So, more details are leaking out about this up and coming third party Andrew Yang is planning. Apparently, in line with his book called "Forward", it's the "Forward Party". It will be based on the six principles listed below:
- "Ranked-choice voting and open primaries."
- "Fact-based governance."
- "Human-centered capitalism."
- "Effective and modern-day government."
- "Universal Basic Income."
- "Grace and Tolerance."
Now, I'm going to be honest, I am HYPED. As you guys can tell, based on my trajectory over the course of the past year, I'm just done. I believe we have tried to work with the democratic party and that it's a losing strategy. Essentially what happens is this. The neolibs control the core of the party, they control the machinery, they control the media, and to some extent they control the voters, many of whom are, to be blunt, relatively low information. So, they basically push their centrist brand, talk down progressives, win by default, and then turn around and lecture us about how we don't get it and how wonderful they are. And then tell us we have to support them or else. Well, at the risk of violating the 6th principle on that list (I'll be coming back to them), screw them. Like, really. I'm just so beyond done. I'm to the point I want nothing to do with these guys and I'm starting to believe the democrats cant be reformed from within. The progressive movement is getting increasingly fragmented as a result of trying, between half of them being coopted by the party like Bernie, and the other half becoming increasingly unhinged as they run to the other extreme. last I looked a lot of Bernie or Busters are pushing Ivermectin to own the libs while screaming everyone but them is a sell out. *shudders* Clearly some middle ground is needed, and as over the past year I've shifted hardcore back toward the Yang camp as it's an expression of my most authentic self and reflects what change I want to see as a country, I am overjoyed to see Yang actually gets it enough to make his own party.
Now, to discuss the principles above. I'll do this quick but I want to focus on them.
Ranked choice voting and open primaries- This would solve the biggest problems in our political system. A huge reason the democrats are so toxic is because they control the field. They are the lesser evil and can bully people into voting for them. They largely run on closed primaries, leading to primary races kind of self selecting toward people who like democrats. These are the perfect solutions for fixing the system. Also, getting money out of politics, but this dude know thats already.
Fact based governance- This is nebulous. But it sounds good on the surface. See what I did with the question of transgenderism yesterday. What did I do to decide where I stood? I looked at the facts. At various points in my life, I've examined most if not all issues that way and made decisions based on what I saw as facts. Now, to be fair I dont think its possible to be purely fact based without any ideology at all, but there's something to be said of people being so wrapped up in their ideology that they ignore reality. Look at conservative Christians, for instance. Those guys are the definition of "my ideology conflicts with reality so I'll reject reality". It's scary. So yes, this is good but it could use more elaboration.
Human centered capitalism- We already know what this is, it's a centerpiece of his 2020 campaign and largely represents my ideology, and has represented it since before he came up with the term.
Effective and modern day government- This is very buzzwordy like fact based governance. What's considered fact based? What's effective and modern day? This dude probably has entire sections of his book on this that I look forward to reading about, but yeah, I need to know more before I see what he means. Either way, on the surface, I agree. I definitely like effective solutions and that's why I'm not a democrat. Always pick the worst way to do something then act like you should be grateful for it.
Universal basic income- Yeah this should be a centerpiece, along with medicare for all, and dude, yeah, speaking to the choir here.
Grace and tolerance- Uh, this is where I tend to have issues. THis might be a me thing, and I recognize it as a personal flaw, but I definitely have a tendency to burn bridges at times. I've even strained relations with parts of the UBI community as of late because Im so awful on this point. The fact is, I just don't like taking crap off of people. And given how toxic the online debating sphere can be, I tend to just be the dude who tells it like it is and when dealing with smarmy and insufferable people will tell them to screw off. I make no apologies for this. It's just how I am, and if you don't like it, well, bite me. I understand Yang himself and given his personality type, he's a lot less confrontational, and the yang gang tries not to be as obnoxiously pushy as say, the neolibs or the bernie bros on stuff, but sometimes, to combat these other factions, you NEED some elements of that. This might be a worthwhile political calculation for him to make, but I'd prefer to keep my shoot from the hip loose cannon approach at times. You kinda need that on the front lines when you're dealing with people you deem to be literal morons or bad faith actors. But agree to disagree.
Now, to read on, in this above article, which quotes part's of Yang's book:
"The dysfunction is going to kill us," Yang writes. "Worse, there's no reason to think that it will change. The two sides will be trapped in a war that both sides win—they will still be hovering in one of the most affluent areas in the country trading power—but the people will lose."
Yang argues that the "duopoly" of America's two party political system is unsustainable, and that politic ans are ill equipped to deal with the shifting technological landscape amid the rise of artificial intelligence and other dynamics accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are witnessing a cascade of crises, from a pandemic to a punitive economy to police brutality to the selling of our attention and digital data to the highest bidders. Our democratic institutions are faltering right and left, and our systems are not designed for speed or significant change," Yang explains in the book's introduction. "Trust is fading ... Our political system is a fixed duopoly that will want to move slowly, if at all."
Beyond making his pitch for a viable third party — something that has eluded scores of activists throughout the course of American history — Yang seeks to diagnose what he sees as the biggest long term structural problems facing the nation.
"Our leaders are rewarded based not on solving problems but on accruing resources and retaining office," he writes. "Media companies have their own set of incentives that lead them to operate on a different wavelength from most of the American people. Local news is dying. And social media is driving our everyday discourse and our mental health to volatile extremes. These are all crises, and they are all linked in ways we will unpack in the pages ahead."
Yes! He gets it! He understand the two parties are vying for the support of the affluent, while the rest of the people languish in rot. it's why I turned my back on the democrats. As a Pennsylvanian, it can be summed up in a single sentence "for every working class voter we lose, we'll pick up two moderate republicans in the suburbs of Philadelphia". Yep, abandon normal every day people for the most affluent 20% of the country, why don't you? That's what they're doing here. And in someone who lives in one of the poorest, most messed up areas of said state, I just saw this as untenable. The democrats abandoned us, and therefore, we must abandon them.
And yeah, the two parties don't want to address the problems, they wanna ignore the problems, shame you for paying attention to the problems, and purity test you on other programs that sell well with specific demographic groups while alienating others, like mine. The democrats made a calculated decision to abandon my vote, and man, i'm pissed. So pissed, idk how to be graceful to them any more, which is why I tend to run afoul of his 6th principle at times.
This isn't a new problem. As I said when I went back over America's history, America tends to be glacially slow in addressing problems within the two party system, with wide swaths of the 1800s and early 1900s being periods I'd just avoid the two party duopoly and vote third party. And obviously, the problems need to be addressed eventually, but they'd rather let them sit for 50 years until the rot gets so bad they're forced to address them because the country is on the verge of revolt and civil war if they don't. That's not a good way to run the country. I'm sorry, it's not. And I get very angry about this, as you can tell. Because I live it. I see the poverty on the streets. I see how high rent is, and how low wages are. How we sell our souls for 40+ hours a week for a relative pittance, just enough to keep us on the treadmill for the rest of our lives. I see how dysfunctional and screwed my area of Pennsylvania is, and how mainstream politics aren't gonna do crap to touch this. But hey, good luck appealing to rich frickers outside of Philly I guess.
Honestly, I feel like this anger is actually why Trump is so popular in some circles. Many like him because they're conservative and he ran as a conservative, but I think in more purple areas like Pennsylvania, it comes down to populist appeal, a feeling of abandonment among the "elites" in society, and how their only outlet for expressing their anger and frustration over their plight is to throw a brick through America's window in the form of a Donald Trump presidency. I mean I dont think Trump actually has that much support here. It's just that the democrats have so little too. In areas like mine, I just believe that we hate everyone politically, and just go back and forth between lesser evils. We vote in democrats to fix the messes of republicans, get tired of them as they're worthless centrists who dont do anything, then the GOP gets fired up and gets their guy in, who ends up making things worse, and we vote for centrist dems just to get them out, and get bored with them. That, to me, sums up PA politics in a nutshell.
And yeah, I just believe there is a lot of disaffection and malaise around here. Most people I know held their nose for Biden, but I do mean they held their nose. Almost no one I know likes Biden. They just hate Trump. And in 2016, they didn't like Hillary either. We're all more driven by voting out what we hate more than voting in what we want. it's a cycle, and I'm glad to see Yang try to change it.
Now, will yang be successful? Well, if you mean will he win, probably not, it's an extreme long shot given how much power those two parties wield over politics and the media, etc. But does that mean he shouldn't try? No. I'm looking forward to Yang's third party, and will likely be a day 1 supporter. Because let's be honest, I'm just done with the democrats. I can't handle supporting this party any more. I just can't. They're so out of touch with what I'm for. Sure they're better than the republicans, but that's an awfully low bar. Yang, on the other hand, is a way closer match to what I support. I would like to see more progressive Bernie like policies at times out of Yang on issues like healthcare and education, but still, yang's core is similar to what I've wanted in the first place. And I'll be happy to support that. Keep in mind progressives don't really hit the right notes on UBI either.
The fact is, I'd rather go down with a third party that can't win, while standing true to what I believe in, than "win" with a major party that basically abandons, ignores, and then antagonizes me. And while I dont believe Yang can win, if he can achieve any level of cultural impact through this, or "steal" enough votes to force the two parties to bend to his agenda, that's a win in my book. That's what we should be aspiring to.
That said, good chance I'll be a day 1 supporter, if they'll have me and my loose cannon attitude. I'm not the most graceful person in the world but as a disaffected UBI supporter who hates the two party duopoly this seems like the place to be.
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