Storyville: American Idol-Reagan. BBC 2

An alcoholic salesman for a father, whose family lived in poverty and they were saved from destitution by Roosevelt’s New Deal. Reagan goes onto become a life guard and saves 17 lives. He becomes a radio announcer, the lead actor in Hollywood B movies. He moves into politics and becomes the president of the screen actors’ guild. He doesn’t give names before the Senate investigation into un-American activities. In fact his refusal to give names is laudable when so many others save their careers and names by turning against their work colleagues. But Ronald Reagan did his duty. He gave names to the FBI- off camera. Next he gets a job working for General Electric. He makes speeches. He schmoozes; he might even have affected sales. He’s saying the right things to be considered for the Governorship of California. He’s the 33rd Governor of California. He runs for the Presidency twice before triumphing on the third occasion defeating the Democrat, Jimmy Carter. He serves two terms as President. It’s a rags to riches story in which Reagan is always the bumbling iconic, George Bailey type, who gets things done in Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. His popularity grows as he recovers from an assassination attempt.

Off screen, he arguably brings the world closer to Armageddon -with his escalation of the Cold War -than J.F.K in Cuba. He spends more than any other US President. Most of it goes to the military. He invades a few small countries and illegally tries to subvert a few more. How does he work this miracle? He runs a Government deficit. Indeed it is seen as a badge of honour that money is spent in this way. Reagonomics is about freeing up the markets aka Milton Friedman. Tax cuts to the rich. Taking from the poor. In Bedford’s Falls there’s a run on the bank. Bumbling George Bailey uses his $2000 dollars honeymoon money to keep the Building and Loan open. Look behind the scenes. Who are the slum landlords, the Mr Henry H Potter types? They are Reagan’s backers, corporate interests and fossil fuel billionaires. The Glass-Steagall Act is swept away in ticker tape. In Bedford Falls George Bailley tries to explain. How much do you really need he asks? One bumptious hick asks for $132. 25. It’s not his money. It’s your money Mary. And your money Ernie, all tied up his bricks and mortar. So he asks again and gets the same answer $132.25. The hick is taking his all. Behind her Mary asks if she can be allowed $1.90 and George Bailley kisses her on the forehead. But in corporate America it’s always the rich at the front of the queue asking for the full amount: $132.25. The Mary’s of this world get their legs kicked out from beneath them, accused of malingering and false accounting. The gap between rich and poor Americans is growing so big The Grand Canyon is emasculated and wants to emigrate. One in three black Americans can expect to spend some time in prisons run by the private sector. This is one growth industry. The richest nation the planet has ever known cannot feed and house its citizens. Trickle-down economics? Water rarely flows upwards. Wealth certainly can and does. It accumulates and immiserates. Reagan benefited from The New Deal. We’ve moved back to the old deal.