Excellent analysis. We have got to get the newer, younger, bolder people in the Democratic party to lead the way. AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, Greg Casar, Chris Murphy, and others like them. And brand new candidates running on exactly the new New Deal issues we need, as you mentioned. Get privatization of public needs out of government. Do the exact opposite of oligarchy and the current fpotus administrative drive to privatize all public good functions - housing, transportation, utilities, healthcare, robust public education, internet and telecommunications as public utilities. This is a huge challenge, but it can be done. We need a different revolution, a people's revolt, than the oligarchial one happening now.
“Say whatever you want about him, but he doesn't hesitate to use power. When Trump wants something, he fires people, rewrites rules, and bulldozes anything standing in his way.”
Does he not hesitate to use power? Sure. But so what? Trump accomplishes virtually nothing. He regularly breaks the law while affecting no meaningful positive change. Bulldozing constitutional norms is counterproductive to getting things done. Democrats should use power like Trump? How so? By trampling democracy and spreading lies?
The implied contrasts of Biden against FDR overlook the fact that Roosevelt had supermajorities in Congress. If anything this column should argue for electing more Democrats, because (as FDR showed us) big margins in both houses are what’s actually needed to create New Deal style change. The fact that Biden — with narrow majorities in his first two years during the most politically polarized moment since 1850 — was able to cap the cost of insulin for seniors, negotiate Medicare drug prices for the first time ever, and distribute over $300B in state funding during the first two years of the Infrastructure Act, is actually pretty remarkable.
"Nobody gives a damn about the stock market." Truly.
My problem here is that as long as there is a two-party fix, no candidate who wants to change the system is going to make it through the system. Dems and all the dem-adjacent organizations tried to get out the blue vote for 2024 and couldn't, because the candidates were both shitty. I have zero faith that the Democratic party can be resuscitated, because of the amount of money at stake.
Honestly, I'm all for diagnosing the problem, and dems are as feckless and weak as you've described, but what can we do? I don't see any way forward until people are angry enough to think longer term, beyond the next terrifying election to a terrifying future, and actually vote third party. But I'm open to ideas because, boy are we in trouble.
I hope and believe that one of the issues we face is a lack of understanding of how bad or hard things have gotten. I have some super uplifting studies detailing how far we've fallen.
Just read this post. Its logic is factual. But it is not complete in its rebuttal. There are NO political parties operating intelligently in 'murka. Have not been doing so for many decades. The co-option to hubris runs across all political sectors. Politics itself, which is not so much an institution as an insider's club of transactional addicts, is what is and has been a failure. And it is not difficult to see why.
The foundational premises of 'murka are co-opted. The alleged nobility of the 'we the people' meme was never backed up with the ability of the public to immediately step in once 'representative public servants' were chosen. 'murkans love hierarchy, love hero worship, love winning 'something' so they can feel good about themselves. Look no further than the entire scheme of 'murkan exceptionalism - fame, fortune, influence, privilege, exclusion from ordinary life,- a yearning for the exact opposite of what the Constitution actually proffered as the acknowledged 'sovereignty' of the people, the citizenry.
The drift away from public power toward vote/advise/consent/trust of political threat actors began immediately. Politics is mostly showmanship, thespians too banal for professional drama find a home in the seductive world of telling tales and offering promises that could never be kept. The 'institution' of govt. erased the institution of the sovereign citizenry. Consensus, which is the only path to a true agreement among equal partners, went away before the ink dried. Too messy, to slow, too much labor and effort to find the small linkages of common ground that demonstrate the infrastructure of a responsible society.
And the greedy transactionalists, like predators lurking alongside the bison herds, soon began to pick off and consume both the weak and the strong citizens, pointing their fingers at phantoms and promising protections. Trust me, the check's in the mail, only I can fix it. Fix it indeed. The fix is now IN. The mafia are in charge. Evil always saves the worst for last.
We have 50 states now mimicking the federal whorehouse, with pimps galore emulating the federal fiasco. Everyone who studies a bit and pays attention knows that any society of beings needs some form of bureaucracy, some family code of ethics, some view beyond personal wants and needs. Humans are outrageously messy and lazy if they are not engaged in the safety and functioning of their social family and the planetary sources and resources that allow them to function. No political power structure will EVER make this work.
My dad, a blue-collar working man understood the immense value of a public education and worked in the school citizen management for 20 years. It worked because the connection between parent, student, school, school board, educators, managers, support staff was strong and out front and in the open. He also owned a one-person business that was exposed daily to all in the public.
That was 60 years ago. Education is no longer a right nor a privilege. It is an impediment to oligarchy and democracy. 'murka needs a disassembly and an overhaul. It is now managed by carnival barkers and narcissistic sadists. The end of the line. The end product of addictions to hubris. It must fail now, as it will. If any of us are left, the rebuild might begin, IF the planet will allow it, which is a tenuous and fragile chance with very poor odds. Time will tell.
Excellent analysis. We have got to get the newer, younger, bolder people in the Democratic party to lead the way. AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, Greg Casar, Chris Murphy, and others like them. And brand new candidates running on exactly the new New Deal issues we need, as you mentioned. Get privatization of public needs out of government. Do the exact opposite of oligarchy and the current fpotus administrative drive to privatize all public good functions - housing, transportation, utilities, healthcare, robust public education, internet and telecommunications as public utilities. This is a huge challenge, but it can be done. We need a different revolution, a people's revolt, than the oligarchial one happening now.
“Say whatever you want about him, but he doesn't hesitate to use power. When Trump wants something, he fires people, rewrites rules, and bulldozes anything standing in his way.”
Does he not hesitate to use power? Sure. But so what? Trump accomplishes virtually nothing. He regularly breaks the law while affecting no meaningful positive change. Bulldozing constitutional norms is counterproductive to getting things done. Democrats should use power like Trump? How so? By trampling democracy and spreading lies?
The implied contrasts of Biden against FDR overlook the fact that Roosevelt had supermajorities in Congress. If anything this column should argue for electing more Democrats, because (as FDR showed us) big margins in both houses are what’s actually needed to create New Deal style change. The fact that Biden — with narrow majorities in his first two years during the most politically polarized moment since 1850 — was able to cap the cost of insulin for seniors, negotiate Medicare drug prices for the first time ever, and distribute over $300B in state funding during the first two years of the Infrastructure Act, is actually pretty remarkable.
The Democratic Party is completely moribund. It's time to dump them and build something else.
Works well for some
"Nobody gives a damn about the stock market." Truly.
My problem here is that as long as there is a two-party fix, no candidate who wants to change the system is going to make it through the system. Dems and all the dem-adjacent organizations tried to get out the blue vote for 2024 and couldn't, because the candidates were both shitty. I have zero faith that the Democratic party can be resuscitated, because of the amount of money at stake.
Honestly, I'm all for diagnosing the problem, and dems are as feckless and weak as you've described, but what can we do? I don't see any way forward until people are angry enough to think longer term, beyond the next terrifying election to a terrifying future, and actually vote third party. But I'm open to ideas because, boy are we in trouble.
I hope and believe that one of the issues we face is a lack of understanding of how bad or hard things have gotten. I have some super uplifting studies detailing how far we've fallen.
Just read this post. Its logic is factual. But it is not complete in its rebuttal. There are NO political parties operating intelligently in 'murka. Have not been doing so for many decades. The co-option to hubris runs across all political sectors. Politics itself, which is not so much an institution as an insider's club of transactional addicts, is what is and has been a failure. And it is not difficult to see why.
The foundational premises of 'murka are co-opted. The alleged nobility of the 'we the people' meme was never backed up with the ability of the public to immediately step in once 'representative public servants' were chosen. 'murkans love hierarchy, love hero worship, love winning 'something' so they can feel good about themselves. Look no further than the entire scheme of 'murkan exceptionalism - fame, fortune, influence, privilege, exclusion from ordinary life,- a yearning for the exact opposite of what the Constitution actually proffered as the acknowledged 'sovereignty' of the people, the citizenry.
The drift away from public power toward vote/advise/consent/trust of political threat actors began immediately. Politics is mostly showmanship, thespians too banal for professional drama find a home in the seductive world of telling tales and offering promises that could never be kept. The 'institution' of govt. erased the institution of the sovereign citizenry. Consensus, which is the only path to a true agreement among equal partners, went away before the ink dried. Too messy, to slow, too much labor and effort to find the small linkages of common ground that demonstrate the infrastructure of a responsible society.
And the greedy transactionalists, like predators lurking alongside the bison herds, soon began to pick off and consume both the weak and the strong citizens, pointing their fingers at phantoms and promising protections. Trust me, the check's in the mail, only I can fix it. Fix it indeed. The fix is now IN. The mafia are in charge. Evil always saves the worst for last.
We have 50 states now mimicking the federal whorehouse, with pimps galore emulating the federal fiasco. Everyone who studies a bit and pays attention knows that any society of beings needs some form of bureaucracy, some family code of ethics, some view beyond personal wants and needs. Humans are outrageously messy and lazy if they are not engaged in the safety and functioning of their social family and the planetary sources and resources that allow them to function. No political power structure will EVER make this work.
My dad, a blue-collar working man understood the immense value of a public education and worked in the school citizen management for 20 years. It worked because the connection between parent, student, school, school board, educators, managers, support staff was strong and out front and in the open. He also owned a one-person business that was exposed daily to all in the public.
That was 60 years ago. Education is no longer a right nor a privilege. It is an impediment to oligarchy and democracy. 'murka needs a disassembly and an overhaul. It is now managed by carnival barkers and narcissistic sadists. The end of the line. The end product of addictions to hubris. It must fail now, as it will. If any of us are left, the rebuild might begin, IF the planet will allow it, which is a tenuous and fragile chance with very poor odds. Time will tell.