While you were collecting Beanie Babies…
The media was being monopolized (Telecom Act 1996)
The banks were deregulating (Glass-Steagall repeal plans)
Corporations were offshoring to China (WTO expansion)
Wall Street was getting ready for the next crash
The poor were being blamed (Welfare Reform 1996)
Copyright law was rewritten for Disney (DMCA 1998)
The real Beanie Babies weren’t the toys… they were the laws passed while we weren’t looking.