From Luis Mendoza::
The
problem with "Vote Blue No Matter Who":
Since
neoliberalism took hold (and took off) in the '80s under Reagan in
the U.S., and Thatcher in the U.K., the corporatist party duopoly has
been playing a sort of good-cop-bad-cop scam on the American people,
with the neo-fascist Republicans playing "bad cop" and the
neoliberal corporate Democrats playing "good cop," while
both being on the same side: the oligarchy.
Forty-plus
years of neoliberalism set us on a proto-fascist path, with an
obvious destination: Trump's fascist regime. My point? Neoliberalism
(which is the ideology of ALL corporate Democrats) is precisely what
helped set the stage for a fascist backlash. It dismantled the
regulatory framework, and helped corporate cartels capture ALL
relevant levers of power, after which they engaged in a frenetic
"pig-feeding-at-the-trough" period, bringing about a truly
horrific and dystopian society (today's USA), resulting in the worst
income inequality in the country's history.
This
has caused unbearable pain and social dysfunction. Historically, when
this type of socioeconomic dysfunction takes a hold on a society,
there's always a fascist backlash as (some elements of) the "dominant
ethnic" group lashes out against perceived culprits (in the form
of "the other," immigrants, ethnic and religious
minorities), egged on by fascist demagogues (like Trump). Voting blue
no matter who (which is the game we've been playing for over 40
years) is precisely what set the stage for fascism.
In
reality, we have two equally-urgent challenges: defeating Trump's
fascist regime AND Neoliberalism.
These
two things need to happen now, at the same time. Those advocating
"vote-blue-no-matter-who" are either not aware of this
history and these dynamics (and if so, I highly recommend they
educate themselves about it), or know it, and don't care.
*
* * * *
And
in response to a comment:
I
think that what "vote-blue-no-matter-who" folks fail to
understand is that the corporatist Democratic Party establishment
(and their PR/propaganda machine) have been scaring voters into
electing corporate Democrats (in the mold of Bill Clinton, and Barack
Obama) for decades, using the same boogieman stories, whether SCOTUS,
or identity politics. Their argument (always) is that "look, the
other guys are exponentially worse," and in the meantime for the
last few decades we've seen an almost complete evisceration of
constitutional rights, rapid wealth accumulation, the formation of
oligopolies, monopolies, and cartels, a huge increase in incarcerated
people, rampant police brutality, rampant corruption (Wall Street,
etc.). The lost of over 1,000 state legislative seats across the
country, and more Republican-controlled states, than Democrats.
Finally, the Party tried the scare tactic one more time in 2016, by
imposing a quintessential corporate Democrat (after essentially
stealing the nomination from Bernie). And how did that turned out?
It's time to change course. We need to get rid of both, Trump's
fascist regime AND Neoliberalism, now.
*
* * * *
It's
useful now to think of there being three parties, in actuality. The
right, which has almost completely merged with Trump, the progressive
left, and the neoliberal corporate Democrat Party. This last one only
pretends to have the same interests as progressives, but corporate
democrats, who also represent entrenched inequality, militarism, and
unsustainable climate policies would rather have a right wing
dictator than a genuine social democrat in power. It was in part
their arrogant strategy that landed us where we are now —
in
conjunction with the mainstream media —
CNN,
MSNBC, and NPR. A populist movement is needed now more than ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment