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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: koan who wrote (239504)	12/15/2013 4:02:35 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542041

The "Left" in the US has been pursuing the wrong strategy for a very long time. For a group that predominantly sees itself as "intellectual," there is certainly too little strategic thinking going on. In contrast, the "Right" has been successful to a good extent because they have focused on how to tailor their message in accordance to the American ethos and with full consideration of the long term execution of their position. There is a reason why GOP is willing to give you a tax credit towards something rather than provide or subsidize it, even though from an accounting perspective, the two positions are mostly equivalent. Too much time and effort on the progressive side is spent on positions that rightly or not come across as demanding charity, protection, special privileges, etc. This is a losing proposition (not to mention wrong). Rather the effort should be spent on tearing down barriers to achieving self actualization. Within the American psyche, it is a much more defensible position to fight for an individuals right to opportunity to achieve all that he can be than to push for protection, subsidies, and so on. Even when there is some overlap between the two, one formulation is far more likely to win support than the other. Fundamentally there is only two societal forces at work: those that clamor for power and aim to erect barriers to entry. And those that try to free the people and tear down the barriers. It is silly to demand that because big business has X they too should have it or should have Y. Rather the left should demand an end to corporate welfare using the same language and strategies as the right uses against the masses. To be successful, the progressives should adopt similar language and strategies as the Right. They should embrace the mantra of personal responsibility, freedom, and cutting off all subsidies. Do not demand better or more schools in inner cities. That is a protectionist/pork politics and it will never match what the big business gets. Rather demand that all schools should admit students based on their academic skills. Under this scheme, if you pass the entrance exam to Harvard, you are in whether or not you can afford the tuition. Is that a form of subsidy? Yes, of course it is. But is far more palatable than a "quota" and outright subsidy system. Root for the underdog. That is in the American psyche. Insist that social and geographical barriers should not destroy the chances of a brilliant mind. Ditto for politics. Insist on equal representation on a per person rather than on a per dollar metric. Start a campaign against buying politicians and legislature. Just because I am not sending out campaign donations, my needs should be considered less worthy. After all, the salary of the congress comes from the public funds. So insist on publicly funded campaigns. Embrace the Right mantra and personal accountability and government is evil and use it to ensure extreme governmental transparency. As I said, if you can get real campaign finance reform and government transparency, other things will fall into place. If not, you are just rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. later, ST