Full disclosure: I am a conservative-leaning "soft" libertarian, 0 for 3 voting for Trump, and sympathetic to many liberal causes.
I have said many times that the party that puts forth a compelling vision of the future first wins. MAGA is inherently backwards looking (it's in the name!) and dusting off the New Deal isn't any better.
Some ideas for a vibrant future Democratic platform:
1) Relinquishing some areas of federal control (such as education beyond setting and enforcing standards) and gaining others (such as healthcare financing and other social safety nets).
2) What kind of foreign policy would make sense to preserve and extend the Pax Americana?
3) The national debt is a sword of Damocles for this country. Cutting government spending and across-the-board tax hikes are baked in at this point, as is currency devaluation. How can we put forth a plan that evenly spreads the pain, protects the most vulnerable, and gets all hands on deck to see us through? Defense spending should be focused on 21st-century needs and not keeping a plane factory in some congressperson's district running for the sake of jobs.
4) Beware of zero-sum approaches, where some groups lose by design so that others can gain by design. Awareness of the plight of minorities both historically and here-and-now is good. Punishing some so that others can benefit is not. Everyone should feel invested and welcome in playing a productive part in addressing America's past and current sins.
5) What kinds of environmental preservation/remediation approaches are meaningful and what is mere virtue-signaling? We need a Manhattan Project to nuclearify the American power grid, which also needs updating and hardening against enemies. Environmental policies should not be onerous to the point where beneficial projects are blocked with no reasonable path to resolution.
6) What kind of trade policy is most beneficial to America and Americans? We should consider both producer and consumer needs, as well as national security needs. Let's target decoupling from hostile/potentially hostile nations like the PRC, while increasing trade with friendly nations from Canada to Vietnam. Cutting PRC Belt and Road nations away from the PRC and towards American mutual benefit would also be useful.
7) What would an appropriate immigration policy look like? America has been at its best when we allow more rather than fewer people in, as long as those people join the American project and aren't here to cause us fiscal, criminal, or national security problems. Secure the border and make the front door easy and not onerous to negotiate, get rid of quotas leading to decades-long waiting lists, and set up systems to quickly and thoroughly vet immigrants.
In any case, be wary about replacing one kind of authoritarianism with another. Corporate power abuses are definitely a thing, but government has the same temptations (we're all human, after all) and while the ballot box is one defense, governments typically have sovereign immunity that corporations do not. Ensure accountability in both the private and public sectors.
One I might add - create endowments to fund certain basic services. If colleges had large enough endowments, they wouldn't need any more federal money, could have low tuition, and no student loans. Large endowments mean valuable institutions fund themselves. You could make the individual states trustees of the endowments.
You could expand upon that idea - endowments for energy development, or transportation, or utilities.
Just to be a devil's advocate, this would require a mindset change that we would invest today for a fully-funded tomorrow. I know some people who opposed an expansion of Atlanta transit into one suburban county because they were 1) out of the age demographic of typical transit users and 2) didn't think they would be around to see the benefit--the old "I don't even buy green bananas anymore" mindset.
Selling planning for the future is not too hard. Selling planning for a future one will never see is much harder.
Sell simple- we put in some money today, and the interest offsets costs tomorrow.
You'll see money spent as static, but the amount coming from general funding in constant decline.
Universities, since they already have a lot of the necessary endowment already, would be an easy lift. 10 years, and you'd see most colleges offering very low-cost tuition.
Sell it to Rs as long-term reductions in spending.
Both sides get what they want. It'll take a few years, but once the benefits start rolling in...they will be substantial.
Also - pumps money into the investment economy, reducing interest rates.
I've had the same idea for unions - want every worker to be unionized? Easy - take all the money you give to politicians and put it into a fund. Interest from the fund provides for heath care for union members. Over time these union provided benefits supersede what the corporations provide.
U.S. companies would unionize in a heartbeat if it meant they had to pay for zero health benefits, because the unions covered that. The problem with unions are everything is a negative for employers. Add back some positives. make unionized workers cheaper than non-union workers.
Excellent post. first found this on Daily Kos. then linked to here. Clearly we are in the Climax Phase of the 4th Turning. the Catalyst isn't just one thing, but Trump, unlawful and unconstitutional executive orders, the public's response, and the rise of AI cars, AI robots, and AI to replace white collar workers. the convergence of many disruptors will accelerate the transformation of America and Global economy, society, and produce a new social contract with government.
"Their model is built entirely around Donald Trump’s personality cult. There’s no durable philosophy beneath it."
I would caution you here - progressives like to pretend that there is a cult of personality surrounding Donald Trump, and that cult is responsible for his success, so once Trump is gone, Trumpism will fade away.
Sorry, but NO. Only a very small fraction of people are attached to Trump, the man. What they are attracted to is the policies, and the enactment thereof. As I keep saying, till I'm blue in the face, Trump is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.
I'd also, if I were you, look at Trump's support amongst LEGAL immigrants. It has exploded upwards. Why is that?
People expect government to achieve its basic tasks - enforce the laws, keep the streets clean and orderly, prevent natural disasters, stop invasions, pave the roads, etc. If you achieve those goals, then the electorate will allow you the space to pursue other goals, like climate change or health care. Over and over, I see Dems prioritizing secondary objectives while failing to address the primary objectives of government. Get back to basics of good governance, and I mean the very BASICS. That will save the Dems, although I do wonder if they are beyond saving.
Full disclosure: I am a conservative-leaning "soft" libertarian, 0 for 3 voting for Trump, and sympathetic to many liberal causes.
I have said many times that the party that puts forth a compelling vision of the future first wins. MAGA is inherently backwards looking (it's in the name!) and dusting off the New Deal isn't any better.
Some ideas for a vibrant future Democratic platform:
1) Relinquishing some areas of federal control (such as education beyond setting and enforcing standards) and gaining others (such as healthcare financing and other social safety nets).
2) What kind of foreign policy would make sense to preserve and extend the Pax Americana?
3) The national debt is a sword of Damocles for this country. Cutting government spending and across-the-board tax hikes are baked in at this point, as is currency devaluation. How can we put forth a plan that evenly spreads the pain, protects the most vulnerable, and gets all hands on deck to see us through? Defense spending should be focused on 21st-century needs and not keeping a plane factory in some congressperson's district running for the sake of jobs.
4) Beware of zero-sum approaches, where some groups lose by design so that others can gain by design. Awareness of the plight of minorities both historically and here-and-now is good. Punishing some so that others can benefit is not. Everyone should feel invested and welcome in playing a productive part in addressing America's past and current sins.
5) What kinds of environmental preservation/remediation approaches are meaningful and what is mere virtue-signaling? We need a Manhattan Project to nuclearify the American power grid, which also needs updating and hardening against enemies. Environmental policies should not be onerous to the point where beneficial projects are blocked with no reasonable path to resolution.
6) What kind of trade policy is most beneficial to America and Americans? We should consider both producer and consumer needs, as well as national security needs. Let's target decoupling from hostile/potentially hostile nations like the PRC, while increasing trade with friendly nations from Canada to Vietnam. Cutting PRC Belt and Road nations away from the PRC and towards American mutual benefit would also be useful.
7) What would an appropriate immigration policy look like? America has been at its best when we allow more rather than fewer people in, as long as those people join the American project and aren't here to cause us fiscal, criminal, or national security problems. Secure the border and make the front door easy and not onerous to negotiate, get rid of quotas leading to decades-long waiting lists, and set up systems to quickly and thoroughly vet immigrants.
In any case, be wary about replacing one kind of authoritarianism with another. Corporate power abuses are definitely a thing, but government has the same temptations (we're all human, after all) and while the ballot box is one defense, governments typically have sovereign immunity that corporations do not. Ensure accountability in both the private and public sectors.
I like most of your ideas.
One I might add - create endowments to fund certain basic services. If colleges had large enough endowments, they wouldn't need any more federal money, could have low tuition, and no student loans. Large endowments mean valuable institutions fund themselves. You could make the individual states trustees of the endowments.
You could expand upon that idea - endowments for energy development, or transportation, or utilities.
I like it! Taking an abundance mindset.
Just to be a devil's advocate, this would require a mindset change that we would invest today for a fully-funded tomorrow. I know some people who opposed an expansion of Atlanta transit into one suburban county because they were 1) out of the age demographic of typical transit users and 2) didn't think they would be around to see the benefit--the old "I don't even buy green bananas anymore" mindset.
Selling planning for the future is not too hard. Selling planning for a future one will never see is much harder.
Sell simple- we put in some money today, and the interest offsets costs tomorrow.
You'll see money spent as static, but the amount coming from general funding in constant decline.
Universities, since they already have a lot of the necessary endowment already, would be an easy lift. 10 years, and you'd see most colleges offering very low-cost tuition.
Sell it to dems as stabilizing funding.
Sell it to Rs as long-term reductions in spending.
Both sides get what they want. It'll take a few years, but once the benefits start rolling in...they will be substantial.
Also - pumps money into the investment economy, reducing interest rates.
I've had the same idea for unions - want every worker to be unionized? Easy - take all the money you give to politicians and put it into a fund. Interest from the fund provides for heath care for union members. Over time these union provided benefits supersede what the corporations provide.
U.S. companies would unionize in a heartbeat if it meant they had to pay for zero health benefits, because the unions covered that. The problem with unions are everything is a negative for employers. Add back some positives. make unionized workers cheaper than non-union workers.
Excellent post. first found this on Daily Kos. then linked to here. Clearly we are in the Climax Phase of the 4th Turning. the Catalyst isn't just one thing, but Trump, unlawful and unconstitutional executive orders, the public's response, and the rise of AI cars, AI robots, and AI to replace white collar workers. the convergence of many disruptors will accelerate the transformation of America and Global economy, society, and produce a new social contract with government.
"Their model is built entirely around Donald Trump’s personality cult. There’s no durable philosophy beneath it."
I would caution you here - progressives like to pretend that there is a cult of personality surrounding Donald Trump, and that cult is responsible for his success, so once Trump is gone, Trumpism will fade away.
Sorry, but NO. Only a very small fraction of people are attached to Trump, the man. What they are attracted to is the policies, and the enactment thereof. As I keep saying, till I'm blue in the face, Trump is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.
I'd also, if I were you, look at Trump's support amongst LEGAL immigrants. It has exploded upwards. Why is that?
People expect government to achieve its basic tasks - enforce the laws, keep the streets clean and orderly, prevent natural disasters, stop invasions, pave the roads, etc. If you achieve those goals, then the electorate will allow you the space to pursue other goals, like climate change or health care. Over and over, I see Dems prioritizing secondary objectives while failing to address the primary objectives of government. Get back to basics of good governance, and I mean the very BASICS. That will save the Dems, although I do wonder if they are beyond saving.