The fact that the Republicans have done things this badly before the Democrats have a chance to defeat them tells you how screwed up the Democratic party has become. Then how will the Democrats react. I'll tell you. They are going to do the least they could to beat Trump and then go back to their money and power hungry friends. Then the Republicans win, same reasons, Then the Democrats win and on and on. Bottom line is the Working and Middle classes with be earning less and producing more with less health care, less Social Security, more years to work before retirement, shorter life expectancy, Unhealthy additives in our food, the environment and water and less civil rights. I challenge someone to prove this is not what been going on for the last fifty years.
After everything you just wrote, you still think we have any hope at all with the Democrats? It takes YEARS to reform a party even during normal circumstances. Right now, they are fully capitulating to fascists.
At BEST, we would go back to slow death via neoliberal exploitation. The only chance we have, for our whole planet, is to create a people’s party and take back power.
I think that Trump took over the Republican Party and transformed it. I think FDR did something similar for a time. I suppose I reckon it’ll be a tough fight either way and that rebuilding the Democratic Party is the easier lift between that and new party. But It’s just, like, my opinion man.
Trump was a demagogue uplifted by a cult of very ignorant people already fed in decades of propaganda. The Democratic situation is very different.
Case in point, we ALREADY elected a Democratic president AND gave him a trifecta. Did they use that power to stop the fascists that we all knew were planning this? Nope.
By the time the Democrats are reformed, political parties will be meaningless.
NEITHER party serves the citizens of the United States. They are 100% supportive of the oligarchs. We hoi polloi are riff raff, useless eaters, insects.... creatures to be crushed, disposed of. Our entire system of governance (such that it is) is, simply put, A PAY TO PLAY GAME. CASINO CAPITALISM ... Just as the stock market has nothing to do with "where people live" - in every sense of the word. I agree with you. 100%
You hit the nail on the head. I spent three hours yesterday in a room full of people who are angry, smart and determined to save this country. I’m a Democratic Party official and if we don’t grab this energy and do something with it, we’re just as guilty as MAGA.
Clintonian Dems are invested in keeping the process of power the same because they are so panicked that any change will come out of their dinner. We need new progressive politicians that will break how things are done with as much abandon as the Republicans. We will have to be as ruthless as they have been to get anything even a little different and the Pelosi/Schumer clan hate progressives more than they hate Trump et al. Its time to attack them!
Certainly a lot to think about. I agree with you. We are so far behind other “wealthy countries we should be ashamed. I am 83 and there is not a lot I can do in person anymore although I do try. I do constantly write letters, email and call my representatives. We need to take money out of politics. The honor of being elected to office should be enough. I am afraid of Trump, especially his treatment of the courts. You certainly have an exciting alternative for the nation.
Totally agree, just one thing: how do we defeat big money? According to statistics, the more money one has in their "war chest" the more likely they are to win. I would like to see this government torn down and a new one put up with people that walk the walk rather than just talk it, but if one thing clearly shows, bribery is the way this country is going..and I am frustrated and depressed. (and get rid of both parties)
Let me clarify one thing by simplifying the whole thing: Capitalism has failed and you are writing without clarifying that. Citizens United sealed the fate and right now you see the effects--buy the government, sell it to a russian mole and there you are. Simple? Maybe. Too simple? Maybe. What's the alternative?
Yes... and selling citizenship to wealthy oligarchs ... at the same time sending US, TAX PAYING CITIZENS to private concentration camps in foreign countries.
Everybody just keeps throwing stones instead of working together. I can't believe I would say this to this crowd. I primal scream many times a day driving around in my EV. I know it rallies the troops, but it is tired. I have been fighting this fight since I got woke to the environmental state in 2000, and people are just not willing to do the hard work to survive the mess we have made out of the world, and even do little things that inconvenience them a little bit. Like, take your own damn bags to the grocery store. Get a cheap electric Chevy Bolt instead of gas guzzler or work with public transit, walk or ride a bike. I haven't burned gas since 2011. I spend every dime I have on progressives like you, and anything I can dream up to make my business, which is rental property, equitable and empowering to my tenants, affordable and clean. What have you done for me lately? Stop talking smack about others and live by your values everyday. Fun bits of facts: 58 percent of ocean plastic is paint. 24 percent is car tire dust, and dust from civilization. 90 percent of the gas you burn goes to planetary destruction. Watch plastic earth, use Ecosia for your search engine, grow food on every inch of land you have and give away what you can't eat. Turn off the power everywhere you can, and use the resources on Green America website and drawdown.org. Peace. My youtube channel is "crazy green landlord". It is a work in progress, but have fun with it.
We are nowhere close to doing anything like this . We need a lot more grassroots organizing in every state before any of these policy issues can be handled. First we must convince folks that working within the existing party structure is the way forward. It is not. The party will always disappoint us as it has in the past . In addition the party is losing strength with all segments if the population. Once the party dissolves we can build a real grassroots coalition. This coalition should run candidates as write ins if necessary. This will take time a 4 year timeframe is not long enough.
Mr Trent your salience and perspective with relevant data is refreshing and have participated with Justice
Democrats numerous times . Substack offers variance particularly with relevant unjaundiced China realities . Thank you for being you and doing what you do. Steve. Old line activist ☮️
Yes, you're clear on what should happen. I agree. And I know many others agree and are seeking ways to accomplish the same. The devil is in the details. There is the big HOW, and the little "how," how do we get from here to even the start? T
he Bernie team is putting organizers on the ground to turn out the vote for the Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge election, and to organize where Republicans are vulnerable. He is building an organization of sorts and that is a very welcome move. But beyond Bernie, we can see the birth of what looks like a massive resistance. The unity is anti-Trump but without a vision.
We've seen massive movements before that accomplished their immediate goals, but ultimately disappointed. The enormous opposition to the war in Vietnam, scattered. And even more disappointing, after the assassination of Dr. King, the civil rights movement produced leaders who moved into government and became main stream democrats, opposing many policies such as single payer healthcare that were and are desperately needed by the American people. And they became a central part of the power block that saw Bernie Sanders as a threat to doing business as usual.
So this massive resistance that is forming now could go in many different directions. It will definitely be focused on removing the fascist threat. I see a big opening here, and can almost see the how. It will take organizing and educating. But that's where I see opportunity.
The problem is that while Trump’s popularity shrinks the Democrats are falling even faster.
FDR and JFK would laugh at what passes for policy in their beloved Democratic Party. Although both were upper class they understood that victory for their party depended on working class voters. Current party leaders distain the “deplorable” and “racist” members of the working class.
A laundry list of things for Democrats to keep and to dump if they ever want to win again nationwide.
Keep a woman’s right to choose for the first trimester. Dump abortion until birth unless the mother’s health is at risk or the fetus is not viable.
Keep a concern for climate change and grow nuclear power. Dump intermittent, unreliable renewable energy that requires backup continuous generating capacity which is then used intermittently. A ridiculously expensive approach.
Keep and develop new effective vaccines. Dump vaccine mandates.
Keep equality of opportunity for all. Dump equity of results based on discriminating against men, whites and Asians in a futile attempt to compensate for past discrimination against women and blacks. Recognize that D.E.I. Is unconstitutional.
Keep the protection of gay and lesbian rights. Dump men in women’s sports, private spaces and prisons. Oh, and mutilating children who might grow up to be gay.
Keep an opportunity for selective high value immigration. Dump sanctuary cities and open borders.
Keep helping the homeless find jobs and a place to live. Dump camping in cities, shitting in the streets and allowing open drug use.
Keep a concern for due process in criminal justice. Dump letting shoplifters and other petty thieves off the hook and releasing predators back on the streets without bail to kill and maim again.
Do all of the above and they might find their way back to power.
There will NOT be an election in 2028. We are dreaming and submerging our heads in the deepest parts of the oceans if we think otherwise. On the off chance one is permitted to occur, its results will be irrelevant. Because if Cheeto actually does win (thanks to the hordes of good nazis now in our population), he wins. If he loses, he wins. BANANA REPUBLIC DICTATOR. We are a failed state. A rogue state. The end of our republic and the birth of a neo-Nazi takeover began on January 6, 2021. It was solidified on November 5, 2024, and on the day of the Fuehrer's ascension, January 20, 2025, when he pardoned criminals and thugs and fascists who defiled OUR Capitol, spreading feces, urinating, marauding offices, threatening lives, beating up cops, building a guillotine. Madmen. Madwomen. And this is the way we perish ... with both a whimper and a bang ... the increasing possibility of a WW III.
Excellent post. I couldn't agree more. If I have a disagreement it is only with degree. I do not believe all agencies are broken. The social security administration is efficient; or at least it was. The same is true of Medicare. The EPA, FCC, and others were victims of regulatory capture.
I had not thought much about the Chicago school of economics. I've known that republican notions of trickle down economics, (golden showers) job creators etc. were just excuses to transfer wealth from the middle class to the rich. Transgender issues, immigration, and other similar attacks have always been diversions that have allowed oligarchs and corporate interests to increase their wealth and avoid income tax.
Milton Friedman gave permission to the wealth class to avoid even paying lip service to civic responsibility. A corporation's only obligation is to maximize profits. Combined with off shoring, great manufacturing centers around the country were sold off for parts. KKR made billions while good paying jobs disappeared. Thus the Rust Belt. I wasn't rust that caused the decline. It was unbridled greed. If that is what you meant by the Chicago school, then I agree.
Trump and Musk have unmasked the thieves. They were brazenly mocking us while seated at the feet of Musk Trump at the inauguration. Bezos, Zuckerberg, Thiel, Ellerman and the rest of the tech bros. They don't even try to hide their contempt for the prols anymore.
The Democratic Party is addicted to corporate money. They will not lead us out of this mess. Indeed, as you point out, they are part of the problem. Schumer is a lost cause. Gillebrand's only claim to fame is forcing Al Franken out of office. He was ten times more effective than she ever was. She is just another corporate tool.
I am not sure that we win this battle. Too many people are too addicted to social media to even pay attention. Many Americans do not pay attention to "politics." If things change it will only happen when everyone feels the pain. Farmers, who overwhelmingly voted for tump, will feel the pain when they realize their markets are gone. Seniors will rise up if their social security checks stop. Veterans will rise up when they realize no one gives a shit about them. They will struggle when it takes six months to get an appointment for routine care. They are already disproportionately experiencing joblessness from the musk's reign of terror. Thirty percent of the newly jobless are veterans.
In the meantime I am attending protests and am engaging in personal boycotts. These small acts of resistance are not nearly enough. I plan to attend the demonstrations in Washington DC on April 5. The only way this ends favorably is if we shut down the country by demonstrations and massive boycotts.
A call for others to run for office seems a very weak response. Your earlier suggestion of the need for an instutute to develop a long term plan is more likely to bring results.
The Republicans did not get where they are by issuing a call for people to run. They spent decades developing a vision (starting with taking over a legal department at a university). Importantly, by prejudging what the strategy or vision should be (government competition) you undermine the very purpose of establishing a group that would to figure out a vision and strategy. No one with a serious interest in problem solving will be interested in participaing in a group whose tenents have already be decided. And this nation definetly has a problem.
After establishing their vision the Republicans held countless workshops and retreats to train and indoctrinate. In the end, they then took advantage of a "hot" issue (abortion) to insert their candidates into the electorial system.
We now have THE BEST leadership that money can buy. The quickest way to return to real, true democracy can be had through the IWW. That’s right, the Industrial Workers of the World. Check ‘em out if you’re not familiar.
The fact that the Republicans have done things this badly before the Democrats have a chance to defeat them tells you how screwed up the Democratic party has become. Then how will the Democrats react. I'll tell you. They are going to do the least they could to beat Trump and then go back to their money and power hungry friends. Then the Republicans win, same reasons, Then the Democrats win and on and on. Bottom line is the Working and Middle classes with be earning less and producing more with less health care, less Social Security, more years to work before retirement, shorter life expectancy, Unhealthy additives in our food, the environment and water and less civil rights. I challenge someone to prove this is not what been going on for the last fifty years.
I hope you're wrong.
After everything you just wrote, you still think we have any hope at all with the Democrats? It takes YEARS to reform a party even during normal circumstances. Right now, they are fully capitulating to fascists.
At BEST, we would go back to slow death via neoliberal exploitation. The only chance we have, for our whole planet, is to create a people’s party and take back power.
I think that Trump took over the Republican Party and transformed it. I think FDR did something similar for a time. I suppose I reckon it’ll be a tough fight either way and that rebuilding the Democratic Party is the easier lift between that and new party. But It’s just, like, my opinion man.
Trump was a demagogue uplifted by a cult of very ignorant people already fed in decades of propaganda. The Democratic situation is very different.
Case in point, we ALREADY elected a Democratic president AND gave him a trifecta. Did they use that power to stop the fascists that we all knew were planning this? Nope.
By the time the Democrats are reformed, political parties will be meaningless.
NEITHER party serves the citizens of the United States. They are 100% supportive of the oligarchs. We hoi polloi are riff raff, useless eaters, insects.... creatures to be crushed, disposed of. Our entire system of governance (such that it is) is, simply put, A PAY TO PLAY GAME. CASINO CAPITALISM ... Just as the stock market has nothing to do with "where people live" - in every sense of the word. I agree with you. 100%
BRAVO... well said because we have to be honest about everything and not just take one side or the other when the entire house is rotten!
You hit the nail on the head. I spent three hours yesterday in a room full of people who are angry, smart and determined to save this country. I’m a Democratic Party official and if we don’t grab this energy and do something with it, we’re just as guilty as MAGA.
We're already guilty. The DEMS ... the cash crazy, corporate and major war party (genocide?) ... paved the road for the nazi marauders.
Clintonian Dems are invested in keeping the process of power the same because they are so panicked that any change will come out of their dinner. We need new progressive politicians that will break how things are done with as much abandon as the Republicans. We will have to be as ruthless as they have been to get anything even a little different and the Pelosi/Schumer clan hate progressives more than they hate Trump et al. Its time to attack them!
I think it's more about building power then being ruthless, personally.
Certainly a lot to think about. I agree with you. We are so far behind other “wealthy countries we should be ashamed. I am 83 and there is not a lot I can do in person anymore although I do try. I do constantly write letters, email and call my representatives. We need to take money out of politics. The honor of being elected to office should be enough. I am afraid of Trump, especially his treatment of the courts. You certainly have an exciting alternative for the nation.
Totally agree, just one thing: how do we defeat big money? According to statistics, the more money one has in their "war chest" the more likely they are to win. I would like to see this government torn down and a new one put up with people that walk the walk rather than just talk it, but if one thing clearly shows, bribery is the way this country is going..and I am frustrated and depressed. (and get rid of both parties)
Let me clarify one thing by simplifying the whole thing: Capitalism has failed and you are writing without clarifying that. Citizens United sealed the fate and right now you see the effects--buy the government, sell it to a russian mole and there you are. Simple? Maybe. Too simple? Maybe. What's the alternative?
Yes... and selling citizenship to wealthy oligarchs ... at the same time sending US, TAX PAYING CITIZENS to private concentration camps in foreign countries.
Everybody just keeps throwing stones instead of working together. I can't believe I would say this to this crowd. I primal scream many times a day driving around in my EV. I know it rallies the troops, but it is tired. I have been fighting this fight since I got woke to the environmental state in 2000, and people are just not willing to do the hard work to survive the mess we have made out of the world, and even do little things that inconvenience them a little bit. Like, take your own damn bags to the grocery store. Get a cheap electric Chevy Bolt instead of gas guzzler or work with public transit, walk or ride a bike. I haven't burned gas since 2011. I spend every dime I have on progressives like you, and anything I can dream up to make my business, which is rental property, equitable and empowering to my tenants, affordable and clean. What have you done for me lately? Stop talking smack about others and live by your values everyday. Fun bits of facts: 58 percent of ocean plastic is paint. 24 percent is car tire dust, and dust from civilization. 90 percent of the gas you burn goes to planetary destruction. Watch plastic earth, use Ecosia for your search engine, grow food on every inch of land you have and give away what you can't eat. Turn off the power everywhere you can, and use the resources on Green America website and drawdown.org. Peace. My youtube channel is "crazy green landlord". It is a work in progress, but have fun with it.
We are nowhere close to doing anything like this . We need a lot more grassroots organizing in every state before any of these policy issues can be handled. First we must convince folks that working within the existing party structure is the way forward. It is not. The party will always disappoint us as it has in the past . In addition the party is losing strength with all segments if the population. Once the party dissolves we can build a real grassroots coalition. This coalition should run candidates as write ins if necessary. This will take time a 4 year timeframe is not long enough.
The only place we're close to doing this is the energy and enthusiasm in the country for change.
Mr Trent your salience and perspective with relevant data is refreshing and have participated with Justice
Democrats numerous times . Substack offers variance particularly with relevant unjaundiced China realities . Thank you for being you and doing what you do. Steve. Old line activist ☮️
Thank you for the encouragement. I'm glad to have you in the comments and along for the journey.
Yes, you're clear on what should happen. I agree. And I know many others agree and are seeking ways to accomplish the same. The devil is in the details. There is the big HOW, and the little "how," how do we get from here to even the start? T
he Bernie team is putting organizers on the ground to turn out the vote for the Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge election, and to organize where Republicans are vulnerable. He is building an organization of sorts and that is a very welcome move. But beyond Bernie, we can see the birth of what looks like a massive resistance. The unity is anti-Trump but without a vision.
We've seen massive movements before that accomplished their immediate goals, but ultimately disappointed. The enormous opposition to the war in Vietnam, scattered. And even more disappointing, after the assassination of Dr. King, the civil rights movement produced leaders who moved into government and became main stream democrats, opposing many policies such as single payer healthcare that were and are desperately needed by the American people. And they became a central part of the power block that saw Bernie Sanders as a threat to doing business as usual.
So this massive resistance that is forming now could go in many different directions. It will definitely be focused on removing the fascist threat. I see a big opening here, and can almost see the how. It will take organizing and educating. But that's where I see opportunity.
The problem is that while Trump’s popularity shrinks the Democrats are falling even faster.
FDR and JFK would laugh at what passes for policy in their beloved Democratic Party. Although both were upper class they understood that victory for their party depended on working class voters. Current party leaders distain the “deplorable” and “racist” members of the working class.
A laundry list of things for Democrats to keep and to dump if they ever want to win again nationwide.
Keep a woman’s right to choose for the first trimester. Dump abortion until birth unless the mother’s health is at risk or the fetus is not viable.
Keep a concern for climate change and grow nuclear power. Dump intermittent, unreliable renewable energy that requires backup continuous generating capacity which is then used intermittently. A ridiculously expensive approach.
Keep and develop new effective vaccines. Dump vaccine mandates.
Keep equality of opportunity for all. Dump equity of results based on discriminating against men, whites and Asians in a futile attempt to compensate for past discrimination against women and blacks. Recognize that D.E.I. Is unconstitutional.
Keep the protection of gay and lesbian rights. Dump men in women’s sports, private spaces and prisons. Oh, and mutilating children who might grow up to be gay.
Keep an opportunity for selective high value immigration. Dump sanctuary cities and open borders.
Keep helping the homeless find jobs and a place to live. Dump camping in cities, shitting in the streets and allowing open drug use.
Keep a concern for due process in criminal justice. Dump letting shoplifters and other petty thieves off the hook and releasing predators back on the streets without bail to kill and maim again.
Do all of the above and they might find their way back to power.
There will NOT be an election in 2028. We are dreaming and submerging our heads in the deepest parts of the oceans if we think otherwise. On the off chance one is permitted to occur, its results will be irrelevant. Because if Cheeto actually does win (thanks to the hordes of good nazis now in our population), he wins. If he loses, he wins. BANANA REPUBLIC DICTATOR. We are a failed state. A rogue state. The end of our republic and the birth of a neo-Nazi takeover began on January 6, 2021. It was solidified on November 5, 2024, and on the day of the Fuehrer's ascension, January 20, 2025, when he pardoned criminals and thugs and fascists who defiled OUR Capitol, spreading feces, urinating, marauding offices, threatening lives, beating up cops, building a guillotine. Madmen. Madwomen. And this is the way we perish ... with both a whimper and a bang ... the increasing possibility of a WW III.
Excellent post. I couldn't agree more. If I have a disagreement it is only with degree. I do not believe all agencies are broken. The social security administration is efficient; or at least it was. The same is true of Medicare. The EPA, FCC, and others were victims of regulatory capture.
I had not thought much about the Chicago school of economics. I've known that republican notions of trickle down economics, (golden showers) job creators etc. were just excuses to transfer wealth from the middle class to the rich. Transgender issues, immigration, and other similar attacks have always been diversions that have allowed oligarchs and corporate interests to increase their wealth and avoid income tax.
Milton Friedman gave permission to the wealth class to avoid even paying lip service to civic responsibility. A corporation's only obligation is to maximize profits. Combined with off shoring, great manufacturing centers around the country were sold off for parts. KKR made billions while good paying jobs disappeared. Thus the Rust Belt. I wasn't rust that caused the decline. It was unbridled greed. If that is what you meant by the Chicago school, then I agree.
Trump and Musk have unmasked the thieves. They were brazenly mocking us while seated at the feet of Musk Trump at the inauguration. Bezos, Zuckerberg, Thiel, Ellerman and the rest of the tech bros. They don't even try to hide their contempt for the prols anymore.
The Democratic Party is addicted to corporate money. They will not lead us out of this mess. Indeed, as you point out, they are part of the problem. Schumer is a lost cause. Gillebrand's only claim to fame is forcing Al Franken out of office. He was ten times more effective than she ever was. She is just another corporate tool.
I am not sure that we win this battle. Too many people are too addicted to social media to even pay attention. Many Americans do not pay attention to "politics." If things change it will only happen when everyone feels the pain. Farmers, who overwhelmingly voted for tump, will feel the pain when they realize their markets are gone. Seniors will rise up if their social security checks stop. Veterans will rise up when they realize no one gives a shit about them. They will struggle when it takes six months to get an appointment for routine care. They are already disproportionately experiencing joblessness from the musk's reign of terror. Thirty percent of the newly jobless are veterans.
In the meantime I am attending protests and am engaging in personal boycotts. These small acts of resistance are not nearly enough. I plan to attend the demonstrations in Washington DC on April 5. The only way this ends favorably is if we shut down the country by demonstrations and massive boycotts.
A call for others to run for office seems a very weak response. Your earlier suggestion of the need for an instutute to develop a long term plan is more likely to bring results.
The Republicans did not get where they are by issuing a call for people to run. They spent decades developing a vision (starting with taking over a legal department at a university). Importantly, by prejudging what the strategy or vision should be (government competition) you undermine the very purpose of establishing a group that would to figure out a vision and strategy. No one with a serious interest in problem solving will be interested in participaing in a group whose tenents have already be decided. And this nation definetly has a problem.
After establishing their vision the Republicans held countless workshops and retreats to train and indoctrinate. In the end, they then took advantage of a "hot" issue (abortion) to insert their candidates into the electorial system.
We now have THE BEST leadership that money can buy. The quickest way to return to real, true democracy can be had through the IWW. That’s right, the Industrial Workers of the World. Check ‘em out if you’re not familiar.