Happy 2019! (NOT 2020)
Happy 2019!!
2018 was not the best year for many of us. If not for actual personal events in our lives, many have been inundated with stress thanks to politics. Though I have to say if you really found 2018 that stressful because of politics, what it really indicates is that you finally started paying attention. Many neoliberals will claim otherwise yet can barely cover the surface of any issue. Though even that is an improvement. In 2016 and 2017 they could not even name more than one issue.
Honestly, if you do not know what the issues really are, then it’s time to find out. I think my page is a good place to begin because I have a few hundred articles posted, each one of which delves into one issue or another. If not mine, try another Progressive page.
Any way, back to the subject at hand. I’ve written about this a couple of times but it bears repeating again.. and again.. and again. It is now 2019, not 2020!!!!
What does that mean? It means to stop sharing, writing, trying to campaign for your favorite neoliberal zombie puppet like you are a ventriloquist’s dummy with someone’s hand up your ass!!! Either that or admit to the fact to yourself that this is exactly what you are.
I don’t care how much you need a cult to belong to, now is not the time. It is not time to talk about Bernie or Warren or Harris or Clinton or Biden or what ever other Establishment tool the DNC and their corporate owners are trying to shove down our throats already. The only exception is if you are protesting against them and even that needs to be limited to comments where they are being promoted by others. Otherwise you are just helping to build name recognition for them. You are helping them with every article you share.
2019 needs to be the year of issues. Medicare For All, ending wars, election reform, freedom for Assange, increasing wages… Those are the things we need to be discussing. It does not matter who is in what office. Get away from the names because the fixation on names is what is destroying this country. Too many atrocities are ignored because some name claims it is okay.
This year you have plenty of time to get informed. The presidential elections are next year, not this year. The more we focus on issues, the more we can force the media and elected officials to address them, force them to listen.
Identity Politics. One of our biggest tasks this year needs to be breaking down the barriers of identity politics. This means sticking to the issues religiously. Leave names out of the picture, which is much easier when there is no election on the immediate horizon. Poll after poll shows the true left and the Conservative right have many common concerns and opinions. Nearly the only real difference is immigration. Yet if we addressed the other problems, immigration becomes less and less of a concern. Address income inequality, healthcare, employment, law enforcement, drug abuse and education standards and any argument against immigration disappears, other than overt racism.
Democrats attack us, disparaging any “purity test”, which is really a testament that they endorse corruption. Talk about Medicare For All and they show their colors. Even if you still call yourself a Democrat you can see the absolute resistance to popular movements. Democrats used to be the anti-war party (or so they claimed). Now they oppose any peace effort. They used to be the party for the people, yet all legislation they have suggested is aimed only at their own grip on power.
Republicans attack us, claiming we want something for nothing. Then hand massive tax breaks to corporations and the rich. But this is no change for Republicans, who have always been the same way. Okay, I should say Conservatives because Conservatives and Liberals reversed parties in 1968. They claim to be in favor of decreased spending, then increase spending and debt dramatically. Who pays for the spending and the debt? You do. They claim to create jobs but do so by decreasing wages while inflation continues rising. Or they create jobs in other countries. Meanwhile, profits rise at the top.
Our Advantage. The advantage that Progressives have at this point is the fact that we have become so intensely independent. We are the orphans left to fend for ourselves and define how things should be. Which means we see things objectively, how each party works against us. That also means we are far less likely in the future to be blind to manipulation should we achieve a third party leader trying to deceive us into war, corporate dominance or trickle down economic lies. Our advantage is that we have become more educated, more adept, more thick skinned, more fluent in all the deceptions and can pass this knowledge on to others. If we do it wisely.
Call me names. In the past few years I have been called a sexist while I voted for Jill Stein. A Communist and Socialist for wanting more for our own people. A coward for not endorsing useless wars for corporate profit. A Trump supporter for not blindly following the DNC cult. A Hillary supporter for not blindly following Trump. A Russian troll for not believing Mueller is a god. I’m not alone. Millions of us have endured this and will continue doing so. By this point it rolls off our backs. We’re not going away. We are growing in numbers as each major party disappoints their followers more each day.
This is our year. Don’t throw it away and do not tolerate others who try to do so. Talk about what matters. Drag the cultists kicking and screaming back to specifics on issues. When they push platitudes, arm yourself with facts, ask questions and demand answers, not propaganda. We need real discussions, not advertising.
Keep in mind, 2020 is a full year away.
