The PCTC Blog

Being Reactionary Makes for Bad Politics

One of the major reasons progressives have been largely sidelined politically for the last 40-plus years is because a large, loud segment of our movement simply can't understand how politics actually works. Because of this relative political ignorance, they tend to react irrationally to everything they're told by "certain people," and in the process end up making us look almost as bad as the right wingers. 

Pavlovian responses to Professional Left stimuli does not make for a successful "movement."

Being reactionary is always a bad practice, in every part of your life. I know, because I used to be the king of reactionaries. I make a lot more sense since I learned to calm down and take a long look at the entire playing field. 

A Progressive Mission Statement

What follows is a list of positive goals that progressive politics should be about, in my view. You can disagree with them, or even add to them, but if you expect to add any, make sure they’re positive and goal-oriented, not just policy wishes. This is not a list of issues and policies; it's a list of generalized goals that most voters can go along with, and which will solve most of our greatest societal problems.

We should all be less concerned about every little detail about how we get to where we need to go, and more concerned that we simply get there. In my humble opinion, if we stated these as our goals for our country, most average voters would be on our side, and we would be able to drown out the negative naysayers on the right.

Wouldn't that be nice?

• Everyone should be entitled to at least basic shelter, meaning a heated, comfortable space that is as safe as possible.
• Everyone should be entitled to clean and safe drinking water, free of dangerous chemicals.  
• Everyone should be entitled to enough basic, nutritious food for themselves and their families to keep them healthy.
• Everyone should be entitled to the cleanest possible air to breathe.
• Every attempt should be made to make all communities safe and secure, not just from crime, but also from the effects of past activities and pollution.
• Everyone should have access to any health care that meets their needs. No American should ever die or lose everything they have worked for because they happen to get sick or injured.
• Everyone should have a reasonable expectation that all products sold in the marketplace meet minimal reasonable safety requirements. 
• In order to compete in the global marketplace, we need more people capable of doing great things. Therefore, our first economic goal should be a highly skilled workforce.
• Everyone should be entitled to a free, quality education that meets their needs to become a contributing member of society.
• No student should ever have to incur high debt in order to become a productive, taxpaying citizen. The cost of obtaining an education should be as close to free as possible.
• All teachers should be supported in their efforts to create good citizens to the extent possible. No teacher should ever have to pay for materials necessary to teach their students properly using their own personal funds.
• Every working person in the country should make at least enough money so that his or her family can live reasonably comfortably.
• No executive of any company that employs anyone who is not making enough money to provide for a family should be compensated at a rate more than 100 times that of their lowest-paid employee.
• Corporations are fictional persons for purposes of protecting individual assets. They are not people any more than zoos are animals.
• Everyone should have equal opportunity, regardless of any subjective criteria, including skin color, gender, sexual orientation, or even disability. If they can do the job, they should be entitled to an equal opportunity to get the job.
• People should be encouraged to work, by providing them with the means to work, such as accessible public transportation systems and free or affordable quality child care.
• Every working person should have the right and the support to unionize and collectively bargain with their employer in every state in the union.
• “Right to work” laws should actually feature the right to work, not the right to drive down wages by coercing workers into shunning unions. 
• Every worker has a right to expect a workplace that complies with all laws and rules regarding safety, and which puts worker safety above profit. 
• Every worker should expect to work a fair number of hours, be entitled to adequate medical and family leave to meet their needs, and a reasonable amount of paid time off every year.
• Every worker should feel free to report issues about his employer or his company's clients to authorities without fear of termination or harassment. 
• Everyone should have complete control over their own bodies; the government should never be allowed to insert itself into any medical decision between a doctor and patient.
• Marriage is a social contract between two unrelated consenting adults, and should not be defined by the government based on the sex of one of the consenting adults. If two unrelated men or two unrelated women wish to marry, it is no one else’s business.
• No one should be denied any of their basic civil rights due to any arbitrary factor, including, but not limited to; skin color, religion, gender assignment or sexual orientation..
• Though capitalism is currently our chosen economic system, the goal of any economic system should be to benefit the most people, and not to benefit only the richest capitalists.
• Truly free markets are markets in which anyone with a product or service, or an idea for improving a product or service, can enter the market. Everything should be done to keep markets open to all.
• Because access to broadcast spectrum and cable bandwidth is naturally limited, licensees should be regulated in such a way as to provide the people with fair access to all points of view, and not just the most popular point of vew. Since broadcast spectrum and cable access rights are owned by the people in those communities, they should be treated as such.
• The rules for those who hold broadcast licenses should be enforced, and emphasize "the public good." No single group or point of view should dominate any broadcast frequency, with the effect of blocking out other voices. 
• Taxes should be progressive, based on ability to pay. A 20% tax on $2 million per year does not have the same effect on quality of life as 20% on $20,000 per year.
• Every commercial enterprise should be evaluated based on its effect on quality of life, not its ability to make a profit. 
• No corporation that makes a profit should ever get away with not paying taxes. 
• Improvements to society should be based on necessity and benefit the “general welfare” of the country. They should never be dependent on whether or not an individual or corporation can profit from them.
• We should build out a high-functioning, reliable energy grid that uses renewable energy sources to the extent possible, regardless of whether or not it's profitable. Since the current grid, produced through the “free market” over the course of nearly a century, is wholly inadequate, we should at least consider other possible ways to build it out.
• We should encourage energy conservation wherever possible, and begin a transition away from burning things for energy, especially fossil fuels.
• We should make every effort to maximize energy production using any combination of solar, wind, geothermal and tidal power.
• We should make energy conservation a key component of our energy system, regardless of power source. 
• We should build fully functional, clean and reliable public transportation systems in every urban area in the country, as well as between urban areas, through an affordable, reliable high-speed rail system.
• Everyone should have free or cheap high-speed access to the Internet, to maximize educational opportunities and access to necessary information.
• Everyone should have free or cheap access to a telephone line.
• We should understand that not everything is a “free market” and we should nationalize those industries that have become necessary elements to maintaining quality of life, but which have ceased to act as a “free market.” 
• Everything we manufacture and/or consume should be made from sustainable and/or renewable materials whenever possible.
• All commerce should be conducted with an eye on maximum environmental benefit.
• All companies whose business conduct results in environmental damage should be responsible for all costs associated with the cleanup.  
• Consumers should receive at least as much protection from businesses as businesses receive from consumers.
• The government is mandated by the Constitution to regulate commerce to make it fair for all players within that system, from large corporations to small corporations to sole proprietors and, especially, consumers. We should hold them to that mandate.
• All corporations, large and small, should be required to comport to strict ethical requirements that put the public interest at a level equal to or above their stockholders’ interests, or even their own.
• The government should invest, not spend. Every dollar used by government should be evaluated for its benefit to society as a whole, not to the profits of a few.
• Our approach to all drugs, both illegal and legal, should maximize access to treatment and minimize the negative effects on individuals and families. 
• All politicians should understand that it is OUR government, not theirs, and that they have to act honorably in the conduct of their office.
• Campaign finance laws should allow every individual to express support for his or her favorite candidate or issue, but that support should never be marginalized by any other entity.
• No individual or group has more rights than any other individual or group, regardless of the size of their bank account. 
• No one person or group should have more influence over the electoral system, regardless of the size of their bank account. 
• All parties in all political campaigns should be required to maintain the highest ethical standards at all times, from the moment they decide to run, until they leave public service.. 
• All lobbyists should be held to the highest possible ethical standards and everything they do should be overseen by an impartial third party representing the people. 
• Everyone is entitled to a presumption of innocence and a public trial, including those no one likes.
• The government always has to prove guilt; no individual should ever have to prove innocence.
• The United States should never, ever start a war.
• The United States should never mistreat anyone in its care, including prisoners of war.
• The United States should promote peace and democracy everywhere, but it shouldn’t dictate terms to any other country. 

Again, if we could adopt these universally, we would have just about every reasonable American on our side all of the time, which means we could dominate politically. And that has to be our goal, don't you think?

 

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Got an interesting email today, from Jame Hamsher, at Firedoglake. Now Jane and I don't always see eye to eye, politically, but I think she's generally honest with regard to money. I also have no reason to believe the fundraising appeal in this email is in any way hinky, except for the language of the email itself. I'm highlighting the section I found strange:

Firedoglake Activist,

 

Ode to "The Professional Left."

As noted in my previous post, I’m apparently an “Obamabot.” I'm in good company. Some of the smartest people I know are “Obamabots.”

That title was bestowed upon people like us by a small number of high profile, supposedly progressive bloggers who have come to be known as “the professional left,” an incredibly accurate term coined by Robert Gibbs, President Obama's former press secretary. We were given the title because some on “the professional left" can't seem to understand what most progressives know; that diversity of opinion is actually a positive trait progressives possess. They feel that those of us who like Obama more than they must not be able to think for ourselves. Those who have labeled us as such also have quite the history of labeling anyone who doesn't agree with them as less than "real progressives."

Proud to Be an "Obamabot"

I have spent about 16 years discussing (arguing) politics on the Internet. In that time, I have been called a LOT of names.

Beginning in late 1995, I was recruited as a member of a group of Internet liberals called The Lying Socialist Weasels. The handle was given to us by a right winger named Brett Kottman. Some of you with photographic memories may remember Kottman; Al Franken handed Kottman his ass, exposing him as pretty much a congenital liar in his book, “Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” 

I've been a “Lying Socialist Weasel” for the past 16 years, despite the fact that I do not lie, I am not a socialist and I am certainly not a member of the rodent family, nor do I act like one. The name is IRONIC. Now, due to my exploits with this blog and on Twitter, I can apparently proudly sport another moniker that is wholly ironic to anyone who actually knows me; "Obamabot."

There’s an opinion piece in today’s “Politico” that, quite frankly, made my jaw drop. Apparently, there are only two factions in the progressive movement; “Obamabots” and the “Professional Left”. Apparently, we have all staked out our factions, and, irony of ironies, WE, the alleged “Obamabots” are apparently the subversives who are making things difficult for the progressive movement, according to this article. 

It's Only a "Movement" If Everyone Understands, Majority Supports It. We Need to FOCUS!

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have the potential to change the game for the progressive movement, but only if we play it right.  One reason the progressive movement has largely been toothless for more than a generation is because we create opportunities and let them slip away. One reason we let such opportunities slip away is because we are often so enamored of our own ideals that we fail to consider their effect on everyone else. 

I Believe in REAL American Values

We're Bringing Back the REAL American Dream

Last night I Tweeted that I thought we were losing the messaging game.  The immediate response from many liberals was largely hostile, as if I'd kicked their dog, which I would never do. That brings up another problem with the progressive movement that I’ll get to in another post; we’re too reactionary. I also got a number of absolute declarations that this was “the beginning of a movement.” Sorry, but unless it plays to Joe, who's working three jobs to keep his inner city rat trap, Ma and Pa Kettle down on the farm, and Jill the soccer mom in Outer Suburbia, it doesn't matter how gooey it makes the average progressive inside; it can't become a "movement."