Don’t bring me into this.

Are you from the mirror universe?

Of course it isn’t just sitting around unused, it’s being reinvested to make more money. Billionaires typically put most of their net worth into assets and stocks and then live off of loans, just like the comic I posted alludes to. Just because they don’t have literal piles of cash sitting around doesn’t mean they aren’t absurdly wealthy.

And let’s be honest, if a billionaire wanted a Scrooge McDuck style gold pile they could have it arranged within a week at most.

What a great and despicable crime they’ve committed, to exist without the proper paperwork. How unacceptable it is that they failed to renew their visas, truly they deserve imprisonment without due process in Guantanamo Bay, where they can be abused like the scum they are without the pesky bleeding hearts demanding consequences. You are a truly moral and good person, and your strong words will surely be rewarded with low grocery prices.

/s

An exceedingly dangerous activity indeed.

What’s your goal in confronting those who criticize the Democrats? You can’t shield them from criticism by wagging your finger at people with legitimate grievances and insisting that they’re helping Trump win. Again, if you want to play the blame game it can go either way; you can blame the leftists who criticize Democrats or blame the Democrats for failing to address the concerns of their own base.

Trump and his cronies have been drowning in criticism since he first entered politics and he’s able to shrug it off like a minor annoyance because he’s done the work of building a strong base of support. He appeals to both the material and immaterial interests of his base and is responsive to their desires (to the dismay of anyone with any semblance of sanity).

Meanwhile the Democrats treat their base with contempt, never responding to their concerns, and abandoning them like so much garbage when they thought it was strategically prudent. They make themselves vulnerable to the kind of propaganda you’re talking about by refusing to engage in even the slightest appeal to those who critique them from the left.

The left is in a slump right now and has been for some time. Decades of repression have been successful in preventing mass movements (ones that challenge the status quo, at least) before they start. We can break through, but it will take a lot more people realizing that they can’t achieve their political objectives by working within the system, and then overcoming their apathy and hopelessness enough to take collective action.

A lot of people are stuck in the apathy and hopelessness stage right now, but I see rising revolutionary potential. More people are waking up, and the mass movement that finally breaks the siege may be on the horizon. Don’t give up hope.

I’m blaming the people that tipped the scales and got Trump elected.

You acknowledge the influence of billionaires and foreign governments on our political process, yet you still place the blame on progressives for criticizing Democrats for refusing to challenge those billionaires. Why?

The progressives are the Democrats’ true base, so if Democrats are unpopular with their base and are receiving criticism from them, it’s on the Democrats to respond to that criticism and appeal to their base. If you absolutely must play the blame game, place the blame on those who had the power to do better and didn’t. You can be frustrated about the way people vote all you want, but it isn’t going to change their minds. Only the Democrats had that power, and they refused to do what needed to be done.

The only answer is mass movements. If you can’t beat them with money you have to beat them with numbers. We have to continue the slow process of building dual power from the bottom up by engaging in mutual aid and taking into our own hands what the Democrats refuse to.

Money is power in this country, but at its core it’s only an abstraction of labor power. Unions can win elections and even run their own social programs if only more people choose to fight. Existing unions need to radicalize and more radical unions need to form.

If the strategy of compromising with the right, appealing to moderate voters, and sucking up to corporate donors is so effective, why did it fail miserably at stopping the fall to fascism? Are you of the same mind as the Democratic leadership, that Kamala Harris ran a perfect campaign?

You’re making the same mistake that right-wingers make, blaming the powerless for the actions of the powerful.

control of corporate donors and the media makes the DNC extremely strong

You seem to be a bad listener, because you got it backwards. The DNC doesn’t have control over corporate donors and the media, corporate donors and the media have control over the DNC. They’re not actually weak, their supposed incompetence is a choice. They’re not actually incapable of winning elections and passing good policy that helps the people, they’re unwilling. The interests of the Democratic leadership and the interests of the people are misaligned, and they only appear weak because they misrepresent their values and goals.

The problem is that meaningfully helping others often requires self-sacrifice. Solidarity is a shift in perspective, to extend the self around others and act in the collective interest.

American Libertarianism is an anti-establishment ideology that’s been captured and twisted to support the core principle of the establishment, private property rights. At this point it’s nothing more than a sick joke.

I disagree that it’s impossible for someone coming from a place of privilege to understand working-class politics. Of course, people with privilege do have a tendency to create or buy into justifications for the system that upholds their position, but at the same time privilege grants people the freedom to do what those without cannot. It’s admirable for someone with that background to use their privilege for the good of all, potentially even to their own detriment.

It seems your distaste for Hasan is based on surface-level appearances and vibes, but those same traits that put you off of Hasan are very appealing to a large number of young men who are otherwise susceptible to right-wing cultural framing. I also used to avoid Hasan because he just didn’t seem like someone I would identify with, and I was put off by the react content that made me associate him with shameless react streamers who leech off other people’s work. After actually listening to him I realized he is very knowledgeable and is actually adding value to the content he reacts to. He used his privilege to study political science and become a political commentator, and he has genuine passion for his work and a commitment to progressive values.

Edit: If you’re looking for someone with a similar perspective but without the aesthetic baggage try The Majority Report with Sam Seder

We already had our enabling act, the Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling.

*laughs in evangelical upbringing

Lefty redneck here, looking forward to receiving my free horse.

It’s because he maintained plausible deniability, no bribes or kompromat necessary. Fact checkers couldn’t definitively say he supported project 25 because he feigned ignorance.

Just want to clarify I was referring to the comments and not your post. I will be right there with you.