Literally every four years we do this. Democrats sweep the elections promising huge economic reforms to benefit the poorest and most vulnerable people. The show up in Congress, fart around, complain that nobody gave them a 99 vote supermajority, and then write enormous concessions to the opposition party so they can claim they didn't turn the lights off at the Social Security office.
Under Carter, under Clinton, under Obama, and now under Biden. Same fucking story every time. Amazing that its worked this long and I can't say I'll be surprised to see it work again in 2028. But people just don't have any more fucks to give on this electoralism grift.
Georgia's still got enough die-hard Trumpies who haven't burned out on Republicanism as fast as Bidencrats have burned out on the Democrats, so it'll probably go to the GOP this time around. But we're burning the candle at both ends, here. Popularity is an increasingly scarce resource on either side of the aisle.
You would think this is an ideal time for a serious (actually serious about winning) Socialist party to form and contest elections.
But we can't have nice things in Burgerland
I think we're seeing movement on the political front.
The DSA has been sprouting up all over the Northeast and Midwest
But after Bernie flared out twice, I don't know who else seriously wants to raise that mast again.
I can't help but wonder how successful a left-wing third party would be in the US. It abandons all the baggage that came with the dems, and while this hypothetical party probably won't be winning on a federal level any time soon, how would it fare at a local level?
The one thing I'm concerned about is that it needs to hide its power level to not scare off too many people, but if it hides its power level, then you might as well vote blue if you're able to catch on, or vote red because democrats being watered down republicans isn't working.
I think there's something viable there but it shouldn't be called something that directly references socialism. It should be something like the Dignity party and aim to target people dissatisfied with the political status quo. If it doesn't trigger anti-socialism in people it can hoover up a shitload of votes from people who just want ANY outsider.
Dignity works for us because it's basically what we advocate for anyway, dignity for workers, dignity for elderly, dignity for the homeless, dignity for all. I really think it's the strongest and shortest way to describe what socialists want without ever saying socialism.
I'd imagine that the only way this works is if somebody spent 20+ years doing groundwork state by state. In the off election years, the election campaign staff work feeding the hungry, advocating for those that can't advocate for themselves, and shepherding people through the minefields of social service bureaucracies. Then, when election years roll around, the candidates have something to point to as an accomplishment as an outsider without political position followed by, "Now think what I could get done with the power and money of the federal government..."
Direct action + electioneering is a viable means for a socialist party to take power. The only trouble is in the US the electioneering always takes precedence and there are structural mean to encourage that.
Yeah, its really hard to see third party runs from people who you only hear about during their election season as much more than a really fancy Patreon scam.
Bernie “flared out” because he bent the knee. People wanted opposition to Hilary, opposition to the DNC and “fuck it, burn it all down” angry grandpa energy. Every time he cucked to the Dems and repeated their narratives and endorsed them he got weaker and weaker
Bernie “flared out” because he bent the knee.
He flaired out because the party unified around Biden and his campaign in the Midwest failed.
Every time he cucked to the Dems and repeated their narratives and endorsed them he got weaker and weaker
He'd been a consistent team player and entryist into the party since he took his house seat in '02. Even if he had won, you can guarantee he would have incorporated a bunch of Obama guys into his cabinet and negotiated with all the Senate haters.
Unlike Trump, he didn't have the core of the party on his side, so he was forever compromising and triangulating.
I hate to admit it, but it makes me feel jealous of
because at least there's the NDP as an alternative to the liberals. Sure, many folks are too scared of losing their seat to the conservatives, but if Justin Trudeau wasn't such a lying piece of shit and actually implemented STV, imagine just how much the CHUDs would get stomped. Even the Bloc Quebecois are fully invited to the CHUD dunkfest.The NDP are funny to hold up as an example to two-party-brained types of how things play out in a country where there is actually a viable left-wing third party. For various reasons, but mainly because even in Canada liberals scream at NDP supporters to "vote strategically" (vote liberal) so they can keep the conservatives from coming into power. So the lack of a viable third party in the US doesn't even matter. These people don't want things to get better.
It's doubly bad because some of these programs were implemented under fucking Trump of all people.
Democrats don’t understand that people living in the slums do not give a shit about China or Russia. They are not afraid of some Spetsnaz operator parachuting into Georgia and planting a flag.
You’d think with how obsessed liberals are with the war in Ukraine, they would’ve seen reports and interviews of the everyday poor, rural Ukrainian just trying to ignore the war and go on with their lives. They may have opinions, but guess what? Your stomach doesn’t stop growling just because of a two guys fighting each other outside your house.
The republicans will pay lip service and come up with 500 excuses and shift the blame to the liberals when they fail to help the poor. The democrats will do the same but blame republicans, but then they actively become hostile and berate poor people for gasp wanting the government they voted for to fucking help them. Like, they’re genuinely offended, hurt fucking feelings, because you dare ask them for a crumb of the infinite money pie. How dare you ask me for something, you piece of shit?
And to add insult to injury, whenever the rich so much as stub their toe, there will be endless articles on how that's a collective problem.
Watch them shamelessly prop up stocks with tax money, subsidize fossil fuels, or tell the poors they should be even poorer because that will 'help the economy' somehow.
And then the idiots will repeat the “socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor” nonsense
Ok, I'm a dumbass. How is that not true? I always saw that as a decent talking point that the government actually is capable of solving problems, they just don't want to solve the poor's problems.
It’s the whole “socialism is when the government does stuff” thing
I get what you're putting down. I used to use that line before too.
Socialism is about putting control of the means of production in the hands of the workers themselves. The “socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor” line isn't critiquing workers' relationship with the MoP, it's critiquing where a capitalist govt spends resources. I'd fully support the US govt taxing wealthy people at historical levels, ending its overseas empire, and using every dime of that to increase services, but as long as there is still a wage relationship in place, it's just a more equitable capitalism. Better? Sure, but it just obscures the contradictions, it doesn't solve them.
Biden and the democrats tried to move heaven and earth to get tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine and Israel. For equipment that would just have gotten blown up and not affected the outcome in former, and to help continue an ongoing genocide in the later. Meanwhile Flint doesn’t have clean drinking water.
Real “Whitey on the Moon” type shit.
Trying to force the reintegration of the Donbas into Ukraine was his first attempt at genocide (as a president).
I'll admit, the one thing Trump nailed is his nickname for the DNC: 'Do-nothing Democrats.'
They literally spent 4 years twiddling their thumbs and they're going to scratch their heads wondering why Trump won again.
I'll admit, the one thing Trump nailed is his nickname for the DNC: 'Do-nothing Democrats.'
Wouldn't that actually be DND though?
Biden and the Dems opening salvo after assuming power in 2016 was cutting the $2000 checks down to $1400 for no reason. That set the tone for the administration. Beyond that, there are a thousand slights that I can't even fully remember. Some greatest hits:
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The "no one wants to work anymore" narrative was allowed to spread which caused some states to cut unemployment benefits (which didn't magically fix the worker shortage) in the near term and sunset the rest of the expanded benefits.
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The $15 minimum wage died because the parliamentarian said so.
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The infrastructure bill had a stronger social spending component that got split into a separate bill. The corporate friendly part passed while the social spending didn't.
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Inflation was allowed to run rampant even though it was largely supply chain shock and corporate price gouging. The only approach considered was to raise interest rates which has an outsized impact on those with the least money.
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Put up the weakest case possible for student loan debt forgiveness. Let's not forget that during that debate, Silicon Valley Bank failed and had a bailout over a weekend even though it was not FDIC insured.
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The eviction moratorium ended along with the rent and housing markets are in the absolute worst conditions in a generation right now.
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Biden broke the railway strike over some fucking sick days while trains are derailing and poisoning entire towns.
I'm sure there's loads more I'm forgetting. And after that performance, their strategy is to scold voters and, I shit you not, bank on people forgetting all of this before next year.
- stole $7 billion from Afghanistan's central bank as its people were starving
- made a deal with Iran where Iran would release prisoners and the US would release $6 billion of Iran's frozen funds. Iran released the prisoners, Biden then reneged on releasing their money because 'they could give it to Hamas'
- promised to bring back the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal), but ended up killing it because they wanted 'a better deal'
- is building Trump's wall
- is keeping Title 42 and basically all of Trump's immigration policy
- deported 20,000+ Haitians
- did nothing after Roe v Wade was overturned
- did nothing as fascist Republican governors human trafficked migrants and did insane shit like installing saw blades on the border
cutting the $2000 checks down to $1400 for no reason.
There was a reason for that.
The Democrats initially wanted to give $600. Pelosi even called it “significant”, until Trump jumped out of nowhere and said everyone should get $2000. The Dems very reluctantly agreed after getting caught off-guard by Trump’s remarks (with popular support behind it), and made up all sort of excuses that Trump already gave you $600 the year prior, so $1400 is the max you’re gonna get.
Don't forget that Biden personally said that if you elect the Dem Senate candidates in Georgia, you get $2000 checks.
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The comments are horrible. It's comment after comment by Biden/dem apologists. The top comment...
Joe Biden didn't wave a magic wand and force my library board to approve cost of living increases in next year's budget, so I'm not getting one. Nor did he force the local grocery store to lower the cost of hamburger, the gas station to sell gas at $3 per gallon, or my landlord to rescind the $50 per month rent increase. Dang. I'm so angry at Joe for not knowing me, feeling my pain. I think I'll just vote for Trump, that'll show him.
"we just don't have the money for it" i cry, as I invent another trillion dollars to drop exploding objects on brown peopleSooner or later, more Bidens like this and we will see the GOP go back to being the "left-leaning" party.
were not going to vote for trump because he’s a racist. We just want the president we voted for to acknowledge our existence at the minimum
WOW YOU’RE SOooOoooOO POOR!!! GUESS YOU’LL VOTE FOR DRUMPF NEXT YEAR SO YOUR MAMA CAN EAT HUH???
Absolute brain rot of a party. I prefer outright hostility over this condescending bullshit because at least the outright fascists will understand why they’re being shot
The price of goods and services are transmitted to us from heaven (the market). Politicians cannot effect it just as they cannot effect the movement of the stars.
$50 per month rent increase.
This person has not had a landlord since 1995
Either the president has the power to change lives or he doesn't. If Biden can't do good things, then it doesn't matter who I vote for. If Trump only gets things done because he cheats, then Biden can cheat too. If Biden wont cheat, then he could have forced your grocer to sell cheaper food but didn't
People really think that Trump and 2024 fear mongering will be enough and I'm not so sure. There is a part of the population that is aware the US is blowing billions on Ukraine and Israel and hate it. There's plenty more who say they remember the economy being better under Trump and others being primed by the anti-woke propaganda. You've also got even more people who are just tuned out. They're not going to be posting on social media how the Dems have lost their vote. They're just not going to show up to vote and spend election night jerking off or something.
That was the feeling I got while in Upstate New York last year. The average normie isn't fond of Biden and the project 2024 fear mongering isn't as effective because it mostly centers around a group of people that isn't them.
I wouldn’t be as infuriated if the democrats would just fucking choose someone else to be their candidate. Like yes, materially things won’t change. But holy shit. These lanyard removed pay like $200k to get a degree in propaganda and cannot fucking put on optics for the life of them. WHY does it HAVE to be Biden? No one fucking likes him. Are you telling me out of the tens of millions of democrats, there’s not a single 50 year old guy who can speak coherently and put on convincing lies? It HAS to be Biden? He’s the only person qualified for this job? Fucking Christ.
Are you telling me out of the tens of millions of democrats, there’s not a single 50 year old guy who can speak coherently and put on convincing lies? It HAS to be Biden? He’s the only person qualified for this job? Fucking Christ.
leadership development is a threat to sitting power, so they don't do it.
In Soviet China, the supreme leader purges everyone who is a potential threat to his position and when he dies, there is a massive power struggle between the senior elites and ambitious outsiders
They're so bound by the almighty norms that they can't even keep themselves from walking into a woodchipper if the norms deem it so... unless a slightly more left social democrat gets momentum. Then everyone is fucking Machiavelli.
Name recognition is all Biden had in 2020 and it's all he has now. Obama was an incredibly popular candidate and activated a lot of non voters (I don't have data on this). Biden got crowned because he had that Obama sheen still. Now he has the "beat Trump" clout.
They tried to prop up several new Obamas in 2020 and it didn't work
The Biden/dem strategy for 2024 actually seems to be vote scolding. One, Trump will lead to fascism. Two, Bidenomics is working. If I didn't exist now and I was born 100 year after my actual birth date and I was trying to understand this era - I simply wouldn't believe this plan. They are telling voters that they if don't vote for Biden and the democrats - they're dummies, unpatriotic, and have no sense of civic duty. In any country in any period of history - has vote scolding ever worked in a major election in a democracy?
To make it even weirder - there are normie dem voters with the same POV who also religiously vote scold.
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Ninja edit: Also - I agree with RyanGosling. Biden is a shitty candidate that nobody wants so they should run somebody else. The least the dems could do is give voters somebody they actually might want to vote for. When it comes to the democratic party - where's their cleverness, their patriotism, and their sense of civic duty?
It's honestly funny that the term Bidenomics might be a terrible thing what with how it's not working for the bottom rung and now his name is tied to it.
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is what dems do best.
watch the next Republican president blame all future economic problems on the "lingering effects of bidenomics" too. They're just going to be going back and forth gaslighting each other while the rest of America is continuously immiserated
Be careful, you're going to get some lemmy mouthbreather in here telling you how these people are all wrong and they're actually much better off materially then they would be if Joe had done nothing
I love this image because it's a perfect litmus test for being terminally online.
The "N" over Obama is the last letter in a sequence of pics that spell out "Biden" but removed from that context (or even in it) it looks like whoever made this is calling Obama the N-word.
I hear them loud and clear and their voices are soooooo valid. That’s why it’s important to vote for the lesser evil in 2024. This is the most important election of our lives and democracy is on the ballot
Ah but look at this graph where line go up
Now you must vote blue
