Joe Biden, Senator from Citibank (oops, DELAWARE), to Run for President

"until"

It's never the right time to do good things, or criticize Democrats, say some

"incrementalism" will surely fix our current troubles

the USA has experienced several abrupt political shifts in the past. it could happen again. but it is much more fruitful to criticize bad policy as bad and talk up what is needed and why it would be good than to aim blanket criticism at The Democrats or The Republicans, which just amplifies the current tribalism and codifies the impasse.

incrementalism is literally the only thing that has ever changed public policy

the new deal was pretty radical

we don't need revolution, but we need a renewed social contract.

we need something like.... a green new deal.

The Civil War was relatively abrupt

but let’s pretend M4A would even be part of a major candidate’s platform without the ACA, that’s fun

the new deal was the product of decades of organization and policy shaping before the depression actually hit

the civil war was not remotely abrupt

shit, the war for independence wasn’t even abrupt, it might seem that way because of the cascade of missteps by the government of King George III

people have been thinking about and studying ways to create a clean energy infrastructure for decades. people have also been organizing and advocating for this.

ditto national healthcare coverage.

these aren't new ideas; they're pragmatic ways to address glaring and extreme problems in the country that are eroding--have eroded--the kind of civic trust you need to have a decent society.

the only reason these ideas can't get a foothold in actual policy is dysfunction and honestly corruption in the process by which we choose candidates. moneyed interests have had too much influence, for too long, and over time they're degraded our sense of what is possible.

that's why people get pissed off with the democratic party and the idea of incrementalism. like, there is no incremental solution to a house being on fire. you have to put the fucking fire out. this is also true of a political and economic system where people get fucking 100,000 dollar hospital bills and climate scientist say we are fast-approaching the precipice.

the Democratic Party has been an incredibly effective bulwark against advances in national health coverage and meaningful climate policy

yes, exactly

the Civil War was in the making since 1787

so effective that we’ve veered ever rightward on both, despite the overwhelming evidence in their favor and the GOP often being the minority party

the thing is, there was a revolution. a right-wing revolution that eroded the power of unions and made common-sense social democratic ideas seem "impossible."

publicly funded firefighting services are a result of incrementalism

so effective that we’ve veered ever rightward on both, despite the overwhelming evidence in their favor and the GOP often being the minority party

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/opinion/coronavirus-inequality-bernie-sanders.html?fbclid=IwAR0aCSmYDKEkHEJuvsmDrB5xxxTWF1_f8WI6wNrmrq8w1jD4dBRTaQbjZF4

this is an interesting article by a guy you might have heard of that sums up where i am

if you’re actually blaming Democrats for this that’s... I guess hilarious could be a word

zing!!! you got me it was definitely the dems that backed out of the paris accord and did everything they could to cripple the aca

How many times do we have to reference murc’s law in these threads

You're about four strokes away AFAICT

Murc's Law is the dipshit Democrat version of "oh, you think American mass incarceration is bad huh WELL WHY DON'T YOU CRITICIZE NORTH KOREAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS"

this conversation actually sucks. i agree with milo, basically, but... whatever. I'm out

the Civil War was in the making since 1787

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, April 19, 2020 12:58 PM (eight minutes ago)

Ok yes certainly but to actually upend the slave power required a bloodbath. Maybe we can gloss change as punctuated equilibria.

ttbomk the DPRK doesn’t control most of the branches of government in our country. I suppose we should have them over more often, that way the necessary revolution could happen sooner

treeship do you ever think it’s funny how you mostly agree with milo but every time he pops up the “conversation” goes to shit? Also he thinks you suck too iirc

seems irrelevant honestly

if you want to know how “seriously” the Democratic Party takes any of these issues, just add up the money raised from the fossil fuel, big pharma, insurance, and the finance sectors.

xp i am a moderate by temperament but i see deep problems in America that won't be resolved without some very serious reforms. you can't go back, only forward.

I find milo’s generalized disrespect for everyone not in his exact corner to be surprisingly relevant. His commonplace opinions are available for free in plenty of other venues where you don’t have to be called a dipshit all the time, for example

tbf though it has been a pretty ‘incremental’ project (probably 70 years in the making) to completely neoliberalize our entire govt and hand it over to the obscenely wealth, who have essentially sold it off for parts

Respect is a bourgeois value, or something

*obscenely wealthy

the Democrats are much more inept liars than the Death Cult, and there's the rub

Not sure how we got on to this topic anyway. Have I said “fuck Joe Biden” today?

Fuck Joe Biden

cripple the aca

the aca would have been OK if there was a medicare buy-in option. without it, the market remained almost as unregulated as before.

I’ll give most them—perhaps even Obama—the benefit of the doubt and presume they honestly thought Better Things Were Possible, even without a robust public option and serious govt oversight.

but imo it’s past time for them to learn where this feelgood neolib shit gets you, and respond accordingly

I’m really impressed you’d even consider goving Obama the benefit of the doubt, how generous of you

it's true will. it's time to be bold -- the post-reagan consensus has produced disastrous outcomes and they're plain to see. time to try something else.

the Dems and Repugs shut down unions pretty quickly -- gorgeous bipartisanship

I’m really impressed you’d even consider goving Obama the benefit of the doubt, how generous of you

(at the leadership level, anyway)

Not many people voted for Mike Bloomberg when given the chance.

Have definitely been hearing a lot of "Bloomberg for veep" talk lately, while "Warren for veep" is something nobody says, and "Adopt significant planks from Bernie's platform" is something nobody is doing

Voters don't matter Aimless, you know this. If voters mattered then Bernie would be the nominee