TLDR. Yes.
So, I got in another argument, despite my previous desires to step away from politics, and an issue that came up with them is asking the question if I can ever be satisfied in politics. And, quite frankly, i've been talking about these issues for like a year, and even longer than that, but I've really spent the past year really hammering home on this blog what I want, and how to accomplish it in detail, so I figure it would be nice if I made a smallish post that cites exactly what I want in politics, and even more so, a plan to get there. Since I focused a lot on that. I've made a post like this before, but I feel like this one will be far more readable.
So yeah, what I want. What will satisfy me politically to the point where I would probably settle for at best incremental change beyond that unless I see another major issue arise that needs dealing with.
Well, first of all, I want a universal basic income. This is my #1 priority. This is how I would fund it, and these are my own numbers complete with sources in how I did the math to accomplish them. It doesn't have to be exactly like this, I even have a metric where I grade different UBI plans by different metrics, but this is the ideal. Most other plans are imperfect compromises but I would still likely back them unless so egregious in details that they do more harm than good.
Second of all, I want medicare for all. This is my #2 priority. This is how I would fund it. This is based on a combination of Bernie and Warren's UBI plan customized to work with my own UBI. I needed to do this because I understand doing both would impose significant taxes on the population, including the rich, and introduce massive amounts of new spending. And I understand that these two policies come close to what I consider the maximum sustainable spending we can afford, which is why I spent so much effort in funding both of them with my own plans. If, for some reason, medicare for all is NOT sustainable on top of a UBI, then I would default to an aggressive public option like medicare extra for all, which is a more Buttigieg style public option to put us on a "glide path" to medicare for all over time. It would cover anyone not covered, while allowing private insurance. Over time, medicare extra for all would grow into a medicare for all plan, but it would take longer.
EDIT: Reread this recently and want to clarify that medicare extra for all is much more aggressive than Buttigieg's healthcare policy, although it fits the rhetoric of "glidepath to medicare for all." In practice, it's probably closest to Harris's plan, which seemed to actively try to transition us to single payer over the course of 10 years or so.
Third of all, I want universal free college and student debt forgiveness. I would rely on Bernie Sanders' plan to fund this one. It's relatively cheap, and once you get past my top 2 priorities, accomplishing the others should be much easier.
I want a robust climate change and infrastructure plan. It doesn't have to be a full green new deal, given what I proposed above, I acknowledge that we can't afford a full green new deal. However, we can afford a smaller plan targetted at doing the most amount of good. I think Andrew Yang's 2020 plan was sufficient here to satisfy me. THe original, non watered down "Build Back Better" proposal Biden supported was good too.
Those are my top four. The original top 3 I've been for since around 2014-2015, and then adding climate change to that because I acknowledge it's an existential threat.
Beyond that, there are some other nice to haves.
Bernie Sanders had a public housing plan that would help alleviate housing congestion in major cities. Given how housing is, in addition to healthcare and education, one of those things that's spiralling out of control in terms of affordability, increasing the supply of housing is a must. Biden's "build back better" also originally had housing in it, but on a smaller scale.
Free childcare and universal PreK, a la Biden's original build back better bill, also would help alleviate problems associated with another unaffordable aspect of American life. Childcare costs are insanely expensive and I agree it's helping contribute to the labor shortage. While not be top issue, it deserves mention.
Quality of life improvements to the work force that increase work life balance like paid family leave, mandatory vacation time (minimum 2 weeks), and reducing working hours (30 hour work week should be standard about now) are necessary. We should also probably do things like ensure workers have consistent schedules, without being forced to come in on their own time without extremely generous compensation.
$15 minimum wage is nice, but again, a more minor priority given my UBI advocacy.
These are the kinds of changes I want. Obviously, UBI is my top priority. Then medicare for all. Then free college and climate change. Then housing. Then the others.
As far as non economic reforms, I believe we should be fighting for changes we see among progressives and the yang gang like getting money out of politics, ranked choice voting or other similar system, abolishing the senate, etc.
Those are the kinds of changes I want. If we accomplished all of my changes, will I want more? Eh, new problems arise so probably. Will I be more incremental and conservative in my approach? Yes.
These above solutions are what I see as greatly improving my quality of life and accomplishing goals consistent with my indepentarian ideology. This is what I'm for. These are my demands. If you accomplish them, I would largely be satisfied with the state of American politics.
The reason I crap on everything Biden and the like does is because he's not for UBI, he's not for medicare for all, or even a public option at this point, he's not for free college or student loan forgiveness. And any time he is for something it's horrendously watered down to the point it turns into a joke. At his best, he met some of my lower priorities a small part of the way, while ignoring most of my demands, including my two most important ones.
That's why I hate on Biden and democrats like I do. I'm not just some leftist who wants "socialism" and has unrealistic demands. I can actually put my actual demands into policy terms, and you could actually translate them into bills you can pass in congress.
If you choose not to do so, don't be surprised when I hate on you for not doing so.
No comments:
Post a Comment