Reclaiming Power, Closing the Divide

The first three parts of this series followed a pattern that is hard to miss in American life today: the misplaced fight between left and right, the quiet rise of corporate influence while those fights dominated the headlines, and the growing disconnect between citizens and the politicians meant to represent them. What remains is the more complex question: what happens next? Identifying the problem is the simple part. The real test is deciding what to do about it.

Balance does not mean tearing everything down. We know thriving companies are critical for jobs and growth, and political institutions, when they function well, are the backbone of democracy. The challenge arises when the rules are skewed so far in one direction that ordinary people are left with less voice, less stability, and less faith in the system. The good news is that history shows that an imbalance never lasts forever. Each time wealth or power was concentrated too heavily, citizens eventually pushed back and rewrote the rules.

Lessons From History

Past generations show that power can be shifted when people organize and persist.

The labor movement of the early 1900s forced changes that we take for granted as standard expectations, such as the eight-hour workday, child labor laws, and workplace safety standards. These victories didn’t come from benevolence in corporate boardrooms; they came after decades of strikes, protests, and organizing.

A few decades later, President Theodore Roosevelt took on monopolies like Standard Oil and the railroads. These companies had grown so large that they dominated markets and influenced politics at every level. Public anger, combined with legal action, broke their grip and restored competition.

Consumer protection reforms in the 1960s and 1970s required similar action. Unsafe cars, mislabeled food, and dangerous household products sparked outrage, which advocacy groups harnessed. Reforms gave the country agencies like OSHA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, along with more explicit rules about safety and labeling.

Each moment serves as a reminder that corporations and governments rarely regulate themselves without pressure. Change has always come when the public has demanded it.

Where Things Stand Now

Today’s challenges are different in detail but familiar in shape. Union membership has collapsed from one in three workers in the 1950s to just over one in ten now. Antitrust enforcement was deprioritized for decades, allowing massive consolidation in technology, agriculture, and finance. Money in politics has exploded; in 2023 alone, federal lobbying topped $4.1 billion, with pharmaceuticals accounting for more than $370 million of that total.

Still, there are cracks in the current system. Workers at Starbucks and Amazon are organizing against steep odds. Teachers’ strikes from Oklahoma to West Virginia drew national attention to underfunded schools. Antitrust regulators have revived long-dormant cases against tech giants like Google and Amazon. Public frustration with corporate tax avoidance has spilled into mainstream politics, with strong support for ensuring profitable companies pay more.

The system hasn’t shifted yet, but the signs are there, and pressure is building.

How Citizens Can Push the Balance Back

Rebalancing power has never been a matter of one sweeping fix. It takes both reforms at the top and action from the ground up.

Worker power. The steady decline in union membership has weakened bargaining strength. Expanding organizing rights and removing barriers can restore some leverage. In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a ban on most non-compete agreements, a change that would have impacted nearly 30 million workers. “Non-competes keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the economy of dynamism,” FTC Chair Lina Khan explained. Ending them would have opened doors for workers to move freely without the threat of lawsuits. Unfortunately, in September 2025, the FTC made a decision to no longer pursue this action, leaving many workers without the potential protections.

Money in politics. Corporate influence over elections has continued to grow following the Citizens United decision in 2010, with unlimited spending facilitated through super PACs and dark money groups, defining our political landscape. A 2023 Gallup survey found that nearly three-quarters of Americans want stricter limits on campaign contributions. While broad campaign finance reform is difficult, measures like stronger disclosure laws and voter support for candidates rejecting corporate PAC money are achievable starting points.

Stock buybacks. Since the 1980s, trillions have gone into buybacks, once considered market manipulation, rather than wages or innovation. From 2003 to 2012, companies in the S&P 500 spent more than half of their earnings, $2.4 trillion, on buybacks, according to Harvard Business Review. Less than 10% went into reinvestment. Proposals to tax or limit buybacks, or to tie executive pay to long-term performance, could redirect resources toward growth that benefits more than shareholders.

Monopolies. Industry consolidation drives up costs and limits choice. In agriculture, just four firms control over 80% of beef processing. In technology, a handful of firms dominate digital advertising, search, and social media. The Justice Department’s current cases against Google and Amazon echo earlier efforts against Standard Oil and AT&T, both of which reshaped industries that once seemed untouchable.

Media literacy. Recognizing when “common sense” narratives are manufactured for profit is a defense against manipulation. The food pyramid introduced in the 1990s reflected lobbying over science and encouraged grain-heavy food consumption aligned with agricultural interests. Marketing campaigns of the 20th century helped define gender standards today by associating “feminine” or “masculine” characteristics with our consumption of products, colors, and habits in an effort to drive sales and increase costs to American families. As historian Daniel Boorstin put it, “The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance—it is the illusion of knowledge.”

The Role of Communities

Not every solution has to come from Washington. Communities already have the tools to reset local dynamics and keep wealth closer to home. Cities can raise local minimum wages, pass transparency rules for contracts, and invest in community-owned businesses. Cooperatives, credit unions, and other local ownership models circulate money within the community rather than funneling it upward to distant shareholders. Credit unions, for instance, now serve over 140 million Americans and manage more than $2.3 trillion in assets. Because they are member-owned, they return profits through lower loan rates, higher savings rates, and reduced fees. In 2023, the average credit union credit card carried an interest rate nearly 2 percentage points lower than the average bank card, and credit union CDs consistently outpaced bank offerings by 40-90 basis points. Beyond pricing, credit unions direct a larger share of lending toward households and small businesses, particularly in low- and moderate-income areas, than many large banks. Worker-owned cooperatives also demonstrate the model’s potential. Cleveland’s Evergreen Cooperatives run employee-owned businesses providing hospital laundry services, solar panel installations, and building retrofits; keeping jobs and profits rooted locally. In Maine, the Portland Food Co-op connects regional farmers directly with consumers, strengthening the local food system. Studies of cooperative enterprises in Spain and the U.S. have found they are not only resilient in downturns but often more efficient and stable than conventional firms, precisely because their incentives are tied to community well-being rather than quarterly returns. These models won’t replace large corporations overnight, but they prove that practical alternatives exist and work. As economist Gar Alperovitz observed, “Democracy is strengthened when communities control more of their economic destiny.” Local action not only meets immediate needs but also demonstrates other ways of doing business, showing that prosperity and accountability do not have to be at odds.

Reclaiming Democracy

At its core, this conversation is about democracy itself. When people feel powerless, disengagement follows, and disengagement benefits those who already hold influence. The opposite is also true: when citizens see their actions, votes, advocacy, organizing, and change outcomes, trust is restored.

Participation extends beyond casting a ballot every few years. Attending local meetings, supporting independent journalism, joining civic groups, and holding companies accountable as consumers all add pressure points. These acts, though small, add up when multiplied across communities.

The demand for reform is already strong. A 2022 Pew survey showed that 85% of Americans want stricter limits on campaign spending. Activism from shareholders has pushed companies to act on climate change, workplace diversity, and supply chain ethics. There is a reemergence in labor organizing within industries long thought untouchable. Together, these trends show that people are not as disengaged as the headlines sometimes suggest; they are simply finding new ways to push for influence.

John Dewey, the American philosopher, once wrote, “Democracy must be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.” Today, that rebirth is dependent on media literacy, civic education, and the ability to recognize when narratives are being shaped by corporate or political agendas.

Final Thoughts

The imbalance between corporations, politicians, and citizens did not happen overnight, and there is no quick solution. But history shows that when accountability is demanded, change follows.

The risks of inaction are not theoretical. Inequality will widen, labor rights will erode further, and public policy will bend more tightly toward corporate priorities. Cultural battles will dominate because they are easier to amplify than systemic reforms. Democracy itself risks becoming more spectacle than substance.

The parallels with history are evident. During the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, industrialists amassed immense fortunes while workers endured long hours in unsafe factories. Corruption was widespread, and faith in government sank. Only in the Progressive Era, through antitrust enforcement, labor protections, and electoral reforms, did balance begin to return. The similarities to today are difficult to miss.

Rebalancing power is not about rejecting business or politics. It is about rejecting the notion that either exists above society.

Ultimately:

✓ Prosperity should be shared.
✓ Democracy should not be for sale.
✓ Accountability should apply equally to all.

The tools already exist: organizing, voting, civic education, and building alternatives. The real question is whether those tools will be used. The answer will determine whether the next chapter mirrors the excesses of the Gilded Age or the reforms of the Progressive Era that followed it.