Since this Substack is about Democrats, I will discuss Democrats though I could and have said similar about Republicans. As much as leadership is dysfunctional, the problem is the base or at least the internet dwelling portion of it. I spent some time reading comments at Heather Cox Richardson's place. Since she has arguably the most popular Substack, that is a decent way to take the temperature. The first piece was about Trump's performance at the UN. As expected, the essay was hostile but the comments were over the top, foam at the mouth stuff. Monoculture and focused solely on the Bad Orange Man. The single attempt to define any position for Democrats was an anti-capitalist comment. Next, I picked what I thought would be a relatively non-political topic, Memorial Day. Indeed, the essay met that expectation. But the comments were about executing Confederates and the evils of pickup trucks. It was an order of magnitude more extreme than comment threads in the NYT. Since I have encountered similar in meatspace, I don't think this is just the internet. I don't know how you fix this.
A start is defunding the NGOs. Shortly after USAID was shut down, our state-wide refugee resettlement group closed their local office and ended their commitment to resettle over one hundred more families into my rural area, that already has a housing and job shortage.
This essay in a nutshell is why I read the Liberal Patriot.
"Internal threats, however, will require a wholesale change in leadership and the values these leaders and other citizens bring to major institutions of American life." That about says it all. I keep waiting for some leader to emerge, and he or she might well appear here first.
So far our leaders are desperate to cling to power, and to do that they court the money of the wealthy, Trump has done nothing more than add a zero or two to the numbers involved. Divisions and hatreds make us more malleable.
I'd not recommend the comments on Letter from America. Cesspool. I like Matt Yglesias' Slow Boring better when looking for the corrupt center of the Democratic Party. Matt is very agreeable, and there is plenty there that is not upsetting except that he can't fathom the working class, but that then is the Democratic Party of the 2020s. I pay money for none of them.
Growing up in the 70s and 80s, the USSR was an existential threat to the US because of its arsenal of nuclear weapons. Once the Soviet Union collapsed, that fear sort of disappeared.
This feels more like a religious war between the Woke Secular Left and Christianity.
Heather Cox Richardson is just predictable and she is meaningless to anyone other than those that already agree with her nonsense. Yes, we have more divided internally and less concerned about external threats, but the problem is the internal divisions are keeping us from recognizing that China and Iran must be carefully monitored because they are our true long-term military and economic enemy. Russia is a threat to Europe and I guess we could say that is also a threat to us.
Can we please dispense with the hyperbolic nonsense that half the country hates the other half because of politics. It’s more like a small minority of each side hates half the country because of politics while the majority just tune out to avoid the toxicity.
The overtaking of national life by divisiveness and fear has been happening _on purpose_ since at least the postwar era. As I argued in a book I wrote in 2021, "freedom is free, while equality will forever be the more expensive nut to crack." We fight on and on about political difference, because all of those things that we care so much about - fixing infrastructure, providing good-paying jobs, improving schools - have HUGE price-tags. We must gather the national resolve to PAY FOR these expensive problems and elect leaders who are ONLY focused on solving them: universal basic income? (maybe) reshoring US industry? (if possible) closing tax loopholes for the wealthiest 10%? (yes!) changing the Social Security age to 68 and radically retooling our options with respect to the impending astronomical costs of "Aging America"? (in my dreams.) "I hate Trump!!" or "I hate the Woke Left!!" get us nowhere closer to these goals, but we'll always kick the economic can down the road, since political opposition is such a satisfyingly self-righteous alternative that doesn't cost a dime.
This is how we see things, subject to data and arguments to the contrary (so, feel free! We like alternative viewpoints).
Human beings didn't evolve from the Garden of Eden, as loving creatures. Instead they evolved from single-cell organism who function according to survival of the fittest.
And to survive meant being violent and, later, by being tribal.
The world was brutal. People were brutal to each other.
Then, a miracle happened. Some guy named Jesus came along and said: "Rise about the Survival of the Fittest." And those words have been listened to, off and on, for two thousand years.
.....and now they are being ignored, so that anger and "fighting" (how many politicians promise to "fight" for you?). Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount;
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother[c] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell[e] of fire"
The only politician who we see as trying to calm the waters and create peace is Spencer Cox, governor of Utah. We will vote for him for President, but, as he said, after the gets done with being governor he wants a "real" job! :)
But the polarization is driven by Russian, Iranian and especially Chinese information warfare through TikTok. It’s driven by Qatar funding far-left and far-right ‘journalists’ and academics. The most effective way to drive down polarizing is to fight the foreign funding of media and academia and banning TikTok without hesitation. China bans most American apps from Google, Facebook etc, same logic should applies here to defend the nation.
Perhaps we are not as divided, as we are poorly governed. 2019 was a little over a half decade ago, but it feels like eons ago, especially when Americans awake to yet another sniper attack.
In 2019, ICE and immigration were not an issue, because 10 million new migrants, including 2 million completely unidentified, were not roaming the US. More than 1/2 of all immigrants legal or otherwise, weren't enrolled in US welfare rolls, further stretching our safety net to the brink.
In 2019, housing costs had not increased by 50% in 4 years, pricing nearly an entire generation not born to wealth, out of the American dream.
In 2019, no one had tolled $1.5 trillion dollars in student debt payments, causing borrowers to make financial decisions that would become unserviceable, when student loan payments resumed.
In 2019, Green policies were being implemented, but at a rate that did not cause electricity prices to skyrocket or add trillions to US debt. Energy poverty was contained to only a few Western states, not an entire nation.
In 2019, transgender issues in schools were mainly limited to CA and a few other Blue states. Few Fly Over Country parents or most of the rest of the US, were concerned their 16 year old daughters were bathing in school showers next to 16 year old trans girls, with male intimate areas, because children overwhelmingly used the facilities of their birth, and played on athletic teams that matched their birth certificates.
Considering the rate of change foisted on Americans in a very short time, maybe we should not be that surprised that we are where we are. Toss in the royally mucked up Covid debacle, and we have a perfect political storm. Everywhere in the world, lousy governance nearly always begets lousy citizen behavior. The US is no exception.
Since this Substack is about Democrats, I will discuss Democrats though I could and have said similar about Republicans. As much as leadership is dysfunctional, the problem is the base or at least the internet dwelling portion of it. I spent some time reading comments at Heather Cox Richardson's place. Since she has arguably the most popular Substack, that is a decent way to take the temperature. The first piece was about Trump's performance at the UN. As expected, the essay was hostile but the comments were over the top, foam at the mouth stuff. Monoculture and focused solely on the Bad Orange Man. The single attempt to define any position for Democrats was an anti-capitalist comment. Next, I picked what I thought would be a relatively non-political topic, Memorial Day. Indeed, the essay met that expectation. But the comments were about executing Confederates and the evils of pickup trucks. It was an order of magnitude more extreme than comment threads in the NYT. Since I have encountered similar in meatspace, I don't think this is just the internet. I don't know how you fix this.
A start is defunding the NGOs. Shortly after USAID was shut down, our state-wide refugee resettlement group closed their local office and ended their commitment to resettle over one hundred more families into my rural area, that already has a housing and job shortage.
This essay in a nutshell is why I read the Liberal Patriot.
"Internal threats, however, will require a wholesale change in leadership and the values these leaders and other citizens bring to major institutions of American life." That about says it all. I keep waiting for some leader to emerge, and he or she might well appear here first.
So far our leaders are desperate to cling to power, and to do that they court the money of the wealthy, Trump has done nothing more than add a zero or two to the numbers involved. Divisions and hatreds make us more malleable.
I'd not recommend the comments on Letter from America. Cesspool. I like Matt Yglesias' Slow Boring better when looking for the corrupt center of the Democratic Party. Matt is very agreeable, and there is plenty there that is not upsetting except that he can't fathom the working class, but that then is the Democratic Party of the 2020s. I pay money for none of them.
Agree. I recommend it to both sides whenever possible.
The Letters for America cesspool is probably the biggest political substack. Far bigger than TLP, unfortunately.
Growing up in the 70s and 80s, the USSR was an existential threat to the US because of its arsenal of nuclear weapons. Once the Soviet Union collapsed, that fear sort of disappeared.
This feels more like a religious war between the Woke Secular Left and Christianity.
One very warped version of Christianity. I’d call it “nominal Christianity”
Heather Cox Richardson is just predictable and she is meaningless to anyone other than those that already agree with her nonsense. Yes, we have more divided internally and less concerned about external threats, but the problem is the internal divisions are keeping us from recognizing that China and Iran must be carefully monitored because they are our true long-term military and economic enemy. Russia is a threat to Europe and I guess we could say that is also a threat to us.
used to like her, but it feels like I could write her pieces for her at this point she is so one note.
Can we please dispense with the hyperbolic nonsense that half the country hates the other half because of politics. It’s more like a small minority of each side hates half the country because of politics while the majority just tune out to avoid the toxicity.
It’s not up to “the leadership class”. It’s up to people who claim they care to stop voting for Democrats.
The overtaking of national life by divisiveness and fear has been happening _on purpose_ since at least the postwar era. As I argued in a book I wrote in 2021, "freedom is free, while equality will forever be the more expensive nut to crack." We fight on and on about political difference, because all of those things that we care so much about - fixing infrastructure, providing good-paying jobs, improving schools - have HUGE price-tags. We must gather the national resolve to PAY FOR these expensive problems and elect leaders who are ONLY focused on solving them: universal basic income? (maybe) reshoring US industry? (if possible) closing tax loopholes for the wealthiest 10%? (yes!) changing the Social Security age to 68 and radically retooling our options with respect to the impending astronomical costs of "Aging America"? (in my dreams.) "I hate Trump!!" or "I hate the Woke Left!!" get us nowhere closer to these goals, but we'll always kick the economic can down the road, since political opposition is such a satisfyingly self-righteous alternative that doesn't cost a dime.
Agreed.
This is how we see things, subject to data and arguments to the contrary (so, feel free! We like alternative viewpoints).
Human beings didn't evolve from the Garden of Eden, as loving creatures. Instead they evolved from single-cell organism who function according to survival of the fittest.
And to survive meant being violent and, later, by being tribal.
The world was brutal. People were brutal to each other.
Then, a miracle happened. Some guy named Jesus came along and said: "Rise about the Survival of the Fittest." And those words have been listened to, off and on, for two thousand years.
.....and now they are being ignored, so that anger and "fighting" (how many politicians promise to "fight" for you?). Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount;
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother[c] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell[e] of fire"
The only politician who we see as trying to calm the waters and create peace is Spencer Cox, governor of Utah. We will vote for him for President, but, as he said, after the gets done with being governor he wants a "real" job! :)
But the polarization is driven by Russian, Iranian and especially Chinese information warfare through TikTok. It’s driven by Qatar funding far-left and far-right ‘journalists’ and academics. The most effective way to drive down polarizing is to fight the foreign funding of media and academia and banning TikTok without hesitation. China bans most American apps from Google, Facebook etc, same logic should applies here to defend the nation.
The voters tops concerns are economic growth, inflation, and safety. Foreign policy is way down the list. Just confirmed by this poll.
When talking about Presidents, foreign policy should move way up the issue list as Presidents have far more discretion in this area than any other.
Perhaps we are not as divided, as we are poorly governed. 2019 was a little over a half decade ago, but it feels like eons ago, especially when Americans awake to yet another sniper attack.
In 2019, ICE and immigration were not an issue, because 10 million new migrants, including 2 million completely unidentified, were not roaming the US. More than 1/2 of all immigrants legal or otherwise, weren't enrolled in US welfare rolls, further stretching our safety net to the brink.
In 2019, housing costs had not increased by 50% in 4 years, pricing nearly an entire generation not born to wealth, out of the American dream.
In 2019, no one had tolled $1.5 trillion dollars in student debt payments, causing borrowers to make financial decisions that would become unserviceable, when student loan payments resumed.
In 2019, Green policies were being implemented, but at a rate that did not cause electricity prices to skyrocket or add trillions to US debt. Energy poverty was contained to only a few Western states, not an entire nation.
In 2019, transgender issues in schools were mainly limited to CA and a few other Blue states. Few Fly Over Country parents or most of the rest of the US, were concerned their 16 year old daughters were bathing in school showers next to 16 year old trans girls, with male intimate areas, because children overwhelmingly used the facilities of their birth, and played on athletic teams that matched their birth certificates.
Considering the rate of change foisted on Americans in a very short time, maybe we should not be that surprised that we are where we are. Toss in the royally mucked up Covid debacle, and we have a perfect political storm. Everywhere in the world, lousy governance nearly always begets lousy citizen behavior. The US is no exception.
But the question is, HOW?