Last night, capping a day of student rallies at UC Berkeley against state cuts to education, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich gave the annual Mario Savio Memorial Lecture on the steps of Sproul Hall.
As reported in The Daily Cal, protest organizers had asked the Mario Savio Memorial Lecture and Young Activist Award Board of Directors move the lecture from the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union building to the Sproul steps.
Reich, a professor of public policy and a frequent political commentator, called his speech "Class Warfare in America." As you might deduce from that title, he talked about the much-chronicled concentration of wealth in the country at the top of the economic pyramid, and "the irresponsible use of wealth to undermine our democratic system.” He ended with this:
“All of you, right now, understand intuitively that if we allow America to continue in the way it is going … that the bullies would be in charge. You understand how important it is to fight the bullies, to have a voice. I want to thank each and every one of you for what you are doing.”
Watch the video here: