Thread by @NabsIMA

I want to share some of what @DarrickHamilton spoke about @wef #DavosAgenda yest, at a session on the #InequalityVirus w/@Oxfam.

Its a message that needs to be but is rarely ever heard on the global stage.

From economic rights to race to narrative to art to authoritarianism.
⬇️

Big theme: we "need to move and transition towards economic rights".

"Civil and political aspects of human rights have been ingrained in our public psyche but at least as important are economic rights." @DarrickHamilton

A bit more on this here, recalling FDR in 1944 proposing constitutional amendments to guarantee economic rights (never adopted).

FDR "died before he could begin a national movement to enshrine these economic rights as a constitutional commitment" prospect.org/economy/econom…

Next: "Throughout history extreme inequality has persisted & in plain sight racism, sexism & other -isms are strategically used to consolidate economic & political power" @DarrickHamilton

Would billionaire wealth be surging without racist culture wars pushed by so many leaders?

On making the necessary links:

"We run the risk of being vulnerable to despotic, authoritarian leadership, if we don't recognize the ways in which race, gender, immigration status can be weaponized in our society" @DarrickHamilton

🔥🔥🔥

Identity. Weaponized. Don't we know it.

These "can be weaponized..to pit one group vs the other in order to offer horizontal positioning in exchange for vertical positioning in an immoral way. Its critical to understand these intersections" @DarrickHamilton

Think when racism makes people go against their own interests

Shameless plug I know, but @maxlawsontin & I spoke with @DarrickHamilton about this very issue on the @Oxfam @EQUALSHope podcast in the wake of #BlackLivesMatter

30 min episode. Check it out. Here + on Apple, Android, wherever you listen. But I digress

shows.acast.com/5fd1d0b2a8ff37…

Pandemic: It "reveals a system that actively produces inequality, w/race as a focal point. We have Black, brown & poor families that began this (pandemic) w/low wealth, inadequate healthcare, working in precarious but essential jobs with few protections, lower wages & benefits.."

If you haven't read it yet, this is what @Oxfam's new report called the #InequalityVirus is all about.

bbc.com/news/world-557…

On narrative: "We should reject the empirically unsubstantiated rhetoric that centres inequality in deficit behaviours or ignorance ... & (instead) recognize that there are resources that people need to have in order to have flourishing & authentic agency & choice in their lives"

On inseperability at heart of analysis: "Intersections of everything & inseparability is critical … Understanding for example that art is inseparable from economics is inseparable from race is inseparable from politics...they all link together" @DarrickHamilton

On the example of art: "Through art we express narrative - we could define whether people are deserving or undeserving based on something of their gender or race. Through art we can define what a moral economy looks like." @DarrickHamilton

weforum.org/events/the-dav…

On markets:
"There's no such thing as markets being natural.
They're political constructions.
And to think that we can think about politics in isolation from the power that corporations can bring to define politics, that's a misnomer" @DarrickHamilton

So. This wasn't a Davos Man discussion. But what we need to hear more of. Rest of panel terrific

https://twitter.com/Oxfam/status/1353783190364827649

Imagine what'd happen if we had governments following the analysis & ideas of many brilliant economists like @DarrickHamilton from across the 🌍.

Hope?

ENDS