So Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinski gave some thoughts on the whole Jill Stein run that I kind of touched on, but I do want to discuss to a greater degree here. And it's this. What does Jill Stein bring to the table that multiple other candidates do not already endorse? Like, I've kind of touched on this in 2020 with the whole "lane" aspect where we had like 20 candidates but they ultimately all only represented different shades of 2 different ideologies, maybe 2.5 if we include Yang. We had like 15 centrist candidates that were all clones of each other, and a handful of progressives, and a couple outliers with either hybrid views or nuanced views on a couple issues, or Yang, who was kinda progressive but kinda not (and I do wanna come back to that, since, as you know, yang represents my own set of views). And ultimately, yeah, they're right. Jill Stein's candidacy brings nothing new to the table. If you look at all of these "progressive" candidates, you basically get the same core vision in each one. $15 minimum wage (or maybe higher in West's case), medicare for all (single payer), free college/student debt forgiveness, a green new deal, a jobs guarantee, etc. You might have some nuance where West slightly "out lefts" the others, but generally they're all for the same thing. And Krystal and Kyles' argument is basically that if these candidates all want the same thing, why all run against each other splitting votes, why not unite behind one person and run a united front?
And...I have to agree. There's zero point in having more than, I'd say, two candidates on the progressive side. One in the democratic party (Williamson) and one outside of it (West). Because let's face it we want to influence from within the party but if that fails, we could argue for a backup third party vote, which was why I backed Bernie as the "in party" guy in 2016 and 2020, and Stein/Hawkins as the "out of party" person, running as a green party candidate.
We already have Williamson in the party, we have West, so unless your candidacy brings something new to the table, what do you have to offer by jumping in? There's no point here.
And that's if you agree with that core platform, at least. And that's where I'm at. I've shifted my ideology a bit since 2020 and have gone harder in the Yang direction. In retrospect I've ALWAYS been that. I mean, in 2016 I went for Bernie because I wanted UBI, medicare for all, and free college. I just knew no one else wanted UBI at that time so I figured a $15 minimum wage was okay as an alternative for now and we could come back to them later.
In 2020, my loyalties became more split as I kind of recognized we can't afford every program out there and have to prioritize, and I started noting tension with the Bernie base over UBI, which, actually burned a lot of good will I had with those guys at the time. And after 2020, as I really looked at the policies, and their price tags, and cobbled together a platform that worked, I fell in behind Yang and not Bernie. The fact is, the Bernie and the Yang camps DONT want the same things. They have different ideologies, and while both advocate for expansive safety nets, we DONT support the same exact thing. A lot of Yang type people are distrustful of the green new deal and jobs programs in particular, while the Bernie camp is hostile to UBI. And as such, there is a schism there, and I have to admit that I don't really line up with the left as well as I used to.
Right now, I'm kind of half way between the Biden camp and the Bernie camp on the issues. I'm a little closer to Bernie in principle, and still support his platform to some degree, but at the same time, Biden himself has also been influenced by Bernie and his centrist compromises on issues like the climate actually make sense for me. And a public option is now an acceptable alternative to single payer. And now I can KINDA get behind Biden on the issues, as he also endorses a $15 minimum wage, build back better, and some free college/student debt forgiveness and public option on healthcare. I do admit I do think Biden is a bit too moderate on the latter two, but then I look at Bernie on single payer and given my UBI ambitions, he's...a bit extreme. Don't get me wrong, like Andrew yang himself, I support the spirit of medicare for all, but I'm starting to think a public option would be more practical especially if you also want to pass a UBI. And on a green new deal? Forget it, Biden's policy is flat out better to me.
So yeah, Biden did shift left enough where he's more acceptable to me than he was in 2020. And I've cooled on the Bernie left a bit, especially as the torch is being passed to these other candidates, and I just ain't enthused on them. And while by the numbers I am closer to Williamson and West than Biden on economics still, I'm not really perfectly aligned with either.
And then on non economic issues, forget it. Biden is FINE to me. On foreign policy I perfectly align with the Biden administration and its actions on stuff like Ukraine and Israel, while I feel like the left has lost its freaking mind. And even Bernie, as I stated, is a moderate compared to this modern "anti war" left. These guys are insane and I'm NOT aligned with them at all.I know the left is trying to turn Israel-Palestine into a "uniting issue" but then when I state that I aint aligned with them they claim I'm not a leftist. Well, given what the left has become, maybe you're right.
And the same can be said on social issues. While Bernie himself wasn't that woke, a lot of his successors are. And I don't like that. And I get massively turned off by that stuff these days. But the Biden left? That weird progressive centrist stuff? I'm all down with that. Biden, once again, strikes a decent balance on those sets of issues where I have zero issues with him.
So on economics, I'm kinda split, leaning toward the left, but not really aligning fully with either, and on social and foreign policy issues, I'm full on with the "center".
As such, idk, am I really united with the left any more? We might have occupied the same coalition in 2016, but that coalition was put under stress in 2020 for me, and in 2024, I feel like I've full on broken with the left and their standards for policy. $15 minimum wage, fine, but everyone is for that now, even the center. Universal healthcare, I like single payer, but I wonder how it would work with my UBI ambitions and could settle for a public option. Climate, full on support for Build Back Better. So....yeah. Am I really still a leftist? Am I more centrist? I'm not really either. I'm still left of Biden but I'm also...to the "right" of the left, or alternatively occupy the same ground but with my social libertarian ideology leading to a different platform with different priorities. The fact is, I'm no longer feeling unity with the left.
That doesn't mean I like everything Biden has done either. But I think the left undersells Biden. I think he's been a decent president. I think he wanted to be a lot more progressive than what he was. And idk, I can live with this guy. Would I want someone more progressive on economics? Sure. Basically I just want someone who is pro UBI. They could literally be Biden but pro UBI and I would be all over that. It's really that one policy that really earns my attention. The other stuff is secondary. And given how the left has become seemingly hostile to it, I'm not really seeing much improvement over Biden. And on non economic stuff, I LIKE biden. A lot. I think he's progressive. I think he's based. And I honestly think he's far better than the far left, which lean into a lot of cringey crap I don't like.
The fact is, in 2016, Bernie kind of brought together a broad coalition of people under a common banner, but since then, I feel like we're schisming over different ideologies. And the political landscape has changed, and while around 8-10 years ago I was well to the left of where modern liberalism was under Obama, in the modern era, I'm becoming a bit more moderate. I still have the same progressive flair and ambitions...more or less. Maybe a bit more moderate on healthcare, that's the only really major change. But yeah, other than that, Im mostly the same, and I just realize the left has gone in a different direction and I just can't support them as enthusiastically as I once did. Seriously support a UBI and maybe we'll talk. But other than that, the best I can do is passively support marianne in the primaries and then support Biden in the general.
So yeah. I ain't feeling Stein's candidacy. I ain't feeling West's. I'm not really up for a third party protest vote this time. I'm willing to make my voice heard within the democratic party and will choose the person best for the job but given Biden is the worst we're gonna seriously get, I'm kinda okay with just supporting the dems this time around.
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