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Showing posts from October, 2017

Centrism: Just the Right Amount of Empathy

US liberal politics doesn't stop the right-wing. Because it doesn't have a structural analysis. Which requires a critique of capitalism. — Michael (@OmanReagan) October 14, 2017 The moment I saw this tweet I wanted to write about it. It reflects a lot of what I've been thinking about the Democratic Party for a while and ties into many of my blog topics. I'd also been planning to write about a couple of responses to my last post and then I realized how they related. If you know me you know that I am somewhat indeliberate, I sometimes realize where I'm headed and why on the way. Writing this blog exemplifies that. Essentially, I was propelled by running into my high school teachers and meeting a homeless poet and I'm only now starting to realize what's behind the (not huge) drive to write. As part of my response to the proliferation of #metoo I was finally able to voice the following in a conversation with a friend: My return to blogging stems

If You Don't Care About Winning This is Probably the Way to Go.

I'm in the process of writing a blog entry that's kinda gotten away from me and I've been distracted by a video I saw this morning. If you are a party first Democrat, Moderate, Neoliberal, or anyone else who still blames third party and non-voters for HRC's loss, even if it's just to yourself, please watch this video and think about why someone who's ambivalent about the party or to the left of the party might find it difficult to support the party's candidate. #DNC Unity still supporting Super-Delegates everybody should listen very carefully. #SaturdayMorning https://t.co/3A6vygguhR 👈🏽👈🏽👆🏽👆🏽 pic.twitter.com/qb8iUXI6qs — StarLord35 🌹 (@StarLord35) October 21, 2017 The attitude expressed by the woman in the video and the purge of progressives from the DNC suggests to me that mainstream Dems have once again learned the wrong lesson from a loss (actually, many over the last decade). It seems that they've concluded that those free pony ide

To Better Serve Humans (but Not Like in a Cannibal Way) updated

There is a segment of Twitter where if I was to say what I'm about to say here I would be accused of being a Russian bot (I wish I was joking but I've said things that were factually correct and been accused of being a Ukrainian millennial):  The Democratic Party bears some responsibility for Fragile Ego entering the White House . Boom! Neo-commie Russki Spy baby. I blame the incremental nature of centrism. My position on incrementalism as previously stated: This is the thing with neoliberalism or market-based liberalism and the politics of incrementalism.  It starts by arguing from the position of what is politically possible rather than making any argument for what is morally necessary beyond the need to act. It is philosophically an automatic concession to conservative politics, and has been for 30 years. It's the politics of 'wait your turn.' I've been trying to get into the minds of people who pursue centrism as a goal. I can't. Who are these peopl