Look at this graph. The share of national income going to the richest 10 percent was lowest (and share to lower 90 percent highest) when union membership was at its highest. As unions have weakened, inequality has widened. This is why we must build back union power.
I generally agree, but most of today's unions have not really adapted enough to how the labor market and the composition of the workforce have changed. So they either have to reinvent themselves, or the movement has to start anew from a grassroots level (or both).
You can't just stick with handing out leaflets at the factory gate and still reach more than a few percent of the people, at least not in the west. And even in countries and sectors where unions still matter to some degree, they are mostly too hesitant, negotiating every year for wage rises...
... that never match the actual rise of the costs of living. If unions want to become attractive again, they should also be willing to actually fight for their members' interests.
(speaking from a European country where unions are almost as close to being part of the state as it gets and any real strike happened decades ago)
Remember, even though this graph does show a trend, correlation is not necessarily causation. There could be other factors like people wanting to join during the great depression
I could not resist posting this song as a comment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iAI...
It’s amazing how the GOP has been able to convince so many people to vote against their own best interest, and that supporting their best interests is communism. This is why we need critical thinking—not prayer—back in schools!
Sources? Come on, you are better than this. Anyone can cobble together any graph
I love you, man . . . but correlation is not causation. I'll give you a pass this time b/c there are not enough characters available to explain this better in a posting. But, it is rather sloppy.
It just shows us how much power we have when we’re united. No system can survive without labor. We stop working, they stop existing.
Local economy will adjust to union wages in the form of higher prices for groceries, gas, housing/rent and other products and services. So, it will make the minimum wage and unskilled labor along with seniors on SS or MC harder to make ends meet. You're not listening, this is the 4th post I've sent
Cool, so why has inflation been so bad despite the minimum wage remaining flat and union membership dropping? This is my first post, but I'm guessing you'll ignore it because you're fucking wrong.
We're headed toward the robber baron era
bsky.app/profile/umai...
Research also shows that where union density is highest, life expectancy increases.
No doubt about that.
A reminder that the teamsters sold out to the billionaires/ trump.
This is not a culture war it’s a class war. No surprise MAGA knows nothing of this. They’re comprised of the least educated amongst us.
Your whole country in a Union but still you don't think Unions make you strong!
Rank and file union members voted for the felon. That was very stupid since the felon hates unions. Inexplicable.
It was always thus. While unions can make outrageous and unrealistic demands, they are a necessity. Employers will not do right by their workers voluntarily. History shows this clearly. Trickledown is the oligarchy pissing on the working class, while distracting them with imaginary enemies. Wake up!
The "Gilded Age" to "The Golden Age". 😠
100%
Think this has something to do with why billionaires spread lies about unions?
More accurately is -as the Republican Party has weakened Unions…. UAW Strong💪👊
Ironically the time that the MAGA base idealizes. Yet, this connection is anathema to them.
📌📌
Union members need to get educated about how Dems represent them and the Trump lies don't. Racism needs to be addressed. If it's all about the economy, set biases and prejudice aside.
The problem is Dems used to represent them. The whole crux of Clinton's "Third Way" strategy was that labor and minorities "had to" vote Democrat or else, so you could govern as pro business and finance to bring in $$$ funding with no consequences. 30 years of that and now there are consequences.
It is not normal that one person holds 100-200-400 billion dollars! Whaile som meny others workinh class are living in poverty! Democracy is broke for so long time, it's time to make some changes!
Absolutely
I, myself, as a Naval Officer, an engineer, and a Ph.D. scientist have watched the fiasco of "Trickle Down" economics since I was commissioned in the United States Navy, May 1981. I was afraid then of what President Reagan might do. Turns out? Those ideas only needed time to inflict their damage.
Sorry to disagree but we need national guaranteed workers rights, not the hodge podge of worker protections created by unions. I grew up in a union town and there was lots of corruption in Unions. I agree with the problem but I don't think Unions are the answer.
Post WW2 boom (including baby boom). Good times for most people.
Tipping the scales to the super wealthy means they now have money to buy residential real estate and buy for profit hospitals. Next will be food sources. They will keep getting wealthier.
Too late. Bill Gates is a perfect example- he's already bought up swathes of farming land, and now he's influencing global seed archives and patents
Ok, but-- what are we going to do, tax robots?
Ah, the Spin Master at work. Reich can't make a valid point, so he resorts to trickery, See this chart of cheese consumption vs deaths by people getting tangled in their bed sheets. Does one really cause the other? Is this coincidence? Stop following this con man. He was Trump before Trump.
You're playing with a different set of rules than they are. Do you honestly think talk is going to stop them? lol
Tax. Wealth. First. Everything else will follow. Spread the word.
I wholeheartedly unequivocally agree !!!👍🏾
The CIA worked for decades to undermine union power. See www.amazon.com/Covert-Life-...
The only ones who know this is credible information are the only ones who look at this graph and say, yup! All the others think it is fake news, that graphs lie, or don’t want to be confused with facts.
💯💥
🤬🤬🤬
It's the plan of neoliberalism. Not just Trump.. but both political parties.
It won't last too long if Mamdani shows Democrat voters his policies work. All it takes is one victory, and it will be the point of no return for American Socialism. It may take years.
Yea that’s not gonna work in some states Illinois for one will never let that happen
Billionaires all belong in a union.
We must build up the unions all over the country or we won’t have competent individuals representing the working class particularly the middle class and the poor. Thank you
Pretty self-explanatory
You had the power to change this when you were in power. And you did nothing. Act like you mean it and stop talking about it.
You act like it makes no diff which party is in power--as if there isn't 1 party that just helped unions a lot & got no electoral credit. And 1 party that screws unions over & a big union refused to endorse a candidate in 2024, while the union leader spoke at the union-screwing party's convention.
I think Robert Reich very much understands this dynamic.
I disagree. If he fully understood it, he'd mention it more often. His posts rarely mention parties. It's as if who 1 votes for makes no diff--except that he thinks 1 shd not vote 4 Dems unless they promise to do everything he wants. So nonvoters must be entirely comfy w most of what he posts.
😅
Again, he acts like it makes no diff which party is in power-like there isn't 1 party that just helped unions a lot & got no electoral credit. & 1 party that screws unions over & a big union refused to endorse a candidate in 2024, while the union leader spoke at the union-screwing party's convention
Presuming that union leadership has a brain and wisdom-aforethought! Thank you Sir!
How is this graph to be interpreted? It only shows one stat with no relationship. Are the top 10% more or less likely to be unionised?
Unions are weak and the majority of the work force is service oriented without unions. CPAs. Financial advisors. Bankers. Officers workers. Etc. good luck getting them unionized.
Further proof of the need to fully and safely abolish capitalism so as to ensure liberty and democracy.
More of us need to UNIONIZE!!!
Unions are the only hope of regular people in an entrenching oligarchy.
Let's hope the robots unionize once we are gone, or they are going to run into the same issues.
You're not saying the rich getting richer is a bug in the system, are you?
That's neoliberalism, folks! We now earn 1/2 of what we would have by getting the "traditional" share of productivity increases. Instead, our wages stagnated while the wealthy hogged ALL the productivity increases. I entered the workforce in 1982 so then I only netted 1/2 the lifetime earnings. 😱
Corporations are not your friends.
Unions have been weakened by design with this exact outcome in mind.
You think they were welcomed with open arms in the 50s? You have to fight for them.
Yep! People literally died for our hallowed labor rights! We can't let the robber barons turn us into serfs.
👊
A big change could be made if the laws are changed to allow government workers to strike.
Join your union! If you don't have one, contact @organizeworkers.bsky.social for help creating one. If you can't have a union, contact @organizeworkers.bsky.social for tips of how you and your coworkers can protect each other.
As long as the quality of workmanship and professionalism is upheld this can be accomplished rather quickly.
It's almost like when collective rights were lost, the employers just kept winning...
And shareholders
Amazing how well in negatively, it correlates.
THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS
Unfortunately that's an argument that will likely only be of interest to those who already support unions because it fails to address the root of conservative, right wing opposition to labor unions in the market utopianism and conservative economic values of bad economics in the conservative style.
If union members would vote Blue we could reverse this trend. But they don’t.
💪🏼💪🏼
Umm... coincidence? Crazy, weird, statistically near-impossible coincidence?
I’ve been union a long time.The ones voting for trump were the young guys who use the excuse ill Be working somewhere or the rednecks who live in the sticks.Most aren’t very bright and have low education. Republicans love the weak minded and easily fooled.A lot think a union is a normal job it’s not
We should remind the rich that property only exists as a matter of collective belief. They can uphold the social contract by submitting to whatever level of taxation is needed to ensure everyone has food, housing, and medical care, or they will be beaten to death in front of their children.
The people in power like to keep folks divided. The golden rule being he who has the gold makes the rules. It's why laws and tax codes are geared for the wealthy, they have the politicians bought. Entire Political and Judicial System is corrupted by money and lust for power.
Robert, Are you familiar with Cipolla’s 5 Laws? Law 1: Everyone underestimates the number of stupid people. Law 3: Stupid people are present in all areas; as evidenced by their actions. No correlation to race, education, wealth or geography.
Pro union here. Workers are the commodity. Fuck capitalist.
If people can reverse the Union it surely won't be in the next 25-50 years which why so many have given up. Just raise the minimum wage to a living wage!
Greed never finds satisfaction. Reagan was the key figure responsible for turning Americans against their own govt, simultaneously replacing a vision of human progress with naked greed & self-interest. Blame government, bust unions, tax policy to benefit the rich, religion in politics, biased media.
We shot Nazis in the face during WWII, and hanged them at Nuremberg. Trading red hats for swastikas. MAGA is a Nazi movement. Traitor tRUmp is the top Nazi. Proud Boi type ICE agents, with no judicial warrants (ICE warrants don't count, only judicial warrants), quit now, while there's still time.
It's also why a lot of jobs went offshore along with Healthcare having to be employer provided.
Started negotiating labor contracts in early 1980’s. Went up against hired guns from law firms that specialized in union busting. The die was cast and we dealt with Princes of Darkness. They would spend a fortune stymying a line item that would cost them way less if adopted. Money was a tool like
a hammer. We became a nail. We had a 3 year term on contracts and on some we would negotiate longer than that. Other unions told of similar experiences.Concerted effort among managements to destroy us. The Powell Letter may have kicked this up. Prelude to Citizens’ United. Insulting language there.
bsky.app/profile/abdo...
Note the income disparity is greater no than at any period covered by the graph…
In the US there are some weird idea that the common man can claim to the top. He can't without dumping all ethical and moral constraints.
Should "climb", but spellcheck… 🙄
It's almost as if there is some kinda plan. 🙄
Odd. It seems to coincide with the extinction of liberal Republicans.
Trump loves graphs. Someone should print this on a big board for him.
Wow! This is one of the most eye opening charts you have shared. It says everything.
🤬 p.s. in future, please use alt-text on Bluesky images (especially with text included) - for visually impaired users' screen-readers & also backup when low bandwidth won't render the image. Go to Settings > accessibility to toggle on the reminder.
You can tell how effective something is by how much the rich want to squash it.
Money printing widens the gap. #Bitcoin closes it.
I like your graphs
I mean just Look@How Protective&Strong the L.E.O. Union is. It still protects even the unlawful demons who don't have the will or mind to say: "I will not harass people, or sell drugs, or harm women or children." We The People need to organize the way they do. Union Strong! 🪬🦅🎭🌺🐝🎼❤️🔥✡️🌟🦁✝️☪️🐦🔥⚖️🩵🌊🗽🪃🧲
Unions're🚫Supposed to be evil. #PAYINGaLIVINGwage'sANinvestment #TRADINGforYOURgraphic🚫theft #ParaphrasingDalisoChaponda With Harm To None, Within LOVE, Do As Ye Will. תודה רבה Gratias Tibi Ago شكراً جزيلاً For Existing. I TRUST Gaia, the USA's Constitution & Jesus; periodt!!! 🏳️🌈🦅🌎🌺🐝🎼❤️🔥✡️🌟🦁✝️☪️🐦🔥🎭🩵🌊🗽🪃🧲
Graphs are too hard to understand for most Americans. Sad
Ronald Reagan
Thx awesome!!👍
Destroying the power of Unions has been the dream of conservative politicians all around the world
It’s also been the dream of C suite people.
Do they allow government workers to strike in Australia? In the United States they made it illegal. The game is rigged.
But trade unions can strike we’ll all except electricians and I think pipe fitters now
Yes
You're living a dream
Only under very certain conditions.
They fined the WA Nurses Union leader $10,000 for striking when the government said no. Then had her replaced.
Yes
That is why GOP and their minions have fought so hard to try and get people to quit unions. They have been running a smear campaign against unions for a while. That is why it was surprising to see Sean O'Brien Teamsters President speak at GOP convention. Seems like a back stab to the Union members.
Came here for this. 🫡
I scrolled for quite a while for this. Thank you, Todd.
😁
Every time I do it makes me laugh
Once MONEY took hold of politics ordinary voters were just a hindrance... End Citizens United, and publically fund ALL elections.
Enabled by voters who are consistently frightened by straw men or wedge issues to vote against their own self interests. Over and over again.
You can thank Regan for initiating this process!
The Economic Disparity is a direct correlation to people’s agency. More people have agency the better our Constitutional Government functions. tRUMPs policies make this all so much worse, driving America into a Tea Tax (Tariffs) situation. This desperation of the masses is what fosters Dictatorship
Did unions weaken or did they go extreme and killed their own companies like Continental Airlines?
The more we know. The more we understand the plight of our economic systems and the theft of the ultrarich who are nesting in the comfort of Trumpf's economic Sancturary as he and they are destroying the safety nets for the rest of our vulnerable people.
We must build back union power without ridiculous union overreach. A buddy worked as a laborer on a union site in MI. While the carpenters lunched, he used a circular saw to cut a doorstop off of a short 2X4. A union steward told him if he ever did it again, he'd never get a job on a union site.
Great graph. Very convincing. Now. How do we get MAGA to read and understand it? That is the issue.
This graph is literally everything wrong in the USA now. Raegan is at fault in my book.
share.newsbreak.com/eslxv8t9?s=i16 Is Schwarzenegger is in the Epstein files? Why is he trying to derail momentum now????
That’s also when the tax brackets taxed the wealthiest the most.
It’s the only way. Oligarchs will do whatever it takes to keep this from happening. The entirety of the workforce will should be unionized. They(oligarchs) need poor people, they need stagnation and inflation.
And the rich convince the poor that they are helping them. The uneducated are easily fooled. By uneducated, I am referring to those who refuse to learn, not your level of schooling.
Years ago I was a local President for a decade. Even back then Democrat support for organized labor was slipping. Now many union members vote Republican. That needs to change.
That’s not just a graph. It’s a thread unraveling.
A LOT of white union workers voted for Trump. When will we talk about that? They'd rather be white than free and prosperous.
bsky.app/profile/leve...
The spot where the red rises above the blue is when America was great, no? Should label it
So wait… 45 cents of every dollar made goes to the richest 10%? I feel like that needs to get talked about in clear concise terms by Dems. Get a statistic that sticks.
youtu.be/RQthFDpYCys?... Counter proposal
Blatantly shows the equality when our Unions were their strongest. Let’s make this permanent!!!
The former Republican party (now known as the Fascist MAGA cult) have long believed that "trickle down" economics works. If the rich have the $$$$, they'll create jobs or raise current salaries. THEY'RE WRONG! It never works that way
It looks like the percentage point of the population that needs to be in a union to make a big difference is around 30%. Lets get back to it.
The right to unionize is theoretical when no union exists in our field, or when we have to fight tooth & nail to create one. There should be universal unions for anyone whose workplace doesn't have an industry-specific one already. We all deserve *actual* not theoretical collective bargaining rights
So *Conservatives* (aka Regressives!) really want to take us back to the 1950s, but not THAT part.
Coincidence? Looking at the graph, the sharp rise in union membership in the 1940's coincides with the massive industrial war effort for WW II.
I know your focus is on economics, sir, but just had to say this here . . .
Tell that to the “Reagan Republicans”!!!!
There it is. Explains most — if not everything about corporatist support (accommodation, complicity, collaboration, overt championing) for the Trump administration.
The graph also says: Union membership soared during the New Deal era and then collapsed as the GOP wound down the New Deal.
Unions provide bandaids covering the ills of the system which covets the acquisition of ersatz wealth above all things. The system is bad and needs to be replaced.
Back in the 1950’s the top 10% paid higher taxes too. You can see the blue line starts to increase after Reagan’s tax cuts for the wealthy in the 1980’s
And people think Reagan was a good man. He began ending of the middle class.
A fantastic audiobook by Andy Borowitz about Reagan "Profiles in Ignorance". Reagan was just a tool who could remember lines well. He was uniquely uninterested in policy details and couldn't be bothered to learn.
i recommend this series whenever Reagan comes up - so much harm i never realized when i lived through it: youtu.be/FZlRX1EVnSw?...
I lived in Northern VA when Reagan RIFed the air traffic controllers. There were buttons and other items going around with the message "RIF Reagan.
#TrendsInIncome www.rand.org/pubs/working...
And WHO was president what that trend changed directions?
Nixon
Also the the tax rate on the wealthiest people was at 90% then and our country was at its wealthiest and most powerful. When the working class rises all boats rise
But the highly progressive tax rates that were adopted in the 1930’s and ended in 1981 were the biggest driver. That’s how to make America great again.
Correlates with the greatest expansion of middle class in history
Reganomics, it isn't trickling down. 😾
As a union railroader… I can retire on my own terms not subject to some greedy corp
"This" is what happens when voters put republicans in the senate. GOP alone choose SCOTUS FOR The Federalist Society, NOT for #WeThePeople Robert's SCOTUS has the lowest trust rating in Supreme Court History. They wear "For Sale" signs on their robes, as Robert's does ZERO as they end our rights.
Russian Republican Anti-Union propaganda was roaring in the 50's and on into 2000.
We should have a “just society” where those who have the MOST WEALTH do their part to facilitate the success and wellbeing of those with the LEAST! If you are a Christian, that is your mission!
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40)
I also like that unions have protected workers from federal troops attacking strikers, as during the railroad strikes.
Imagine that.
Start with Walmart and amazon. Just saying.
The turds refuse to pay employees so they can do stock buybacks, which amounts to more self dealing. Stock buybacks must be matched with the same amount of stock given to rank and file employees.
This graph is exactly the point. It should become the banner for the Democratic Party!
A lot of union members voted for Trump. And many unions and their leaders gave little support the Harris. They got what they wanted. Trump successfully turned them toward him with promises he would not and could not fulfill, all related to "the good old days" that never were.
Wouldn’t that be the good old days for maga ?
Agree, build back Union Power!
Like all socialist/communist experiments, eventually crooked get in
Unions must fight for its people, not the glory of its officers. I have seen both.
Sept 1 is Labor Day Find a Labor Day parade or event near you and join it search events at fiftyfifty.one or maydaystrong.org
Thanks Reagan.
With a history of being in Unions, I always found it frustrating that the rights we fought for also supported those unwilling to support the Union or pay dues. Everyone benefited and received the positives but they weren't willing to take a stand for themselves let alone strike for their own good.
USC is the largest private employer in Los Angeles, which is the most unionized city in the US. Faculty are organizing a union! The whole world is watching. #USC #UF-UAW
We had powerful unions, both in the US and UK. And I agree they are essential. But they became notoriously inefficient and corrupt. Some scandals in the UK are still surfacing. It will be a challenge to rebuild faith in them.
1979 I worked in a hospital. Strike called. Application to join the union was pending. Hospital said if I joined strike, as non union, I'd be sacked. Union said if I were sacked they would shut the hospital, but they couldn't expedite my application because "procedures". This happened a lot.
I can't think of one example of a non union company fucking over their employees. Not one.
😅
There isn't any other classwar than rich vs. poor. Everything else is diversion and misleading those who does not understand. There are so many of poor class and so much less rich people, but still rich guys are winning. Even if you have some wealth, but struggle day to day, you are not rich. 🖕/🤠🫳💰
It's libs vs ? assholes? The stupidest term I've ever heard is "woke", and it disgusts me to hear politicians use it. I want to punch them in the face. "Conservatives" are just republicans saying fuck the rest of the country. Republican wealthy support this crap.
People everywhere have been sold the idea, that they have chance to get rich and live large, but if you aren't born to the right family or do not have some special skills and talent, chances are almost non existent. But system around you say, keep dreaming and in process give everything to the rich.
Another one is when people in power pit poor people against another. Be it question about identitity or opinion, their origin, skincolor or sexual identity, it's so stupid. Fearing the unknown comes so easy to us. And we take it to hearth and die fighting over it. And someone else profits of it.
Donate to @blacktranstexas.bsky.social no excuses for the wealthy.
And, include Administrative and clerical workers.
Hollywood often draws a bad picture of unions.
How so? I don’t know a whole lot about but I think they were right to hold out on the strikes. The biggest fight over the last rounds were a deadlock on the use of AI both in writing and in digital likeness on screen
Govt annuity deposited. Paid rent/electric/phone. I've $99.93 for 2 wks. We've a garage/the roof leaks/it's infested w/mice. Had to move everything into a storage unit. The landlord isn't ready to fix it. I'm 72. After I pay the SU...I have $13 till my SS comes. What abt income inequality again?
This is what 'Morning in America™' looks like
I hate that I'm the age where my brain is able to read "look at this graph" like the old Nickelback thing...
Even I, as a teenager in Hong Kong in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, felt that America had a bulky middle class, like an oblong nut.
Many union members voted for Trump so education is needed as well
It’s the kids and people who haven’t been union very long or rednecks that voted for trump
The only bargaining power workers have in front of ownership is their ability to stop working, all at once. Only a union can do that. As long as they don't have that power, workers will be exploited and impoverished. And ownership will get richer.
America was built on the premise of free labor. That’s why MAGA/tech bros love originalism.
Yes, thank you!
So many jobs that were union in the 1950’s were manufacturing that has been taken over by automation/robots. How can we Unionize for the new job marketplace? Then, you could see the physical toll jobs took on human beings working in those sectors. How do we show harms that require protection?
Keep Pres Biden President or another Dem is the first thing Second is keep all Unions from supporting Trump and facism Troll
Without collective bargaining, workers have no power. Nearing slavery status
Union power is a critical part of democratizing our authoritarian economy, but that democratization must include employee ownership and the elimination of selfish management stealing worker wages. @democracyatwork.bsky.social @cooperatives.bsky.social @profwolff.bsky.social
Workers can best decide how the profit their productivity produced should be distributed.
But unions largely support Trump. That’s self-defeating contradiction.
Was about to say this. It is despicable
Oddly enough, the era of string unions is not the part of the 50's that Trump and his MAGA morons are trying to bring back.
Nope, they just want the separate drinking fountains and lynchings.
Dear Dr. Reich - I was preaching a similar gospel about media consolidation in 1995 - but everyone was getting too rich to care.
not everyone apparently
including Mr Reich. He's singing a pretty tune for a long term neolib. Who leads no genuine resistance. Given his position he coudl try to effect change but all he really wants is to tinker around the edges to sanitise exploitation and deligitimise real change.
I've always maintained that if a management understood how to run a business, there would be no need for Unions. But they don't, so there is. If a business understands its responsibility to the community it serves, it would make sure that its services benefitted all parties.
I was involved in the construction of an oil platform in the N. Sea, the contractors for the accommodation modules were Clydeside shipbuilders. They had a canteen for blue collar workers, one for white collars, a restaurant for management and a chef for the board. Now THAT company needed a union.
Agree 💯
BOTH reduced income inequality AND increased union membership were CAUSED by FDR's policies and by WW2. BOTH income inequality AND union membership RESPOND to the same factors, but they are not CAUSES of each other.
Yes Sir!
Looks like a 2026 midterms graph. The colors are right.
Occum's Razor on it's best day.
Union membership will continue to suffer as long as some of the big ones have become Trump supporters.
this graph is missing an indicator for when Reagan was elected
Or free Luigi and eat the rich!!! And vote republicans out!!!!
Reagan’s economic policies hit when George HW Bush was president and it began to rise as Clinton policies go into effect It wasn’t the No new taxes line that did him in, it was the huge drop in income for the middle class
Both are related; gov handouts to the elite/corporations translated into lower wages for the working class.. Neoliberalism.
Reaganomics 1980s that's when Trickle Up really took off. After that, people were too poor to afford union subscriptions.
I had a friend a few years back suggest that unions served a purpose for a while, but were no longer necessary. Wonder what he would think of that data?
I’m with you; I learn so much from you, but you’re asking MAGA to do math and have a basic grasp of historical economics. LOL.
Definitive proof that the rich have absolutely no ability to restrain themselves even for their own good any more and that therefore the only way society can protect itself from their mindless decadent cancerous greed is to intervene directly via the law and stop them from metastasizing further.
