President Donald Trump’s effort to do as much as possible as quickly as possible to remake the federal government would gut agencies that have existed for decades or longer. His larger plans would remake elements of the government infrastructure that have been around for centuries.
The next Democratic president needs to be stubborn, machiavellian, and downright psychotic beyond even FDR. We need to purge Trump and Trumpism with an iron fist or we will never be rid of it. We never stamped out southern rebellion or completed reconstruction and we are still paying for that mistake today.
If we elect another tepid cross-the-isle institutionalist like Obama or Biden this country is toast - assuming we get the chance to elect any Democrat at all.
I actually disagree. I don’t think maga needs to be stamped out. It needs to be out-narratived. The Trump voters you think of that are fully racist and believe absolutely insane shit will never vote Democrat. But he has attracted a lot of voters who are just voting for someone that’s addressing their concerns. The everyday American is dealing with rising prices, financial insecurity, and a general feeling that the government doesn’t represent them well. I think a left wing candidate could easily come up with narratives that directly counter Trump’s talking points.
“We need high tariffs to bring back manufacturing jobs from overseas.” -> “We need a global minimum wage so foreign sweatshops can’t out-compete American manufacturing.”
“The flood of illegal immigrants is taking jobs and not paying taxes” -> “The illegal immigrants need to pay their taxes and earn their path to citizenship”
“The deep state is pushing unamerican ideologies from within the administration.” -> “corporations have poisoned government through regulatory capture.”
“The elites are running this country behind the scenes.” This one actually doesn’t need to change. Just point to different people when you say elites.
“We need to drill more oil to secure energy independence.” -> “We need more wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear power so we aren’t so dependent on fluctuating global oil prices.”
People are already primed to care about these issues. By just retooling Trump’s talking points, you can use them against him. I think this would work better than “stamping out” maga ideology. They already see themselves as the underdog and the government is out to get them. That would only embolden them and lend legitimacy to their claims. The more important thing is to make them seem like the weird assholes they are.
“We can’t lose because we’re not as awful” didn’t work for them the many times they tried it, and they’re openly - as a party platform - not on the side on the common person, or of people trying to save lives in hospitals while getting targeted with bombs.
My controversial stance: any individual unwilling to sat “bombing hospitals is some bullshit” publicly, isn’t on my side of any conflict. There’s too many of those in the Democratic party, for it to have real strength, today.
Whether the Democratic party has any purpose left to serve in the road to a solution is still an open question, I think.
The Democratic party needs to start jumping when the rest of us say “stop fucking supporting foreign wars” and “tax the rich”, if they want any part of whatever comes next.
The President I just described would not be running on a “not as awful” platform.
Whether the Democrats can be forced to step up is an open question. But if it’s not the Democrats then it’s nobody. Despite rising frustration with the party, they still have a massive loyal following. There is no avoiding a split with an outside strategy.
The President I just described would not be running on a “not as awful” platform.
Cool. And I think that president has a real shot. But I don’t know if the current Democratic party has any intention of putting that president forward.
But if it’s not the Democrats then it’s nobody.
Parties have waned and been replaced, even in two-party systems.
There is no avoiding a split with an outside strategy.
Agreed. And if the Democrats put forth a real candidate, with real values, there’s a chance the party continues.
In any case, I’m glad and proud to vote along with the majority of other voting non-billionaire non-assholes, as long as there’s a strategy.
But I’m still not convinced we’re better off dragging the Democratic party’s lately dead weight along for the ride.
Edit: To be clear, I’ll continue voting for whichever candidate my local union endorses. It’s a good enough solution, for me, to ensure my vote moves usefully and strategically.
Unfortunately you won’t be handed an option better than a tepid cross-the-isle institutionalist and in order to get anything better you will have to convince die-hard democrats who refuse to break from the party line. That fight has been fought for decades. Electoralism will get you nowhere
Electoralism is insufficient, but it is also necessary. I totally agree that we can’t fix the problem with just electoralism, but every strategy that might work requires a parallel electoral effort. Abandoning electoralism is why we have Trump. Unless you are an accelerationist, in which case you should abandon any pretext that you give a shit about anyone or that you have any intention of making things better.
If you are an accelerationst, then you should understand that what happens when a large modern government collapses is about the worst humanitarian catastrophe imaginable. It would be like Gaza times 1000. Then, when things do get better, it will be under the control of warlords/oligarchs like Russia.
The next Democratic president needs to be stubborn, machiavellian, and downright psychotic beyond even FDR. We need to purge Trump and Trumpism with an iron fist or we will never be rid of it. We never stamped out southern rebellion or completed reconstruction and we are still paying for that mistake today.
If we elect another tepid cross-the-isle institutionalist like Obama or Biden this country is toast - assuming we get the chance to elect any Democrat at all.
I actually disagree. I don’t think maga needs to be stamped out. It needs to be out-narratived. The Trump voters you think of that are fully racist and believe absolutely insane shit will never vote Democrat. But he has attracted a lot of voters who are just voting for someone that’s addressing their concerns. The everyday American is dealing with rising prices, financial insecurity, and a general feeling that the government doesn’t represent them well. I think a left wing candidate could easily come up with narratives that directly counter Trump’s talking points.
People are already primed to care about these issues. By just retooling Trump’s talking points, you can use them against him. I think this would work better than “stamping out” maga ideology. They already see themselves as the underdog and the government is out to get them. That would only embolden them and lend legitimacy to their claims. The more important thing is to make them seem like the weird assholes they are.
It could happen, but I’m not counting on it.
“We can’t lose because we’re not as awful” didn’t work for them the many times they tried it, and they’re openly - as a party platform - not on the side on the common person, or of people trying to save lives in hospitals while getting targeted with bombs.
My controversial stance: any individual unwilling to sat “bombing hospitals is some bullshit” publicly, isn’t on my side of any conflict. There’s too many of those in the Democratic party, for it to have real strength, today.
Whether the Democratic party has any purpose left to serve in the road to a solution is still an open question, I think.
The Democratic party needs to start jumping when the rest of us say “stop fucking supporting foreign wars” and “tax the rich”, if they want any part of whatever comes next.
The President I just described would not be running on a “not as awful” platform.
Whether the Democrats can be forced to step up is an open question. But if it’s not the Democrats then it’s nobody. Despite rising frustration with the party, they still have a massive loyal following. There is no avoiding a split with an outside strategy.
Cool. And I think that president has a real shot. But I don’t know if the current Democratic party has any intention of putting that president forward.
Parties have waned and been replaced, even in two-party systems.
Agreed. And if the Democrats put forth a real candidate, with real values, there’s a chance the party continues.
In any case, I’m glad and proud to vote along with the majority of other voting non-billionaire non-assholes, as long as there’s a strategy.
But I’m still not convinced we’re better off dragging the Democratic party’s lately dead weight along for the ride.
Edit: To be clear, I’ll continue voting for whichever candidate my local union endorses. It’s a good enough solution, for me, to ensure my vote moves usefully and strategically.
Unfortunately you won’t be handed an option better than a tepid cross-the-isle institutionalist and in order to get anything better you will have to convince die-hard democrats who refuse to break from the party line. That fight has been fought for decades. Electoralism will get you nowhere
Electoralism is insufficient, but it is also necessary. I totally agree that we can’t fix the problem with just electoralism, but every strategy that might work requires a parallel electoral effort. Abandoning electoralism is why we have Trump. Unless you are an accelerationist, in which case you should abandon any pretext that you give a shit about anyone or that you have any intention of making things better.
If you are an accelerationst, then you should understand that what happens when a large modern government collapses is about the worst humanitarian catastrophe imaginable. It would be like Gaza times 1000. Then, when things do get better, it will be under the control of warlords/oligarchs like Russia.