One Life, Many Lives

One life can have a major impact.

If you follow Robert Reich on Substack, you’ll notice he gives off the vibe of that line from Hamilton: he’s steady, strong, and not going anywhere (thankfully!)—but he also writes “like he’s running out of time.” He’s prolific, always creating, naming challenges, proposing solutions, and encouraging others to fight for democracy and economic justice in this country. After serving as Secretary of Labor in the 1990s, he became a beloved professor at UC Berkeley for decades, and he believes in young people above all. He co-founded Inequality Media to expose the fallout of widening gaps between the super-rich, the middle class, and the poor, and to propose policy solutions.

Just in the past few weeks, he was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, released a new book (Coming Up Short: A Memoir of America), which immediately shot to number one on the New York Times Bestseller list, and was featured in a new documentary, The Last Class. The film follows him as he teaches his final economics class at UC Berkeley, urging students to use their voices in this era. It has even been called “the art film of the summer.” I’m going to see it in a couple of weeks.

One life can have a major impact.

When Reich began his tenure as Secretary of Labor, he noticed that his office walls were lined with portraits of the men who had held the position before him. “Where is Frances Perkins?” he asked. In his mind, Perkins, the first woman to hold a U.S. cabinet position, was the most consequential Secretary of Labor the country had ever had. Eventually, he found her portrait in a storage closet, in need of repair.

He had it restored and placed directly above and behind his desk.

One life can make an impact.

In 1911, Frances Perkins had a life-altering experience when she witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Workers — most of them young immigrant women — were trapped in a burning factory due to horrific conditions. She watched them leap to their deaths. It was devastating, and she resolved that no one should ever endure such circumstances again.

She spent her life petitioning for labor changes, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt eventually appointed her Secretary of Labor. Thanks to her vision and leadership, we now have the eight-hour workday, unemployment insurance, and Social Security.

One life can make an impact.

Never underestimate how far one person’s influence can travel. But here’s the thing: No one, even those who accomplish much, gets anywhere alone. We are shaped by countless people, named and unnamed, who form us. We are shaped by the impacts and influences that give rise to who we become, what we care about, and how we act. All those lives have a major impact.

—Renee Roederer

This post was inspired by watching Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse have a conversation about current events on their most recent video on Saturday Coffee Klatch.