Hate to break it to you, but it isn’t our house. It’s an illusionary edifice to make the American people keep believing in propagandized mythology.
Were we living in reality, the ‘White’ would just be a clean background for all the corporate logos that should be displayed on its exterior walls, just as should be with politicians jackets. Think NASCAR. We live in a corporate, inverted totalitarian state. Most Americans are so numb and accepting of it… hey, how ‘bout that new phone, huh?…. they don’t even realize the corporate coup already took place. A done deal, as it were.
The quicker we understand the fight for democracy is against capitalism and monied interests, not just the GOP, the better our chances for victory. The climate clock is ticking; judged by their actions, neither party cares. One is in denial about climate, the other foolishly thinks tinkering at the margins will derail the conductor-less train barreling down the track in the tunnel, straight at us. Both ideological mindsets are madness personified.
Tom High, I have said the same thing about having the senators and representatives all wear jackets with their donors logos! I think each politician’s website should be required by law to have the name of every single corporation from whom they’ve received any $ or grants (even from non-profits) and the names of individuals who have given them more than $1000 in a year. Their daily work schedules should be posted the next day so we can see which lobbyists visited. They should have to resign from any entity such as the Federalist Society. Also I think it is wrong to sign pledges or promises such as Grover Norquist’s tax pledge. Their oath of office needs to explicitly state they will separate church from state. I want to know who they are really working for. I’d like to see this at all levels of government. I do not think this is too much to ask. Transparency.
I never said anything about being powerless. Plenty of studies done that show the power of our votes, in an increasingly corrupt electoral system, have been watered down almost to the point of irrelevance.
You’re right that it’s up to us; to convince other voters that the real enemy is the corporate state, not a political party. When enough people grasp that concept, we’ll have a shot to fix this mess.
There is not corruption in the electoral system but fine dedicated volunteers who love democracy and show up faithfully to do their duty to keep elections and voting safe. Problems are gerrymandering and attempts to make it more difficult to vote, managed by each state! We all need to participate attentively. Our town clerks know most of us. It’s not rocket science and voter registration is public access!
I’m not talking about volunteers. I’m talking about anti-democratic electoral practices, by states, both political parties, and yes, even the Constitution.
“neither party cares.” This is where I stopped listening and became disinterested in whatever you might say. My response might have looked like it was to your comment but it was intended for the general public, not you.
Nice job removing a phrase from a passage to obscure the phrase context. I said, ‘judging by their actions, neither party cares’, referencing climate. Neither does. For every attempt made to mitigate climate chaos, by either party, I’ll give you multiple cases in which both parties have exacerbated the problem, by continuing or adding to policies beneficial to fossil fuel lobbyists and corporations.
As to becoming disinterested in whatever I might say, that is your right, just as it is my right to laugh at your blue ball icon with the fox lies messaging; as if most all corporate media isn’t full of lies.
'The fight for democracy' isn't against capitalism and monied interests. Without them, we wouldn't have an economy, and 'totally' socialist alternatives have been proven not to work.
The 'fight' is for the minds of Americans, too many of whom have been anesthesized by the media, be it TV, the internet, or what newspapers remain. Our government is not 'an illusionary edifice.' It is what we make it. We must be strong enough to recongnize the crucial issues we face, and to deal with them, however difficult that may be. HCR helps us to do that, in 'times that try mens' souls' as Thomas Paine wrote in 1776.
Jack-I do think it's necessary for us to consider capitalism and monied interests. The capitalist system created in America undermines democracy. From slavery to the present day the exploitation of workers has given capitalists outsized power to buy politicians, judges and others so they can personally benefit from the laws that allow them to generate (and keep) profits that come from controlling too many of our natural resources (e.g. land, oil, water, even "air rights"). Why do "we the people" need "Citizens United" or corporations as people?? Why have our tax laws been shaped to benefit the wealthy and so on?
Writing in 1884, T. Thomas Fortune (1856-1928), an African American journalist, newspaper owner and civil rights leader put it this way, "wealth unduly centralized, endangers the efficient workings of the machinery of government...it oppresses all alike...the new slave-holder is only solicitous of obtaining the maximum of labor for the minimum of cost". He called labor "industrial slaves" and said, "the hour is approaching when the laboring classes of our country North, East, West and South, will recognize that they have a common cause, a common humanity and a common enemy...they must unite".
The unions have helped us to make progress but the hour has not come yet because as you say, the "minds of Americans" have been manipulated. Using racism as a tool they've been able to distract and divide us through media and education.
Fortune concluded that "the Americans people are fostering in the bosoms a spirit of rebellion which will yet shake the pillars of popular government as they have never before been shaken, unless a wiser policy is inaugurated and honestly enforced". Quotes are from Fortune's book entitled, Land, Labor and Politics in the South (1884). Here we are in 2024 preparing for a shake up because a presidential election may go awry or involve a second round of "Stop the Steal".
I don't know what will ever bring us together to fight for the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, but I still hope...
There has never been a totally socialist alternative. Ever.
A totally socialist government would recognize that democracy is a better ideology than totalitarianism, and that democracy in the workplace is an essential element of any democracy, not just access to a voting booth. Labor has a shot at being the dominant force under socialism; under capitalism, never.
We would have an economy under socialism, just as we have had one under capitalism, feudalism, and slavery. And it would be nice to have a economy that has a focus other than profit and exploitation.
Almost agree. There exists one large successful socialist organization. That would be the United States Armed Forces. But, as you say, those brave men and women serve because they recognize democracy is a better ideology, and ultimately are commanded by an elected president.
Take your choice: Milton Friedman or John Maynard Keynes. Each recognized pros and cons to their arguments., one motivated by profit, the other by altruism.
That’s a false choice, a logical fallacy. I’ll take Marx over both.
Altruistic profit is as humorous a concept as was Dubya’s compassionate conservatism. All the flowery messaging in the world can’t hide the mendacity at the core. Except for the thoroughly propagandized, of course.
Marxism doesn't work in Cuba, Venezuela, and even in Russia, where it depends on 'capitaliast' oligarchs. The best examples of Marxism's state control of the economy seem to be China, where it at least is not failing, and North Korea, where it is failing.
It’s not accurate to create a false comparison of capitalism and socialism, many of us don’t view a balance of economic policy one or the other but seek fairness and justice, even for those of us who are lower income but faithfully pay our taxes and don’t benefit from what you might view as “socialism”. Everything that makes life better for all of us is not socialism but smart economics. We’re all needed to participate in the economy not only the top 1-5 %….
Initially, note that I commented that 'totally' socialist systems don't work. But a lot of the features of socialism do work, even in a capitalist economy ... when as you point out, they are 'smart economics,' making 'life better for all of us.' (Examples are Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, infrastructure improvements, libraries, free public education, etc.)... So we sort of agree.
First order of business; ask/tell/demand (depending on the political awareness of who you’re addressing) to contact their congressional representative and ask/tell/demand them to cosponsor HJR-54, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban the concepts of corporate personhood and money as speech. And make the contact regular, not just a one off.
It’s the only way to overrule a corrupt Supreme Court, and I’m not just talking about the current one. The corporate-friendly precedents go back to the 1880s, and dwarf the number of labor-friendly decisions.
Thank you, Tom. Since I do not see my House rep on the list of co-sponsors, I will contact her about what I consider to be an important piece of legislation.
I am jumping in here to add a suggestion...aren't we all suffering intergenerational trauma to some degree? Some of my Native American ancestors are here in Minneapolis, addicted & living in tents along the city streets; the Israelis are reliving their Holocaust traumas as they attack the Palestinians (& fire decent black university presidents here in America); some folk in our Southern states might still be bitter about losing the Civil War (or we might have universal health coverage here in USA); not sure what is happening in Ukraine, except NATO might be involved somehow. Don't we finally need healthy & just solutions, not just band aids?
Claudine Gay deserved to be fired from Harvard. (I don't know about the other two.) Here is Black linguist John McWhorter's reasoning as to why. (You should be able to access this. If not, email me at holzmandc@outlook.com, and I will mail it to you.)
I like indoor plumbing, too. But the vampire aspect of capitalism is undeniable; unfettered is the end game. Feudalism had its day, and ended. Slavery, ditto. We are in late-stage capitalism. Best to put it out of its, and our, misery, rather than try to treat a cancer with band aids.
It can, and has been in various times in our historical timeline. The problem is in capitalism’s inherent lust for profit. It never rests in the quest for absolute power as a means to monopoly, and owning the government/making the rules, to maximize that profit. The vampire squid. The Empire requires never ending growth via exploitation and natural resource extraction.
Think Rome. It quit taxing locals to placate unrest in its population, but had to use conquest and stolen wealth to make up the difference, and eventually collapsed. It’s where we’re headed.
Better to cut bait and build a system based on worker democracy, co-ops, open sourcing, and cooperation rather than competition, greed, and profit.
Thanks for the clarification. I agree that building a system based on worker democracy, co-ops, etc would better serve our basic needs of (see Maslow). I do see a place for a highly regulated and taxed capitalistic arm within a democratic socialist society.
Fair enough. I am a Canadian (with a son living in Pittsburgh). So I feel relatively detached from the tribulations of our neighbor to the south.
However in reading this site’s comments and those on my Substack, I have been astonished by the very obvious PTSD that people exhibit after 8 years of this shit you are undergoing. Perhaps I was thinking of their needs. At first I thought people were overwrought. No longer.
I also believe that from the standpoint of the fight, energy and intensity must be reserved for the period from the Conventions through the election. I think it more than a remote possibility that some form of open war on a sporadic, regional basis will break out. And I’m not entirely sure the election will be conducted because of polling place violence.
As for your other point - just one, a retriever. He confines himself to chewing his toys.
You may well have your finger on a pulse that I am completely missing.
Your concerns about the coming year are valid. Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people; it’s why we elect such crappy leaders. But every now and then, we do the right thing. We’ll see.
It was Winston Churchill who said, “Americans always do the right thing, but only after exhausting all other options”.
I read that years ago and then in the 2000s it popped back into my head. What I had thought was a witticism frequently turned into a truism. 2024 is the year when those words will be most severely tested.
On the Pareto chart of political challenges, defeating Trump and the MAGA extremists is far above the process of restructuring how our representatives are elected.
I agree with you that the influence of corporations and the wealthy on our elections and the policies they create is hugely unbalanced. But if we don’t win the direct attack on our democracy, we may not have a chance to solve the fundamental problem.
Remember that it was the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates for the essentially unlimited campaign finances that corporations and the wealthy are allowed to contribute. This was a case brought by far right conservatives that pushed the country to the edge and paved the way for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
We need to focus on staying in the White House, taking back the House, and widening the lead in the Senate. Then maybe, just maybe we can get some meaningful legislation passed and start to make headway on the bigger problems.
Ah, the ‘now is not the right time, wait until later’ lesser evil argument, couched in the existential threat wrapping. As an ex-Reaganite, I’ll put you in the Clinton/Warren bucket, reformed Republicans who still have faith in a corrupted political system.
Sorry, not playing. There is nothing pragmatic about incremental solutions to catastrophic problems.
Lesser evil voting brought us Trump in the first place, not Citizen’s United. It is probably going to do it again.
You don't have my permission to put me in any sort of a bucket, nor do you have the insight about me to assign one. I'm not sure what your real world experience is, but incremental problem solving is the only way large problems get solved. The naive "I'll stand on my principles no matter the cost," is simplistic and, ultimately unsuccessful. If you're trapped in a burning house, complaining about corruption in government isn't your biggest or most urgent problem.
And anyone who believed the "lesser of two evils," argument between Clinton and Trump is intellectually handicapped beyond salvage. Citizen's United was a pivotal in strengthening the death grip that special interests, corporations and the mega-wealthy have on our government, which I believe was one of the core points in your original post.
Ah, the burning house fallacy/incremental solutions fallacy/intellectually handicapped fallacy conflation. A plethora of fallacious reasoning, if you will.
Lesser evil voting brought us Trump, and will bring us worse. The ratchet effect is real. Denying it, and using tired tropes in its defense, is, well, cluelessly naive.
I could have used "if you have stage 4 cancer..." or "if you are lost at sea," instead of the burning house analogy, but you would have given the same smug, empty response. The analogy is quite accurate - if you are facing a short term existential crisis, focusing on the long term big picture isn't very useful, because if you fail to address the short term existential crisis, your ability to do anything else ends right there. I'll disconnect here, this isn't worth any more of my time. Happy New Year!
It’s OUR House, ALL of ours!
Hate to break it to you, but it isn’t our house. It’s an illusionary edifice to make the American people keep believing in propagandized mythology.
Were we living in reality, the ‘White’ would just be a clean background for all the corporate logos that should be displayed on its exterior walls, just as should be with politicians jackets. Think NASCAR. We live in a corporate, inverted totalitarian state. Most Americans are so numb and accepting of it… hey, how ‘bout that new phone, huh?…. they don’t even realize the corporate coup already took place. A done deal, as it were.
The quicker we understand the fight for democracy is against capitalism and monied interests, not just the GOP, the better our chances for victory. The climate clock is ticking; judged by their actions, neither party cares. One is in denial about climate, the other foolishly thinks tinkering at the margins will derail the conductor-less train barreling down the track in the tunnel, straight at us. Both ideological mindsets are madness personified.
Tom High, I have said the same thing about having the senators and representatives all wear jackets with their donors logos! I think each politician’s website should be required by law to have the name of every single corporation from whom they’ve received any $ or grants (even from non-profits) and the names of individuals who have given them more than $1000 in a year. Their daily work schedules should be posted the next day so we can see which lobbyists visited. They should have to resign from any entity such as the Federalist Society. Also I think it is wrong to sign pledges or promises such as Grover Norquist’s tax pledge. Their oath of office needs to explicitly state they will separate church from state. I want to know who they are really working for. I’d like to see this at all levels of government. I do not think this is too much to ask. Transparency.
Love every item you mention. Daylight is the best disinfectant.
Let the sun shine in!
This should include particularly the Supreme Court justices.
Great idea - great dream!
As long as we can still vote and have our votes count it IS our house. It’s up to us. Playing the powerless victim has never helped anyone
I never said anything about being powerless. Plenty of studies done that show the power of our votes, in an increasingly corrupt electoral system, have been watered down almost to the point of irrelevance.
You’re right that it’s up to us; to convince other voters that the real enemy is the corporate state, not a political party. When enough people grasp that concept, we’ll have a shot to fix this mess.
There is not corruption in the electoral system but fine dedicated volunteers who love democracy and show up faithfully to do their duty to keep elections and voting safe. Problems are gerrymandering and attempts to make it more difficult to vote, managed by each state! We all need to participate attentively. Our town clerks know most of us. It’s not rocket science and voter registration is public access!
I’m not talking about volunteers. I’m talking about anti-democratic electoral practices, by states, both political parties, and yes, even the Constitution.
No war but the class war!
“neither party cares.” This is where I stopped listening and became disinterested in whatever you might say. My response might have looked like it was to your comment but it was intended for the general public, not you.
Nice job removing a phrase from a passage to obscure the phrase context. I said, ‘judging by their actions, neither party cares’, referencing climate. Neither does. For every attempt made to mitigate climate chaos, by either party, I’ll give you multiple cases in which both parties have exacerbated the problem, by continuing or adding to policies beneficial to fossil fuel lobbyists and corporations.
As to becoming disinterested in whatever I might say, that is your right, just as it is my right to laugh at your blue ball icon with the fox lies messaging; as if most all corporate media isn’t full of lies.
'The fight for democracy' isn't against capitalism and monied interests. Without them, we wouldn't have an economy, and 'totally' socialist alternatives have been proven not to work.
The 'fight' is for the minds of Americans, too many of whom have been anesthesized by the media, be it TV, the internet, or what newspapers remain. Our government is not 'an illusionary edifice.' It is what we make it. We must be strong enough to recongnize the crucial issues we face, and to deal with them, however difficult that may be. HCR helps us to do that, in 'times that try mens' souls' as Thomas Paine wrote in 1776.
Jack-I do think it's necessary for us to consider capitalism and monied interests. The capitalist system created in America undermines democracy. From slavery to the present day the exploitation of workers has given capitalists outsized power to buy politicians, judges and others so they can personally benefit from the laws that allow them to generate (and keep) profits that come from controlling too many of our natural resources (e.g. land, oil, water, even "air rights"). Why do "we the people" need "Citizens United" or corporations as people?? Why have our tax laws been shaped to benefit the wealthy and so on?
Writing in 1884, T. Thomas Fortune (1856-1928), an African American journalist, newspaper owner and civil rights leader put it this way, "wealth unduly centralized, endangers the efficient workings of the machinery of government...it oppresses all alike...the new slave-holder is only solicitous of obtaining the maximum of labor for the minimum of cost". He called labor "industrial slaves" and said, "the hour is approaching when the laboring classes of our country North, East, West and South, will recognize that they have a common cause, a common humanity and a common enemy...they must unite".
The unions have helped us to make progress but the hour has not come yet because as you say, the "minds of Americans" have been manipulated. Using racism as a tool they've been able to distract and divide us through media and education.
Fortune concluded that "the Americans people are fostering in the bosoms a spirit of rebellion which will yet shake the pillars of popular government as they have never before been shaken, unless a wiser policy is inaugurated and honestly enforced". Quotes are from Fortune's book entitled, Land, Labor and Politics in the South (1884). Here we are in 2024 preparing for a shake up because a presidential election may go awry or involve a second round of "Stop the Steal".
I don't know what will ever bring us together to fight for the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, but I still hope...
There has never been a totally socialist alternative. Ever.
A totally socialist government would recognize that democracy is a better ideology than totalitarianism, and that democracy in the workplace is an essential element of any democracy, not just access to a voting booth. Labor has a shot at being the dominant force under socialism; under capitalism, never.
We would have an economy under socialism, just as we have had one under capitalism, feudalism, and slavery. And it would be nice to have a economy that has a focus other than profit and exploitation.
Almost agree. There exists one large successful socialist organization. That would be the United States Armed Forces. But, as you say, those brave men and women serve because they recognize democracy is a better ideology, and ultimately are commanded by an elected president.
Understand, and agree that socialist concepts can be successful, in addition to the military. Was assuming Jack was referring to nation states.
Take your choice: Milton Friedman or John Maynard Keynes. Each recognized pros and cons to their arguments., one motivated by profit, the other by altruism.
That’s a false choice, a logical fallacy. I’ll take Marx over both.
Altruistic profit is as humorous a concept as was Dubya’s compassionate conservatism. All the flowery messaging in the world can’t hide the mendacity at the core. Except for the thoroughly propagandized, of course.
Marxism doesn't work in Cuba, Venezuela, and even in Russia, where it depends on 'capitaliast' oligarchs. The best examples of Marxism's state control of the economy seem to be China, where it at least is not failing, and North Korea, where it is failing.
It’s not accurate to create a false comparison of capitalism and socialism, many of us don’t view a balance of economic policy one or the other but seek fairness and justice, even for those of us who are lower income but faithfully pay our taxes and don’t benefit from what you might view as “socialism”. Everything that makes life better for all of us is not socialism but smart economics. We’re all needed to participate in the economy not only the top 1-5 %….
Initially, note that I commented that 'totally' socialist systems don't work. But a lot of the features of socialism do work, even in a capitalist economy ... when as you point out, they are 'smart economics,' making 'life better for all of us.' (Examples are Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, infrastructure improvements, libraries, free public education, etc.)... So we sort of agree.
I believe many here recognize that we do "live in a corporate, inverted totalitarian state."
Set us straight, Tom, for what we need to do.
First order of business; ask/tell/demand (depending on the political awareness of who you’re addressing) to contact their congressional representative and ask/tell/demand them to cosponsor HJR-54, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban the concepts of corporate personhood and money as speech. And make the contact regular, not just a one off.
It’s the only way to overrule a corrupt Supreme Court, and I’m not just talking about the current one. The corporate-friendly precedents go back to the 1880s, and dwarf the number of labor-friendly decisions.
More info here: MoveToAmend.org
Thank you, Tom. Since I do not see my House rep on the list of co-sponsors, I will contact her about what I consider to be an important piece of legislation.
Update: Done! And will keep doing.
I agree - I doubt there are many here that dont understand that at this point. But yes, so what CAN we do? Other than vote & make our voices heard.
I am jumping in here to add a suggestion...aren't we all suffering intergenerational trauma to some degree? Some of my Native American ancestors are here in Minneapolis, addicted & living in tents along the city streets; the Israelis are reliving their Holocaust traumas as they attack the Palestinians (& fire decent black university presidents here in America); some folk in our Southern states might still be bitter about losing the Civil War (or we might have universal health coverage here in USA); not sure what is happening in Ukraine, except NATO might be involved somehow. Don't we finally need healthy & just solutions, not just band aids?
Our system forces band aids as solutions, instead of treating the cancer.
Change the system.
Claudine Gay deserved to be fired from Harvard. (I don't know about the other two.) Here is Black linguist John McWhorter's reasoning as to why. (You should be able to access this. If not, email me at holzmandc@outlook.com, and I will mail it to you.)
https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/dynamic/render?campaign_id=229&emc=edit_jm_20240108&instance_id=111836&nl=john-mcwhorter&paid_regi=1&productCode=JM®i_id=57299399&segment_id=154556&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2Ff560e4b4-108c-5ee4-a94f-b69ff9ce1f70&user_id=2622f4c35fb33d018d00f0d31784bbd2
Unfettered capitalism. Capitalism that is given immense influence. That needs to be considered.
I like indoor plumbing, too. But the vampire aspect of capitalism is undeniable; unfettered is the end game. Feudalism had its day, and ended. Slavery, ditto. We are in late-stage capitalism. Best to put it out of its, and our, misery, rather than try to treat a cancer with band aids.
Example here - https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/01/08/the-rich-who-own-the-home-next-door/
In your view, could capitalism be modified by strengthening laws and regulations along with enforcement?
It can, and has been in various times in our historical timeline. The problem is in capitalism’s inherent lust for profit. It never rests in the quest for absolute power as a means to monopoly, and owning the government/making the rules, to maximize that profit. The vampire squid. The Empire requires never ending growth via exploitation and natural resource extraction.
Think Rome. It quit taxing locals to placate unrest in its population, but had to use conquest and stolen wealth to make up the difference, and eventually collapsed. It’s where we’re headed.
Better to cut bait and build a system based on worker democracy, co-ops, open sourcing, and cooperation rather than competition, greed, and profit.
Thanks for the clarification. I agree that building a system based on worker democracy, co-ops, etc would better serve our basic needs of (see Maslow). I do see a place for a highly regulated and taxed capitalistic arm within a democratic socialist society.
Valid enough points, but today is a day “off”. The photo took some skill and reflects the grandeur of the building.
Today I think we can leave off with finger-wagging, regardless of the merits of your points. The fight is going to be exhausting enough.
There are no off days when a genocide is underway.
How many dogs in your household? We have three Labs, including a ten-week old pup. The chew factor is high.
Fair enough. I am a Canadian (with a son living in Pittsburgh). So I feel relatively detached from the tribulations of our neighbor to the south.
However in reading this site’s comments and those on my Substack, I have been astonished by the very obvious PTSD that people exhibit after 8 years of this shit you are undergoing. Perhaps I was thinking of their needs. At first I thought people were overwrought. No longer.
I also believe that from the standpoint of the fight, energy and intensity must be reserved for the period from the Conventions through the election. I think it more than a remote possibility that some form of open war on a sporadic, regional basis will break out. And I’m not entirely sure the election will be conducted because of polling place violence.
As for your other point - just one, a retriever. He confines himself to chewing his toys.
You may well have your finger on a pulse that I am completely missing.
Your concerns about the coming year are valid. Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people; it’s why we elect such crappy leaders. But every now and then, we do the right thing. We’ll see.
It was Winston Churchill who said, “Americans always do the right thing, but only after exhausting all other options”.
I read that years ago and then in the 2000s it popped back into my head. What I had thought was a witticism frequently turned into a truism. 2024 is the year when those words will be most severely tested.
On the Pareto chart of political challenges, defeating Trump and the MAGA extremists is far above the process of restructuring how our representatives are elected.
I agree with you that the influence of corporations and the wealthy on our elections and the policies they create is hugely unbalanced. But if we don’t win the direct attack on our democracy, we may not have a chance to solve the fundamental problem.
Remember that it was the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates for the essentially unlimited campaign finances that corporations and the wealthy are allowed to contribute. This was a case brought by far right conservatives that pushed the country to the edge and paved the way for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
We need to focus on staying in the White House, taking back the House, and widening the lead in the Senate. Then maybe, just maybe we can get some meaningful legislation passed and start to make headway on the bigger problems.
Ah, the ‘now is not the right time, wait until later’ lesser evil argument, couched in the existential threat wrapping. As an ex-Reaganite, I’ll put you in the Clinton/Warren bucket, reformed Republicans who still have faith in a corrupted political system.
Sorry, not playing. There is nothing pragmatic about incremental solutions to catastrophic problems.
Lesser evil voting brought us Trump in the first place, not Citizen’s United. It is probably going to do it again.
You don't have my permission to put me in any sort of a bucket, nor do you have the insight about me to assign one. I'm not sure what your real world experience is, but incremental problem solving is the only way large problems get solved. The naive "I'll stand on my principles no matter the cost," is simplistic and, ultimately unsuccessful. If you're trapped in a burning house, complaining about corruption in government isn't your biggest or most urgent problem.
And anyone who believed the "lesser of two evils," argument between Clinton and Trump is intellectually handicapped beyond salvage. Citizen's United was a pivotal in strengthening the death grip that special interests, corporations and the mega-wealthy have on our government, which I believe was one of the core points in your original post.
Ah, the burning house fallacy/incremental solutions fallacy/intellectually handicapped fallacy conflation. A plethora of fallacious reasoning, if you will.
Lesser evil voting brought us Trump, and will bring us worse. The ratchet effect is real. Denying it, and using tired tropes in its defense, is, well, cluelessly naive.
I could have used "if you have stage 4 cancer..." or "if you are lost at sea," instead of the burning house analogy, but you would have given the same smug, empty response. The analogy is quite accurate - if you are facing a short term existential crisis, focusing on the long term big picture isn't very useful, because if you fail to address the short term existential crisis, your ability to do anything else ends right there. I'll disconnect here, this isn't worth any more of my time. Happy New Year!
I would call you Tom “Low” ...
I could respond in kind by playing with your last name, but it would probably get me banned. Peace, t
Not probably…It would…and I was attempting a bit of levity at this dark time…and, yes, peace…
Why is it at half mast?
Perry, Iowa shooting.