I never envied the rich and wealthy, except for moments when I open a bottle of wine and pour some into my glass. I don’t drink Ripple any longer. I upgraded as I got older. But I suspect that the bottle of wine that is served on the patio of some estate in Richville USA is of a better quality than the bottle that finds its way onto my table. And that makes me a bit envious, not to mention pisses me off!

What a great interview of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. I couldn’t help but notice shifts in her thinking toward the Democratic Party, members in Congress, and coalition politics. I wish more on the left possessed a politics and analytical disposition that was equally flexible and dialectical as hers.

Frankly, too many on the left, unlike AOC, are politically stuck. Their categories of analysis – center, right, left – are static and frozen – rather than open ended and fluid. Once political leader or a political/social movement or political coalition are typed, they stay typed. They’re enclosed and remaine in one category or another.

What is more, Joe Biden, it is said, is a “Bourgeois” or “Establishment” politician. The Democratic party’s center of political gravity is frozen in time, dangling somewhere in the neoliberal era. And liberals have no place in this discourse, except as a term of ridicule and opprobrium.

In short, movement, complexity and contradictory locations have no place in this rigid analysis. Political life is lifeless and petrified.

But here’s the problem: If taken too seriously by too many, the winning of next year’s election becomes an unnecessarily steep climb. Luckily most activists have more common sense, not to mention analytical skills.

Hope you enjoy and celebrate Labor Day, the holiday of the the U.S. working class, broadly defined! Roughly 70 per cent or more of the population. And yet, only in alliance with other social constituencies is progress, especially major breaks from the past, possible. If you don’t believe me – and many of you might not – take a look at historical experience, here as well as elsewhere in the world.

This is a Big Deal!!! And the Biden administration made it happen!

Saw Bruce and E Street band last night. Both were AWESOME!!! 3 hours of great songs, great musicianship (E Street Band sometimes goes unappreciated) and high energy, provided by the 40,000 in Gillette Stadium as well as Bruce. I came to the concert well versed in the lyrics this time allowing me to join with much of the crowd in singing with the Boss. Many thanks and hugs to Julia and Clara who accompanied me and made it all possible!