After last night’s solid trouncing of the entire GOP steez by the Democrats in elections coast to coast (p.s. don’t miss Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech — it’s a banger), the time is ripe for articulating a new vision of the American Dream. And the vision of progressive capitalism is sounding like the right tone for a nation state that wishes to remain the leader of the free world.
I believe there is pent-up energy in the Democratic reservoir — with a deep bench of political talent of people who actually seem to care about other people. And who actually understand and exalt the real promise of America — as a beacon of hope for a new experiment in self-governance — if we can keep it.
One of those politicians is Ro Khanna, who represents the bulk of Silicon Valley in his California district. He recently sat down with my favorite historian of all time, Heather Cox Richardson, to talk about the vision of progressive capitalism for lifting us out of this moment of reactionary pessimism and “nostalgia populism” — a promise he says is fake in the age of AI because it won’t generate real opportunity (I agree). The following video is a great introduction to this promising vision for a way out of the quagmire we feel ourselves in.
What is progressive capitalism?
Progressive capitalism summary
1. What Khanna means by “progressive capitalism”
- Khanna argues that place matters: for decades, US policy has let capital go wherever it wants and told people in hollowed-out towns, “move if you want opportunity.”
- His version of progressive capitalism says:
- Markets and free enterprise are valuable for freedom and innovation, but
- Government must intentionally invest in people’s health, education, and communities so they can actually develop their capabilities where they live.
- He calls for a national economic development strategy — a kind of “Marshall Plan for the United States” — tailored to each region:
- Advanced manufacturing in some places
- Trade schools and tech institutes (AI, data, cyber) so people don’t have to leave small towns
- Jobs in healthcare, education, childcare, and elder care
2. Care economy and tech economy, not either/or
- Heather Cox Richardson pushes him on care work (childcare, elder care, education), noting it’s already present in every community, dominated by women and immigrants, and chronically underinvested in.
- Khanna:
- Fully agrees and supports a plan for $10-per-day childcare, paying workers $20–25/hour (modeled on Canada).
- Says we may need an “AI New Deal” where the government funds local jobs in childcare, elder care, wellness, etc. as AI displaces entry-level work.
- But he insists care alone can’t rebuild wealth in deindustrialized communities — you still need tech and production jobs with “wealth multiplier” effects.
- Overall: care + tech + manufacturing + services together form his idea of progressive capitalism.
3. Why Biden’s industrial strategy didn’t fully “land”
On why policies like the CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act didn’t translate into more durable political support:
- Khanna defends Biden’s achievements (CHIPS, IRA, infrastructure) but sees several problems:
- Macro headwinds: COVID, inflation, Biden’s age all weighed him down.
- Messaging gap: Biden didn’t consistently or compellingly “sell” the vision nationwide.
- Too manufacturing-centric: manufacturing is only ~10% of the economy; policy needs services, tech, AI, healthcare, and education jobs too.
- Symbolism and tangibility: he argues for visible projects like modern green steel plants in iconic industrial places (Johnstown, downriver Michigan) to signal revival.
- Top-down approach: Washington often “told communities what jobs they were going to get” instead of asking what people actually want.
- Implementation speed: he cites ideas like building 1,000 trade schools as fast, visible wins.
Big picture: Democrats need both better policy mix and better storytelling around a 21st-century American Dream.
4. The American Dream, populism, and progressive capitalism
- Both keep returning to the American Dream and how many Americans now feel it’s dead.
- Khanna’s take:
- Populism = anger at a system that works for “elites” (highly educated/professional/wealthy) but not ordinary people.
- Progressive capitalism = the roadmap for fixing that:
- His goal is “economic patriotism”: every community should have a real shot at prosperity in a modern, tech-driven economy.
- He contrasts this with Trump’s nostalgia populism:
- Trump sold the idea that the American Dream is dead and his answer is tariffs, nativism, and bashing other countries.
- Khanna argues this is emotionally powerful but economically fake in an AI/tech world; it won’t generate real opportunity.
5. Democrats’ path: vision, not villain-mimicry
- Khanna and Richardson talk about recent Democratic wins as a sign that voters respond to a constructive alternative, not just anti-Trump messaging.
- Khanna’s lessons:
- Don’t try to imitate Trump’s politics of villains and division or do “Trumpism lite.”
- Follow the model of JFK, Clinton, Obama — run on vision, inspiration, and hope, not just grievance.
- Celebrate multiracial democracy as a strength: he uses his own story (Indian American of Hindu faith representing Silicon Valley) and the rise of diverse leaders as proof the American Dream is still real for many.
6. Centering children and women
- Richardson pushes him to focus more explicitly on children and women rather than the old “male breadwinner” family frame.
- Khanna agrees strongly:
- Cites economists like James Heckman and Gary Becker: the highest-return public investment is in early childhood — from birth to kindergarten.
- Argues for universal childcare and preschool, Head Start–style supports, and massive investment in early emotional and educational development.
- On women’s leadership:
- He rejects the idea that losses by women candidates mean the country “isn’t ready for women leaders.”
- Points to women Democrats winning governorships and other major offices as proof and insists the party should lean into, not away from, diverse leadership.
7. Taxing extreme wealth and the “anti-revolution tax”
- Khanna recounts earlier conversations with Silicon Valley billionaires:
- He told them bluntly that if they don’t help create a fairer society, they’ll eventually face “pitchforks.”
- He jokingly calls higher taxes on extreme wealth an “anti-revolution tax.”
- He argues:
- The extreme wealth concentration in his district and similar places must be taxed more heavily.
- For example, even a small tax on a hypothetical “trillionaire” could fund universal $10/day childcare with decent wages for caregivers.
- Making sure that people see that wealth being used to improve their lives is key to restoring faith in the American Dream.
8. What citizens can do & his closing optimism
- When asked what ordinary Americans should do, Khanna flips it:
- He says they’re already doing it — marching (e.g., “No Kings” rallies), attending town halls, organizing, pushing Democrats not to cave to Trumpism-lite, and demanding bolder action.
- He urges Democrats to:
- Draw strength from historic freedom movements (civil rights, anti-colonial struggles, WWII), recognizing that building a multiracial democracy was never going to be easy.
- Approach the moment with humility: structural problems are deep; there’s no quick fix, but there is a path.
- He ends on a historical note:
- American history often hits a dark period before an advance:
- Hoover → New Deal
- Jim Crow → Civil Rights
- Civil War → Reconstruction amendments
- He believes that after Trumpism, a new progressive era is possible, if the country commits to a future-oriented, inclusive, economically serious project.
- American history often hits a dark period before an advance:
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