Maneuvering in politics is a critical skill. We see it today in the struggle around a stimulus package. Trump’s announcement of of a series of executive actions to break the impasse in the Senate over the passage of a second stimulus bill is an attempt to make himself the champion of working America and worthy of a second term, while casting the Democrats as indifferent to the pressing needs of millions at this moment. Democrats and the larger anti-Trump movement should greet this maneuver with a full throated response that is heard across the county. And on the substance (not so much their constitutionality) of Trump’s proposals as compared to the Democratic stimulus package. They can’t allow Trump to outmaneuver them, which is what he is hoping to do. It’s nowhere near enough to have NY Senator Schumer on a few talk shows. Democrats should use their deep bench to blast Trump’s executive actions and remind voters of their much better alternative.
China has made impressive economic advances, thanks to Deng in no small part. I saw its advances first hand on two trips there. But socialism should be judged, first of all, by the degree to which its extends the boundaries of freedom, democracy, egalitarianism, and decision making to its citizens. Growth rates and technological development matter as do lifting people out of poverty and providing a first class education to the many, but they don’t constitute the essence of socialism nor represent the overarching aims of socialist society. If China is socialist, it is an authoritarian variety. And that should be a concern of socialists here. As for the relations between our country and theirs, the accent of our leaders should be on de-escalating tensions, cooperation and non-interference. Trump’s current heightening of tensions with China is a serious and potentially dangerous mistake. Finally, we’ve been battling authoritarian rule here for nearly 4 years and hopefully we will make a positive turn in this struggle in November. It seems too obvious to say, but China’s form of political rule wouldn’t sit well with millions of people here and rightly so. As the much maligned Michael Gorbachev correctly said. “More democracy, more socialism.”
Reading “How Democracies Die” last night and one point that the authors make is that the ascent to power of right authoritarians doesn’t depend on popular support as much as enablers on the right. In Germany and Italy, it was conservatives in each government that greased the skids for Hitler and Mussolini’s climb to power. Here the Republican Party has performed the same role as enabler of Trump and white nationalist, dictatorial rule. They too should pay a high price for their actions on election day.
Trump and team would like to start a new Cold War. The price we (and others) paid for the last one was astronomical. This one will be still higher. Only a fool would rule out a nuclear confrontation. Another reason to get out the vote against Trump and his Republican enablers.
In coming up with slogans one has to ask if this or that slogan is readily understood by people who don’t spend most of time talking politics and if the slogan is something that your adversary can easily exploit to cast you and your aims in a bad light, while at the time strengthening his hand.
