a billionaire real estate mogul) managed to convince working-class voters that HE is their sole defender against the "corrupt elites."

History doesn't repeat, but it certainly rhymes.

Leftist politicians need more commercials like this. I would love to see one about Tom Tiffany.

Hell yeah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4ZKlT1EvCA

Being on the tail end of Gen X, I really identify with this song. Old enough to remember the promises of the 20th century, but young enough to bear the full weight of the 21st century's breakdown.

It's a tale full of regret and mourning, written in the language of someone deeply disillusioned with the system they were born into.

What stands out to me is how it tracks the class struggle across generations—from a Gen X childhood shaped by blue-collar refinery smoke and industrial decay into a Millennial reality defined by the War on Terror, surveillance, and economic debt.

Lines like "Homeland Security could kill us all" feel even more relevant today than when the album dropped.