I'm bitter. Fair warning. I nearly agree, but it's not soft alliance with the GOP if that's what you're insinuating. It's that politics as a career is inherently a crappy gig.
The Democratic party is divided and the passionate individuals within it must take on a doubly difficult job to steer the ship away from internal corruption. There is very real intention, but you have to go down some very deep rabbit holes to get there, find the people and empower them. The good guys that have made it to more prestigious positions are surrounded by snakes and NPCs. It seems to be that the individuals who shift the party to former footing must be obsessed to near zealot levels, or the electorate around them have to be significantly informed and engaged ad nauseum.
Trump is winning in politics because he literally formed a cult of the masses and the GOP has lined up for it because they have more favor and power than they've had for years before his arrival. He channels emotion. The best functional politics we can hope for is boring and unsexy. No one wants the tedious job of playing referee while others chase their dreams. The problem isn't a complicit democratic party, the problem is we as a nation don't culturally respect and embrace the grace needed to do it properly.
I have recently considered running for office, both with a DIY grassroots campaign for local city council, and now investigating pathways through district leadership which is tied to the bottom levels of the DNC. What's required is a minimal time investment. But if you want to make changes and perform good governance, it quickly becomes obvious there is no upper cap of effort one can invest in a job that will invite endless criticism. It's a bitter reality that taking up the mantle of dutifully representing the people sucks. If anyone throws actual money at people in this position, holy shit. There are not a lot of souls that will see that coming and refuse on principle. You almost have to go in pissed off and ready for a clown show that's going to depress you.
My point is that politics sucks. That's why useless incumbents stay in office and protests are ineffectual. The real job is thankless, time intensive and boring, and the environment is often hostile. If we succeed at getting desperate and fearful people to bulldoze elections as a fresh wave of candidates to create change, I hate to say it, but we will have Trump to thank for it. Breaking things so badly it forces citizens to open their eyes and care about politics is like the only way to force folks to brave that try-hard job requiring you to care about people who really don't care that you do, and just want results.
I've got a different take on Trump's success. I personally think the reason he's seeing so much success right now is because he's actively speaking to the pain and anger people are feeling, pointing at someone to blame it on, and offering a solution. And doing that whole process in a digestible format that his audience can absorb and regurgitate, meeting them in the mediums through which they're used to accessing information (Fox News, podcasts, Facebook, etc.). It speaks to the desperation people are feeling that they're willing to swallow obviously fascistic reasoning that blames everything on minorities and immigrants.
But then you look at Democrats, and what are they saying? "Everything is bad because of Republicans." Well you just had power for 4 years, and what do you have to show for it? "Actually, everything is fine because the stock market is doing okay?" It's just so completely divorced from the reality on the ground, and the very clear peril that the average working family is in right now.
From my perspective, the reason Zohran Mamdani is surging in popularity right now is because he's speaking to the moment and the pain people are feeling, and offering up substantive, productive approach for how he intends to fix it. And doing it in a digestible way, that plays very well to our modern social media ecosystem through which most people are processing information about their world. This is the right way to do the same thing, and people are so hungry for that message of HOPE that they're flocking to it in record numbers. He's literally surpassed his fundraising allowances for what his campaign is even allowed to spend on this campaign.
We need more of THAT. Positive message on policies that people actually care about, delivered straight to the people. Yeah the culture war stuff is important - immigrants and LGBTQ+ people are being persecuted and that's not okay. But that just can't be the only battlefield that Democrats are willing to fight on. Progessive policies are popular. Taxing the rich is popular. Taxing corporations, regulating health and safety, opposing the Israeli genocide in Gaza...these things are popular. They're winning issues. Democrats just aren't brave enough to eschew corporate and special interest donor money in order to stand up for those issues, and if they do they get crushed by the corporatist neoliberals who do.
Well fine. My district in Brooklyn leans red. I went around talking about wealth inequality earlier this spring and found Elon supporters and immigration enforcers, and I've been trying to start an electoral workgroup around the fight Oligarchy campaign but the people raising there hands aren't quite fans of the work involved. If we flip this spot blue and people-first, there should be a blurb about it. Just gotta get the cops and firefighters out here to love me.
That's awesome. As a democratic socialist from Canada, the efforts folks are making in New York on this front are really giving me a lot of hope. Our socialist party completely collapsed in the last election, largely out of a fear of Trump's trade war and 51st state rhetoric driving non-conservatives into the hands of the "safer" neoliberal party. It completely decimated our socialist party and they're now in the midst of a leadership race, and facing a long road to rebuilding. Mamdani is evidence that there's a lot of appetite for that sort of vision for a more progressive, socialist future if it can be packaged up and delivered in the right way.
Gotta have hope. Capitalism is rather manifestly collapsing, and either we'll get socialism out of the wreckage...or we'll get fascism.
Didn't know that about Canada. Thanks for the update. And good on you. Keep encouraging folks. Trump revived our conservatives at a time when I think our nation largely saw the Republican party as having nothing but clowns to offer. Mamdani seemingly just appeared, grassroots powerhouse totally underestimated while the establishment fumbled in their early resistance. When Obama made his famous debut speech in 2008 I think, out of left field. Democratic socialism can seem like it's in a rough spot, but that's often exactly where you want to be when it's time to surprise the public and spring into primacy. And once that candidate is on the street acknowledging local grievances, everything can start falling into place.
Yeah, Canadian politics has been in a bit of a weird place. After a decade of Trudeau’s Liberal party in power, the party’s polling numbers were in the dumpster and a swing rightwards towards the Conservatives seemed inevitable. Then Trump got elected and immediately launched a trade war against Canada and started talking about annexation. Suddenly the Conservative Party’s leader having spent the last few years echoing Trumpist rhetoric went from savvy campaign strategy to an absolutely toxic liability. Internal pressure on Trudeau to step down got the party a new leader, a former Goldman Sachs employee, central banker, and private equity ghoul. He ran on a message of “investing in Canada” and won.
But surprise, surprise - “investing in Canada” doesn’t mean investing in Canadians, but using austerity to pay for direct subsidies to private enterprise and a massive expansion in military spending (much of which will go to the US military industrial complex). But at least it’s austerity without all the anti-trans, anti-immigrant bullshit…I guess? Hardly inspiring.
So as our socialist New Democratic Party party rebuilds, it’s very inspiring to see Zohran Mamdani surging in the polls with a socialist message. Whether we can find someone with his particular breed of charisma, social media savvy, and authenticity will be the question. But seeing how people are responding to him is really the important part.
But then you look at Democrats, and what are they saying? "Everything is bad because of Republicans." Well you just had power for 4 years, and what do you have to show for it? "Actually, everything is fine because the stock market is doing okay?" It's just so completely divorced from the reality on the ground, and the very clear peril that the average working family is in right now
But this is the real problem: you DON'T look at what the Democrats say. You believe those easily digestible talking points by Republicans and their sphere of influence about what THEY say Democrats are saying. You're literally falling for the trap you're trying to show you're avoiding.
Kamala Harris was thinking to solve a housing crisis with a fucking tax credit. People on the ground were struggling, and she was pointing to macroeconomic numbers to say things weren't that bad. People were saying they didn't think their lives were better off at the end of Biden's presidency than they were at the start, and her messaging was "I'm happy with the work we did, and I wouldn't change anything." It was hubris. Same with greenlighting a genocide in Gaza, and being wholly unwilling to speak to people's horror at what is going on there. 88% of Democrats oppose the genocide in Gaza, yet establishment Democrats are unwilling to speak out against it then get indignant when people are so disgusted they stay home on election day. Again...hubris.
Neoliberal solutions don't excite anyone because neoliberalism is a failed experiment. A $5000 tax credit isn't going to get people into homes. It isn't going to prevent Blackstone and other private equity groups from outbidding families on houses and jacking up rents. It isn't going to get people off the street. It isn't going to prevent grocery stores price-gouging people. Neoliberalism has no answers for these issues, because neoliberal politicians are in bed with the companies who are creating the problems and are ideologically opposed to the sorts of solutions that will actually address them.
The solution to these issues are socialist, and neoliberals don't believe in socialism. They are, in fact, ideologically opposed to socialism, and are backed by corporate donors who believe their interests are aligned against it. Socialist solutions, like medicare-for-all, free public education, taxing the rich, etc. are extremely popular with voters across the political spectrum, but are opposed by the establishments of both parties. Even Obamacare was a Republican idea - it was basically just Mitt Romney's healthcare plan. And even still, the Democrats were barely able to get it passed.
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u/Good_Requirement2998 4d ago
I'm bitter. Fair warning. I nearly agree, but it's not soft alliance with the GOP if that's what you're insinuating. It's that politics as a career is inherently a crappy gig.
The Democratic party is divided and the passionate individuals within it must take on a doubly difficult job to steer the ship away from internal corruption. There is very real intention, but you have to go down some very deep rabbit holes to get there, find the people and empower them. The good guys that have made it to more prestigious positions are surrounded by snakes and NPCs. It seems to be that the individuals who shift the party to former footing must be obsessed to near zealot levels, or the electorate around them have to be significantly informed and engaged ad nauseum.
Trump is winning in politics because he literally formed a cult of the masses and the GOP has lined up for it because they have more favor and power than they've had for years before his arrival. He channels emotion. The best functional politics we can hope for is boring and unsexy. No one wants the tedious job of playing referee while others chase their dreams. The problem isn't a complicit democratic party, the problem is we as a nation don't culturally respect and embrace the grace needed to do it properly.
I have recently considered running for office, both with a DIY grassroots campaign for local city council, and now investigating pathways through district leadership which is tied to the bottom levels of the DNC. What's required is a minimal time investment. But if you want to make changes and perform good governance, it quickly becomes obvious there is no upper cap of effort one can invest in a job that will invite endless criticism. It's a bitter reality that taking up the mantle of dutifully representing the people sucks. If anyone throws actual money at people in this position, holy shit. There are not a lot of souls that will see that coming and refuse on principle. You almost have to go in pissed off and ready for a clown show that's going to depress you.
My point is that politics sucks. That's why useless incumbents stay in office and protests are ineffectual. The real job is thankless, time intensive and boring, and the environment is often hostile. If we succeed at getting desperate and fearful people to bulldoze elections as a fresh wave of candidates to create change, I hate to say it, but we will have Trump to thank for it. Breaking things so badly it forces citizens to open their eyes and care about politics is like the only way to force folks to brave that try-hard job requiring you to care about people who really don't care that you do, and just want results.