We don’t need more false choice though. This would be a another bourgeois party. The cards might be shuffled a bit and the rhetoric might change but it’d still be playing the same game with the same cards. It’s still a game of “choose your favorite faction of rich people” despite the tweaks in messaging. There will still be an assurance of “nothing will fundamentally change” to the owners and donors.
You presuppose a lot of my position and lump me in with a lot of other comments you’ve read. And in a way you’ve supported the original point I was trying to make.
I applaud all efforts to slow, halt, or reverse fascism. But the “kindergarten word games” mentioned by the above commenter doesn’t really help - and I would argue that it actually hurts since fascism thrives on divisiveness, isolation, and hate. If the takeaway from fascism is to fight it by sowing the same seeds that allowed it to grow in the first place then I fear we won’t have the outcomes we hope for. And the specific words proposed by the original comment don’t illustrate any essential problems to people they’re trying to sway; it does nothing to educate people and see the problem with sober eyes. It’s sole design is catharsis and insult.
Before the apparent fascism we know today, both parties (knowingly or unknowingly) laid the groundwork for it in service to capital. Fascism IS Capitalism when times get tough. Capital does not benefit from people seeing each other as equals or wanting to understand each other. The divisiveness is by design.
The Democratic Party as you or I know it is adrift at best; dead at worst. It would require substantive, substantial change in the party for them to “win” in any meaningful, lasting way. But they won’t change in any real way - only branding or rhetoric - because that’s all they’ve ever known and that’s all that is allowed.
In essence: they are Republicans but with a different veneer. The everyman knows this intuitively. People of all stripes complain of the political, social, and economic system in common ways. The hollow promises of current administration are evidence of this - a lot of people voted how they did based on these hollow promises. However, simultaneously people allow themselves to be bewildered by the “outrage of the week” from whatever media ecosystem they consume. These outrages distract from the common trend lines between the two parties. These trends are evident when you focus attention on the factual reality of both parties actions and ignore their rhetoric and daily outrages.
And just so we’re clear: not all outrages are equal in this respect. Some are worth our time and attention. But you need to ask yourself why the media cycle flips so rapidly and readily. It’s by design to bewilder - and it’s not just coming from one party or another. It’s coming from a class of people to a different class of people.
So I’ll leave myself open for the usual comments of “both sides huh?” Because if anyone wants to genuinely have a discussion about that we can. But I’m not here to talk to people who approach in bad faith.
Lol no.
I have been to a couple but I’m unfamiliar with the protest you’re referencing. I have mixed feelings about the protests I’ve witnessed, but it was nice to see people banding together regardless.
It won’t help. It’s purely cathartic. It’s meaningless political tribalism. It will keep the commons quibbling and scratching while fascism only strengthens from the misguided and unprincipled rage.
In practice, it’s the “Just Us” system. The reality of this is just laid more bare in recent years.
It’s Schrodinger’s Constitution to them. Exists when it’s convenient.
You’ve never worked construction, at least not on the GC level. You’d be flabbergasted by how much human input and decision-making there is in any building. Constant discussions about constructibility, safety, value, coordination, and on an on. A lot of these discussion lean on experience of the construction team. Robots can’t replace experience of construction workers period. There’s far too many variables that robots or people who have never been “in the field” can’t account for.
Some parts of construction have been helped by automation (see layout robots, CNC cabinetry fabricators, etc.) but that’s drop in the bucket of a massive industry. The human element will not be removed from construction.
That’s right, I’m gonna make them cart my ass off to the gulag if they want it so bad. I’m not kneeling to these chucklefucks for a second.
Elon Musk is a fascist.
Trump is a fascist.
Yep, that’s the one that he said that about.
Genome is not the only thing that shapes what a person is. Gene expression is variable as well. The world, and people, are more complicated than that.
“Destruction is the work of an afternoon; creation is the work of a lifetime.” (Paraphrased)
Thanks for your service, mysterious internet person!
Not to mention lobbying against anything that would possibly help the situation and unseat them of their stranglehold on people’s medical outcomes.
We’ve been led to believe that killing someone through the world’s shitiest Rube Goldberg machine of paperwork, policy, legalese, and “just doing my job” is somehow not killing someone.
Killing with a pen is no morally better than killing with a gun. One just takes longer than the other.
Just concepts of concentration camps
Remember when Trump won the first time and all that “lock her up” bullshit evaporated. He even said nice things about Hillary after he won. Pepperidge farm remembers.
They’re in the same class. They have no skin in the game. Their families and friends aren’t at risk of shit, except for the excruciating decision of what to do with all that privilege they’ve got knowing an ex-President. That golden parachute of the lecture tour and book deals and fundraisers is always gonna be there for any career politician. Biden “tried his best” guys and that’s good enough. Take solace in that as you’re carted off to the blacksite.
None of these fucks are your friends.
This reformist sentiment is how we got here with the Dems.
I could understand reform to an extent but holy fuck come on. They’ve demonstrated they really truly don’t give a fuck about the leftist ideals they carry around like a vestigial organ.
Kamala “Do Not Come” Harris Joe “Nothing will fundamentally change” Biden (Bonus) Joe “Strongest union president ever until it might impact the economy” Biden Nancy “Insider trading is cool when I do it” Pelosi
They exist as the last wall between more serious leftists and actual change.
They co-opt and absorb grassroots movements and then talk them down into a whimper. (e.g. BLM, defund the police, single-payer, etc.) Usually the discourse devolves into “well it might be hard and take some time, and it’s something we’re not used to, and some people might be mad too, and oh the economy and jobs or something” and that’s that. Dismissed until the next crisis, where we’ll rinse and repeat.
Notice the verbiage when they’re talking: “middle-class” this “middle-class” that. How often do they talk about the lower class? They usually don’t, because they primarily want to appeal to the affluent and educated. Meanwhile actual leftist organization meet people where they are on the regular - hungry, unsheltered, endangered - instead of sitting at galas and fundraisers sucking the big green dollary dick and feeling really sad and concerned about those people on the street. But hey maybe more spikes on a bench and more camp raids will solve the problem. After all, they’re making the place unsightly for their affluent, educated friends.
“When they go low we go high” is a hollow appeal to civility they use to say “aw shucks guys we tried real hard but then Republicans said no”. How many times have Republicans whipped out that “one simple trick” to leverage their position? How many times are Democrats gonna say “hey man that’s not cool” until they realize that honor or decorum are like boyscout merrit badges in the face of an opposition that demonstrates they don’t give a fuck about any of that?
Right or “left” or anything in between - any time there’s a labor dispute you can bet (and you’d be quite succesful) that within the first WEEK they’ll be drumming up distrust amongst the working class:
They tell their fellow workers through the media “these union workers are making your shit cost more. Here’s how much their asking for in wage increases.”
To ask “well, couldn’t the company just make a little bit less” is heresy. How could you suggest such a thing? They’re a business dummy, they have to make money! Line goes up! Line go down is bad! Jobs and yadda yadda.
They frame the majority of the conversation in terms of monetary or fringe benefits for the workers. They report very little on the safety and PTO/QOL demands of the union.
In the case of Biden and railroad workers, they say “hey just play along and let the rail companies strategize and undermine you for a few more years while we try really super megahard to get you what you want”. Newsflash if you didn’t know: the element of surprise (within a short time frame) is important for strikes. Now that the companies know the union is willing to take it to that level, the railroad companies being in a position of power and control are in an advantageous position with that knowledge. And by the way nothing was ever done about the safety concerns the rail workers had with PSR or lean operation (or the being on call constantly), and shortly after Biden put down that strike the East Palestine disaster happened. And yeah those people aren’t done with their suffering either. But hey at least you, out precious affluent, educated voter didn’t have to do anything to support your fellow workers or deal with any upset in your life.
And then there’s the laser-focus on identity issues. WHILE IMPORTANT, you know what most helps people in these groups fight for their rights? Better working conditions. Better benefits. Better healthcare. Better work-life balance. More time off to organize, more time off to participate in politics, or spend time with family, or do hobbies, or relax, or do anything that might give them solid footing against the ebbs and flows of capital and fight for themselves and their own rights and communities. Not that help from more advantaged people isn’t useful, but when that’s step one instead of step four or five it comes off as a “white man’s burden” approach. Give them the foundation that every working person deserves.
No one’s required to vote for your dog shit, milquetoast party and their old crusty ass kingmakers. And before you start coming at me with the usual stuff, I voted for Harris to buy more time for vulnerable people, leftists, and whatever semblance of free expression and journalism we have left. I sucked it up and put my opinions aside for a bit.
And wow what a fucking waste. How could that party fuck up so bad? Maybe they didn’t pay enough money to political consultants? Surely that’s the reason.
Maybe this is some conspiracy shit I’m about to say, but maybe we should look at the common denominators here? Fill in the blanks with your topic of choice.
Both the Democrats and the Republicans have a shared interest in __________.
Isn’t “nothing will fundamentally change” what he said to the donors at a private event? Mission accomplished I guess…