Episode 166: Americonned with Sean Claffey

Across the Margin: The Podcast

This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with director Sean Claffey who has more than 25 years in the film industry spanning feature films, industry documentaries, and commercials. His latest film, Americonned, is a documentary about income inequality in the U.S. and the tragic destabilizing effects it has on Americans. Radical inequality has led to radicalization at every level of society, and this powerful documentary depicts what happens when America hits its tipping point. Americonned looks back through American history at similar critical moments of instability and notes that the labor movement of the past was born in times like these. Despite an increase in productivity in recent decades, compensation for the American worker has been stagnant. In addition, 47% of American jobs are at high risk of being lost to automation and A.I. by the mid-2030s. In the United States, there has been an upward redistribution of over $50 trillion from the bottom 90% to the top 1% over the last 40 years. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have created a protection racket for the rich, and corporations are deliberately crushing unions. Americonned takes a hard and important look at a critical problem facing the United States and offers hope, through real life stories of those fighting back and working towards a rebirth of labor that is happening in America right now. In this episode host Michael Shields and Sean Claffey discuss Chris Smalls inspiring movement to unionize Amazon workers for the first time. They talk about just how rapidly the income inequality gap in America has grown in the past 40 years and the nefarious tactics many in power use to increase their own wealth while drastically eroding the middle class. They explore how A.I. will contribute to increased wealth inequality, how the wealth gap contributes to Democratic instability, and much more.

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