Letter to two friends, two leaders
...which brings us to a philosophical fulcrum that I have often pondered.
Framing issues like rent control and higher minimum wages as 'bold' and 'simple wisdom' can only take root within the larger framework of class struggle. Class struggle, in this case, means furthering the interests of the lower classes despite those advances having a negative effect on the interests of the upper classes.
I increasingly see the world this way. That there are no solutions that benefit both "sides" equally.
In Healdsburg (unlike the traditional liberal havens) liberals are often upper-class, and when it comes right down to it, most are not willing to make concessions to their economic freedom and wealth (increased property taxes to create housing) in order to further fairness and economic equality. They will further arguments, which have a strong footing in the current class struggle impasse, that demonstrate how rent control, hotel bans, minimum wage rules etc. create a downward spiral of negative contingencies.
Boldness, on the other hand, means standing by deeper values and weathering the negative side-effects, knowing that no step forward, be it right-wing or left-wing or middle, is going to happen without effects that some people will object to. Rest assured that a higher minimum wage, for example, will close some businesses, where other businesses will prosper as their customers spend their increased disposable income.
I'm a Bernie Sanders socialist. I believe in a mixed economy and using government to further the interests of the majority (middle class and lower workers) regardless of whether it employs the powers of capitalism or it's opposite. And I see a complete end to corporatocracy as a national (and worldwide) goal.
Like Bernie, I would have voted for the ACA, despite it falling far from what ought to be enacted. He did it because it's a 'step in the right direction' and because it was a bill that could pass. It's a compromise worth making if our ultimate goals and values have been stated emphatically during the debate. And after the compromise has been agreed to, that goal does not fade.
When mulling over a future run for City Council, I wonder if I will have the guts to run as a Democratic Socialist (within the Democratic Party most likely), like Sanders or Ocasio-Cortez have. Putting my ultimate values and goals out there with that dangerous moniker might be a political deathwish, despite my having a reputation for embracing workable compromises that at very least, get the ball a little further down the field.
Framing issues like rent control and higher minimum wages as 'bold' and 'simple wisdom' can only take root within the larger framework of class struggle. Class struggle, in this case, means furthering the interests of the lower classes despite those advances having a negative effect on the interests of the upper classes.
I increasingly see the world this way. That there are no solutions that benefit both "sides" equally.
In Healdsburg (unlike the traditional liberal havens) liberals are often upper-class, and when it comes right down to it, most are not willing to make concessions to their economic freedom and wealth (increased property taxes to create housing) in order to further fairness and economic equality. They will further arguments, which have a strong footing in the current class struggle impasse, that demonstrate how rent control, hotel bans, minimum wage rules etc. create a downward spiral of negative contingencies.
Boldness, on the other hand, means standing by deeper values and weathering the negative side-effects, knowing that no step forward, be it right-wing or left-wing or middle, is going to happen without effects that some people will object to. Rest assured that a higher minimum wage, for example, will close some businesses, where other businesses will prosper as their customers spend their increased disposable income.
I'm a Bernie Sanders socialist. I believe in a mixed economy and using government to further the interests of the majority (middle class and lower workers) regardless of whether it employs the powers of capitalism or it's opposite. And I see a complete end to corporatocracy as a national (and worldwide) goal.
Like Bernie, I would have voted for the ACA, despite it falling far from what ought to be enacted. He did it because it's a 'step in the right direction' and because it was a bill that could pass. It's a compromise worth making if our ultimate goals and values have been stated emphatically during the debate. And after the compromise has been agreed to, that goal does not fade.
When mulling over a future run for City Council, I wonder if I will have the guts to run as a Democratic Socialist (within the Democratic Party most likely), like Sanders or Ocasio-Cortez have. Putting my ultimate values and goals out there with that dangerous moniker might be a political deathwish, despite my having a reputation for embracing workable compromises that at very least, get the ball a little further down the field.
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