RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, JUNE 26,026. One so far surviving feature of Democracy in America even under Donald Trump II is frequent elections.

On the way to the big November 3 federal midterms, this past Tuesday, June 23 offered primary elections (within political parties) in four states : Maryland, South Carolina, Utah, and (especially) New York.

These elections (again especially in New York) have apparently boosted the left in what CNN analyst Ron Brownstein has called the “unusual, even unprecedented” battle “between left and center” in the Democratic Party, that has marked the journey to the 2026 midterms.

As the New York Times ultimately reported on key June 23 Democratic primary races in the Empire State of New York : “Mamdani Allies Sweep House Primaries in Big Night for Left-Wing Democrats.”

(1) Robert Reich in Berkeley, California and Simon Kuestenmacher in Melbourne, Australia

Meanwhile, without yet knowing this result, far away on the other side of the country Robert Reich in Berkeley, California had posted on his favourite social media just after 5 AM on the morning of June 23, 2026 a piece called “Class Warriors, Class Worriers, and Class Wimps.”

In keeping with the spirit many saw in what did finally happen this past Tuesday (yet again especially in New York), Mr. Reich’s clearly “left” as opposed to “center” message urged : “It’s time for Democrats to take on the class war that’s being waged by the nation’s oligarchy against most Americans by becoming class warriors themselves.”

As Robert Reich spelled out in his buildup to this class warriors proposition : “Workers’ share of the nation’s income has now dropped to the lowest it’s been since records began in 1947, while profits’ share is the highest since 1950 (showing up in a rip-roaring stock market) … This is morally wrong. ‘Income from capital risks replacing income from labor,’ Pope Leo wrote in Magnifica Humanitas, his recent encyclical letter.”

As the German geographer and demographer currently residing in in Melbourne, Australia, Simon Kuestenmacher, somewhat similarly posted on X on June 25, 2026 : “The top 1% in the US now hold as much wealth as the entire bottom 90% of Americans combined (32% each) … Widespread anger in an economy that is very unequal isn’t surprising.”

(2) Both “left” and “center” Democrats important in deciding November 3 midterms

As a keen observer of Democracy in America next door who does not vote in American elections, I do have great sympathy for the class-war “left” arguments advanced by Mr. Reich and Mr. Kuestenmacher (and many others) on American politics today.

At the same time, as Ron Brownstein notes : “Democratic centrists correctly point out that a significant majority of the successful progressive primary candidates are winning in safely Democratic areas. In the competitive seats that will decide control of the House and Senate, the party still largely relies on moderate nominees. And for those candidates, the left’s rise even in safe seats could prove an unwelcome complication.”

My guess would be that in the end both the “left” and “center” sides of the Democratic Party in 2026 will be important in deciding the results of the November 3 midterm elections this year. And I don’t see why both sides cannot coexist happily enough under the one big tent.

From a longer-term perspective in the new age of AI and all that I also wonder somewhat about the Pope Leo quotation Robert Reich offered in his class-war post : ‘Income from capital risks replacing income from labor.’ (Even as I acknowledge my own deep admiration for Pope Leo.)

(3) Why can’t workers earn “income from capital” too??

My experience as someone who has done his or her best to avoid the harsh (and often unfair) capitalist discipline of the mainstream labour force in North America today, more or less since 1980, has suggested to me that “income from capital” — ie income from investing in financial markets — can also be a force for human liberation in the 21st century.

Like others as well, I have an interest in the universal basic income concept as one approach to navigating the new age of artificial intelligence technology that lies ahead. But I also think that educating we ordinary people in the techniques and benefits of investing in stock and fixed-income financial markets can be another useful kind of public policy.

Ordinary people — “workers” if you like — who take up earning at least part of their “income from capital” are not in any way bolstering or supporting what might be called the capitalist ruling class in our kind of society. They are finally just taking useful advantage of the capitalist class by playing their own game for different purposes (beyond just making money).

I’d argue too that this can finally become yet another way of dealing with the vast new problems of social and economic organization that do seem inherent in the new age of artificial intelligence technology that lies ahead.

(4) The next half century in the capitalist democracies

Over the past half century China has developed (a particular authoritarian version of) socialism with a market economy.

Over the next half century the capitalist democracies could develop their own versions of democratic socialist market economies, to help support the great mass of we the people in the next great technological transformation of the global village.