So, this has been a regular problem over the course of my life with the left, from when I was a conservative, to now, when I'm a fairly progressive liberal, but I tend to break with the far left on stuff. Your ideas, no matter how well meaning, do not mean jack crap, if you cannot implement them in reality.
This was always the issue with socialism, for example. "Socialism doesnt work", and to conservative me, I thought even liberal ideas didn't work. As it turns out liberal ideas often DO work, and they work much better than conservative and leftist ideas, but given how the divide on the left seems to be that between liberal and leftist, I feel like this needs to be addressed.
And no, I'm not trying to sound like a neolib. Like, Im not gonna say "universal healthcare doesn't work", while our neighbors to the north have single payer and much of Europe, etc. have various forms of public healthcare. If an idea can be implemented, that's fine, and that's perfectly fine to advocate for. Virtually every idea I am for can be implemented. We CAN pass a bill that would tax people and cut existing social spending and have a basic income. And based on studies on basic income, it would probably work. We can have universal healthcare and it will work. We can have free college, just like we have free K-12, why not? We can forgive student debt, or even ALL debt if we wanted to. We can have a 21st century new deal to fix climate change (especially a mild one). All of these super progressive ideas I am for, I am for because they WORK!
But then you got socialists. And socialists are a different breed. With them, everything is pure ideology. It's all of this stuff about how nothing under capitalism solves the problem and we need to seize the means of production. Now, I'm not saying all forms of socialism can't work. Market socialism can possibly be viable. But when people want to nationalize the whole economy, that sounds like what the soviets did. When people want "universal basic services" over a basic income, it seems like they're pushing for ideas that would be a lot harder to logistically implement than say, just giving people money. But it seems like the left's hatred of the market and capitalist economics drives their views, rather than sticking to that which empirically works. That's also part of the reason i got banned from r/antiwork, I got into an argument with a communist with all of these crappy ideas that can't be properly implemented, and because I dared admit things like landlords not being the sole or even primary problem with the housing market, I was banned for so called "right wing content." Again, because to these people, ideological purity is more important than policy. Then you ask these guys to actually put forward policy, and they're like "idk man, i mean, this is just all philosophical, ya know? I'm not a politician". Well...how do you expect to ever get your ideas implemented if you don't actually know what works?
Or take my latest rift with the left over foreign policy. Leftists are pushing for a "cease fire now". But then when Biden is for a cease fire, they complain that it isn't the right kind of cease fire that doesn't bring Hamas to the table, or something like that. They complain it doesnt go far enough, or doesnt last long enough, or something. I mean...this is a complex geopolitical conflict between two factions that won't negotiate with each other, are driven by extremism, and have genocidal intent with each other. And it seems both would rather slug it out to the bitter end than ever capitulate to the other. But because the consequences of this conflict offend YOUR western sensitivities as far as cruelty and death, you expect the US to just stop this stuff? How? Okay, so you want to cut off US aid to Israel, we could do that but that could also cause Iran to attack Israel, or damage our relationship with israel long term while doing nothing to help us the other way. But hey, morality should just trump the practical side of things, huh? This is why Im not really that huge on the idea of a cease fire, sure, most people in america would like to see an end to the conflict tomorrow. But how do you do that? What are the logistics of making that happen? And that's the rub with literally EVERYTHING.
This is also why I've been somewhat soft on Biden. I recognize he wants to do things, a lot of nice, progressive things like higher minimum wages, and student loan forgiveness, and free college, and a mini green new deal, and maybe even public option healthcare with universal opt in, but if he doesnt have a congress that can do that, how does that help him? Biden ISNT the core problem here, it's congress, and we need to put the blame where it belongs. But instead we just treat the president like he's god and can do everything and attack him for not fulfilling campaign promises he literally can't fulfill because he doesnt have enough votes. And we blame him for inflation, and for an immigration crisis, and then when he goes to solve the immigration crisis the people who blew it up suddenly dont want to because they want their guy to do it. And then when he tries to get aid into gaza and tries to broker the cease fire everyone wants, they scream at him for not being morally correct on this issue 5 months ago and that his cease fire doesnt go far enough, and it's like wtf do you want, people?
Like really, I am so frustrated with the left right now. And dont get me wrong, I'm not blue MAGA, I still have very significant issues with the democratic party itself and its scumbaggery at times, and its weird blue no matter who dont you dare ever criticize Biden mindset. At the same time, I feel like the modern left just isn't living in reality here. They dont think through their views. They just act completely out of a sense of morality and philosophy, without any ability to actually enact their agenda in a positive way.
Again, it's not like we're in 2016 any more. in 2016, we had a guy who had very real plans to implement nice things, and the center still decided to act with weaponized incompetence and to act like 'well we can't do that" and "that isnt practical". And yes, it was weaponized incompetence, which was why i dumped their butts over it in the general. Hillary just didnt WANT to implement Bernie's ideas. And neither did Biden, although Biden was pulled significantly to the left and had a few okay compromises. And that's why I felt justified to vote against those guys. Because it's not like those ideas were impossible, they just didn't want to do them.
But now, what the left seems to want IS impossible. It ISNT practical. They ARE asking too much. I mean, literal communism? World peace? Give me a fricking break. And I know, Im exaggerating a little there, but only a little, and that's the scary thing. The point is, they want things no one is ever gonna be able to reasonably deliver on, and they're threatening to tank this entire coalition over this stuff. And I've dealt with these people. They have no clue what they're talking about. THey have no way of implementing their ideas. And what implementations are possible and on the table are never ever good enough. Even I know that sometimes you gotta settle for what you can get.
And yeah. That's why I'm breaking from the left this election. These guys are radical extremist ideologues who are pushing for things that there's no hope of Biden ever delivering on, and then threatening to tank his presidency if he does not do them. Just stop, guys. Just stop. This isn't the time to do this, this isn't the place, and this isn't the issue worth doing it over.
I hate to say it, but I'm starting to get to the point where I'm thinking of just flat out endorsing Biden and going into general election mode. But I do want to at least virtue signal for UBI with voting for marianne williamson, an actual candidate, and not some policy that will never ever be implemented to their liking. But I do want to give at least a virtue signal for my ideals before moving fully to the general, so as long as marianne williamson remains in the race, I will continue to support her and her economic ideas. But after I cast that vote, and maybe even before that, given how the primaries continue to go and whether she remains in the race, I plan on endorsing Biden too and voting for him in November. He might not be everything I want, but he seems to be who we're stuck with. And he ain't bad. So yeah, just how I feel.
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