After the Midterms - In a Divided Nation, Antimonopoly is Key to a Lasting Majority
Democracy won this midterm election. Americans voted against far-right threats to their voting rights and abortion rights, delivering the best mid term results for a Democratic president since John Kennedy. But let’s be honest. Given the stakes, this was still way too close a call.
The time has come for the people who truly believe in liberal democracy to tell a new story of America, one that will empower us to build a strong and lasting majority. For more than a decade our nation has been living on the political knife’s edge, split almost evenly in half. There are many reasons for this sharp division. The biggest is simply that liberal democrats have largely failed to provide a narrative that explains how concentrated power is the source of the many crises we face today, and that provides real hope that we can build a better society and a sustainable future by breaking that power.
Now’s the time. For more than a decade, we at the Open Markets Institute have been refining and crafting exactly such an overarching analysis of what went wrong and how to use antimonopoly law and policy to fix it. Our story is one that fully recognizes and explains the economic pain so many Americans feel, in this time of soaring prices and rents and falling real wages. And the role that big tech has played in undermining our democracy, through the spread of disinformation and the destruction of real news. And the dangers posed by war in Europe, technological conflict with China, and dizzying climate change.
Many have already embraced our story. This includes President Biden, leaders across the Senate and House, and candidates like John Fetterman. (As do prominent democratic pollsters/strategists Celinda Lake, Mike Lux, and Stan Greenberg) And one key lesson is that voters respond to leaders who speak of how the system is rigged, and offer concrete plans to shift power from the few to the many.
And such a story offers more than simply a way to win. It’s also a way to build the world we want. Or rather, a way to empower America’s entrepreneurs and creators and innovators – and indeed every American - to work every day to make a stronger democracy, fairer society, and truly sustainable economy.
Stay tuned. In the months ahead, the Open Markets Institute and its partners will write, debate, and convene discussions about how we can take our fight against monopoly to the next level. And in doing so, build a democratic America fit for the 21st Century.
Meanwhile, we invite you to read and learn more here:
Antimonopoly: A Master Narrative for What Ails the US and How to Fix It