Today he writes a Labor Day Op-Ed for the New York Times, reflecting on his findings:

The ’70s began on a remarkably hopeful — and militant — note. Working-class discontent was epidemic: 2.4 million people engaged in major strikes in 1970 alone, all struggling with what Fortune magazine called an “angry, aggressive and acquisitive” mood in the shops.

Most workers weren’t angry over wages, though, but rather the quality of their jobs. Pundits often called it “Lordstown syndrome,” after the General Motors plant in Ohio where a young, hip and interracial group of workers held a three-week strike in 1972. The workers weren’t concerned about better pay; instead, they wanted more control over what was then the fastest assembly line in the world.

Newsweek called the strike an “industrial Woodstock,” an upheaval in employment relations akin to the cultural upheavals of the 1960s. The “blue-collar blues” were so widespread that the Senate opened an investigation into worker “alienation.”

But what felt to some like radical change in the heartland was really the beginning of the end — not just of organized labor’s influence, but of the very presence of workers in national civic life.

When the economy soured in 1974, business executives dismissed workers’ complaints about the quality of their occupational life — and then went gunning for their paychecks and their unions as well, abetted by a conservative political climate and the offshoring of the nation’s industrial core. Inflation, not unemployment, became Public Enemy No. 1, and workers bore the political costs of the fight against it.

You can read the entire essay here.  Meanwhile, Joan Walsh of Salon.com conducts a fascinating interview with Mr. Cowie, reflecting on how much went wrong, and what might have been:

Do you have one momentous bad decision on the part of a union leader, or a Democrat, or any political leader, when you look back at the complex ways that this all fell apart, and say, “This one was really bad.” Could you pick just one?

I think you pinpointed it already, and that’s the 1972 decision by organized labor, after all the convention rules changes (to open up to women and minorities), to destroy McGovern. Because that solidified a moment. It said, “We can’t work with the unions,” to the left, and to the women’s movement and the rest. It said organized labor is just about guys like George Meany, and Mayor Daley, it’s really the same monster, we can’t deal with them.

And that creates a natural alliance between the New Left and the New Democrats, who were much more sympathetic to important issues of diversity. But when unions came around, those leaders wouldn’t be interested. So I really think that’s the bad blood, because if you go back to ’68, when Martin Luther King is assassinated, that was a terrible tragedy, but also, what a moment it was, where the unions and the civil rights leaders stand shoulder to shoulder for the Memphis sanitation workers strike. And then, by ’72, everybody’s out.

The entire interview, well worth a read, is here.  You can buy the book here or here.

• What’s the Matter with Democrats?
• Kansas City screenings begin Friday, March 12, 2010
• Thomas Frank: “We are all Kansans now”

This week’s issue of the New Yorker has a comprehensive expose on the secretive right-wing political activism of the billionaire Koch brothers, whose Wichita-based energy company has made them some of the very wealthiest men in the country.

Their father, Fred Koch, founded the company and was one of the original members of the John Birch Society,  His two sons who now control Koch Industries have not fallen far from the tree.  Although little-known, the Kochs are some of the largest donors to right-wing causes and  think tanks, some of which they founded, like the Cato Institute.

As an aside for fans of “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” – former U.S. Congressman Dan Glickman suspects that the Kochs helped defeat him in 1994, after he came out in favor of a “BTU tax.”

From the New Yorker story:

The anti-government fervor infusing the 2010 elections represents a political triumph for the Kochs. By giving money to “educate,” fund, and organize Tea Party protesters, they have helped turn their private agenda into a mass movement. Bruce Bartlett, a conservative economist and a historian, who once worked at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Dallas-based think tank that the Kochs fund, said, “The problem with the whole libertarian movement is that it’s been all chiefs and no Indians. There haven’t been any actual people, like voters, who give a crap about it. So the problem for the Kochs has been trying to create a movement.” With the emergence of the Tea Party, he said, “everyone suddenly sees that for the first time there are Indians out there—people who can provide real ideological power.” The Kochs, he said, are “trying to shape and control and channel the populist uprising into their own policies.”

A Republican campaign consultant who has done research on behalf of Charles and David Koch said of the Tea Party, “The Koch brothers gave the money that founded it. It’s like they put the seeds in the ground. Then the rainstorm comes, and the frogs come out of the mud—and they’re our candidates!”

The Kochs and their political operatives declined requests for interviews. Instead, a prominent New York public-relations executive who is close with the Kochs put forward two friends: George Pataki, the former governor of New York, and Mortimer Zuckerman, the publisher and real-estate magnate. Pataki, a Republican who received campaign donations from David Koch, called him “a patriot who cares deeply about his country.” Zuckerman praised David’s “gentle decency” and the “range of his public interests.”

The Republican campaign consultant said of the family’s political activities, “To call them under the radar is an understatement. They are underground!” Another former Koch adviser said, “They’re smart. This right-wing, redneck stuff works for them. They see this as a way to get things done without getting dirty themselves.” Rob Stein, a Democratic political strategist who has studied the conservative movement’s finances, said that the Kochs are “at the epicenter of the anti-Obama movement. But it’s not just about Obama. They would have done the same to Hillary Clinton. They did the same with Bill Clinton. They are out to destroy progressivism.”

Read the entire explosive article here.

• The Tea Party takes over?
• The Coffee Party
• A genuine documentary film on the Tea Party movement?

President of the Kansas Farmers Union, and a star of the movie “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” Donn just returned from two weeks in Kaolack and Dakar.  He participated in an international farmer exchange program, offering to help the Senegalese farmers become more efficient at growing and marketing millet.

Donn Teske (on the right) in Senegal on a farmers exchange program

Donn has posted his journal entries and photos on the Kansas Farmers Union blog (his posts start here.)  It’s well worth a look, esp. if you are familiar with Donn from our movie.

He introduces his adventure as follows:

Yep, I’m writing this from Brussels, danged Donn who has never traveled beyond the American borders in all his travels all these years besides Winnipeg a couple of times.  And shoot, Winnipeg hardly counts as out of the country.

It all started when I received an email sent out by National Farmers Union putting out a call for participants in a “Farmer to farmer” program hosted by the NCBA (no, not the cattle group, the National Cooperative Business Assn.) They were requesting expert assistance in working with Senegal producers in their efforts to raise and market Millet. I thought that I would be a pretty good candidate for this effort, (except for the part about growing Millet) but Millet is quite a bit like Milo and I’ve grown quite a bit of Milo over the years. This is the part where my neighbors are all saying “he’s the crappiest farmer in the county what is he going to do over there to help them out????”

Senegal ranks 156 out of 177 countries on the Human Development Index. Around 70% of the population are farmers and 63% of the population survives on less than $2 per day! WOW, talk about a need!

You can read the rest here and here.

• Reflecting on the Tallgrass Film Festival
• Kansas theatrical premiere at Liberty Hall, Lawrence, Dec 11-17
• A Kansas farmers perspective on financial speculation

The euphoric feeling among liberals in the days between the election and the inauguration seems so quaint now — like something that happened decades ago — but it was very tangible at the time. Conservatives, for their part, were willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, with his approval and favoability ratings sometimes soaring into the 70s: such a post-election “bounce” had once been commonplace in the days of Eisenhower and Kennedy, but had rarely been seen in the post-Watergate era.

But Obama was never really able to capitalize on that momentum. Perhaps, in the face of the headwinds of an ever-deepening jobs crisis (far worse than his advisors had anticipated) and unrepentant Republican obstructionism (a canny, even ballsy strategy in retrospect), there was no way he really could have.

Nevertheless, I suspect that for most liberals, any real sense of progress has now been lost. Yes, the left got a good-but-not-great health care bill, a good-but-not-great stimulus package, a good-but-not-great financial reform plan: these are a formidable bounty, and Obama and the Democratic Congress worked hard for them. But they now read as a basically par-for-the-course result from a time when all the stars were aligned for the Democrats — rather than anything predictive of a new direction, or of a more progressive future. In contrast, as should become emphatically clear on November 2nd, the reversion to the mean has been incredibly swift.

You can read the entire post here.

• Obama = Antichrist? Sutton responds.
• Who cares What’s the Matter with Kansas?
• How much has changed with the election of Obama?

The subtle structure and elegant editing build to the pointed insight that the vast gulf in the country isn’t between right and left but between secular and religious. Wisely, Winston includes only a couple of the narrow-minded comments that provoke viewers to snort, jeer, and jettison their empathy. Carefully cultivating a nonjudgmental tone that’s largely free of condescension—no small achievement, when the itinerary includes a trip to the Creation Museum in Kentucky—the filmmaker’s approach pays off in the final reel, when everyone’s dilemmas touch us.

Read the full review here.

• Voice of America interview (in Russian)

This fall, as national attention turns to the mid-term elections, understanding the conservative movement, who is in it, where they come from, and what they want – is more important than ever.

A screening of What’s the Matter with Kansas? is the perfect tool to energize the conversation, get beyond the shouting and the stereotypes and engage people in a way that can make a difference.

BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Grassroots organizers can use a screening of What’s the Matter with Kansas? to create a community event.  Hold a discussion afterwards, invite guest speakers, use it as a fundraiser for your organization – the possibilities are limitless!

To bring this acclaimed film to your town, just fill in the form below, and we’ll get back to you with more details.

Oh, and while you’re at it, put the movie in your Netflix Queue.  The more people do it – the faster it’ll get on Netflix.

* – required field

• Denver area screening – April 15, 2010 – One night only!
• Jan 22 screening in Oklahoma City
• Friday, Oct 16 – One night screening at Columbia College Chicago

Barbara Ehrenreich and Thomas Frank will speak and sign books (including copies of Franks recently-revived Baffler magazine) on Wednesday, July 28, at Borders Park Avenue, 461 Park Avenue (at 57th Street) in New York City.

The title of the forum is: “What’s the Matter with Kansas? six years later – the backlash in hard times.”

Thomas will reflect on how times have changed – and how they haven’t – since his highly influential best-seller debuted in 2004.  Barbara Ehrenreich, whose books, from “Fear of Falling” to “Nickel and Dimed,” to name just a few, have been tremendously influential, will also speak.

Of course, this event is in celebration of the opening of the movie “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” in New York City on Friday, July 30 at the Producers Club IndieHouse Cinema, 358 W. 44th Street in mid-town Manhattan.

Director Joe Winston will also be in attendance, and offer a brief sneak preview of the upcoming movie and give away free passes to a lucky few from the audience!

”WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS? SIX YEARS AFTER: THE BACKLASH IN HARD TIMES”

WHEN:  Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 7:00pm

WHERE:  Borders Bookstore, Park Avenue and 57^th St.

• Thomas Frank: the backlash returns
• New York City run EXTENDED thru Aug 12, 2010
• Thomas Frank: “We are all Kansans now”

The New York Times once cracked that “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” should really be called “What’s the Matter with Wichita?” The heart of the conservative movement in Kansas is here, in the state’s largest city: the mega-churches, Operation Rescue, and numerous Christian schools, including one which ponied up for Sarah Palin to fly in and speak for a fundraiser (although she drew a smaller crowd than expected.)

For audiences across the country, “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” is a fascinating journey into the heart of American conservatism, a place that for many of us is warmly familiar yet utterly foreign — in the best documentary fashion, the movie gets viewers close to people they don’t really know.

In Wichita, however, everybody feels they already know these folks, they are their neighbors.

Liberals in San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C. are fascinated and surprised to find out what conservatives are really thinking, and why the believe what they do.

Liberals in Wichita, sometimes just get irritated.

audience at the Wichita Public Library July 8, 2010

We just held a special screening of “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” at the Wichita Public Library, on Thursday, July 8.

The movie had played in Wichita before — in fact, the first public screening of the finished film was at the 2008 Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita. It was a huge hit, selling out three screenings.  Many of the documentary subjects were in the audience (they’d all seen the movie and liked it very much.)  Our reflections and some photos are here.

Generally, Kansans in general and Wichitans in particular enjoy the movie for the same reasons everyone else does, with the added thrill of seeing their home town on the big screen.

But, at post-screening discussions, a few Wichitans react strongly to seeing evangelical Christians featured in a movie with Kansas in the title: Why do you have to show those people? Don’t folks in other parts of the country already think Kansans are backwards, ignorant, and overly religious?

Two years ago, Laura and I were taken aback.

This time, I was ready.

Director Joe Winston takes a question from the audience

“Look,” I replied, “whatever you worry that folks in New York thinking about you — they already think that.  They already associate this part of the country with narrow stereotypes of the evangelicals.  But until they see this movie, they don’t know about the progressive farmers movement, and the Kansas Populist tradition.  They don’t know about people like Donn Teske and M.T. Liggett, who are as whip-smart as anyone on the coasts.”

The discussion got livelier after that.  Kansans really know their history, and one woman reminded me that racism was a big factor in thwarting the original Populist Party in the late 1890s, as institutions like sharecropping pitted poor southern whites against poor southern blacks, with whom they had much in common otherwise.

Another blogger has quoted me here, when I reminded the crowd that rigid ideology is always a problem, no matter what the beliefs.

To be clear: Wichita gave the film a very warm reception, and even our critics were thoughtful and respectful.  They showed us what all documentary filmmakers should remember, that movies about real people’s lives have an impact, and are personal to those involved.

Young viewers were welcome, and well-behaved

• Mike Huckabee: “Nothing’s the Matter with Kansas?”
• Wichita screening – Thursday, July 8 – one night only!
• Kansas theatrical premiere at Liberty Hall, Lawrence, Dec 11-17

Reich begins with the familiar outlines of the situation we face: for a variety of reasons, since the 1970s, a tiny share of the U.S. population has become fantastically wealthy, at the expense of stagnant or declining incomes for the vast majority.  Vast sums have become available for financial speculation while most families must borrow to keep up middle-class living standards.  The financial meltdown of 2008 is best understood in this context, rather than as just the result of particular Wall Street machinations.  But Reich goes on to warn us:

It’s too facile to blame Ronald Reagan and his Republican ilk. Democrats have been almost as reluctant to attack inequality or even to recognize it as the central economic and social problem of our age. (As Bill Clinton’s labor secretary, I should know.) The reason is simple. As money has risen to the top, so has political power. Politicians are more dependent than ever on big money for their campaigns. Modern Washington is far removed from the Gilded Age, when, it’s been said, the lackeys of robber barons literally deposited sacks of cash on the desks of friendly legislators. Today’s cash comes in the form of ever increasing campaign donations from corporate executives and Wall Street, their ever bigger platoons of lobbyists and their hordes of PR flacks.

Reich then reaches a fascinating conclusion – that excessive inequality is so dangerous to the fabric of society as a whole, that eventually even elites will support reform:

If nothing more is done, America’s three-decade-long lurch toward widening inequality is an open invitation to a future demagogue who misconnects the dots, blaming immigrants, the poor, government, foreign nations, “socialists” or “intellectual elites” for the growing frustrations of the middle class. The major fault line in American politics will no longer be between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. It will be between the “establishment” and an increasingly mad-as-hell populace determined to “take back America” from them. When they understand where this is heading, powerful interests that have so far resisted reform may come to see that the alternative is far worse.

The entire essay is well worth a read.

• What’s the Matter with Democrats?
• Democrats distracted by wedge issues of their own?
• Time for a sequel?

Stories We Tell Ourselves

• SF Examiner: An engrossing visit to another world – no 3-D glasses required
• Lincoln, Nebraska May 28 – June 3
• Time for a sequel?