Their intention is not to reduce their Aspen/The Hamptons/Riviera wealth, oh no. Their intention is to reduce YOUR middle class wealth. It will be the extremely wealthy and all the rest... Didn't we see a movie like this??

Lynda

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Martin Muoto, for example, is making change via his role as founder, managing partner, and CEO of "a family of social impact real estate funds" called SoLa Impact. In the short video clip, Muoto demonstrated his talent for cramming an obscene amount of woke corporate jargon into a single sentence. "We really are resetting the framework for how we execute compassionate capitalism with intention, with inclusion, and with sustainability," he said, expertly.

The man-on-the-street interviews were equally compelling. Uncredentialed commoners were asked to weigh in on a variety of topics, such as structural inequality, sustainability, and trade. In most cases, their thoughts, suggestions, and admissions of white privilege were no less insightful than those of the credentialed experts.

In one interview, a self-described "white girl who has always grown up in the suburbs" expressed a desire to help the environment by "cutting down on fast fashion," but acknowledged the difficulty of doing so, given that "everything that's worse for the environment is cheaper." In another, a man wearing an Under Armour hooded sweatshirt, a Nike hat, and Oakley sunglasses expressed his preference for American-made products, or at the very least products made in countries with "favorable working conditions."

Like the Democratic primary, Aspen Ideas: RE$ET was "generously underwritten" by a number of multinational corporations—MasterCard, PayPal, and Prudential. Bloomberg was involved as well. Journalists who survived the recent layoffs at billionaire Michael Bloomberg's media empire moderated a number of panel discussions. Not surprisingly, many of the panelists were financial patrons of the Democratic Party.

The first plenary session—"Resetting for Equity and Inclusion"—featured an appearance from Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hastings, who donated more than $5 million to Democratic candidates, committees, and PACs during the 2020 election cycle. (He gave $0 to GOP candidates and groups.) Hastings discussed the role that major corporations can and must play in the effort to eradicate racial injustice.

Democratic politicians participated as well, to an extent. Sen. Tina Smith (D., Minn.), for example, appeared to lose her connection after Bloomberg editor Aaron Rutkoff asked if Democrats should eliminate the filibuster to pass climate change legislation. The video feed cut abruptly to the senator refusing to answer the question, just as she (and Joe Biden) had repeatedly done during the 2020 election.

One breakout session—"Reset the Net for American Workers"—featured a Bloomberg-moderated discussion between Jamie Kalamarides, president of Prudential Group Insurance, and Karan Chopra, cofounder and senior adviser of Opportunity@Work, an independent 501(c)(3) that uses algorithms to help firms sort existing employees and potential hires according to skill level. Kalamarides (MBA, Dartmouth) and Chopra (MBA, Harvard) agreed that firms should hire "based on skills, not based on credentials."