Discussing Dean Phillips pathetic presidential run

 So I just found out we got a fourth presidential candidate on the democratic side (the three current ones being Joe Biden, Cenk Uygur, and Marianne Williamson). His name is Dean Phillips. He was discussed on Bill Maher's program, and Kyle Kulinski covered it and called him an "ai generated democrat."

That's....not inaccurate. This dude is boring as fudge. Who REALLY wants a candidate like this?! I looked at his website, he has no public policy positions. So I checked out his house of representatives page and while he has a policy position page, not much is actually told to us about his policies other than a link to his voting record in congress and some news articles. 

And...he seems like a bog standard Biden democrat. He literally does not stand out in any way, other than a lot of virtue signalling about bipartisanship, only to seem shocked when republicans don't wanna compromise. So he's basically one of those democrats. 

Ugh.

Honestly, and this seems to be why Maher liked him, but he's Joe Biden without being Joe Biden.

People seriously think that if only we ran Joe Biden, without him being Joe Biden, that people will vote for them. And that the problem with Joe Biden is his age. 

It's not. Here's the problem with the democrats. We literally have like 200 Joe Bidens running around in congress right now. And they're all the same. They might have different names and faces, but they're all clones of each other.

And several of them have a higher national profile than this guy, and were polled vs Trump before. Guess what? NONE OF THEM DID BETTER THAN BIDEN. Hell, many of them did worse. Idk what it is about Harris (maybe legit sexism/racism?) but her polling is TERRIBLE vs Trump. Buttigieg I havent seen anything lately but I checked in 2021-2022 and same crap. No one actually wants him. 

The fact is, for all the talk of Biden being old AF, no one wants a younger version of him. The democratic party keeps trying to raise these alternatives to Biden that look exactly like Biden, or exactly like Clinton in 2016, and guess what? No one actually wants them. That's why we got Joe in the first place. The media tried to promote Kamala Harris to repeat the Obama strategy, it didn't work. Buttigieg literally beat Biden in several primary states before South Carolina, but when the black vote there went for old Joe overwhelmingly...everyone got out of the way for him.

And I'm going to give you a hint. The problem with Joe Biden isnt necessarily Joe Biden. It's a wider repudiation of the democratic brand. 

I discussed this recently when I went over the issues. You got two segments of voters who don't seem to like Biden. First you got the republicans. And they're just gonna scream about crime, and immigration, and fentanyl, and inflation until the cows come home. They're literally living in an alternative reality in which america is under assault by these fake crises that might be real in the most abstract of anecdotal moments, but by and large arent the big issues with the country at large. 

And second, you got everyone else. A lot of people are upset over inflation still. A lot of people think healthcare sucks. A lot of people think washington is dysfunctional. And GUESS WHAT, THE DEMOCRATS SHOULD CRUSH ON THESE ISSUES. But they don't. Why? Because on inflation they've fallen into the same trap as the 1970s of just pretending the problem doesnt exist or citing recent numbers suggesting it's better when people are still reeling from it. On healthcare, they've done literally nothing. On bipartisanship the logjams are definitely on the republican side and they're literally sabotaging washington but they just sit there like la dee da, what can you do? 

It's like 2014 again, where I was basically screaming at the dems JESUS CHRIST THROW A PUNCH ALREADY. And they just come off bad because they arent doing anything. They cant do anything, they just think oh well, what can you do? We dont have the votes, let's not even try. And that's actually BAD from a public image standpoint. 

The worst thing the democrats can do is to not try, and they often get very complacent over stuff when they can't do anything. And they always try to be bipartisan, and then it doesnt work, and then they end up just...not doing the things the voters want of them. 

Democrats lose because people dont think they fight for them.

And what the heck is this Dead Phillips guy gonna do? Nothing. They're just trying to run someone who is basically Biden but not Biden in hopes that a different generic democrat will woo people over, when people dont like generic democrats. The Biden problem isnt a problem with just Biden, it's a problem with their party. And if anything we need someone more progressive, not less. 

Honestly, if Cenk were actually eligible, I would just endorse him at this point. He isnt everything I want either, but unlike the other three candidates he understands that democrats have to FIGHT. They have to throw a punch, get down with Trump in the mud, defend their record, push for new policies. And generic democrats dont do that. 

And why not Williamson? Well, despite her having the best economic position, she just seems...weak otherwise. Like Bernie, he was a yeller. He would get in there with his booming voice going on about the millionaires and the billionaires. Williamson is nice, but she's just too soft spoken. She's like "I'm speaking now" and no one actually hears her with all the other people in the room yelling. 

So idk. If I were to go by temperament alone, Cenk would be the obvious winner for me. On policy, it's Marianne, but it's Cenk in being a loudmouth who can fight with other loudmouths. Biden is okay, I think he's kinda falling into the "sleepy Joe" trope as of late, but I don't HATE him. And on policy, he's...just okay.

Dean Phillips is basically just...as Kyle said, AI generated democrat. Like he's that weird uncanny valley of being the perfect politician, while being fake AF? In other words, I hate him. Because like Kyle, I recognize it's not 1992 any more and substanceless, personalityless democrats who talk about centrism and bipartisanship is the last thing I actually want in a politician. If we're gonna replace Biden, I'd like an UPGRADE, not a downgrade.

Republicans live in their own little world

After looking at the problems of the country, and where we are, I've basically decided that outside of the biggest handful of issues, the republican party is LITERALLY delusional. 

It's like the rammstein music video "angst", they're so wrapped up in fear because the media they listen to tells them that everything is wrong with the country and they need to fight to "take it back", whatever that means, so they're just jumping at every problem around every corner. Crime, drugs, illegal immigration, you name it, these guys are jumping at shadows everywhere. Even on the economy they're kinda cray cray. i get being upset over inflation, but inflation is quite literally down, and it seems obvious that the second a dude with an R next to his name takes the reigns of power these guys are gonna about face and think that the country is great again, like electing a republican did something to improve it. 

Honestly, it makes me wonder how much we should even listen to such people. Like seriously, these guys are full on DELUSIONAL. They're not living in the same plane of existence as you and I. They're living on what Jon Stewart called "Bull#### mountain" 10 years ago. 

Honestly, it's not secret that the GOP is not living in reality, and has not been for quite a long time. it's actually why I left. I realized that their political ideology did not align with reality and was dangerous. And they've only gotten worse since.

Honestly, if we wanna talk about threats to the country, i think the biggest threat to our country is quite literally the MAGA movement. Many of them are living in a mass delusion in which Joe Biden allegedly stole the 2020 election, and that they need to take the country back from the bad people destroying their weirdo idea of what the country used to be (basically the rest of us living in realville). 

Hell, they've become so much of a threat they actually have me supporting Biden. I mean, ME, THE DUDE WHO REFUSED TO VOTE DEMOCRAT THE LAST TWO ELECTION CYCLES BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WANNA DO ANYTHING. Part of me feels bad about that. Like how far have I fallen that I'm actually voting for the dems again.

But...yeah. This is kind of important. These guys are showing clear fascist tendencies and I fear they might try to January 6th themselves into power again. And regardless of how I feel about the democrats, with their manufactured consent, skewed primary process that's hostile to outsiders, sabotage of third party candidates that they don't like, this is quite literally more important than that. Because we can't even hope to begin to change ANYTHING if the fascists actually take over and destroy democracy itself. Again, my own theories of realignments and crap aren't valid if the other side destroys the very democratic system we are trying to work within. And given democracy itself is under assault, even I'm forced to accept the lesser evil. 

So yeah, these guys need to be stopped, and their ideology repudiated.Their delusions are literally going to destroy the country if we don't. It's quite literally like we're dealing with the covenant and they're trying to activate the rings. 

Now, I will say this, their complaints are ENTIRELY invalid. Crime kinda...sucks, if you live in a high crime area. And poverty and inflation and the like kinda suck, if you live in an economic dead zone like the rust belt.Just because numbers look good doesnt mean problems don't exist. And it doesn't mean that we can't try to solve our problems.

But let's be honest, bona fide solutions, once again, as I always argue on this blog, come from some form of the left. All the tough on crime approaches in the world aren't gonna stop all crime. And for capitalism itself to get any better than it is right now, it needs serious reform. 

The first issue I dont really focus on. Honestly, I dont see an easy solution to crime, other than addressing the poverty that underlies a lot of the social dysfunction that creates it. Which means we need a UBI.

And as for our economic problems...we need...a UBI.

So it's almost as if what this country really needs, is a UBI. 

I mean, if you're gonna argue against the status quo, and all of the number arguments the Biden bros are throwing around of why we are in the best economy since the 1960s, you need to get the arguments right. And those arguments aren't "hurr durr Biden caused inflation". No he didn't. The whole world suffered from inflation post COVID, with the US actually being one of the countries that seemed to address it best. And most of the inflation was caused by supply chain issues and pure corporate greed. Companies literally decided to raise prices to see what they could get away with. 

 Instead, you need to make rational critiques of our system and why it's failing to produce shared prosperity in your opinion. I try to do this. I encourage others to do this. 

But let's face it, republicans just wanna attack the way things are because a D is in charge. if an R were, they'd be acting like right now is amazing. 

And honestly, because democrats arent enthused about their own side, and because a lot of swing voters are also disaffected, a lot of people are jumping on the right. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If we want an economy that actually delivers on shared prosperity for all, we need to move left and push for a UBI. Period, end of story. At the very least, we need bernie's platform of a $15 minimum wage, universal healthcare, unions, maybe a job guarantee. Not all of those things are my ideal solutions, but least they're on the right track and trying. More than I can say about either the republicans nor the centrist democrats. 

And actually I have to give the centrist dems credit when it's due, with some of those things at least they tried somewhat. 

Again, I said it before and I'll say it again. Whoever you decided to vote for, I don't care, just make sure it's NOT a republican. They are NOT good for the country. They have no solutions. Their hardcore followers are crazy and delusional. And just because youre unhappy with the status quo doesn't mean they're better. 

Like seriously, Im not gonna say vote blue no matter who. Given Biden will almost certainly win the primary I will be backing Biden. Im not gonna say you have to in order to save democracy. Because honestly, you probably don't wanna hear that. And it's gonna come off as self righteous. And you know what? i get it, the dems need to earn your vote. Okay. 

But if you dont support Biden, you better be supporting someone better. Ya know, like cornel west or something.

Just don't vote for Trump. For the love of god, do not support that man, do not support that party, and don't even support the other goons running on that side like Ron DeSantis or whomever else is in the wings to replace trump if he cant complete this election cycle. 

Okay? Can we all agree on that much? Just dont vote for trump or the GOP. They're bad, they're snake oil, and they're not living in the shared reality the rest of us inhabit. 

Discussing the country's biggest problems and how to fix them

 So, given the somber message of my last couple of posts, I decided to dig into polling data to see what the biggest problems are right now and where we can improve things. 

All of the data will be pulled from here.

Inflation

Inflation is the biggest problem we face as a country, with most people pointing this out. While the GOP thinks it's a bigger issue than the democrats (probably because a democrat is in office), it's something that's major on both sides.

Honestly, the worst of inflation is over. Inflation has dropped to around 3.7%. While that is slightly elevated and higher than our normal target of 2% (or my own target of 3%), it's much better and it shows it's slowing down.

Still, that doesn't mean that people have adjusted to life post inflation. We just went through like 20% inflation in just two years, with certain goods and services being MUCH worse. It is a crisis. Especially with things like housing. It's one of the reasons I've put housing as a much higher priority than it used to be. Idk how people are supposed to live these days, and the only way to get housing costs down is to build more, and to spread people out across the country. 

We also need to give people a UBI, or advocate for higher wages if we want people to have the same living standards and purchasing power they used to have. Part of the reason I support UBI isn't just my anti work ambitions, or the poverty rate, but also because I think a lot of Americans, especially in the middle class and below, have lost ground. While for decades prices were stable, their living standards were declining all the same. And now with this inflationary crisis, it's harder to live than ever.

For me, a solution to this is just...redistribution. The top 20% of the country are doing well, while the bottom 80% aren't. And we need solutions that help the bottom 80%. What would help the bottom 80%? UBI.

Still, given a lot of people are blaming inflation on democrats spending money, UBI is a hard sell. 

Healthcare

Uh...my #2 issue for years. Medicare for all or public option. Do it. Biden should get out there advocating for more significant fixes. He ran on a public option but did little to actually get it done. He hasn't even pushed it at all. he should try to in election year and make it a reelection issue. 

Let's face it, the GOP has no solutions here. Only the left does. And the more left, the better the solution. I'm not full on single payer these days but philosophically I love the idea, I just don't like the costs and how they could conflict with my UBI ambitions.

Honestly democrats? Time to admit the affordable care act wasnt the best framework to fix healthcare. i know this is "personal" for biden as he helped craft this under the obama administration and he doesn't wanna go against his best friend's policy, but yeah, this is why we never should've elected Biden. He wasnt the guy for the job, and he's stuck in the past when we need a solution for the future. 

Still, he ran on a public option, where's the public option, Joe?

Oh, it won't pass congress? Do what you did with student debt, try anyway. use the bully pulpit. Tell congress to get on that. And when they don't, blame them. Presidents should be cheerleaders for policies even if they can't pass them. They should be the ones taking their case to the people and rallying people behind him. That's what Trump does which is why the republicans are so do and die over him. But democrats just sit there acting like they're powerless then wonder why their numbers are floundering.

Ability of democrats and republicans to work together

I'm mixed on this one. I don't like bipartisanship for its own sake. Democrats like to do that kind of performative politics and it costs them. And a lot of people like to talk about polarization, but when the moral issues are on the table, we all break into our own camps and contribute to the problem. I dont see that ending any time soon.

Although I will say this, the GOP is WORSE. They've run on obstructionism and sabotaging the left full stop since 2011. It's a huge reason I left. Obama was being reasonable when he was in office and the GOP was intentionally sabotaging him for political points. It was their ticket back. The dems had a chance to crush the GOP when obama won so they sabotaged him and rather than calling him out, they were complacent and tried to compromise to the end. It didn't work for them.

As such, I dont give a flying fudge about polarization and working together. This is mostly a GOP problem. They are the crazed ideologues running on sabotaging democrats in power. And admittedly, democrats won't work with the GOP either. And why would they? They're insane and are sabotaging democracy to force their extreme agenda on people. So the left is forced to not work with the GOP either as doing so would be complicity with their radical anti government agenda. 

F the GOP. 

Drug Addiction

Honestly, I feel like this one is overstated and I do not view this as one of America's most important problems. However, it has strong bipartisan support. I know a lot of conservatives in like west virginia are on drugs a lot, but so are people in inner cities and the like too. So I guess it impacts everyone. 

As far as solutions...again...what's the GOP gonna do? Lock you up if you do them? The GOP loves to do this tough on crime crap but the war on drugs is a failure.

Honestly, drug addiction is primarily a personal issue, and people need to address it on their own.

BUT....if I were gonna go with policy, I'd go with the democrats here. The left wants things like drug addiction centers that treat addiction not as a crime, but as a medical issue. And they want to allow people to be able to shoot up safely and get off of drugs more cleanly, than just stigmatizing the issue and criminalizing those who engage in it.

Republicans think they can control human nature. They think all issues are moral failings that need to be addressed with force. And for all the talk of small government, they support big massive government on moral issues and think the solution is to beat the sin out of people. That's not gonna work. You need a solution that meets people where they are and seeks to improve their lives without ruining them. 

Also, let me just say this weird conservative obsession with fentanyl is weird. I never have worried about fentanyl at all. I would assume if you stay away from that stuff, you're probably not going to come in contact with the substance. Not sure why this is this massive moral crisis. Just seems to be this weird fear thing the GOP has. 

Gun violence

This is an issue that the country is polarized about. The left sees gun violence as a massive epidemic. The right refuses to because they have this ideological fixation on the second amendment. 

I would say this is one issue where I lean more right than left. I'm not overly big on regulating guns. For all the fear of mass shootings, they're not a majority of gun crimes. The majority happen in inner city with basic pistols and involve shootouts and the like between criminals. 

I live in an area where this is common. I'm afraid to leave my house, quite frankly. Most people on the left seem more afraid of deranged gunmen coming at them with AR15s though, even though that's a small minority of gun crimes.

I'm not saying that we can't do better. We could push some fixes to make it harder to get guns like mental health and criminal screenings. But I dont see this issue disappearing unless we got rid of the 2nd amendment and I don't think most people want that.

So this is an issue people will complain about but then nothing will really happen on it.

Violent crime

This is the other side of the gun crisis. Both the right and left are wrapped up in their moral crises over crime. The left just fixates on mass shooters while the right looks at the state of the inner cities and how crap they are.

The truth is, though, violent crime is down. It's been down for decades. Why is everyone freaking out now? because it went WAY down with COVID when everything was shut down and now it went back up to normal levels and everyone's freaking out. Especially the right. 

Now, despite the numbers, i get it, if you live in a crappy area, it sucks. I live in an area I'm afraid to go outside. I dont blame this on the federal government though. The local governments are the ones that fund police forces, and many of them have more than enough resources (although perhaps in retrospect the defund the police movement was a tactical error on the left). And honestly? You can't stop crime without addressing the root causes. As I learned in criminology classes, the best way to stop crime is if the punishment is swift, certain, and severe. It's never swift, the justice system takes too long, it's not at all certain, with a majority of crimes going unpunished, and obviously we have the 8th amendment so the severity is always going to be limited. 

Even more so, tough on crime sentiments dont seem to help much of anything. For all the right talks about deterrence and the like, it just seems like a losing battle to me.

If you really wanna stop crime, you gotta address the root causes. Stuff like poverty, economic desperation, a lack of meaningful alternatives. Low trust in the system and government.

Honestly, the best single policy we could implement to stop crime from happening is probably a UBI. Because it would address a lot of the economic root causes of crime. That isn't going to be a panacea but that would help.

You can talk gun control but I think that a lot of that wouldnt stop crime per se. Criminals will get guns anyway, it's law abiding citizens who won't be able to defend themselves otherwise.Although we can tinker around the edges of gun laws. 

The federal budget deficit

Funny how this is only an issue when democrats are in office. The republicans drive up the national debt through irresponsible tax cuts and foreign wars and crap and then when democrats are in office OMFG OUR COUNTRY IS GONNA IMPLODE, THE NATIONAL DEBT, OMFG, BIG SCARY NUMBERS, WE NEED TO CUT SPENDING IMMEDIATELY. 

Like really, we got half the country trying to sabotage our country's finances and the other side is at least TRYING to be responsible. I admit Obama and Biden contributed a lot to it in their own right. But they had to. Both faced massive crises that necessitated massive amounts of public spending. Those were justified. But honestly? It's republicans who create this problem. Because they hook people in with tax cuts (aka free money that we don't call free money) and then we get an environment where we have all of these obligations like social security, medicare, and a massive military, but no one wants to fund anything. It's unhealthy but that's why i keep saying we can't really be bipartisan. The GOP is LITERALLY PLAYING DIRTY. They literally sabotage the democrats, and the country, to force a radical agenda on people. And then they use the national debt to try to force spending cuts that hurt normal people while cutting taxes on the rich. Reagan did it, Bush did it, Clinton did it. Hell, the other Bush actually backed off of doing it and lost reelection as a result. he promised low taxes but then had to raise taxes. 

Another reason why i think that reaganism contributed to the moral decay of this nation. Like, when I propose stuff like UBI, healthcare, I always try to find ways to pay for them. I don't like having fiscally irresponsible programs we can't afford. But honestly, the GOP got people hooked to taking the easy way out that the american people dont wanna sacrifice even an iota to do the right thing. We are a culture of extremely selfish fricks. And honestly, I know I'm the dude who says it's okay to be selfish, but keep in mind, my self interest is "enlightened"....I support a long term "do the collective thing to benefit the individual" sort of thing. These guys won't even think that far ahead. It's "i want results now F the future". And then they scream about the national debt. 

Again, the GOP unleashed this on us. It's a huge reason I despise them.

The state of moral values

The only moral crisis we're facing is the above.

This is an issue that primarily appeals to conservatives. because a majority of conservatives are radical fundamentalist christian nutjobs who are afraid christianity and their specific sub culture is losing influence in the nation at large. So they look at how secular everything these days and think this is hell. Honestly, I feel like these people are insane and should be ignored. 

The only moral crisis we're facing is the whole "greed is good, F pulling together to do the right thing" mindset this country is in. yall wouldn't even sit on the couch for the country, don't get out there acting like people these days wont sacrifice just because the sacrifice doesnt look like storming the beaches of normandy. Yall never would've survived the 1940s. Dont keep invoking that crap. 

But beyond that, I'm libertarian. I say let people do what they want as long as they dont harm others. Sorry people living their own lives, screwing who they want, getting abortions, and changing their gender offends you so much. Maybe you should mind your own freaking business and keep the church stuff to yourself. 

Illegal immigration

Honestly, this is a polarizing one. The right screams about it and it just comes off as...why? I dont think immigration of one of the biggest issues of our time. I dont get the appeal of screaming about slowly moving caravans of women and children coming toward the border and reaching it in like 2 months after starting to talk about it. I dont get the mindset of screaming FENTANYL IS FLOODING ACROSS THE BORDER. yes, we have a drug trade problem, but all of the border enforcement in the world isnt gonna make it better. yall realize we're doing the best we can? Oh, and building a wall ain't gonna do crap. Because tunnels and drug cannons. Yeah. Anyway, I understand illegal border crossings are associated with some shady crap like the drug trade and human trafficking, and we should certainly keep border patrol on that. I say keep because people act like we dont have enough border patrol stuff and that we won't until we police our border as tightly as North Korea or the GDR or some crap.

Also, most immigrants, illegal are not, contribute positively to our country economically. And even if they steal jobs, their consumption fuels more jobs. The problem is jobs suck and you shouldnt have to work so hard just to survive in the first place. 

Again, i discussed immigration recently. I have some conservative views and some liberal views here. But I just look at the majority of why conservatives complain about them and are like..yeah this is overblown. Yes, some criminals are involved with the issue. No, that's not the majority of them. yes, we should address the criminal elements. No, a wall won't help. Yes, immigrants should learn english. No, deporting everyone who is brown and speaks a funny language isn't going to make america great again. 

Again Im a moderate on the issue, and so is Biden. And I think Biden is about right on the issue. The right is just doing their weird virtue signalling crap in creating a moral crisis out of nothing like on many other issues I mentioned.

The quality of K-12 schools

Admittedly, I have no solid opinion here. I will say that most of the worst public schools are so because we fund stuff locally, meaning rich suburbs can fund well equipped public schools while those in the inner cities end up sucking majorly. Of course, there's a NIMBY issue there that no one wants to address so...

Climate change

Sad that this is so low. it's a major issue. One of the most major issues and we should get on it. And biden did a damned good job with build back better. Meanwhile most republicans just stick their head in the sand. 

Racism

The right denies the issue exists, the left is more mixed. I personally wish the left would stop trying to turn this into the big issue of our time. it really isn't. And leaning into wokeness just polarizes and alienates people. I know that crap flies in democratic primaries but in general elections the democrats need to kinda avoid leaning into that. 

Condition of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure

Low support for change on both sides here. It's an issue, but most americans dont see it as a major issue.

Honestly, our infrastructure sucks and is crumbling, but I dont think it's AS bad as some make it out to be. Should we invest more into it? Yes. Do we need a full green new deal here? Not really. 

Still maybe try to stay clear of this one as it isnt resonating.

Domestic/international terrorism

This is funny. The right sees foreign terrorism as a threat because again, omg brown people. The left sees domestic terrorism as a bigger threat because omg racism. 

Honestly, I'm more on the left side in this one. Domestic terrorism is the biggest concern. Still, glad this one is relatively not emphasized by the public and that we've moved on from 2001.

Unemployment

 The problem isn't that there's a lack of jobs, there isn't. We just dealt with a so called "worker shortage" aka a "jobs surplus" and rich fricks are calling for raising interest rates to create MORE unemployment. I don't think they should but it seems clear where the economic issues are. It's not the great recession any more, the issue isn't unemployment, it's inflation. Again, remember that our economy can't simultaneously employ everyone and keep inflation in check. We got great numbers on unemployment but inflation is...struggling. So focus our efforts here. Eventually things will change. It's been said this is the best economy in 50 years. SHould go to show how rare this kind of situation is. And it should show the clear limits of capitalism and job creation in providing for people. 

Btw, I still think that there are issues. Unemployment is low because in part a lot of people are discouraged and got out of the work force due to the great recession and covid and never went back. People who are chronically unemployed will always have issues getting back into the market. A lot of people at the margins still cant make ends meet with a job or multiple jobs. ANd yeah, I will continue to insist jobs arent the answer. 

A discussion of where we are as a country

Honestly? The right lives in their own little world, where they perpetuate fake crises to keep their base in a constant state of panic and dissatisfaction. Things arent bad right now, objectively. There might be some feels there, and I agree things could be better, but honestly, who really has the solutions to make it better?

I mean, statistically we dont have a crime crisis, but people FEEL like we do. And depending on where you live you might be right. What's the solution? For me it's UBI.

We have inflation. It's actually down but people are still reeling from the last two years. Americans need a raise. We need a burgeoning labor movement to make work pay, and a UBI to raise living standards outside of work.

Healthcare, REPUBLICANS WILL NEVER FIX IT. And democrats are kinda failing on the issue. Biden is not the best democrat we could've elected on this one. Bernie or even Harris were much better, but that the public has any confidence in Harris (her healthcare plan was basically medicare extra for all with some changes here and there IIRC). 

And beyond that, stop electing republicans. I know biden aint everything we all want but holy crap trump aint gonna do anything. he's gonna make it worse. Idk what people see in this guy. People have this idea that under trump everything was great and everything under biden is crap. IT'S ALL FEELS. 

Im not saying there arent problems. I myself aint satisfied either. But i havent been satisfied with the state of the country since like...ever, really. Being a kid in the 90s maybe. But since 9/11, nah. At least now I have a decent idea of what I view the problems to be and the solutions, and I do think my solutions would overlap with these problems somewhat. healthcare is an issue, inflation is an issue. Crime is an issue to some extent. But the solutions are on the left, not the right. 

We just need someone who can articulate that without looking like he's about to fall asleep and that he belongs in a nursing home.

Biden is legit NOT a bad president. I know there's a sense of malaise surrounding him. But the left and the right have different visions of what to do about that, and the right has no real solutions. For the most part if you want solutions to the more serious issues on this list, you probably gotta move left.

And that's my pitch to the country. 

The country needs to learn that just because guy A aint great doesnt mean guy B is better. I mean, if guy B is really guy R, he's probably worse in every way. But because these guys are driven by fake moral crises and feels, suddenly they think guy R is great.

Idk, I mean, I have my own dissatisfaction with the country, but it's based on actual sound problems with it. Not some right wing media echo chamber making me go nuts like Rammstein's angst music video (which was, btw, about fear about how the media and psychos like trump driving that stuff to push the country into fascism).

This is our generation's "crisis of confidence" moment, don't screw it up

 So, with my last message ending on a somber note, with not even I having the answers to all of the problems given the nature of inflation in the past few years and the imagery of left wing policies (particularly UBI) not resonating in these times due to the fear of them causing more inflation, I'm reminded of another time in American history in which we had significant inflation, and a mediocre democratic president in power who didn't really do anything wrong, although he didn't do anything particularly great either, with his reelection chances in jeopardy against a far more charismatic republican opponent. 

And to some extent, it's become a fear of mine in recent years that what happened in the past will happen again. With our realigning moment meaning the democrats collapse with no clear vision of the future, and radical conservatism being the driving force of the next party realignment. 

We were at this cross roads before, and it left us in a political dark age we are barely crawling out of now. And I fear that if it happens again, that we might be in trouble.

We are not in 2016 any more. The economy is "good" by traditional standards, minus inflation, but people are still unhappy. And the left is in a moment where it's not looking good for us. Yes, Biden is kind of floundering. But unlike back then, I'm not confident that we're in a position where a more left wing candidate with real solutions would win the day. And this election cycle, I'm not sure if such a candidate even exists. Yes, we have Williamson and West. But for every positive economic position those guys hold over Biden, they have something else about them that just makes them alienating in my opinion. And I don't think they'd resonate with normies either.

The left is in a crisis moment. And I have no easy solutions for it. In 2016 and 2020, the solution seemed easy for me. Run someone further left economically, but who was still sane on other issues. Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang were great candidates in my opinion. Instead the majority of the democratic base kept choosing dry economic centrists while leaning into identity politics, which just turns off and alienates normies.

We need big solutions to our actual economic problems, and we need to step off the gas on being annoying and extreme on other issues. 

But sadly...2024 is not our time. There is no good candidate who will save us. There isn't someone I can whole heartedly give my seal of approval, and say that they are better than biden, or that they can win over biden. At best, they end up being roughly as good as Biden.

Honestly, the best we can do right now is to just support Biden. 

I support Biden in 2024, not because I love the guy. I mean, if anything, I think he's just...okay. Not amazing, not terrible. He's like eating a bowl of cheerios without any milk or sugar. But I support him because when I look at him, and where the democratic party is right now, I see Jimmy Carter going into his 1980 reelection campaign. And we all know how that turned out.

I always wondered what would have happened if reelecting Carter was possible. Or if Ford won reelection in 1976, denying Reagan the presidency. I wonder how things would have been different if Ronald Reagan never confidently got in front of the nation, told them that government was the problem, broke the strikes of the air traffic controllers union, got the hostages released on his inauguration day (due to a back room deal), and cut taxes while touting supply side economics. 

In 1980 onward, Reagan took us down a dark path. And it happened because Americans rebelled against a guy who told them to wear a sweater to conserve heat during an oil shortage.

I admit, Carter was, much like Biden, a mediocre and uninspiring president. But...he was what the left had at the time. And I know that no one really wants to hear that we have to vote for this guy again, especially after being told to last time.

As you guys know, i didn't vote for him last time. In part because I figured his presidency would end up like this and that it would set the left back years, if not decades. But this is where the democrats are right now, and what rut we drove the left into. 

At this point, we gotta rally behind our guy, or trump is going to win again. And honestly, while I didn't believe it in 2016, I kind of believe, in 2024, that he represents an existential threat to this country.

In 2016, Trump came off as an idiot and a con artist. And I believed that if he won, the country would turn against him hard. But they didn't, and Biden barely won last time. And I've already run preliminary 2024 projections and they don't look great. Biden's chances here aren't AWFUL. I pin him at a 25-30% chance of victory as of now. But that's not great. Trump has the upper hand, and he CAN win again. And given his actions against democracy itself, I'm not sure if we can stave him off a second time.

It's not even about Trump, the man. The movement he has built around him is cultish in their support for him. And many of them are as radical and anti democracy as he is. My worst fear is much like in 1930s Germany, this next realignment could be a descent into fascism. 

As such, I just have to encourage the left to hold the line this time.

Last time we were here, Ronald Reagan used the opportunity to strike down the ideology of the new deal itself. The experiment over the past half century that had created the biggest bubble of shared prosperity this nation has ever had, was over in a heartbeat. Reagan realigned the parties, away from the new deal, and toward a fixation on small government and austerity, and 30+ years of that has basically led to the hollowing out of our economic prosperity, which is why even now in 2023, people aren't happy, and havent been for a long time. 

Change is on the horizon, and people are desiring it. The status quo has made people unhappy for a while, and long term, it DOES need to change. But not all change is good. Change can just as easily be bad. And the change donald trump represents could shift us from this dark age in American history, to something even darker.

Never forget, there are real solutions out there to our problems. I don't have all of the answers at this current point in time. But I would advise throwing out all progress because we can;'t get everything we want RIGHT NOW. 

Again, it's not 2016 or 2020 any more. Bernie Sanders or Andrew Yang isn't waiting in the wings to save us, if only we choose them. Biden is the best we got. 

As such, whatever issues we have with Biden, we can wait until 2028. By then the situation will be different, the election will be more open to a replacement, and the democrats will be in a situation where YEAH THEY BETTER GET SOMEONE BETTER AND MORE PROGRESSIVE IN THERE OR THEY'RE GONNA LOSE AGAIN LIKE THEY DID IN 2016. 

But 2024 is NOT 2016, and I would not advise the same approach to this election cycle I did then. Our position is too tenuous, the stakes are too high, and honestly? There is no one better in the short term than what we got. 

Discussing the problems with Bidenomics and why we need to do better as a country

 So, we've been hearing it again and again. Unemployment is down, wages are up, the economy is strong, and this is allegedly the best it's been from a numbers perspective in 50 years. 

Yet people are unhappy. Why?

Well, there are some very obvious issues we are facing. We just had two years of the most insane inflation in 40 years, and people still havent quite adjusted to that despite it subsiding by any official metric. A lot of people are unhappy about the cost of living post covid and how no one can afford anything. 

But beyond that, the economy just kind of...sucks. It's not necessarily a problem with "this economy"....colloquially, it's a problem with...this economy....the economy. As in, laissez faire capitalism.

I've written before about how under traditional metrics, capitalism will never achieve perfect outcomes. Either you'll have high unemployment and people struggling to survive on wages too low to live on, or you'll have low unemployment, better wages, but then deal with high inflation that makes those wages...hard to live in.

And unlike the economy 50 years ago that was the "greatest economy ever", we didn't have the staggering inequality that we do today. I mean, normally inflation is due to wages and worker bargaining power being too high, but this post covid inflation was different, it was sparked off by businesses just seeing how much they could squeeze out of consumers. The money isn't going back into the worker's hands, it's going into the rich's pocketbook. Just like in the post recession climate where people were suffering while businesses were touting "record profits", now we're dealing with high inflation...with those same businesses still touting record profits.

This economy isn't working for the people. 

To some extent, things need to change. 50 years ago, there was a similar malaise over the economy growing. Under Nixon in the aftermath of the war on poverty, poverty was still winning, and they did a study to look into the reasons. And they found that the only way to make the economy better and to eliminate poverty once and for all, was with a universal basic income. Now, Nixon used this study to push his "family assistance plan", and that was kind of a watered down UBI, but in the early 1970s, both parties pushed various forms of guaranteed income plans. They were never perfect, but they were something.

We just saw similar improvements under Biden when the child tax credit expansion was a thing, and child poverty LITERALLY DROPPED IN HALF because of it. And when we removed it, surprise surprise, child poverty went back up again. it's almost as if giving people money stops people from being poor, who knew?! 

Well, we've known the answer for 50 years now, people just like to scratch their head and act like they don't while acting like the actual solution is beyond the pale.

Will UBI solve all problems? No, it won't stop corporate greed if the businesses decide to raise prices again for no other reason than "F U, that's why", but there are ways to deal with that. Windfall profits taxes, and of course, just raising the fed interest rate until the economy equalizes. Which will, admittedly, throw people out of work, but if people have UBI, then they'll still be arguably in better shape than they are, and then the economy will adjust to the new normal and things will improve again. 

The fact is, our economy will never be perfect because honestly, high or low unemployment, poverty exists. High or low inflation, cost of living issues exist. And we need to get the economy moving again where people have enough money to survive and thrive. A UBI is a good step toward that, and done properly the risk of inflation should be minimized. And if inflation does happen, again, there are ways to deal with that. 

Honestly, i think the reason why there is malaise in this country and why no one is happy despite "the numbers being good" is because those numbers don't always translate to what a good life is. Having a job doesnt necessarily mean your life is good. hell a job can mean your life is hell on earth. And if you cant afford your needs and your paychecks are squeezed, well, things will never get better.

Biden is a status quo president with status quo policies, and while the status quo is great...by status quo standards, i think people are fed up with the status quo. And the left is gonna have to step up to provide solutions for our current problems, or people will fall back into proto fascism and trump's demagoguery. And that's literally where we are now as a country right now, as I see it. 

Even I don't have all the answers to this climate. The high inflation complicates things as my normal solutions don't necessarily resonate in these situations. My ideas were created during the aftermath of the great recession and I have to recognize the problems are much different now. Still, given my broader worldview, I could've predicted something like this would eventually occur. Because it has happened before.

I just hope that this time we don't go hard right like we did last time and change our entire country's ideology for the worse when all we needed was a few corrections and a few years for things to get back to normal. Just as, in the late 1970s, there was nothing wrong with keynesianism, and abandoning it was a disaster in my opinion, we shouldn't give up on my own ideas simply because we hit a rough patch of inflation.

Even in these inflationary times, the child tax credit still worked. Imagine what a UBI would do. 

And that's all I have to say on this matter for now.

Is Israel's response disproportionate?

 So, the longer this goes on, the more horrified the world is becoming at Israel's actions in Gaza. Yes, we kinda expected some level of retaliation here. And yes, it's gonna be messy. And yes, civilians die in war sometimes. The whole goal is to minimize casualties.

But...at this point, as more footage comes in of palestinian civilians carrying dead loved ones in the street as sirens blare, the more people are really wondering, gee, is this the best israel can do?

I would agree, hamas has to go. But what cost is acceptable? Should we accept the genocide of the palestinian people just to kill all the terrorists? I mean, jesus christ, show some restraint. 

I admit, maybe I dont have all the facts, maybe I'm just being an armchair general all up in here telling military leaders what to do when they actually know better than me. I admit, I don't know how to properly fight a war. BUT...I'm starting to think that this is getting kinda insane. 

Yes, your anger is justified, Israel. Yes. You are justified in striking back against Palestine. But again, you should try to minimize civilians casualties. This is getting a bit much and the rest of the world is getting kind of uncomfortable here. Being attacked yourself doesn't justify the wholesale killing of tens of thousands of civilians. How many terrorists are we even killing here? Like, at least when I see Russia/Ukraine war footage, I see soldiers shooting at soldiers. yes, Russians target civilians too, and that is a war crime, and a lot of us have condemned that, because it seems like the cruelty is the point.

But that's...kinda how I'm starting to feel like Israel is acting here. Idk, I just feel like warfare should be a bit more restrained than this.

Responding to the idea that I'm a conservative and should join the republican party and bring them back to sanity

 So, I've talked about obnoxious leftist gatekeeping over Israel Palestine, and it happened again. I rejected the idea that Palestine is a "unifying issue" for the left and that people who claim such don't speak for me, and some leftist interjected calling me a conservative for supporting Biden's foreign policy and said I should join the GOP and try to bring them back from the brink. 

First of all, ya'll realize I LEFT the GOP for a reason, right? And it wasn't a small disagreement over a specific policy issue, it was a rejection of an entire worldview and corresponding political philosophy. 

The fact is, I have little to nothing in common with the modern GOP on any issue. The person who pushed this claimed that because Obama claimed to be to the right of the likes of Nixon, I'm a conservative, but it seems like people don't understand political alignments. Eisenhower and Nixon were a brand of liberal republicans that no longer exist, and haven't existed in decades. And while I did have SOME common ground with Nixon, like, ironically, supporting a UBI and a public option healthcare system, the country soundly rejected those guys as "too liberal" for a reason 40+ years ago, and their views haven't been relevant since. 

The fact is, the modern GOP is in the image of Ronald Reagan, with the modern GOP getting more extreme with each new conservative movement such as the tea party and Trumpism. I left during the tea party, so now the GOP is even more beyond the pale for me than when I left them.

Really, what exactly do I have in common with the right on anything? The closest positions I likely resonate with the right on are immigration where I'm this weird 50-50 moderate on the subject, and guns, where I'm like center right and recognize some regulation should exist, but not a ton. 

Beyond that, what exactly do I have in common with the right? On social issues, they're basically christian nationalists, and have been for literal decades. Again, this crap started in the 70s and 80s with Pat Robertson and moral majority. My secular humanist political ideology was formed as a rejection of their values. I have zero in common with them.

On economics, my human centered capitalist economics are built out of a rejection of trickle down economics. And while there are occasional weird conservatives who like UBI, my version is far more progressive than theirs. 

And on foreign policy, I also reject the hyper aggressive neocon mentality of the GOP of my era. Ya know, the one that saw fit to just suspend civil liberties, say you're with us or against us, and supported just invading countries with no justification or exit strategy. The one whose supporters sing songs like "bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb iran" and talk about turning the middle east into a "glass parking lot." I know that my support of israel isn't "leftist" in a marxist or postmodernist sense, but I also ain't an adherent of those ideologies.

The fact is, my views have virtually nothing in common with the modern republican party. or the republican party of 10 years ago. Or even 40 years ago. You would literally need to go back to Eisenhower and Nixon to find any agreement at all and quite frankly those conservatives were ideological traitors to their movement. They were moderates trying to navigate the new deal era in the same fashion that bill clinton and the "new democrats" tried to navigate the post reagan era of the 1990s. In other words, those werent "real" conservatives. They were moderates who lived in a totally different world with a totally different zeitgeist.

Speaking of which, yes yes, I know some conservatives are also becoming more populist and isolationist on foreign policy. And I would say these weirdo free palestine leftists, while disagreeing with them on this specific issue, seem to have a lot in common with this segment of the right. 

I mean, it's like we're undergoing this weird horseshoe theory at times where the extremes are becoming more united despite being on different ends of the spectrum, forcing the center to defend themselves at the other political "pole."

And sadly, that's what I'm afraid of, in terms of realignments. Extreme populist right and populist left joining forces, with the liberals joining with the neocons. Maybe that's what's going on here, where I'm shifting back to the center, recognizing both the far right and left as inherent threats to the country's stability. This isn't the realignment I hoped for. 

The fact is, that's where these real ideological divides are happening on the left. The far left and the center left are becoming increasingly at odds, with the same happening on the right. Except the right is extreme, and now the left is becoming extreme. 

Admittedly, it's possible I helped create this monster. When I pushed left of the democrats, I just wanted universal healthcare and UBI though, I don't want this weird marxist/postmodernist left just ruining everything. Because those guys are quite frankly idiots and make our entire side look bad.

If anything, I'm to the point that I think sane liberal lefties need to take back the left from the far left. And the same has to happen on the right.

But honestly? The right isn't my fight any more. Again, my ideological views just soundly reject the modern right on every level, while my views are basically just mainstream liberalism with more left wing economics. So if anything I BELONG on the left, and weirdos like the ones who said this are the ones who we need to take the party back from. 

Heck I've already written an article about this months ago. How convenient.

Discussing the Amazing Atheist's teardown of Richard Dawkins

 So, I subbed to the Amazing Atheist on youtube. He normally has some pretty decent takes, but lately he's been going after a lot of the "old guard" of atheism, ripping Bill Maher for his support of Israel and ripping Richard Dawkins for calling "wokeism" a "religion." I'm mostly going to be focusing on the latter here. 

The fact is, I mostly agree with Dawkins. He left out the idea of supernatural beliefs and pointed out how a lot of the woke act like those who are religious, with complete and utter intolerance of those who think like them. He talked about how they treat everyone as having the original sin of colonialism and how this is held over them with similar guilt mechanics to Christianity. 

And I have to say...for the most part, I don't understand the problem here. "Wokeism" is a pseudo religion. it is a worldview and those who believe it are often just as evangelical as the fundamentalist Christianity I left.

The Amazing Atheist said he hopes he never gets as old as Dawkins because of the crap takes he has, and here I am, in my 30s, roughly his age, and yes, I do have those kinds of takes. The fact is, my views reflect the old guard of atheism in this sense and it's a huge reason I've rejected the postmodernist worldview. Does it has some validity? Yes. But holy crap, the quasi religious behavior surrounding the concept is creepy and cult like.

Now, Dawkins did go into a lot of transphobic crap at times too. I had to cringe. I know that the UK, where he's from, has this irrational obsession with transgenderism in recent years, and I find it mostly to be cringe. 

Still, I think he has a point. Like he talked about how you have to accept the idea that trans women are real women regardless of genitals or biology, and I do think that's a big trap that SJWs fall into. It is absurd when the issue is framed that way, and it's a losing issue for the left. I think the biological truth of sex is what it is, and that to some extent, the SJWs try too forcefully to make people accept absurdities as an article of faith. Even I personally ain't comfortable accepting that, even though I tend to avoid the subject out of fear of being labelled as transphobic myself. But while we're on the subject, I think it's better to look at it this way:

Regardless of the biological nature of sex, I think that it's beneficial to accept a trans person's preferred gender as a SOCIAL CONSTRUCT. It's NOT a biological fact. SJWs try to push this obvious falsehood in order to promote the acceptance of trans people, and to make trans people feel more comfortable in their own skin. But I think it's a losing argument because not only is it biologically wrong, its implications are problematic. Should straight people be obligated to have sex with trans people in order to not be transphobic, for example? After all trans women are real women, right? 

Still, the discussion of the issue shouldn't be based on whether a trans person's preferred gender identification is a biological fact. The issue should be based on whether trans people should have the right to live as they want as long as they don't harm others. And they should. As such, I kind of view the transgenderism debate to largely be absurd in general. Jesus christ people, just let them live their lives in peace.

However, as you can tell, this small philosophical difference comes down to the differing worldviews between myself and those who are "woke". Woke people take the more abrasive way out and try to force people to accept absurd doctrines under the threat of social exclusion and punishment, whereas I develop a positive framework for the acceptance of trans people and their rights, bypassing the biological issue completely. Because quite frankly, it's not important from a factual perspective and misses the point of the entire debate IMO. This is about a person's liberties and rights, not about biological fact.

As such, i think Dawkins, no matter how crappy he comes off here, has a point about the woke people, and I would agree that their framing of the issue makes them look just as bad as religious zealots trying to force creationism on people. 

Toward the end of the video, Jordan peterson stated that the erosion of Christian morals that Richard Dawkins helped create is why we're in this situation. And as someone who supports that same erosion of morals, I think that that's the wrong way to look at it. 

There is nothing explicit in the rejection of christianity that means that we have to accept wokeism as the alternative. A rejection of one is NOT a tacit endorsement of another. Secular humanism and postmodernism can overlap and humanists can also be post modernists, but they do not HAVE to be linked. 

I will admit though that atheism and secular humanism has apparently created a vacuum in our society that was eventually filled by SOMETHING though, and that something was basically postmodernism. 

I've actually noticed that a lot in recent years and if I recall even responded to an article outlining this transition from one to another. Basically, some would argue that atheism in itself couldnt create a comprehensive worldview to fill all of humans' psychological needs, and as a result eventually the left clung to postmodernism. I think that there is an argument for this and it does appear to be what happened, but I think it's deeper than that.

Honestly, I blame the rise of postmodernism and "woke" politics on the political forces of 2016. Before 2016, all of this stuff was fringe. We had elevator gate, and the atheist community mostly outright rejected the SJWs' crap on the subject, and as a result developed a stigma of being a bunch of racist sexist white males. And then in 2014, we had gamergate where SJWs picked a fight with gamers and it was WWIII on the internet for a while. 

But honestly? Most of this stuff was FRINGE before 2014. No, what really drove the rise of postmodernism was Hillary Clinton's campaign and the need for the political left to unite around some common cause. 

Think about it. Hillary Clinton was basically a radical feminist. her followers were radical feminists. Clinton had nothing for her to but lean into postmodernism to shame all of her opponents, both within and outside of the democratic party (Bernie and Trump and their supporters), and it served to unite a coalition mostly based around race and gender and sexuality on a crusade against the evil sexist racist white men. 

And in a sense, postmodernism as an ideology became the litmus test. And as a white male secular humanist atheist free thinker who liked Bernie Sander...I rejected that. That's the thing. When SJWs play their games and force everyone to accept their ideologies as an article of faith, it polarizes people. And those who don't fall in behind the cult find themselves outside of it.

And for a while I tried to seek a middle ground with these people, acknowledging their points but also trying to keep my own ideology independent of them, recognizing a psychological attack on myself and my worldview in the process. The fact is, those guys basically tried to get me to abandon my worldview and accept theirs, as most cultists do, and as an ex christian, I just won't do that. As I said, I didn't leave fundamentalist Christianity and join the left...for THIS. This left wing version of religious fundamentalism. And anyone who thinks they can force me to accept their doctrines can kindly F off.

It's this kind of aggression and political cynicism that drove this ideology to the forefront. In the absence of any other positive qualities and the age of clinton, and the need to enforce party discipline among democrats, liberals, and leftists, postmodernism was forced down peoples' throats, and most just accepted it.

But I didn't. Because my mind had already been vaccinated against those kinds of forces. And that's why a lot of the old guard of atheism like Richard Dawkins, Sam harris, and Bill maher are now considered political pariahs among the left. And you know what? I'm right there with them. 

Honestly, I'm going to even reject the narrative that atheism created a moral vacuum. Secular humanism is a darned strong epistemological worldview, and my politics are just that worldview personified. Such a worldview inevitably leads to, in a western environment at least, a liberal or libertarian stance on social issues, and a rather humanitarian stance on economics that takes the form of some form of liberalism. 

A lot of so called "leftism" is a completely different ideology. It can be compatible with secular humanism and as I've stated before there are some influences in my worldviews, but I never saw a reason to abandon humanism as the core ideology. If anything, trending too far into marxism or post modernism seems to make people brain dead ideologues with absurd takes on issues, which is why I end up going after the far left as strongly as I attack the right. 

So...where does that leave us?

Well, while the amazing atheist normally has some decent takes, and I know he's run afoul of "woke" politics before, he's kind of wrong here IMO. I actually largely sympathize with Dawkins' opinions here. Wokeism IS a cult. it's a worldview that masquerades as a religion, and has many quasi religious features in order to suppress freedom of thought and conformity to doctrine.

And ya know what? I'm tired of pretending it doesn't. I know some idiots will think I'm a right winger for this, but yeah. I reject this cult for the same reasons I reject Christianity. Because freedom of thought, evidence, and liberal values are important. And both factions are illiberal, authoritarian, and obsessed with conformity, so both should be resisted equally. 

How I reconcile my own faith in "God" with my secular worldview

 So, in light of my previous castigation of fundamentalist Christianity, I felt I should actually describe the right way to approach this.

Yes, I became an atheist, a nonbeliever, after leaving Christianity. But, let me just say that I believe "God" revealed themselves to me in a sense in a personal way, and that I have to believe again. I can't prove it, and don't even like to discuss my experience as I know I sound straight up crazy, but yeah, let's just say I have personal reasons to believe in stuff.

My belief system is NOT Christianity. If anything, my views lean closer to a more new agey perspective of spirituality. I would say I generally believe there's some sort of reincarnation loop, and that what we consider "god" is actually a collection of well...all of us. And that we end up reincarnating and living multiple lives over time. And when we talk to "god", we're not talking to a singular eternal spirit (which exists, again, it's a collection of all of it, think "the egg" or something like that), but more individualized versions of this that are all of us. All of us have spirit guides. They could be relatives or other lived ones who passed on, sometimes people who are still alive, or even alternative versions of ourselves. It's complicated and I'm not here to explain it in detail. You can probably figure this stuff out just by reading more new agey sources on these topics.

But...the fact is, despite this, I don't think that this god "yahweh" exists in a real way. He's more a conception of what was considered a god of war by humans at the time. I also don't think "God" expects us to live a certain way. Rather, we all come here and are left to live our own way. Some aspects of our lives might be planned, but some might not be and free will exists. 

I would say my experiences with Christianity and atheism were intended by my "higher self" (the part of me that remains in what humans would call "heaven" or the "afterlife") to turn me into the person I'm supposed to be. That my faith was torn down, so that I could experience a so called "dark night of the soul" in which I rebuilt my worldview from scratch. And now I'm the person I'm supposed to be in this life and that's that. 

I don't have all the answers, apparently those beyond often don't give us tons of information on anything. Unlike Yahweh's conception of the world in christianity, this world is actually a lot more sandboxy and we're largely here to live in whatever way we see fit, with the divine largely trying not to overstep or override peoples' free will. In some ways that means that they might make their very existence ambiguous. As "God" once said to Bender in futurama, sometimes the key to being god is to use such a light touch people don't even know if you did anything at all. Because let's face it, if this stuff were public, provable knowledge, it would massively alter human existence as we know it and potentially ruin whatever this experience is supposed to be. 

So how does this square with my political views? Well, secularism is a strong basis of my political worldview. And that was part of my "dark night of the soul" learning experience. I'm not here to be some crazy culture warrior trying to force a specific way to live on people. If anything, I'm the opposite. What my soul desires most is to be left alone and for us all to be left alone. Let people live as they want rather than in some weirdo authoritarian social project of someone else's doing.

Honestly, my values now, politically, are basically the same as they were in 2012 as an atheist. I'm the "anti culture warrior". And on economics, I'm progressive and seek a world without poverty and forced labor. It used to be "we only have one life, why waste it on work?" and more it's "well we have more than one life, but why waste it on work any way?"

If you go around in spiritual circles, you might have heard of Dolores Cannon's "volunteers" or terms like "indigo children". I'm basically something like that. Crafted by my own soul and life's plan to help raise the consciousness of this human species. To teach it to do better than crappy systems like fundamentalist christianity.

But...in order for it to work, I need a strong set of secular values. Because at the end of the day, what has been the big lesson from our societal trial and error with religion? That religion destroys everything it touches in politics, and it's best to keep the two separate.. Secularism is good, and if you can't justify your views in secularism, then they don't belong in government. What better than a system designed around secularism and a rejection of the divine as most humans know it? 

As such, my secular views are perfectly compatible with my spirituality. if anything, my spirituality makes me double down on them. In secularism, I had no purpose. In spirituality, my purpose is to teach humans that there is no singular divine purpose, that these social systems are created by humans, not the divine, and that we should live in ways that serve our interests. 

Oh, and on that climate change thing. Yeah. You might wanna get on that. Turns out God can create a world humans can destroy after all (screw you, Rush Limbaugh), and if you keep abusing the planet, that may happen to this species. Ya know, free will and all. Anyway, as I said the divine doesn't interfere with free will so what happens instead is they end up sending people like me to warn you guys to stop screwing around or you're gonna find out. Probably why they made me the anti work guy. How better to stop climate change than to stop the human activity that leads to it in the first place?

But yeah. As such, there isn't really an inherent conflict between my secularism and my spirituality. If anything they all go together. And I'm just gonna keep advocating for what I always advocate for. And because I can justify it in secular values, and because I literally designed this stuff WHILE I WAS AN ATHEIST, then it doesn't violate my principle that all law and morality should be secular in origin. 

So yeah.Honestly? My spirituality is a very...personal topic to me. And I prefer to keep it personal. And I think the world would be a better place if we did keep it personal and didn't act like Mike Johnson and wanna force everyone to live according to a religious morality. Especially that of a god that doesn't actually exist. As Hillary once said, she had a public position and a private position. I kinda balked at her at the time because my private position was my public position, but given I have regained spirituality, I'm fine with keeping the same secular public morality while leaving whatever my personal values are to myself if they can't be justified in a secular ethos.

Just a reminder to the left, Mike Johnson is what the republican party has been for decades now

 So, a lot of people are acting horrified that someone like Mike Johnson exists. I'm here to say, I'm not surprised at all by this dude's existence. Significant parts of the republican base have been like this for literally decades. The only real difference is conservatives prior to trump cared a lot more for rule of law and the constitution, recognizing that authoritarianism is not worth the possible benefits because of the abuses that could come along with it. 

But yeah. At one point in time, say, around 2005, I was basically Mike Johnson politically. One day I was going through an old flash drive from high school I kept essays on and read some of my old stuff. I actually wrote an essay for english class once that sounded like a manifesto someone like Mike Johnson would've written. I talked about how we needed more Christians in government to force morality on everyone and how I planned to become a politician one day. That actually was my original inspiration for getting involved with politics. I went to college, took political science as a major, and kinda realized that teenage me's ideas were kinda horrible.

So I grew out of it. And eventually grew out of Christianity. And that's where the foundations of my modern political ideology were formed. As I shifted to secular humanism, I developed what became the blueprint of my worldview. You can read about this stuff on this blog. I wrote a pretty lengthy post this year based off of David Noebel's "Understanding the Times" outlining my own perspective these days. 

But yeah. One day in the past, i came up with this crazy scheme to get more fundie christians in government so we could ban abortion and gay marriage and have a country based on christian values. And this guy is basically a product of that movement.

As you guys know, that movement didn't start with me. It goes back to Pat Robertson and the moral majority in the 1970s and 1980s. But yeah, I watched MSNBC talking about this guy at dinner tonight and how a lot of republican voters are culture warriors who care more about winning culturally than they do on economics. As far as hard line republicans I agree. For all the talk I do of economic anxiety, sure, a vast majority of die hard conservative voters aren't for that. I was most focusing on swing voters who weren't in the cult. But yeah.

I also want to let it known that I've been trying to warn liberals of these psychos for years. When you deprogram yourself from a literal cult, you kind of understand that that cult is harmful. And when that cult controls a major political party, you kinda wanna warn everyone you can about them.

And after I left Christianity, I did. I was very much a "culture warrior" on the left. Or more an anti culture warrior who supported positive atheism and separation of church and state. I was (and am) pro choice, pro gay marriage, pro trans even. I mean, I've long since deprogrammed myself from the right.

And that's why in 2016, when the dems were like "gee let's compromise with the GOP", I was like WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY? THE GOP ARE A BUNCH OF RELIGIOUS AND IDEOLOGICAL EXTREMISTS. And then they would say I'm being uncivil and that my ideas are unbecoming of democracy and whatever. And it's like, what the hell, do you guys not realize how bat#### insane the GOP actually is?

Apparently they didn't. And that's kinda why, when Clinton was our nominee in 2016, I was kinda satisfied to just leave them to the republicans so they can figure this out on their own. Compromise doesnt work. Meeting them half way doesn't work. The GOP is in their own little world. Most of them are religious nutjobs with radical Christian worldviews, and the left needs to be a counterweight to that. And that's also one of the reasons why my version of left wing politics is less about "social justice' and more about secularism.

But yeah, these guys wanna go back to the 1950s. You guys didn't know that? I could've told you about that. To the fundie christian everything was great in the 1950s until those radical libs in the supreme court started doing things like taking god out of schools and legalizing abortion. Now God is angry and we must return to Christ or God is gonna smite us by sending hurricanes our way or something (no wait, that's just global warming). 

Btw, on global warming, the GOP is a death cult. Rush Limbaugh once said that climate change cant be real because God wouldnt create a world that we could destroy. 

Yes. He was literally that stupid.

But as an ex conservative, holy freaking crap, do you guys NOT understand the kinds of radical crap that's been infecting the GOP for decades? These guys are religious psychos who do not have a sound understanding of reality. They are DANGEROUS. This so called "Christian nationalism" has been a thing that's been building for decades. And most civility obsessed libs have just let it fester, in part because many of them are moderate christians themselves, and in part because their civility politics blinded them to reality.

They dont understand how crazy the GOP is. And sadly, they've only become worse since I left. I left when the tea party was in full swing. And now in the era of Trump, they're even worse.

I'm going to tell you, in this country of 300someodd million, there's roughly 100 million Mike Johnsons out there.  They might not all agree with each other 100%, no one does, but last I looked around 40% are fundie christians who believe the world is 6000 years old. Like, that's where the country is. And while I admit those ideas are significantly less popular among the younger generations, among the older ones these views are very common. And a lot of these people are nutcases.

I grew out of that stuff pretty early in my life relatively speaking. College brought me back to reality and then I questioned things from there. But there are tens of millions of us who still believe in this stuff and I'm talking they LITERALLY believe in this stuff. They believe the earth is 6000 years old and we all decended from two people and that there were talking snakes and dinosaurs roamed the earth with humans before the flood. They also believe there is some angry sky god out there who will smite us if we dont blindly obey him. And that his solution to sin is to sacrifice himself to himself to save us from...himself. Because the alternative is...eternal punishment.

These people are not right. 

But yeah, they are a voting bloc, they've existed for decades, and they've only gotten more radical than I left. Mike Johnson is not an abberation. he's the very face of the modern conservative movement, adaptions to trumpism and all.

Discussing moderate shifts, the 2024 election, and my general trajectory in the last few years

 So, I've been reading some of my old stuff, and comparing it with my new stuff, and I have to admit, I have changed a bit since 2020. I've spent a lot of time doing a lot of ideological spring cleaning between election cycles where I "took out the trash" so to speak and this has caused me to shed a lot of beliefs that no longer serve me. It has also put me at odds with a lot of the modern left. As such, I would like to discuss some of these shifts more directly. 

The economic elephant in the room

So yeah, for all of the political advocacy I talk about, I primarily talk about economics. And to some extent, I've always been more liberal than leftist. Just because I'm unsatisfied with the current state of liberalism in the US, does not mean I'm a leftist. This tension started forming in 2019 as the Bernie camp started going after the Yang gang because Yang wasn't a "socialist" and that UBI was a neoliberal plan to destroy welfare apparently, but it didn't stop that election cycle. And over time, I've soured a bit on the left.

The fact was, Bernie was just the best person for the job at the time. He was a vehicle for some good ideas I had like medicare for all and free college. He wasn't perfect, and there were times where I just didn't see eye to eye with him. 

And as Yang entered the political scene, and had ideas more representative of what my ideals were, I started feeling a conflicting loyalty to "the left." Sure, we both want expansive universal public services, but our visions of it differ widely. I recognized that there were some differences here as early as 2019, but as I investigated the issues more deeply in 2021, and really sat down and thought "if I were to create the perfect economic vision, given the obvious fiscal limitations of how much we can tax and spend, what would my ideal vision look like?" And...I went hard in the Yang direction. 

The fact is, UBI, Medicare for all, Green new deal, these are all nice ideas in their own right, but we can't afford all 3. UBI is $4 trillion a year, with over $3 trillion in new spending, Medicare for all is $4 trillion a year with $1.75-2.4 trillion in new spending. Green new deal is $1.5-3 trillion a year. We can't afford all of these. When I looked at Bernie and yang's respective political visions, I understood that the maximum amount we could expand the size of government was in the ballpark of $5-6 trillion. At which point around 50% of our GDP would be controlled by the government., and we would be taxing people at roughly nordic levels.

The mainstream Bernie left is largely hostile to UBI as a concept. They claim support for it if done properly, but want it done on top of their other things, and those other things are expensive. Quite frankly, their versions of UBI they would find acceptable won't work, and they'd very quickly abandon the idea to push other ideas like a job guarantee (probably as part of the green new deal) instead.

I've never been big on the job guarantee aspect of the green new deal. If we're gonna spend on climate, I'd rather spend on climate and leave it at that. I don't wanna create millions of jobs for the sake of giving people a paycheck when I can instead just give people a paycheck. And honestly? I feel like the left exaggerates the climate emergency in order to push for their green new deal, which is just a 21st century reimagining of either a new deal or socialist country style jobs program. Honestly, that seems kind of dystopian to me, relative to UBI, and given how more moderate versions of climate deals like Biden's Build Back Better and Yang's 2020 climate plan seem more aligned with what I'd want out of a climate plan, I'd rather endorse them.

Now this leaves the other big elephant in the room, and that is medicare for all. i LOVE the idea of medicare for all. But I also recognize that it would be extremely expensive. And I have done some calculations where it looks like it would compromise my primary goal, UBI. And if I had to scale down medicare for all, or UBI, I'd rather do medicare for all.

Now, I have designed full scale medicare for all plans based on bernie and warren's 2020 plans, but I'm not really confident I could comfortably fund them on top of a UBI, and given my UBI is $4 trillion a year, I looked into alternatives to medicare for all and have found public option plans I could live with, like medicare extra for all and its congressional bill equivalent, the medicare for america act of 2019. The fact is, an aggressive public option that auto enrolls people and charges them based on their ability to pay is probably better than full on medicare for all. It leaves private options for all who want them, but also gives people a public option, and leaves no one uninsured in practice. This plan is also akin to what Kamala Harris was promoting when she promoted her pseudo medicare for all plan. It was basically a version of this. So, I found a cheaper middle ground, I kinda like it, I also like medicare for all, but to be honest, my heart isnt set on medicare for all like it once was and while much like Yang I support the idea of it, I'm more mixed these days on the actual idea. 

After all, I studied universal healthcare plans overseas and many of the best systems actually did use mixtures of public and private plans. You don't always NEED single payer or NHS style system to get some results, and sometimes those issues lead to sub optimal outcomes like longer wait times or that nasty euthanasia business canada was caught doing to save public funds. Also, given the nature of abortion in the US, I could see the right using a universal healthcare system to make abortion de facto illegal in the US just by refusing to cover such services. 

So....is that really the way? I don't know. 

Either way, this has caused my own vision to diverge a bit from the left's and put me more in line with that weird politically homeless camp of being left of most craplibs but to the right of most leftists. 

It also has made me less opposed to presidents like Biden, who have been pushing for stuff like build back better, and who does, in theory, support a public option with universal opt in, although has done very little on it.

The fact, as I'm forced to compromise my own vision somewhat for fiscal reasons and prioritize my causes and choose my battles, I become a bit more open to more moderate progressive ideas on subjects like healthcare and the climate.

I still support bernie primarily on other things. Like housing, he's better. Free college and student debt forgiveness, he's better than Biden. 

But I could...live with Biden at this point, honestly, if he had a progressive congress who was willing to back up his plans and get things done. 

Meanwhile...if anything, I kinda view the left more as a competitor of my ideas. If Bernie had his way and we spent trillions on healthcare and a jobs program, we might not be able to pass UBI down the line. In the past, I always figured if Bernie accomplished his vision, people would realize that we could do better than this and back UBI, but given the nature of competing political ideologies, I've come to realize that leftists in the Bernie vein are more "frenemies" than anything. I can work with me, until we stab each other in the back. And MAN, they'll stab you in the back. 

To be fair, I'm not cool with Biden or the centrist factions either. A lot of them don't want UBI and we kinda had to drag Biden kicking and screaming to be as left as he actually is being. As I noted through 2021, I'm kind of politically homeless, both opposed to both the centrist camp and the left for different reasons. I just don't have a political tribe to belong to any more. And if anything I'm just working with whatever faction, centrist or left, pushes things in the direction I find acceptable. But that doesn't mean I like either of them. 

Speaking of the left...

I know the centrists have been complaining about this all along, but the far left's purity testing is a bit ridiculous. You can agree with them on 90% of things and they'll rip you for the other 10%. Quite frankly, in some ways, while I have kinda left the far left tribe as I've built up my own political ideology, the left kinda left me first. I know, a cliche Ronald Reagan type saying, but it's true. In 2016, when I supported Bernie, I did it because I thought if we got some of that nordic type stuff in the US, it would improve things. I didn't sign up for whatever the left has become since then. At some point, after screaming about socialism enough and purity testing me, and people I liked to death over silly issues that shouldn't be that big of a deal, I just ended up losing whatever love I had for those guys. And again, I'm starting to realize I just never adopted the extreme ideologies (like socialism, postmodernism, and associated lenses) that a lot of them are pushing. And that I am more liberal than leftist. 

This does not mean, however, that I'm aligned with the centrist camp of the democratic party. While the left left is pushing into stuff like democratic socialism and the like, a lot of what we call "third way" democrats or "neoliberals" are WAAAAY too moderate for me. Might as well just be sane conservatives at this point. I still mean that. 

The fact is, there's a lot of ideological ground between clinton style third way dems and literal socialists. Social liberalism a la FDR, social democracy a la the nordic model. My own unique blend of social libertarianism that kinda overlaps with those things, but goes in its own direction. I guess when I really lay it out, these shifts have been self evident for a while, and maybe I'm spending too much effort trying to justify every little shift I've ever made in my life since starting this blog, and given I always say that I havent changed, things have changed around me, I have to admit that while that is true mostly, I have changed but a little. 

The foreign policy problem

For most of my life, it's been pretty easy to be anti war or anti interventionist, as I've written lately, the moral arc of US interventions in recent decades have soured a lot of Americans' views on the US as a force for good in the world, and the complex geopolitical nature of warfare has caused me, and many others, many of whom are not leftists, to be less interventionist in the world. THe fact is, the US seems to mess up much of what it touches, especially as the third world/global south and especially the middle east goes, and I've been more reluctant to want to commit troops and resources to warfare for the sake of so called "regime change". We seem to mess up whatever we touch. And I still stand by this.

HOWEVER, in recent years, we've been moving on from the war on terror toward new conflicts. Russia invaded Ukraine and it seems like the left felt very divided on it. To me, it seemed obvious, this was a bad scenario we've been wanting to avoid since the 1940s, an aggressive russia invading Europe. And while we can't intervene directly (nor would I want to), I see nothing wrong with supporting Ukraine and helping them fight Russia. Nothing about this strategy is new. Russia backed the Vietcong in Vietnam against us. And we backed the mujahideen against Russia in Afghanistan. When we're dealing with a foreign power like russia stampeding into countries like Ukraine, protecting them isnt imperialism, it's ANTI imperialism. And the left seems to have missed the memo on that one.

And of course, Israel. I don't know how you can support Palestine given how Hamas has acted. You realize Hamas is the Palestinian government, right? They're a terrorist group...in charge of Palestine. And they're radical, genocidal, and barbaric.

I'm not even saying that Israel is this perfect moral country that never does wrong. No, criticize Israel for their settlements, and criticize their far right government  when they overstep their boundaries. I'm not saying that we should give them a free pass on anything. But COME ON, when one side is morally grey and the other is as black as black gets, the morally grey faction is basically the "good" one. But because the left is fixated on their weird postmodernist "anti colonialism" bias in which they just categorically view israel as the bad guys and palestine as the oppressed, I feel like they went off the deep end. And the more "the left" tries to claim to speak for me in saying that this is an issue that is uniting them against the Biden administration and democrats, that's a hard no from me, dawg.

I might criticize the democratic party harshly on economics, but on foreign policy, I actually LIKE them. And they represent the compromise between the war happy conservatives and the crazy anti war left with its deranged anti american worldview. 

Social issues

So....critical theory. I get it. I understand the lens. There is some validity to the idea that "underprivileged" groups like racial minorities, women, LGBTQ+, have it worse in society on a statistical level.

However, unlike most of the modern left, I'm not OBSESSED with this fact. The modern left is OBSESSED with race, gender, and sexuality. And I'm...not. 

And the more those guys push their obnoxious morality purity on the issue and try to bully me, the more likely I am to just say "you know what, screw you guys, i'm going home."

Honestly, when I came over to the left, I understood that due to the coalitional nature of politics, that I would be sharing the left with some strange bedfellows. People who I dont always see eye to eye with, but I can respect them as long as they respect me in return. 

The social justice left is NOT this ally. They are even more obnoxious with the moral purity than the far left (when these guys dont overlap with the far left). And that's actually quite a feat. The fact is, much like the far left on economics, I've come to realize that these guys are "frenemies". We largely agree on things, but because we dont agree for the right reasons, they stab me in the back. Seriously, even on takes I agree with these people on, I'm just like OMFG SHUT THE F UP! Like abortion. Me: everyone should have a right to reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. Feminists: IF YOU'RE A MAN YOU CANT HAVE AN OPINION ON ABORTION. Gay and trans issues. Me: "Whatever, it's cool". SJWs: "if you dont wanna have sex with a trans woman youre transphobic. Also birthing person. Also when you call us out on this we'll just deny it and gaslight you." It's like...will you just shut up, man! Oh wait, that's gendered language. *slaps own wrist*. 

Like really. I'm a passive ally on these issues, drawn to left wing positions primarily out of libertarian principles. I'm not in with this obnoxious cult of caring or virtue signalling. Nor will I abandon issues I deem a higher value to me in order to support democratic candidates because OMG black and trans people or something. No. 

The fact is, I'm not big on the cult of caring crap. And while I'd say I'm more left than right on most issues, I'm just so fed up with "the left" socially that I've just rebranded myself to a centrist in order to avoid the weird pitfalls of both the SJWs, while also avoiding the actual right.

I'm actually pretty progressive. Just a low key older progressive with a different ideology than the modern postmodernist zeitgeist. 

How this plays into 2024 for me

Honestly, while the left gets more shrill and purity testy on every front, the less enthused I get over leftism or leftist candidates and the more I ironically start liking Biden in comparison. Because Biden has been a relatively progressive president who has exceeded my expectations, and honestly, I blame most of him not getting things done on congress and sell outs like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema over Biden himself. I'm not saying Biden is perfect, and I'm not saying we shouldnt go further left. But my "further left" is basically UBI, public option, and ALL student debt forgiveness/4 year free college. 

Meanwhile, the left is like, if you dont want full on single payer (and ONLY single payer) and a full green new deal youre a traitor and sellout. Also UBI of is of the devil or something. 

The fact is, I end up, after a while, not really liking either option.

And then once you factor in the fact that Biden's stances on social and foreign policy views tends to align closely with mine while the left attacks me over well, everything, I'm not very much liking the left. 

Again, my ideal candidate or platform is between these two factions. Biden is too moderate, and the left is too extreme. 

And while I kinda sorta like Marianne Williamson and Cornel west, eh....Biden is kinda inoffensive to me at this point himself.

And honestly, I'm starting to care more about beating the GOP than the exact vision the left takes right now. 

In the general, I plan on definitely supporting Biden. 

IN the primary, I'm kinda mixed, as my metrics showed. Yes, Williamson is superior to Biden. But she also has cringey foreign policy views and just seems to lack the right temperament to be president. Idk, do I follow my heart on economic policy, or look at the big picture. If I prioritize only economics, Williamson is an upgrade to Biden, but if I factor in the big picture of foreign policy, social policy, and strategy vs the GOP and their assaults on democracy, our liberties, and our safety nets, idk, Biden is kinda...the guy to support right now.

 I'll make a position next year in time for the primaries. But I'm not really feeling either option very strongly right now. Like, the left wing option does not enthuse me a ton over Biden. For every position I like better, there's a position I like worse. I kinda feel like it's a wash, as is shown by the metrics I did. 

Now, Cenk Uygur. Cenk I like. I would vote for him in a heartbeat. He's progressive, but he's not STUPID progressive. And sure, he ain't a UBI supporter either, but he's running this pragmatic middle ground playbook of trying to pass popular progressive positions majorities of the country support, without going too far like the far left does into alienating people.

In an ideal world, I would see him as the best candidate right now.

Unfortunately, despite whatever legal challenge he wishes to bring about immigrants running for president, I don't see him succeeding and as such the one good option for me just isn't even eligible.

Honestly, I just kinda hate 2024 in general. Biden is too moderate, the left is too extreme. And Cenk isn't eligible. Otherwise I think I'd just endorse Cenk at this point. 

Ugh, like most of the country, I think this is a "Biden it is, I guess..." year...

Hope to see the left in a better position in 2028. 

Conclusion

Honestly, a lot of this might sound redundant. I just wanted to explain a lot of the actual moderate shifts I've taken over the years. While most of this is just me figuring out what I actually stand for as I navigate this post 2016 political battlefield and all of the factions involves, and in a lot of ways, it's more about me just realizing who I really am more than me shifting hard on positions.

Still, this process has shifted me a bit on various political positions, and it has done so in a relatively moderate direction. In some ways I AM "leaving the left". but only the hard and crazy left. 

All in all, I'm still this "left of liberal right of socialist" type person who is more extreme than the centrist faction of the democratic party, but I'm also finding myself falling out with the actual left, as well as their anti war and SJW counterparts. The fact is, their philosophy is too extreme and would take me places I cannot go, and given this has caused me to take a deep look at myself, I have moderated a bit in recent years. 

Still, I would agree with 90% of what I had previously written, and most of these differences have happened in the nuance of things, rather than in major shifts to my actual value system. My core value system since 2012 is still the same, I just have more advanced and nuanced takes on things that have caused me to reject some of my more cringey opinions at times. 

I'd say the only MAJOR shift I've had in recent years is that of shifting from single payer to a public option, and even then, I only did it because the alternative would've meant compromising or abandoning UBI instead. 

Again, bernie and yang's ideologies are different, we need to prioritize progressive goals and i simply prioritize different than the left. This might mean I have to leave the hard left and pursue my own path between the centrists and the left, but so be it. If this is what I have to do, then I'll do it.