The Compassionate Left

A Way Forward

As an odd sort of liberal, with a dose of some conservatism that got destroyed in general in the Tea Party days, I don’t really fit into any particular political slot. Moreover I dislike the religious fundamentalism of the right and the corporate takeover of the Left since at least Clinton. I have voted for Ron Paul and lately for the Green Party.

At 65, I have spent most of my life watching manufacturing get offshored. I worked for Apple Computer in their Carrolton, Texas plant from 1981 until they closed it down and sent the work to China in 1985. The destruction of the 99% has become very nearly complete. Now I watch the right scream at the left and the left fear-monger and censor with deranged glee. Worst of all, the damage to children gets deeper every day now. A culture of fear, a civil war of words… and it accelerates despite the fact that we are evenly divided politically and it won’t end at all well. In the meantime the rich get even more fabulously rich.

I can’t even grasp how we got here but it’s been coming for a long time. I know MAGA folks, I have lived in Kansas, Texas, Florida, I have family in Tennessee. I know that red states are about to be destroyed, damaged beyond belief because for the most part they are working class, they are poor. Snap, Medicaid — even the ACA’s growth has been in the Southeast since those states didn’t expand Medicaid. Migrant workers in the South are a big deal for the farms and ranches, and crops are rotting in the fields since the ICE paramilitary has created its atmosphere of terror. The destruction of tourism has devasted Florida, the upcoming housing crash will start there. Tariffs will hit around Thanksgiving this year because the arc of import goods means the effects take about six months to really land.

I have spent hours watching and listening and trying to figure a way out. Today, I saw vector probabilities converge into what looks rather like 1932. A very desperate time but here’s the thing: When the left can get out of its own way, it is at its best at uplift. FDR and a big blue wave brought a very activist congress into play. They didn’t say, hey let’s save the Dems, they said let’s save everyone. There were two parts to the New Deal but overall, reflect on the heavy lifting that they did:

Employment/Relief

• The Civilian Conservation Corp — millions of jobs for young men hired by the government for environmental conservation.

• Civil Works Administration — Temporary manual labor jobs

• Federal Emergency Relief Administration

• Public Works Administration

• Works Progress Administration — 8.5 million jobs in public infrastructure as well as funding arts, drama, media and literacy.

• National Youth Administration

In Finance:

• Emergency Banking Act

• FDIC

• SEC

• Home Owners Consolidation Act — preventing foreclosures, stabilizing the housing market.

Farming — The TVA, subsidies, stabilization of crop prices, electricity run to rural areas.

Legacy Programs

• Social Security

• Fair Labor Standards

• Natl Labor Relations Act

• FHA

We forget, I think, just how much that Blue Congress accomplished. For everyone. This what compassionate and dedicated Liberals can do. And I believe we need to get ready to do this again. Leave behind the rhetoric of division, ignore the delusions of the right — we know they are frightened and lashing out really like any child would. This was the draw of DJT, the father figure — “Protect us, Love us.” We know on the Left this is a lie but we also fell for Obama, for someone who we handed a fully Blue congress and which he squandered. We can’t look for one person to do the heavy lifting, it is us together with compassion and a drive to uplift everyone that has to be engaged. The right will never be able to understand that the main difference between left and right, is that we don’t want a father figure, we want guidance and a challenge to be the best we can be for everyone. No more DEI but equity for all. Uplift and a moral theme of “Love the other as yourself” put into motion.

This is the base of a new platform and we need to start to develop this independently of the DNC, the Oligarchy, and the Tech Lords. We want no more war ever if diplomacy can do the job. No more imperialism, a redistribution of wealth in a major way, justice that is constitutional, inclusion that is not defined by specific labels but by being human. And if we have to give up abortion rights, we can say ok, the compromise is no unwanted pregnancies and make that happen. Children have got to be put first in consideration in any law congress makes — they have too long been shorted in education, in health, in uplift and now in safety.

What else? AI should be heavily regulated, nationalized, limited and never allowed to be a for profit project. AI is the future ok, but not to beggar us. Fuck That.

It’s time to ignore the hysterics, to ignore Trump, to continue the good fight in the streets and against Genocide. The entire Congress is compromised and they have to go. What does it say about Dems in congress that MTG and Thomas Massie are on the right side of history and our representation is not. The Left may have to go independent to get this done, but we know we can do this because we did it a hundred years ago. Term limits, Guaranteed Income, Development of Robotics and Digital New Tech. A push for education equity across the country. Amnesty and citizenship for anyone currently here. Gun Control and Weapon Surrender. And hardcore control of finance. Taxes and more taxes of the rich, the guillotine of the modern age. No more generational wealth. Build it because it’s the right thing to do, because this is who we are, when we are the best we are, as the compassionate Left.

And then we have to hold it.

Kath