Welcome to the Golder Gilded Age

They say history repeats itself, and they weren’t wrong; the early 20th century has returned.

Corinne Nita
3 min readFeb 17, 2023
Udo J. Keppler via Library of Congress and Wikimedia

Laissez-faire economics and government corruption enabled big businesses to plunder the environment and the people. Profit-driven monopolies and deregulation hindered investments in technology, safety, healthcare, and public goods, stunting innovation.

One percent of the population held nearly all the wealth, while the working class endured dangerous work conditions, low wages, food shortages, environmental devastation, and harsh living standards. On behalf of the powerful elites, the government, military, and police suppressed revolts by violently coercing the public into accepting the dismal situation.

Limited job options, unlivable wages, and minimal social benefits perpetuated income inequality and class divisions. Bleak opportunities bound the public to their social class, and birth decided a person’s standing; people born into the working class remained laborers, and those born into wealth stayed wealthy.

Workers formed unions to fight for wage increases, five days a week, 8-hour days, paid leave, safety, and numerous labor rights. They were up against profit-driven business owners who didn’t care about their well-being, and our corrupted government…

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Corinne Nita

We need the social with the science to call it economics.