Leo, why aren't most politicians in power still not populists in this day an age?

[Karmadhi]

8 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

There is some truth in that, but also, during that time black people were mistreated and women couldn't have credit cards.

I was referring purely from an economic perspective, not social rights perspective.

We are told that we are richer today than in the past and when I read how easy it was to carry a family back then economically wise, it makes me think that was a lie.

But I am referring here to the US;

In other countries like India China etc life is definitely way better now from an economic perspective. 

I wonder where all that wealth went in the US considering US is like 10 times richer today than in the 1960s.

Does not seem to go to your average American.

 

Edited May 13 by Karmadhi

[Leo Gura]

42 minutes ago, Karmadhi said:

I was referring purely from an economic perspective

It's not like blacks or women were doing well economically back then either.

Yes, wealth inequality is a big problem today. However the overall GDP of everyone rose. Certain items like houses and college and healthcare have inflated a lot.

Edited May 13 by Leo Gura

[Karmadhi]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

Certain items like houses and college and healthcare have inflated a lot.

It would be really cool if you made a video about capitalism and how it compares to other systems to explain this stuff.

I tried to do some research but you seem to include deeper points so it would make for a good video in my opinion.

"Understanding capitalism" or something like that.

Just an idea I had  

Also welcome back, I saw you made a new video.

Edited May 13 by Karmadhi

[Sincerity]

13 hours ago, Miguel1 said:

Wait until you hear about Scandinavia 

Where's Scandinavia though 

[Leo Gura]

15 hours ago, Miguel1 said:

Wait until you hear about Scandinavia 

I've been to Ikea.

[Leo Gura]

7 hours ago, Karmadhi said:

It would be really cool if you made a video about capitalism and how it compares to other systems to explain this stuff.

I tried to do some research but you seem to include deeper points so it would make for a good video in my opinion.

"Understanding capitalism" or something like that.

Yes, capitalism and socialism videos are planned.

[soos_mite_ah]

A lot of elected officials are a bunch of old geezers with a ton of Cold War trauma due to the Red Scare blacklisting people as communist left and right, running through drills in the event of a nuclear detonation, and the threat of a nuclear World War 3 if Russia and America get into direct conflict. You also have the demonization of social services under the Reagan administration and the stereotype of welfare queens. And even though left wing populism and socialism =/= communism, old people tend to conflate the two. As a result, a lot of them resonate with right wing populism that plays on their racial and gender biases (i.e. women and immigrants are taking all of your jobs away) because it appeals to their economic and racial anxieties. 

Of course there are exceptions like Bernie who is basically appeals to the populism from the left. But it's important to note that back in 2016, when he first ran, waaaaay more people thought he was an insane communist than they do now. Before 2016, you couldn't say shit about capitalism without being looked at as if you have a third tit because it wasn't as much a part of the discourse for people who were center left.  Sure, the right still has that communist grandpa image of Bernie, but center left leaning people have calmed down on that by a lot over the past 8+ years.  

[Miguel1]

11 hours ago, Sincerity said:

Where's Scandinavia though 

Away from the drama of the world 

[Miguel1]

8 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

I've been to Ikea.

Come to Finland. I'll take you to meet Santa Claus under the northern lights. There you can tell Santa how full of shit he is 

[BlueOak]

The push to make property a commodity, and people making that argument in favor of leaving buildings empty, is a huge reason why high streets are dying. and people live without jobs or homes. There are fewer jobs because the places where unskilled workers would work in the centers of cities are closed. An investor would rather sit on a property than lower the rates and admit a lower value to his estate. It's egoistic insanity for society to have supported and educated people into this. People with land never make choices that benefit the community they are a part of either, leading to them picking whatever makes the most money in the short term and further imbalances or problems. 

The healthcare system is just fat pharmaceutical companies buying everyone off and inflating the price. If there was one industry people should have let the 90s rip down, it was that one. Instead, the softly softly approach was applied everywhere: slow reform and change rather than revolution. Well, that didn't help get healthcare in America down to a reasonable level. You still all pay three times as much on average as I do 30 years later. - Even so, dentistry here in England, forget about it if you are on a budget.

University in England was an understandable kick in the gut, done because young people at 20 pay for the older generation, not the other way around. Practically, though, it's a backward step for society. It was free at one time; you could go until you found your specialty. You could retrain easily. Now you get four years, and the maximum amount of debt possibly allowed under the law. Once you've taken one course (or failed it), most are fixed on that decision for life. The French and Germans do a better job. 

Edited May 14 by BlueOak

[Hardkill]

So, it really looks like if progressives really want to reform the system to the degree that TR, WWW, FDR, JFK/LBJ did then we need to wait for another once in a generation charismatic progressive leader to emerge sometime in the future:

 

On 9/3/2020 at 11:43 PM, Leo Gura said:

The chances now are better than ever of a new Obama or Clinton -like, but progressive, leader to emerge. I think we'll see exactly that in the next 8 to 16 years. It will happen regardless of whether Trump wins or Biden wins. In both cases people are going to see that neither conservativism nor neoliberalism are working. And they will be eager for something new. Someone like Bernie but with a younger, more charismatic face, and a fighter.

The function of Bernie was not to win the Presidency. The function of Bernie was to pave the way for a new, younger, charismatic progressive leader in the next 5 to 20 years.

and it has to be someone with such exceptional charisma to the point of appealing to voters from across the entire political spectrum throughout the whole country. Not a progressive like AOC or Bernie or Warren who only appeals to liberals and progressives.

Bill Clinton actually fell short of achieving such broad appeal when he first ran for president and during his presidency in the 90s because of the sexual allegations made by Flower in 1992 and other personal scandals surrounding Clinton limited his ability to build a broad coalition of support, making it harder for him to achieve the same level of cross-partisan appeal as Obama did in 2008.

Obama did have that exceptional charisma in 2008, but apparently lost it during the 2012 because he was said to have let himself get caught too much in "the bubble of the pollsters, hucksters, handlers, and pundits" who I guess pressured him to speak a bit too much like a rehearsed politician instead of speaking more from the heart. They say that it is become harder to resist your inner circle when you become president than when you are running for president. It also, was because Obama rhetoric was too non-partisan and too pro-establishment in his rhetoric during his presidency.

Moreover, there probably needs to be a time of great crisis in order to create a major opening for a progressive leader like FDR and/or needs to wins the presidency by a true landslide victory like FDR did in each of his elections or like LBJ in 1964 did in order to have major political capital for such major progressive reforms.

We also need to continue:

- Advocating for changes like nonpartisan redistricting, open primaries, and campaign finance reform to promote more inclusive and moderate politics.

- Empowering citizens with fact-based information and critical thinking skills can reduce partisan divisions and promote more nuanced political discourse.

- Revitalize the political center by promoting inclusive policies and constructive dialogue, rather than surrendering to partisan gridlock

- building grassroots movements, citizen activism, and external pressure from progressive organizations and advocacy groups to push for change.

- To identify, support, and elect moderate candidates who can bridge the partisan divide and promote constructive politics and elect more liberal/progressive candidates into office to further promote liberalism/progressivism in our country.

- To grow our liberal/progressive media ecosystem to further promote liberal/progressive activism and combat the radical right-wing media ecosystem.

Edited May 17 by Hardkill

[Leo Gura]

Our situation has become so polarized now that you're not going to have a politician who rallies everyone together.

[Hardkill]

29 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Our situation has become so polarized now that you're not going to have a politician who rallies everyone together.

Sadly, yes. 

That's why the entire political environment needs to be fixed completely from the bottom-up in order to restore the political consensus and unity we used to have throughout most of the 1900s. Then, we can elect a phenomenally charismatic progressive president who will be able to rally every together so to speak at the right time and elect a supermajority of Democrats, liberals, progressives, centrists, and moderate conservatives in both chambers of Congress.

Moreover, I don't get why progressive activists don't also try to work to bring the Republican party back to its liberal/progressive roots like in the early 1900s or like when it originally began as the party of Lincoln.

Otherwise, I really don't see how we will be able to pass such major progressive reforms on the order of the Square Deal, New Freedom, New Deal, or Great Society.

Edited May 16 by Hardkill

[LordFall]

On 13/05/2024 at 3:07 PM, Leo Gura said:

Yes, capitalism and socialism videos are planned.

Would love a political system video especially communism. That sentiment is coming back here in Canada; curious on it's merit.

 

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs is a good principle in it's philosophical intention. Also potentially now able to be realized with this new AI tech we have.