Category Archives: Politics

#DemocratsAreOverParty

Here is a somewhat bold prediction: the Democratic party will be done by 2020. We will have to see how 2018 turns out, but the parallel Labour party in the UK isn’t doing so hot either. The reason for this prediction is multifaceted, but breaks down to age, the inability of the Democrats to successfully find a wide political market, and the ideological extremities of its members.

The Age Problem

The Democrats are an aging party. Hillary Clinton is 69 years old. Joe Biden is 74 years old. Elizabeth Warren is 67 years old. Feinstein is 83 and Pelosi is 76. There is minimal new blood in the party (part of this is due to the branding problem).  Age and health was a concern in this election and will continue to be an issue. Some prominent Democrats do not wish to run. There is a very limited pool of selectable candidates. This is also a big issue connecting to the youth who feel disconnected from older, more elite candidates.

The Marketing Problem

The marketing or branding problem is one of the many reasons the Democrats lost the 2016 election. To win a presidential election, one must appeal to a broad range of individuals (in our current system. Yes, you can spam the “Trump lost the popular vote!” meme all you want. It doesn’t change the fact that’s not how our elections work, or the fact the entirety of the lead came from California.). The Democrats have not figured out this balancing act. They had no positive message to rally around. The policies were the same as or extensions of Obama’s, which the electorate did not want. There were also issues within the party as well, exemplified in the conflict between the Sanders and Clinton camps. The Sanders camp were mostly younger individuals who might have just gotten started in politics. They were a strong group interested in wage reform, college reform, and generally anti-war. This is in stark contrast to the Clinton camp on every level. The Clinton camp was mainly the elite who had no interest in any of Sander’s policies. One of the key unfoldings is the election of Tom Perez as DNC chair, continuing the line of Clinton-ite leaders who many feel snubbed Bernie from receiving the nomination. These individuals will forever be lost by the Democratic party on that basis alone. The true globalists who do not hold political affiliations (or are just concerned about raw power) have learned that the Democratic party is done. This is why Milo Yiannopoulos got smeared and why McCain and Graham are being trotted out by the media on a regular basis. Without this influence, the Clinton camp will collapse and fade into obscurity.

Ideological Purity & Extremity

The final core issue is the purity and extremism of the Democratic party. They have been known to purge candidates for holding different viewpoints or endorsing other candidates. There is a strong urge to dismiss dissenters. This is disastrous for the party. They will destroy intellectual diversity in the same vain as in colleges. There is also rumor and prediction that the Democrats will try and reduce the number of Whites running in their party. This reduces the number of voices in planning, leading to the branding problem. One can say all parties would be concerned with dissenters, but to be concerned to such a degree that endorsing the wrong candidate (in your own party), or agreeing with only 90% of the issues is a large issue.

The Democrats are falling apart. The only pity is that the viable 3rd parties will surely not take advantage.

Why the DNC is screwed.

With Hillary’s indictment looming, the Democrats are in a pickle. Here is how things will most likely go down in every possible scenario.

Clinton is indicted, pardoned, and nominated: Complete disaster. Several FBI agents and other staff will resign. Obama will have his legacy tainted. Trump will be running against a literal criminal. It will be framed as if she wasn’t one, since she was not indicted (just like Bill Clinton is not considered impeached when he was not removed from office). Bernie supporters will all drop and never back her. Some of the Clinton voting block might stay home.

Bernie is nominated: Some of the Clinton camp will drop out and not support Bernie. Bernie is too far left for any reasonable person, and will alienate some of the Clinton block. He may revise some of his policies to be less socialist, but this will only alienate some of his voters. Trump destroys Bernie easily, regardless of polls. Just some reminders of Venezuela and that should be enough. It also depends who is VP. Elizabeth Warren is a death wish on any staff on the ticket.

Another candidate is nominated: The entire voting block is alienated due to feelings of disenfranchisement. Pathetically easily landslide for Trump. Biden is the safest option, but would have to make up for 1 year of lost time. Warren, again, is a death wish.

Political Tribalism and Identity Politics

There were people attending the Republican convention in blue jeans. Some asked if they were lost and if they needed directions to the Democratic convention.

– Newt Gingrich

    One of the many divisive aspects in politics has been the two party system. Especially in the modern age, everyone is all too eager to label their ideological opponents. This is clear despite the recent surge of people calling themselves independents. These labels have become increasingly hostile over the years, almost to the point of them being slurs in some areas. It’s clear that something is at play when Caitlyn Jenner says she gets more hate for being a Republican than for being transgender.

    The reason why Trump is attractive to many people is that he appeals to moderates that have been pushed out of the left by this increasing hostility. For example, I disagree with tight gun control. I’m not a second amendment freak, or think we should arm nine year olds. I just think that it would be ineffective. If people want drugs, they will get drugs. If people want guns, they will get guns. But then the leftist media will spam you with that story of that gun activist who was shot by her 4 year old son. Because it’s not like accidents happen or one person disregarded gun safety, it’s those evil guns and those idiot gun owners!

    You can’t criticize policies for policies’ sake anymore. You can’t argue against an idea because you think it’s wrong. You can’t take a slice of cake without having to eat the whole thing. There must be some ulterior motive. When I argued against the idea there is a wage gap or a rape culture on campus, I was asked by my resident heads if I was part of any conservative groups on campus. When Milo Yiannopoulos and Caitlyn Jenner are against gay marriage, there must be something really wrong. When latinos are against illegal immigration, they must be secretly racist.

    Identity politics have indeed divided more than it has brought us together. Viewing people as labels has made it easier than ever before to dismiss arguments without making any points. Admittedly, this also happens with the GOP who say Trump is not a “real conservative”, whatever that means. (But stereotyping and profiling people is wrong. We shouldn’t judge people based on their identity, unless we think their identity is wrong!) When this is combined with the idea that when you say you support a candidate, you support them 110% on everything, it only leads to mass anti-intellectualism. Especially with the current 2016 election, it is all too simple to label all supporters as the most extreme, distorted version of what they stand for. Trump supporters are all Nazis! Look at this picture of a Trump supporter doing a Nazi salute with no context (see side note)!! Honestly, it is only 5 or 6 words: “I support X as president”. You don’t know why they are supporting a candidate or if they even agree with them completely. Because there can’t be different reasons for liking a candidate. We must all be divided into individual camps that are clearly incompatible with each other.
Side note: The picture of the old white lady doing the Nazi salute at the Chicago Trump rally has been described by various sources as: an evil Trump supporter, a Hillary Clinton supporter doing it as a false flag, and a Trump supporter doing it ironically to piss off the protestors. Nuance is dead. But the good thing is it still represents all that is wrong with the Trump movement, right?

The Media is Sometimes Right (When They Agree With Me)

 In fact, however, the supporters of the welfare state are utterly anti-social and intolerant zealots. For their ideology tacitly implies that the government will exactly execute what they themselves deem right and beneficial. They entirely disregard the possibility that there could arise disagreement with regard to the question of what is right and expedient and what is not. 

– Ludwig von Mises

    Trump and Sanders are often two sides of the same coin. One labelled “fascist” and the other labelled “progressive”. This is not about their views, but mainly about their treatment by the media, and the public’s reaction to such claims. When the Washington post posted 16 anti-Sanders articles in under 16 hours, it demonstrates a very clear media bias. When anti-Trump article after anti-Trump article is posted, it’s certainly fine because clearly any sane individual would be against Trump (except for losers like Caitlyn Jenner).

    When Trump and his supporters get shut down, beat up, and silenced for supposed racism, this is an amazing act of progressive bravery. When Sanders was shut down by BlackLivesMatter for supposed racism, this was the clear result of overly entitled idealogues. When Trump is considered fascist for retweeting a Mussolini quote (because the first thing we do in school is memorize a list of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini quotes so we can avoid saying them. Also, authoritarian / fascist / nazi / communist leaders have to be great leaders. Otherwise, they would be shot) this is great evidence to not support Trump. When Sanders is implicated for sexism for defending himself against interruptions by Clinton, this only serves as a ridiculous, horribly incorrect outlook.

    When people call Sanders a socialist or a communist bent on infiltrating and destroying the country, this is just a dumb, extremist outlook on him. Nevermind that he is surely supported by some hardcore socialists. But when Trump is called a white supremacist, this is obviously a clear assessment of the facts. After all, he is supported by the Ku Klux Klan! Nevermind that the KKK has been irrelevant for years.

    One of the things that has really removed me from the left is this sort of minority fetishism. No woman, person of color, or hispanic can do any wrong. When a woman makes a false rape claim, it’s alright! She was just starting a conversation and probably ruined someone else’s life! But with Trump specifically, he is sometimes only labelled a racist because the media says so. His famous quote on immigrants uses the word some. Not all, not most, some. Yes, some illegal immigrants do bring crime, drugs, gun, and are rapists. Some. Yes, some immigrants use the system for their personal advantage, learn English, and send their kids to college. Why is it so xenophobic or racist to tell the truth? Some people abuse the system, some people use the system to their advantage. Why can’t we fix the system to keep the bad guys out and the hard workers in? I don’t think the wall is the best solution, but it sure is better than anyone else’s. Trump is not completely against immigration. He wants to reform the system to cut down on illegal immigration.