They have to do much more than talk about it. We need action. Look at the talk on the campaign trail of Obama and Slick Willie. We need someone like Mamdani who actually walks the walk. Someone like FDR was, not a Clinton or Harris who trot out onstage with the Cheney family.
FDR had one thing that neither Obama nor Clinton had. His disability due to polio humbled him. Neither his wealth nor his vast social privileges could change the fact that his life of ease was over. At Warm Springs, he struggled like ordinary people to stand again but was reliant on the kindness of others to walk. He knew first hand how difficult life could be.
He picked a great VP in Truman, if it weren’t for his Japanese internment camps he’d have a pretty fantastic record overall but that’s a knock on him. He was the best modern President economically, though, without question.
Thank you. I have been boring my friends and relatives talking about FDR and the “malefactors of great wealth”.FDR was not a coward. He knew that the oligarchs hated him. He said he welcomed their hate. Contrast that with today’s Democrats ,who seem to be more interested in fighting yet another culture war than delivering economic justice.
This is delusional thinking. Since 1992 or before, the Democratic Party aligned itself with the ultra-wealthy and corporations. Clinton’s Third Way was Neo-liberalism for Dummies (er, I mean Democrats). Both he and Obama had a gold-plated entourage of plutocrats as their economic teams. Twice Sanders had a compelling message and growing support and twice the DNC killed his candidacy. Thinking the DNC is going to change course is ridiculous. The fact that Mamdami and AOC are promoting this is a thin reed to grab on to. Have you forgotten than the DNC refused to support Mamdami? Or that Schumer aggressively recruited candidates to run against progressive candidates?
Other than hope, what could possibly allow you to assert that this is a movement?
Somewhere, the party brass is meeting and trying to calculate just how much of this FDR stuff they ought to promise voters for optimal results in the next election.
Also on the agenda: how to assure the big donors that none of this FDR stuff will actually be implemented.
While I agree about FDR and economic populism, I am unimpressed with AOC. She is shallow and incompetent. She is far too willing to kowtow to the prevailing narrative, and she is a total disaster when talking about foreign policy.
She makes the point, but her actions don't follow. She is a tool of the DNC. Her foreign policy statements re Maduro (she said he canceled elections, not true) and getting the location of Venezuela wrong (it is NOT south of the equator) show that she is being fed information that she doesn't bother to fact check. She says that our economy should be a priority, yet she still supports arms sales: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/aoc-israel-gaza/
These are possibilities, David. I've seen for too long the Democrats doing nothing more than acting like controlled opposition. There are maybe 2 or three people in both houses of Congress that speak this way. That's not enough.
If Democrats want to win, they have to win for the rest of us, not just for their friends and family. Not just for the donor class. If they want our votes, they must earn them by unrigging the economy. By changing the structure of the markets to ensure the rest of us have food to eat.
I have been trying to make this point. In my most recent post where I analyze Democrats in terms of Stephen Skowronek's Political Time model, I argue that Democrats need to establish a Democratic dispensation, as FDR did and that this has to be formed using economics (social issues WILL NOT WORK--the one time this was tried it led to civil war).
Democrats CANNOT create a new dispensation based on increased welfare benefits (Medicare for all, free college, free childcare etc) layered on top of the existing neoliberal economy (e.g. what Mamdani and Sanders have offered).
Aside from universal health care, Americans don't want handouts. they want an economy what allows ordinary people to get most of what they need on the basis of their own efforts. The New Deals created such an economy after WW II and as long as it lasted, Democrats rode high.
Leftists do understand this need for fundamental economic reform, but their Marxian orientation are doomed to failure because marxism is flatly wrong and doesn't work. They should replace this theoretical basis with economic cultural evolution, the theoretically structure that explains how the New Dealers (unwittingly) were able to create the postwar economy that worked so well for working people.
Trump won a majority of people making >$100K in 2016. Not sure how this economic insecurity argument keeps coming back. The fact is Trump’s most ardent and fascistic supporters aren’t poor or struggling financially. They’re run-of-the-mill white Christians who feel aggrieved because Fox News, rush limbaugh, and right wing internet brainwashed them into thinking their position of hegemonic dominance in the country and culture is receding.
AOC is not at the highest level in the Democratic Party hierarchy though. She is still, along with Bernie and the Squad, a prophetic voice calling from the wilderness.
Americans reject handouts and government subsidies to workers; they want the domination of their neighbor, to outshine their workmates/ peers and to control their own kids/wives/ business in perpetuity. No American wants equality- they want to outperform and outdo the competition which is why they have embraced the right wing ideology of everyone for themselves and survival of the fittest. Socialist democracy is a pipe dream in America whose citizens feel they are much superior than the welfare recipients “ loser”states in Europe. In all, taking aside a few blue cities and coastal states- which Trump has identified as the enemy cities/states - the socialist democracy agenda that AOC stands behind is way too evolved for the massive amounts of turkeys who have absolutely no problem with the misogyny and pedophilia wealthy class that’s ruling over them in as much as they represent the Social Darwinism/no regulations/ no taxes, and laissez faire capitalism these folks stand firmly behind. I would say that 25% of Americans would support AoC - close to Bernie Sanders numbers- but middle Americans will see her as an alien who is imposing her socialist/ communist values upon them. And if you have not learned anything by now: no woman will ever win a presidential race in this massively sexist woman hating country even if she looked exactly like FDR.
I'm not disagreeing with the premises. But this is the messaging of all Brand New Congress candidates, like AOC, in 2018/2020. It was a staple argument around The Green New Deal and Medicare for All. That FDR style economic populism would stem the tides of rising political and corporate authortarianism. Every day, I wrote messaging about this, and coached dozens of congressional candidates on this point, including AOC.
I agree with you. Just disagree that it is new. Glad to see a resurgence!
Lest we forget, the DNC is a private organization. Their rules for candidate selection, and a platform, may not align with a democratic, one-person-one-vote system. It's a damn corporation, y'all. And they look at the donors, not the voters. Then hire a bunch of consultants to construct a narrative, a message, a few sound bites, that they can sell to just enough voters. How long are we gonna keep swallowing?
I am the founder of the Living New Deal, now a nationwide team effort to uncover the vast but largely invisible archipelago of public works that lifted the U.S. from depression but which also remains indispensable to us today. The Living New Deal is a reminder of what government by generosity rather than malice can and should do. I am glad to see that Mamdani, AOC, and Sirota are trying to remind the Democratic Establishment what their greatest leader did to keep fascism at bay the last time but that they are not this time around. Check it out: https://livingnewdeal.org/
They have to do much more than talk about it. We need action. Look at the talk on the campaign trail of Obama and Slick Willie. We need someone like Mamdani who actually walks the walk. Someone like FDR was, not a Clinton or Harris who trot out onstage with the Cheney family.
FDR had one thing that neither Obama nor Clinton had. His disability due to polio humbled him. Neither his wealth nor his vast social privileges could change the fact that his life of ease was over. At Warm Springs, he struggled like ordinary people to stand again but was reliant on the kindness of others to walk. He knew first hand how difficult life could be.
He picked a great VP in Truman, if it weren’t for his Japanese internment camps he’d have a pretty fantastic record overall but that’s a knock on him. He was the best modern President economically, though, without question.
Thank you. I have been boring my friends and relatives talking about FDR and the “malefactors of great wealth”.FDR was not a coward. He knew that the oligarchs hated him. He said he welcomed their hate. Contrast that with today’s Democrats ,who seem to be more interested in fighting yet another culture war than delivering economic justice.
This is delusional thinking. Since 1992 or before, the Democratic Party aligned itself with the ultra-wealthy and corporations. Clinton’s Third Way was Neo-liberalism for Dummies (er, I mean Democrats). Both he and Obama had a gold-plated entourage of plutocrats as their economic teams. Twice Sanders had a compelling message and growing support and twice the DNC killed his candidacy. Thinking the DNC is going to change course is ridiculous. The fact that Mamdami and AOC are promoting this is a thin reed to grab on to. Have you forgotten than the DNC refused to support Mamdami? Or that Schumer aggressively recruited candidates to run against progressive candidates?
Other than hope, what could possibly allow you to assert that this is a movement?
Somewhere, the party brass is meeting and trying to calculate just how much of this FDR stuff they ought to promise voters for optimal results in the next election.
Also on the agenda: how to assure the big donors that none of this FDR stuff will actually be implemented.
While I agree about FDR and economic populism, I am unimpressed with AOC. She is shallow and incompetent. She is far too willing to kowtow to the prevailing narrative, and she is a total disaster when talking about foreign policy.
She makes the point, but her actions don't follow. She is a tool of the DNC. Her foreign policy statements re Maduro (she said he canceled elections, not true) and getting the location of Venezuela wrong (it is NOT south of the equator) show that she is being fed information that she doesn't bother to fact check. She says that our economy should be a priority, yet she still supports arms sales: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/aoc-israel-gaza/
These are possibilities, David. I've seen for too long the Democrats doing nothing more than acting like controlled opposition. There are maybe 2 or three people in both houses of Congress that speak this way. That's not enough.
If Democrats want to win, they have to win for the rest of us, not just for their friends and family. Not just for the donor class. If they want our votes, they must earn them by unrigging the economy. By changing the structure of the markets to ensure the rest of us have food to eat.
I have been trying to make this point. In my most recent post where I analyze Democrats in terms of Stephen Skowronek's Political Time model, I argue that Democrats need to establish a Democratic dispensation, as FDR did and that this has to be formed using economics (social issues WILL NOT WORK--the one time this was tried it led to civil war).
https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/a-structural-take-on-democrats
Democrats CANNOT create a new dispensation based on increased welfare benefits (Medicare for all, free college, free childcare etc) layered on top of the existing neoliberal economy (e.g. what Mamdani and Sanders have offered).
Aside from universal health care, Americans don't want handouts. they want an economy what allows ordinary people to get most of what they need on the basis of their own efforts. The New Deals created such an economy after WW II and as long as it lasted, Democrats rode high.
Leftists do understand this need for fundamental economic reform, but their Marxian orientation are doomed to failure because marxism is flatly wrong and doesn't work. They should replace this theoretical basis with economic cultural evolution, the theoretically structure that explains how the New Dealers (unwittingly) were able to create the postwar economy that worked so well for working people.
https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/what-should-democrats-and-the-left
Trump won a majority of people making >$100K in 2016. Not sure how this economic insecurity argument keeps coming back. The fact is Trump’s most ardent and fascistic supporters aren’t poor or struggling financially. They’re run-of-the-mill white Christians who feel aggrieved because Fox News, rush limbaugh, and right wing internet brainwashed them into thinking their position of hegemonic dominance in the country and culture is receding.
Bernie's been beating this drum too for a long time, I think?
YES!! And the Dems stole the Presidency from him…twice! 😡
AOC is not at the highest level in the Democratic Party hierarchy though. She is still, along with Bernie and the Squad, a prophetic voice calling from the wilderness.
Americans reject handouts and government subsidies to workers; they want the domination of their neighbor, to outshine their workmates/ peers and to control their own kids/wives/ business in perpetuity. No American wants equality- they want to outperform and outdo the competition which is why they have embraced the right wing ideology of everyone for themselves and survival of the fittest. Socialist democracy is a pipe dream in America whose citizens feel they are much superior than the welfare recipients “ loser”states in Europe. In all, taking aside a few blue cities and coastal states- which Trump has identified as the enemy cities/states - the socialist democracy agenda that AOC stands behind is way too evolved for the massive amounts of turkeys who have absolutely no problem with the misogyny and pedophilia wealthy class that’s ruling over them in as much as they represent the Social Darwinism/no regulations/ no taxes, and laissez faire capitalism these folks stand firmly behind. I would say that 25% of Americans would support AoC - close to Bernie Sanders numbers- but middle Americans will see her as an alien who is imposing her socialist/ communist values upon them. And if you have not learned anything by now: no woman will ever win a presidential race in this massively sexist woman hating country even if she looked exactly like FDR.
I'm not disagreeing with the premises. But this is the messaging of all Brand New Congress candidates, like AOC, in 2018/2020. It was a staple argument around The Green New Deal and Medicare for All. That FDR style economic populism would stem the tides of rising political and corporate authortarianism. Every day, I wrote messaging about this, and coached dozens of congressional candidates on this point, including AOC.
I agree with you. Just disagree that it is new. Glad to see a resurgence!
Thank you! We need more of this!!!
Lest we forget, the DNC is a private organization. Their rules for candidate selection, and a platform, may not align with a democratic, one-person-one-vote system. It's a damn corporation, y'all. And they look at the donors, not the voters. Then hire a bunch of consultants to construct a narrative, a message, a few sound bites, that they can sell to just enough voters. How long are we gonna keep swallowing?
I am the founder of the Living New Deal, now a nationwide team effort to uncover the vast but largely invisible archipelago of public works that lifted the U.S. from depression but which also remains indispensable to us today. The Living New Deal is a reminder of what government by generosity rather than malice can and should do. I am glad to see that Mamdani, AOC, and Sirota are trying to remind the Democratic Establishment what their greatest leader did to keep fascism at bay the last time but that they are not this time around. Check it out: https://livingnewdeal.org/