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Hello, comrades! I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get hens and eat the rich at a local level.  Al! posted:How are we going to face the biggest threat to progressivism today: identity politics? And how are we going to roll back the so-called "gains" these hijackers have made in the last few years? To be honest, I think money is the biggest threat to progressivism, not identity politics. If anything, identity politics are often a tool used by money and its agents to divert discourse. I was tempted to write up a big effortpost about ways we can use identity politics in our favor, but I'm worried that might be outside the scope of this thread... Are we talking only about individual candidates itt, or also general strategy?
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Apr 29, 2016 04:12
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Hajj Podge posted:John Fetterman is one of the best senate candidates I've seen so far. He needs to be in the OP for future reference or something. Yeah, he was a long shot unfortunately but I'm glad I got to vote for him.  Hopefully he runs for the next available seat and we can build up enough of a campaign framework to get him nominated!So, while primarying from the left is great, I'm curious: has anyone had any success with building a movement for local changes? I'm thinking sewer socialism in the form of grassroots single-issue movements and ballot initiatives, like funding a homeless shelter or setting up a needle exchange. I have a vague idea of how campaigns work, but I wonder if that sort of push requires different tactics.
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Apr 29, 2016 04:41
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 BIG DUMB POST INCOMING  When it comes to identity politics, I think one of the problems is that we are accepting the terms set forth by moderates and right-wing extremists. As an example, here's how one group of allies responded to Ted Cruz's comments wrt bathroom bills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ddblwBpvA I don't mean to single these guys out, they're just the first ones I found with a handy bite-size clip of their coverage. But what are we actually getting here? Some head-shaking, some righteous indignation. Sometimes there's a bit of hand-wringing about how the LGBT community is being attacked so heavily by regressives. But what's missing? 1) Context. Did you know that there's a single law firm that has been pushing these bathroom bills? That many of these bills have language that is almost word-for-word identical to the text put out by this anti-gay organization? I'm trans and even I didn't know about this until ChickenArise posted the following URL to the trans megathread: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/alliance-defending-freedom-lobbies-anti-lgbt-bathroom-bills So in other words, these are not legislatures independently choosing to pursue this issue. This is a coordinated attack on transgender people, carried out by an organization working from the shadows. An organization headed by a man who wrote a book called The Homosexual Agenda. So let's call them what they are: a deep-pocketed hate group that's interfering in the personal lives of minorities. This is an opportunity to showcase how unelected but moneyed interests work behind the scenes to shape our national discourse. That should never be accepted, and should be called out at every opportunity. 2) A refutation of false claims. Transgender women are the victims of sexual assault, not the perpetrators. In fact I've been unable to find a single case of a transgender woman sexually assaulting anyone, much less in a bathroom. But so far, I've only seen a single news organization highlight this point: http://abc11.com/politics/transgender-sexual-assault-victim-says-shell-defy-hb2/1296062/ Even then, they gave McCrory a pass when he said this was a "new issue." That is a boldfaced lie. The first transgender American to publicly discuss their transition fought in World War 2, and garnered a fair bit of attention and media coverage in the 1950s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Jorgensen This is not a new phenomenon, but once again by failing to provide that context the news and even advocates are inadvertently giving legitimacy to their opponents. This issue is not "some people think you have to use the bathroom that matches your birth certificate because they think it will cut down on sexual assault," it's "a hate group is secretly workshopping its discriminatory legislation around to local and state governments to use as a wedge issue in a cynical attempt to get votes by pretending this is a strange new phenomenon, when in reality this issue is over 50 years old and should have been addressed a long time ago." And you can take it further from there: if we knew transgender people were a thing in the 50's, why didn't we start working on it? Why didn't they teach kids about gender dysphoria, so that we could identify the problem and get treatment before they killed themselves (something over 40% of all trans people attempt)? Why was this reality hidden from children growing up before the 21st century, and why did we as a society do nothing to address this very real issue? How bathroom discrimination is discussed is part of a larger pattern in our national discourse, which is to keep falling for the Golden Mean fallacy. SMBC Theater had a pretty good parody video of this a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGArqoF0TpQ Right now, both sides of the debate are usually a regressive social conservative and a moderate liberal. Neither party is interested in discussing the money angle, because they both want the status quo. This framing of the national discourse as a dialog between the socially left and right wings of social conservatives is, obviously, a false narrative. Which is why when we discuss identity politics issues, we have to keep hammering home how important the role of money is in all of our political issues. Off the top of my head, here are some ways in which money plays a part in bathroom bills: 1) Money in politics is not only about bribery. The organization pushing this legislation has a wide reach because they can buy the time and energy required to get it in everyone's hands. And unlike the other side - the HRC, UCLA, etc. - they're doing it while hiding from the public. Why isn't it mandatory for the origin of this legislation to be disclosed to the public? Well, because moneyed interests from out of state know it's bad PR to be caught with their hand in the cookie jar. And in a country where bribery is legal, it was bound to happen that parties other than industry lobbyists would start sneaking around with pre-written laws for power-hungry pols to crib from. 2) Trans people are already handicapped economically, making it hard to fight back. Trans people have some of the highest rates of unemployment and homelessness of any group in America. Given that there is no protection against discrimination for employment or housing in many parts of the country, that's to be expected. And since many health insurance companies won't pay for any of our approved treatments - we're talking thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars - we're on average poorer than even people with the same take-home pay that we get. Without the support of non-profits, we'd be hard-pressed to defend ourselves from a bunch of rich regressives. 3) The only pushback that has made a real difference so far is from the 1%. If it wasn't for large corporations and rich artists boycotting the state, North Carolina would only have a handful of protesters on their hands. McCrory and company have been blindsided because they assumed they'd be able to push the trannies around with impunity, but they weren't counting on the capital class to take a stand (they usually don't, after all). In a country where wealth is concentrated into the hands of a few, the concerns of those few are the only ones that are seriously considered. Whether you're for or against bathroom discrimination bills, that should give you pause. tl;dr - show the receipts, expose them for the lying amoral hucksters they are, then bring it back to class war (feel free to pick this apart and show me why I'm dumb and wrong, by the way)
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Apr 29, 2016 06:37
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NumberLast posted:You're gonna want to start going to locals. Hey, isn't that basically how Bernie got started? Looking forward to voting for President NumberLast in a few decades.
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Apr 29, 2016 06:43
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Smoremaster posted:nice meltdown You'd know about melting down you smore-loving gently caress!  tranime scholar posted:Thank you for making this thread though CC. I might do an effortpost about the MO-2 district when I'm bored at work. Like right now lmfao  I want to learn more about local politics! I tried doing research on my local candidates last year and it was a loving nightmare. Finding anything besides their name and party affiliation was like pulling teeth.
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Apr 29, 2016 06:47
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NumberLast posted:how much of a shithead I am I hope no one actually thinks of themselves that way.  Bathroom bills have been on my mind a lot so I just figured I'd use that as an example. Obviously I'm thrilled to have allies though!If anything I'm hoping there are some general tactics in that word salad that can be applied to other issues. Like how fossil fuel flacks will put out talking points for muddying the waters of climate change. Hell, they even wrote up prep material for poo poo-talking the Pope! http://www.salon.com/2015/06/17/coal_industry_provides_congressional_republicans_with_some_handy_anti_pope_talking_points/ Instead of only responding to the presented arguments, I think it's time to start laying out fact-based attacks of our own. "The senator didn't come up with that line himself, someone from the coal lobby told him to say it. Do we really want to be represented by a bunch of puppets that answer to the people who pull their strings? I think the American people deserve better than that."
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Apr 29, 2016 09:39
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Gene Hackman Fan posted:I'm posting in this thread 1) to get a bookmark and 2) to update on what's been going on in my neck of the woods. Tennessee Dems will be holding their Jackson Day dinner on the weekend of May the 7th, and I have a ticket to attend. This sounds really cool, looking forward to a trip report. I don't know anyone with power or connections in this area so I'm just an outside agitator. v  v I'll be curious to see how much overlap there is in successful strategies when it comes to in-group/out-group political action.
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Apr 29, 2016 18:41
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Woozy posted:It's not weird at all. The voices making that exact argument were rapidly silenced and devoured by idiots shrieking about privilege. Like there's just no way to pretend anymore that left identitarian politics aren't fundamentally a project of reconfiguring existing power structures to be more "inclusive" without disrupting their basic purpose. For as long as I've been an activist the story was always "oh, we have to resist this sort of universalizing narrative about economic power because otherwise what's going to happen is we're going to reproduce various systems of oppression within a Marxist opposition that only sees class." But now more than ever its just obvious what that strategy actually amounts to: widening avenues for entry into the ruling class for women and minorities, so long as they'll agree to a basic neo liberal platform and work to diffuse and manage radical opposition within the communities they've been appointed to represent within the mainstream political discourse. It leads to Obama, basically. NumberLast posted:"Equal rights for our community...'s affluent members to step on the necks of the poor." Thomas Frank touched on that in his "What's the matter with Democrats?" talk (thanks to whoever linked it in Bernie thread): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w4I1c8VnbI I'm paraphrasing but he said that Third Way was specifically about shifting the focus of the party from workers to the professional class. The problem is that the latter believes in meritocracy, so they're never going to go for solidarity or a strong social safety net because poor people deserve to be poor.
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Apr 29, 2016 18:50
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C-SPAN Caller posted:In other news, I'm the tech chair on my local committee for the city controller, as well as getting stronger ties with our local public radio. Oh, neat! What are your responsibilities as tech chair? Come to think of it, what are the city controller's responsibilities? My one civics class in high school was a loving joke. 
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Apr 29, 2016 18:51
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My Imaginary GF posted:If you advocate for progressive policies, such as environmental justice, in such a manner which makes those with power and connections some money, then soon enough you'll be the one with power and connections. But then I wouldn't be a progressive, just another dogshit liberal pretending to be one. 
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Apr 29, 2016 18:52
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Haze Thank Liberty posted:Some also don't seem to care that which candidates are running influences whether or not the independents actually show up, and what type of independents actually show up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5OTRRXZOzE
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Apr 29, 2016 18:53
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YOU A loving HAT posted:my best friend's cat that he just adopted had KITTENS last night and I've been looking after them today. Added to my sister being preggers, I am just SWIMMING in babies over here. yeesh. babies everywhere
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Apr 29, 2016 18:57
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Kudaros posted:There is a power generation thread in D&D which is unfortunately made worse by willfully dense individuals Redundant sentence: it's in D&D so by definition it's made worse by willfully dense individuals.  Just teasing, and I agree that climate change is a great example of a local issue.
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Apr 29, 2016 19:00
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TinFoilJoy posted:Looking into downticket races has taught me that the Michigan Democratic Party might be just as toothless as Dem parties in deep red states. And progressives. GlitchThief posted:I'm in one of the few states that apparently has no acceptably progressive candidates for any state or federal seats. What should I do, other than smoke weed and eat junk food until I choke on my own vomit? Well you know, Bernie got his start running for local office on a third-party ticket...  Not that either of you has to run for office though, there's always local advocacy. How about this for a compromise: pick an issue where there's a decent grassroots movement already (e.g. Fight for 15). See if there's a local chapter. If there isn't, maybe contact the organization and offer to start one?
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Apr 29, 2016 20:44
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Classic Comrade posted:lmao no offense but pennsylvania is a hellhole For a state that was in the Union you sure do see a lot of Confederate flags around here! 
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Apr 29, 2016 20:47
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NumberLast posted:
"to be dead... to be nothing... to listen to Hillary Clinton no more..."
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Apr 29, 2016 22:01
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I don't think I've ever seen a more apt analogy.
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Tim Canova Speaks!quote:I think [Bernie] stumbled on Israel. You could say I’m a stronger supporter Israeli security. I know he's trying to get elected in Florida but 
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Apr 30, 2016 02:01
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Uncle Wemus posted:Is there a good alternative to gerrymandering Short term: grassroots takeover of local government Long term: constitutional convention Comedy option: petition the UN to step in and oversee our elections 
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Apr 30, 2016 02:42
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NumberLast posted:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/03/this-computer-programmer-solved-gerrymandering-in-his-spare-time/ If we're going to use districts for federal government elections, this looks like a really good way to do it. But to be honest I always wished we could do like they do in a lot of parliamentary democracies, and allocate seats in Congress/choose the president based on the popular vote.
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Apr 30, 2016 02:54
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Error 404 posted:Can we do this part now plz? It's happened before! http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Politics/election-monitors-free-countries-headed-us-election-day/story?id=17555988 Unfortunately I couldn't find anything about them monitoring the 2016 primaries. We could've used it! I would argue that all member states should want the UN overseeing their elections every year. Not just to protect against corruption, but because on the international stage you want everyone to be confident that your government faithfully and accurately represents the will of its people. But of course the political class thinks that "nothing to hide/nothing to fear" is for the little people, not them.
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Apr 30, 2016 03:02
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FreakerByTheSpeaker posted:Someone made a short video about class warfare in the US from 82-present day. 
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Apr 30, 2016 18:15
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Now this is good poo poo, imv.
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Apr 30, 2016 18:16
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It's an accurate representation of progressive politics.
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Apr 30, 2016 18:27
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Classic Comrade posted:yeah, that part makes me raise my eyebrow a lil bit, i mean, there are some awesome people who have run for office or are in some kind office already that shouldn't be discounted purely because of that fact. If I read it right then they're only talking about replacing people who aren't on board with progressive policies. So Concern Trollizen is, once again, concern trolling. And yes, I am 100% in favor of a Berniecrat Pledge of some kind. Norquist's Tax Pledge has been a huge part of the rightward lurch, the very least we can do is get people to sign a piece of paper saying they support progressive values. That's such a trivial, tiny thing that any person who won't do it even when promised money and votes is clearly not to be trusted.
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Apr 30, 2016 19:47
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literally one inch below your big dumb image, the makers of that site posted:So let's run one campaign to replace Congress all at once (except those already on board)
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Apr 30, 2016 19:52
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Sheng-ji Yang posted:the only way to turn the democratic party into a progressive, leftist institution is to destroy it I think we just found our campaign theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z71iqDfeXrg
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Apr 30, 2016 19:53
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I suppose I'm feeling bullish but we did manage to put together a slap-dash campaign that will most likely lead to a brokered convention despite an unending stream of dirty tricks in what would have always been an uphill battle. That leads me to believe that the technocrats have been wrong for the last 20 years - there is real progressive populism in this country, and we didn't have to become Republican Lite to win elections. But if you've spent decades defending that system, you'd have an ego-protection need to tell everyone otherwise. Admitting that you were a party to atrocities when there was a more moral way to gain political power isn't a fun potential future to be faced with, I'm not surprised that so many people are melting down over it.
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Apr 30, 2016 21:41
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 Just put them on ignore and let's get back to work imo. We're not shitposting for donations itt so there's no value in listening to the same tired bad-faith arguments that have been thrown at us 100 times before.I have an actual question about organizing strategy. This week I've been looking at two different organizations, Grassroots Select and Brand New Congress: http://grassrootsselect.org/ https://brandnewcongress.org/ They both have the general goal of electing progressives. Is it bad to have redundant groups? Is it beneficial? If you could only choose one of these two groups to support, which one would you pick?
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Apr 30, 2016 22:26
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Speaking of everyone's favorite mayor-who-looks-like-a-roadie, he's back home with his family.  http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2016/04/29/john-fetterman-senate-campaign/ And he has some words about our organizing game: quote:I would never throw Bernie under the bus, but I’m disappointed that we didn’t hook up — because I think we could have won. If Bernie could have hooked up, the synergy and the grassroots nature of our campaigns, we could have won the race. But, for whatever reason, they didn’t. Would better communication between campaigns and organizations really make that big a difference? Maybe with the balkanization of the left one of our first hurdles will be some sort of solidarity charm offensive?
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Apr 30, 2016 22:32
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Lord of Pie posted:googled "romulan shoulder pads" and welp (Michelle) OBAMA IS A SECRET ROMULAN TAL SHIAR OPERATIVE! 
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May 1, 2016 02:45
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tbh I think Michelle would just pick a human for her character Barack would be a Vulcan obv And Biden would probably go with Klingon, or maybe Andorian ("one of those blue guys, yeah man, that poo poo's awesome") Hillary would definitely be a Romulan though, no question edit: she'd tell everyone else she was a Vulcan though
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May 1, 2016 02:52
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Yup, the Dominion. DS9 is really good btw, you should watch it sometime.
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May 1, 2016 03:05
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FreakerByTheSpeaker posted:I didn't read the whole thread, but did anyone call out MiGF for claiming he could easily raise 500k while asking for someone to pony up Now that I know you can search Google for images I have no reason to read MIGF's posts.
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May 1, 2016 07:53
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for PMs?
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THORIUM posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjRcrNXwTy8 more like  imoempireofcrime posted:Under threat of thread nuking, what qualified as complaining? the political discussion or beating back the trolls? Two threads gassed and I still don't know. I've read the forum rules multiple times since the first thread got gassed but I can't point to anything new that was going on when they closed it.  (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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May 1, 2016 09:20
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Yup, but it bears repeating imo. Maybe we could put that and Grassroots Select in the OP?
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May 3, 2016 00:58
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Classic Comrade posted:dear alex: please stop slicking your hair back and dressing like a Young Republican it's a Jersey thing, that probably increases his electability boys I went to school with looked like they were wearing fake plastic hair, poo poo was crazy
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May 4, 2016 02:14
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Lord of Pie posted:He could be Actual Lex Luthor and be a better option than DWS under the right conditions even Lex Luthor is willing to become a New Deal Democrat:  DWS, meanwhile, would wake up one morning to see Clinton's head on a pike outside her window and STILL push for payday loans and deregulation.
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May 4, 2016 02:16
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Bockscar posted:QUILTBAG. I'm down with this in theory but I still think queer is better because it's less likely to make someone go "jeez these special snowflakes with their ridiculous acronyms  "That said, if we rehabilitate "queer" then I insist that it become a generic term that anyone can use, because I do not want to spend the rest of my life arguing over who is allowed to say it. (also imo the slur isn't actually reclaimed until people outside our little community can use the word without it stinging us)
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May 4, 2016 02:47
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NumberLast posted:I find that people outside of the 'queer community,' if we want to call it that, tend to themselves be uncomfortable with the term. Like I said, I've never heard someone outside the community actually use it. Right, I want to someday live in a world where people of all stripes can say "queer history" or "queer rights" or "queer Americans" and have it be just, you know, a word we use to denote people who are queer. I don't want people to be afraid of getting "in trouble" because they didn't use the exact right language, which is why I gave zero fucks when I was referred to as "a transgender" by Bernie Sanders. What matters to me is he has actual trans people at his rallies and he has good policies for the... *sigh* the QUILTBAG community.  But to be fair, in meatspace I'm still in the closet about being trans and bi so my experiences are limited. Looking forward to five months from now when I begin every post with ATTENTION, CISHET SHITLORDS!!!
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May 4, 2016 03:11
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Sorry for rambling, I think my original point before the dumb derail is that identity politics can be addressed by "to help (minority group), I will (specific policy)" - everything else should be viewed with suspicion.
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May 4, 2016 03:12
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