Hekate
Hekate's JournalYour paragraph 1: Imagine I have wage parity. Ludicrous, I know. But just suppose...
What good will wage parity do me if I do not also have access to the full range of women's medical care? If I can't obtain contraception and get pregnant? If I can't get an abortion and stay pregnant? If I have children whether by choice or by chance, and I cannot get maternity leave? What good does economic redistribution do me if I cannot get time off when my kids are sick?
It goes on and on. I was at one time a single mother. I got the job with the best benefits I could, and in my town that was as a confidential secretary at the University of California. Since I worked in Personnel, I knew all the salaries. My salary was exactly the same as that of a groundskeeper. Just for shits and giggles, I checked a few years ago, long after my retirement. They're still the same. So that was my wage parity -- me with a bachelor's degree (and at UC they really expect that), and the groundskeepers who, gods bless them, don't really need to speak or read English. They run a lawnmower; I ran an office.
Suppose, just for example, that I was African American (I'm not). How the hell is economic redistribution going to solve the problem of my son being being at risk of being shot and killed at the age of 12 at a public playground by white cops, or shot and killed by at the age of 17 by some asshole who thinks he has to stand his ground because my kid is walking along in a hoodie drinking ice tea and eating Skittles.
These problems and others like them are the reason I am a Democrat. I needed better wages back then, gods know I needed better wages. But if a magic fairy wand somehow gave every person in this sad nation a living wage, I swear to you it would not solve either of the problem-sets I just detailed here. We are fighting systemic racism and we are fighting systemic sexism and we are fighting many other systemic problems right alongside the economic issues. It is not "identity politics" to say that classical Socialist theory is not the entire answer.
"Thought through"? As a lifelong Democrat, it certainly was...
NOTE AFTER THE FACT: THIS IS MY ATTEMPT AT AN ANALYSIS OF WHERE BERNIE AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY DIVERGE, AND THE FACT THAT IT TAKES ME BACK TO THE PRIMARY SEASON DOES NOT MEAN I AM REFIGHTING ANYTHING; HE JUST CAME TO NATIONAL PROMINENCE THEN.
Bernie took advantage of our (Democrats') historical inability to tell friend from -- well, I wouldn't say "foe," but certainly our inability to recognize that not all Leftists are on board with core ideals of the Democratic Party. In his historically-based political philosophy, economic class distinctions trump absolutely all other concerns, which is why he lumps agitation about racism (Black Lives Matter) and women's full range of health (abortion rights) care etc etc etc into "identity politics." If economic justice is achieved, all else will automatically fall into place. (The record of political history shows this is probably not so, but then as a woman my analysis runs differently than his.)
Bernie was never a Democrat, until it suited him to run against one. Then he was. When he lost the primary election by millions of votes, he was dissatisfied with our choice, and took his own sweet time about either endorsing her or robustly campaigning for her. She was not only not his choice (he was), but she was imperfect in his eyes in so many other ways. She even won the popular vote in the general election by 3 million more votes than the orange "winner" got -- but she (and we) still lack that certain je ne sais quois.
Then he was not a Democrat any more. He will never be one again. His choice. And, true to form, in his eyes the Democratic Party and its adherents STILL lack that certain something, so he is going to spend the rest of his life telling us how to achieve perfection.
And that, JCanete, even includes telling us how to reach out to a tribe of racists and theocrats.
Personally, as a DUer who was here when discussions and info about Diebold waged white-hot, and as someone who understands the impact of the many voter-suppression techniques old and new, I have given these issues a LOT of thought. Those who agree with our core values are actually in the majority. I dearly wish that Bernie Sanders, while trying to bring about economic justice for all (including the racists and theocrats) would expend some of his abundant energy and rhetorical skills on fighting gerrymandering, vapor-trail electronic voting machines, suppressive voter ID laws, and all the other means by which the oligarchs and their helpers keep non-white non-GOP people from voting.
And that is how we can improve the lot of all Americans.
Wrong. Those of us who tried to understand it & trusted Obama's word hid out in the BOG...
Same place we spent a good part of his entire presidency.
Have you noticed how many of the worst Obama-haters, who were also TPP-haters, are now gone? A bunch of them self-deported, and others were escorted to the exit when they couldn't adapt to the new DU rules after HRC got the nomination.
As for the TPP, after all of Obama's hard work to bring it about, other countries have moved on without America. Rather like the global Climate Change accords -- other countries are moving on without America. China is attempting to fill the vacuum left by our departure -- MAGA.
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Gender: FemaleHometown: Central Coast, California
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