Zonkerbl wrote:Benjammin wrote:From Ruy Teixeira:
As they do so, here’s an idea to start with: have every Democrat ostentatiously say they subscribe to the following principles. These principles would signal to normie voters, particularly working-class voters of all races, that Democrats’ values and priorities are not so different from theirs. That’s a prerequisite for getting these voters to listen to Democrats’ pitch and take it seriously.
Equality of opportunity is a fundamental American principle; equality of outcome is not.
America is not perfect but it is good to be patriotic and proud of the country.
Discrimination and racism are bad but they are not the cause of all disparities in American society.
Racial achievement gaps are bad and we should seek to close them. However, they are not due just to racism and standards of high achievement should be maintained for people of all races.
No one is completely without bias but calling all white people racists who benefit from white privilege and American society a white supremacist society is not right or fair.
America benefits from the presence of immigrants and no immigrant, even if illegal, should be mistreated. But border security is hugely important, as is an enforceable system that fairly decides who can enter the country.
Police misconduct and brutality against people of any race is wrong and we need to reform police conduct and recruitment. However, more and better policing is needed to get criminals off the streets and secure public safety. That cannot be provided by “defunding the police”.
There are underlying differences between men and women that should not all be attributed to sexism. However, discrimination on the basis of gender is wrong and should always be opposed.
People who want to live as a gender different from their biological sex should have that right. However, biological sex is real and spaces limited to biological women in areas like sports and prisons should be preserved. Medical treatments like drugs and surgery are serious interventions that should not be available on demand, especially for children.
Language policing has gone too far; by and large, people should be able to express their views without fear of sanction by employer, school, institution or government. Free speech is a fundamental American value that should be safeguarded everywhere.
Climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be solved overnight. As we move toward a clean energy economy with an “all of the above” strategy, energy must continue to be cheap, reliable and abundant. That means fossil fuels, especially natural gas, will continue to be an important part of the mix.
We must make America more equal, but we also must make it richer. There is no contradiction between the two. A richer country will make it easier to promote equality.
Degrowth is the worst idea on the left since Communism. Ordinary voters want abundance: more stuff, more opportunity, cheaper prices, nicer, more comfortable lives. The only way to provide this is with more growth, not less.
We need to make it much easier to build things, from housing to transmission lines to nuclear reactors. That cannot happen without serious regulatory and permitting reform.
America needs a robust industrial policy that goes far beyond climate policy. We are in direct competition with nations like China, a competition we cannot win without building on cutting edge scientific research in all fields.
National economic development should prioritize the “left-behind” areas of the country. The New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt did this and we can do it today. “Trickle-down” economics from rich metropolitan areas is not working.
A Democratic Party united around these principles would be a far more appealing party to those millions of voters who are leaving the Democratic Party behind. It’s time to start calling them back.
https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/the-shattering-of-the-democratic
So Democrats should just lie and abandon their core constituents? Great strategy.
No one says racism is the cause of all inequality in the country. That's a straw man. What Dems ACTUALLY say is that even if racism doesn't exist (not true! but for the sake of argument let's assume it is) the legacy of racism embedded in our institutions still exists and still has effects on outcomes. Of course allowing drug companies to get a whole bunch of people addicted to opioids and a number of other crimes against humanity are also part of why there are disparities in society. Who is doing anything about it? The Republicans? Please name one policy the Republicans are pursuing to help solve the opioid crisis.
"More and better policing is needed to get criminals off the streets" This is flat out wrong and we will never agree on ANYTHING if you continue to insist this is true. It is not. There is no real world evidence of this AT ALL. This is a moderate Dem position that drives me absolutely insane. Does having a cop point a gun in your face help combat drug addiction IN ANY WAY? Does having a cop point a gun in your face help someone having a mental health crisis? Does pointing a gun in the face of a domestic violence perpetrator help AT ALL??? IT DOES NOT. Also the premise of this "argument" is that crime is a big and increasing problem and it ISN'T. Certain neighborhoods that used to be nice are getting worse, and other neighborhoods that use to be crap are getting better. Well, everybody hates both changes, but in terms of crime the effect is a wash. San Francisco used to be really nice, but now the really nice parts that people used to like are going downhill. It's sad, but it's not true that San Francisco overall is turning into a big pit of crime. That's a right wing lie. Similarly after George Floyd's murder there were a bunch of protests but it wasn't the fricking purge like right wing media described it. Lies and exaggerations. Reduce expenditures on the tool that doesn't work - police - so that you have enough money to spend it on things that do work - mental health crisis teams, drug addiction intervention teams, specialized de-escalation teams for domestic violence incidents. It's SO GODDAMN STUPID to keep trying to hammer the square peg of police into the round hole of public safety. Be evidence driven!
I could go on but I'm too exhausted. I would tell you to "do some research" but then this probably is the result of you doing research by reading mainstream media, who are all idiots about this stuff. Maddening. And I could really do without the smug condescending opinions of some obviously ignorant 72 year old white guy who thinks he's all that. Less of Ruy Teixera please.
Help me now understand what the "core constituency" is now of the Democratic Party? It seems to be now that the Democratic Party has many more litmus tests to be considered "acceptable" than the Republican Party. On the flip side, the Republican Party has been completely co-opted by Trump. Is that a big enough coalition to win nationally absent Orange Man really bad or a rockstar like Obama? It's not your job to educate me, but I tried to highlight a variety of Democratic voices, but I agree that Ruy comes across as an old man yelling at a cloud.
What would be your elevator speech for the national Democratic Party that will win elections everything else being equal, which it never is of course?
