Wow. Hard to rap my head around the comments, although one of them reads like a right wing Republican scam; "economy slowing regulations", really. Anyone who truly believes there would be no difference between a Trump or Harris win on affecting Gaza or our ability to organize against a continued right leaning, Neoliberal Democratic Party is living in never-never land.
I want to add an additional risk: the general public (including labor) continues to ignore down ballot and off year elections. These candidates don’t appear out of a vacuum (for the most part), and more importantly, given how the US elected government functions, neither does the US Congress.
Part of why we are in the place we are in, is because people wring their hands about presidential elections and know fuck all about anything else. Trump et al are symptoms of decades of declining attention to anything outside the presidency.
Don’t give a shit about Harris? Fine. But you better give a shit about who are your US legislators and your state legislators. Many of whom are also on the ballot this year.
In my opinion your last "risk" is something that has happened already or at least is in the process of happening. I see it on a granular level in the suburbs around me
Sorry Ham...This one I can't bring myself to read...The election is going to be what it is and living with a knot in my stomach for the next 3 weeks doesn't change ANYTHING...so I'm opting out of fielding any doom scenarios..
I understand the real impacts on organized labor and why they're all out for Harris to win.
That being said, I can't bring myself to care about this election. We're hopelessly fucked either way. Arabs in the middle east are going to get genocided regardless of who wins. The war machine rolls on. Both parties are in complete agreement on 90% of the big important matters and pretend to squabble over the rest.
Perhaps the silver lining of a trump win could be acceleration of the demise of American empire
Assuming you're engaging in good faith, look back through history at how most empires ended. It's not pretty. There are a lot of shitty things about the current Way Things Are, but it's a whole lot better than an extended Alternate Scenario. There is very much a choice here, between dangerously backsliding into authoritarianism or making a small incremental step towards something better for most people.
There's a reason people still risk their life to come to this country. It's worth saving.
I am aware of the large, systemic, risk of Trump becoming president.
But does Kamala arguably bring incremental risks to our system, such as, for example, degradation of free speech rights and economy slowing regulations?
I’m not necessarily equating the risks, just trying to be ‘objective’.
Kamala isn’t going to look in the mirror. She is an empire manager, no more introspective than W. She chose to go right, and protecting the rights of Muslims and brown babies does not feed the war machine. Pretending to care about the world poor and the dispossessed is left. She chooses the 1% and their violence. For that alone she deserves to lose. Dems have a bad candidate. Identity politics should have died with Obama, who also chose the 1% over the poor. But the U.S. doesn’t have a structural choice other than the right and the fascist right. Trump is the end if democracy, but Kamala is the death of hope for peace. She will fund war. Why should any moral person vote for her apart from the vile cheesy blackmail that Trump is worse. That’s true, but the Dem party plays chicken with democracy.
The hopelessly fucked that we are could be what gets us to change course. It's radical breakdowns that lead to breakthroughs, where people rally to overcome disasters unless they don't rally and go down drains, like getting dictatorships. That's our crossroads. It's all gadflies now, delivering the alarms, but NOW WHAT? (my Substack)
There are longer range actions to take, like building a strong labor movement, but first things first. Conversation is in order, where the best thing for now would be if savvy people schemed together.
Wow. Hard to rap my head around the comments, although one of them reads like a right wing Republican scam; "economy slowing regulations", really. Anyone who truly believes there would be no difference between a Trump or Harris win on affecting Gaza or our ability to organize against a continued right leaning, Neoliberal Democratic Party is living in never-never land.
I want to add an additional risk: the general public (including labor) continues to ignore down ballot and off year elections. These candidates don’t appear out of a vacuum (for the most part), and more importantly, given how the US elected government functions, neither does the US Congress.
Part of why we are in the place we are in, is because people wring their hands about presidential elections and know fuck all about anything else. Trump et al are symptoms of decades of declining attention to anything outside the presidency.
Don’t give a shit about Harris? Fine. But you better give a shit about who are your US legislators and your state legislators. Many of whom are also on the ballot this year.
All of this. Here in NC this is a very important point, seeing as how the GOP candidates for governor and AG are both certifiable MAGA creeps.
[hear_hear.gif]
In my opinion your last "risk" is something that has happened already or at least is in the process of happening. I see it on a granular level in the suburbs around me
Sorry Ham...This one I can't bring myself to read...The election is going to be what it is and living with a knot in my stomach for the next 3 weeks doesn't change ANYTHING...so I'm opting out of fielding any doom scenarios..
But I'll see ya on the next piece tho!
Cheers
I understand the real impacts on organized labor and why they're all out for Harris to win.
That being said, I can't bring myself to care about this election. We're hopelessly fucked either way. Arabs in the middle east are going to get genocided regardless of who wins. The war machine rolls on. Both parties are in complete agreement on 90% of the big important matters and pretend to squabble over the rest.
Perhaps the silver lining of a trump win could be acceleration of the demise of American empire
Accelerationism is deadly to the least fortunate. It's not something to cheer.
The destruction of America is though
I don't know where you're located, but you sound like a Russian bot, or Russian bought crazy nutcase. 🤯
Assuming you're engaging in good faith, look back through history at how most empires ended. It's not pretty. There are a lot of shitty things about the current Way Things Are, but it's a whole lot better than an extended Alternate Scenario. There is very much a choice here, between dangerously backsliding into authoritarianism or making a small incremental step towards something better for most people.
There's a reason people still risk their life to come to this country. It's worth saving.
I am aware of the large, systemic, risk of Trump becoming president.
But does Kamala arguably bring incremental risks to our system, such as, for example, degradation of free speech rights and economy slowing regulations?
I’m not necessarily equating the risks, just trying to be ‘objective’.
No.
We have Bill Clinton’s craven 90s gutting of the democratic advantage with labor to blame for some of this.
Do you have a way to make a donation?
Yes: https://donorbox.org/how-things-work-reporting-fund
Kamala isn’t going to look in the mirror. She is an empire manager, no more introspective than W. She chose to go right, and protecting the rights of Muslims and brown babies does not feed the war machine. Pretending to care about the world poor and the dispossessed is left. She chooses the 1% and their violence. For that alone she deserves to lose. Dems have a bad candidate. Identity politics should have died with Obama, who also chose the 1% over the poor. But the U.S. doesn’t have a structural choice other than the right and the fascist right. Trump is the end if democracy, but Kamala is the death of hope for peace. She will fund war. Why should any moral person vote for her apart from the vile cheesy blackmail that Trump is worse. That’s true, but the Dem party plays chicken with democracy.
The hopelessly fucked that we are could be what gets us to change course. It's radical breakdowns that lead to breakthroughs, where people rally to overcome disasters unless they don't rally and go down drains, like getting dictatorships. That's our crossroads. It's all gadflies now, delivering the alarms, but NOW WHAT? (my Substack)
There are longer range actions to take, like building a strong labor movement, but first things first. Conversation is in order, where the best thing for now would be if savvy people schemed together.