Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. . . . This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.
-The Chance for Peace speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 16, 1953
How far we have fallen. But . . .
I reluctantly voted for Harris, however I don’t really see the point of lambasting voters in place of the DNC. If anyone is to blame it is the DNC for backing Biden despite his senility until the very last second, and then choosing not to run a primary.
The anger you have for abstainers needs to be aimed at the party heads who refuse to support anyone slightly progressive than center-right. If not the “progressive” party is going to continue to put up Ls election after election as more people tired of the system choose to stay home on voting day.
Fwiw I also blame the party heads and the ever-failing ‘consultants’. That’s more or less a constant. But this wasn’t, as some would have us believe, two horrible candidates. This was between supporting progressive initiatives and institutions and - well, all this. This fascism, corruption, degradation, humiliation, incompetence, and plain insanity.
Voting is the last line of defense. Refusing to do it for any reason, after seeing all the horrifying predictions come true, and still promoting it as reasonable or validated is abhorrent.
I disagree, Harris was a horrible candidate… She lost to a fascist. And the reason she lost is because voters didn’t want to show up to the polls to vote for a party/candidate that has stood aside for decades doing nothing but constantly shifting further and further right at the behest of their oppositions whims.
Nihilism among voters isn’t the fault of the voters, it’s the fault of the political apparatus. While I don’t agree with abstaining from the vote, I understand why it happened, and I don’t really blame the voters for doing so. This is the cumulative effect of Democrats promoting third way politics for nearly 40 years.
She was competent, and progressive enough to move us forward on everything.
The opportunity to not be here was available and they said, no we want to be here.
OK! Here we are then. How’s it going. Bad? So many people here want to do it again, too.
Should the Democrats have run the greatest person in the world - smart, articulate, capable, beautiful, with no baggage and no moral qualms for anyone? Er, sure. Whatever. Yeah why didn’t they do that?
At the end of the day, the choice is there. That’s it.
Ahh yes, just as Joe Biden and Obama were competent and progressive enough to move us forward on “everything”… That’s why we live in luxury space communism.
The democratic party since the Clinton’s has done nothing but shovel money to banks and insurance companies while “maintaining the status quo”, that is of course after conservatives have already moved that status quo further and further to the right.
The democratic party had the ability to actually support popular programs and candidates that could win elections and chose not to do it. They would rather loose elections than actually support workers.
And how much you want to bet the DNC is going to crown another center right politician like Gavin Newsome for the next election?
It’s funny that you’re so liberal that’s what you think the perfect candidate is. People would settle for someone who actually supported taxing billionaires, unions, Medicare for all, and clamping down on the greed of monopolies.
They refuse to do that because they are still obsessed with third way politics, and are benefiting from the same lobbying system as conservatives.
Except the third choice between a bad and a worse candidate for many people is to just disengage from the Democratic process. Which is what is happening. Which is why I blame the party that would rather lose than offer a systemic change that would upset their current hierarchical structure.
You’re not real big on governance or large organizations, i see. Well, that would explain your confusion on why we’re not living in luxury space communism. You see, once more than 5 people work towards a common goal, things take longer and involve something called “discussion”. Then you have your “rules”, “protocols”, “traditions”, “communications”, and a near-infinite set of contradictory opinions which must be managed such that progress can exist at all.
As a child, we think it’s easy, we all agree - let’s do it. But as an adult we find it doesn’t exactly work like that. At all.
It’s funny you’re so . . conservative? Libertarian? Anarcho-syndicalist? . . . That you think that candidate could win in this environment. I love the idea - heck I’d vote for that, but you see this? Look around you - this is called “a bubble”. It’s not an analog to the real world. And your “perfect candidate” would not win, period.
Which, ironically, seems to be okie dokie with . . Uh, your . . type?
And so, we return you to your demented fascist hellscape, already in progress. So to speak. As this is what you didn’t vote against. Enjoy.
Yeah, That’s why I’m a socialist, because Im not big on governance or large organizations…
Lol, and that requires the DNC to pander towards lobbyist groups and constantly meet the demands of fascist?
Insert enlightened centerist meme. Governments around the world, including the US under FDR have forced real progressive change. It doesn’t take shaking hands with the right, it takes actual political will. The current DNC are just happy with the current status quo which allows them to pad their own wallets.
Instead of embracing left winged populism, the DNC ran a 90 year old man and then a center right girl boss cop. Truly a mark of political brilliance…
People clearly want change, which is what trump promised them. It’s how fascist have come to power throughout history. When the “progressive” party of the age fails to offer real progressive change a fascist will come to fill in that political void.
Lol, if you can recall I started this conversation stating that I begrudgingly voted for Harris?
Oh you’re right, my mistake. Well, I certainly will support a candidate that can win and deliver all the luxury space communism goods.