DocWatts

Really wish I still had those campaign leaflets that I described, as it was a perfect example of the contrast between an informational and aspiration based campaign approach (Biden), and a fear based and emotionally manipulative campaign (Trump). I'll see what I can dig up when I have a bit of time. Just out of curiosity, were you trying to use these to convince your conservative friends to consider your point of view, or were you more interested in the differences between the tactics of the Trump and Biden campaigns?

From everything I've read on the matter Trump is terrified of being prosecuted for corruption charges (and possibly seeing the inside of jail cell, as incredibly unlikely as that would be ) once he loses the legal protections that come from being president, so his doing anything he can to hold on to power is a Survival Strategy, and everything he's doing makes a lot more sense when you look at it through that lens. I would expect a corrupt head of State in a third world country who faces a firing squad if he loses hold of power to behave in a similar manner the only difference being that there are actual Constraints on what he is able to do in a country like the United States.

Agreed. And despite him not winning the nomination, he's still able to influence the direction of the Democratic party in a very tangible (and much needed) way.

The differences between the Trump and Biden campaigns couldn't be more obvious if you take a look at the political flyers that come in the mail. Biden advertisement : Mostly a list of policy proposals, with perhaps a line or two about restoring dignity to the White House Trump advertisement : JOE BIDEN has aligned himself with the RADICAL LEFT. They're coming TO TAKE YOUR FREEDOMS! He's going to DESTROY JOBS with his RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM, and also wants to flood the country with UNLIMITED IMMIGRATION. Not even really exaggerating here, which is the sad part.

A bunch of really good points; and I agree that looking at your Vote from a harm reduction standpoint makes a lot of sense. As for FDR, what you say about him is %100 true; I will push back just a bit in that there's no way he would have been elected to Four Terms if he wasn't able to inspire people the way he did (even if his policy platform was the exact same). What's interesting about the American system is that the President combines what is in many other systems two different jobs: (1) The head of state who's job is to be the public face of the government and to connect with people. And (2) the Administrator (or bean counter) whose job is more about running the day to day running of the state. In some other countries you have a President and also a Prime Minister, but in the America these roles are combined. This makes an already demanding job even more difficult, since it's always going to be more difficult to find someone who excels in both of those two roles.

Well... Yes and no. While he did try to present himself as a highly principled person, he was also an avowed White Supremacist. And not in a '100 years ago everyone was racist by our standards' kind of way, but in a 'highly racist even for his time' kind of way.

Andrew 'Trail of Tears' Jackson. Or more recently Woodrow Wilson comes to mind for being incredibly racist even for his day.

I mostly agree, but I would also argue that part of the President's job should be to instill a Vision for the country to aspire to, and be able to articulate it in a way that people can connect with. Agree or disagree with his politics, but Obama was very good at this. Biden... well he may be on board with some progressive policies, which is great, but I find him to be seriously lacking in that area. Again when the competition poses an existential threat to Democracy, moralizing over this sort of thing is counter productive, but its still disappointing that our expectations for leadership are so low.

I think you'd really have to reach back in American history to find another US president that's less qualified for the job. Maybe as far back as someone like Andrew Johnson who was extremely racist (even for the standards of the day) and bungled Reconstruction, eventually getting himself Impeached due to his obstructionism when it came to extending any sorts of rights or recognition for black people.

Biden kind of strikes me as the textbook definition of what people think of as a bland, middle of the road career politician. Just happenstance that after four years of Trump's antics that a boring old guy is a breath of fresh air for much of the country. As an aside, this Futurama quote comes to mind when I'm going in to vote for safe, middle of the road politicians without strong convictions or an inspiring vision because it's the only realistic alternative to right wing authoritarianism.

Have to give a mention to Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks.

Thanks for laying this out in such a clear, concise, and helpful way. It's so much more constructive to try and understand these people rather than just demonizing them. In order to diffuse these sort of ideologies, you really need a clear understanding of what makes them so attractive to people.

I guess in my mind it's a balancing act between being open to other points of view and being cognizant of the harms that someone is causing to other people. I think understanding why a person has a particular point of view is very important, regardless of my feelings one way or another. And I try to be understanding and empathetic towards people I disagree with, but I'm also human and there's limits in my patience when I see someone harming or brutalizing others. I also think there's healthy and unhealthy versions of most political views, and its much more difficult to be friends with someone who's fallen into a toxic manifestation of a worldview, because it tends to infect others areas of thier life.

If you are comfortable answering this, how have you been able to support yourself financially through actualized.org, considering that most of your Content is free and not supported by ads?

I do genuinely feel bad for some of these people because it's obvious that they're being lied to and manipulated. But I do have to weigh that against the harm that they're causing other people, especially the people being directly harmed by the policies they're supporting (black people, poor people, gay people, immigrants... just to name a few). I'm always going to have more sympathy for someone being brutalized that I am for someone manipulated into brutalizing others.

I think that the conversation around 'personal responsibility' needs to be reframed in a way that it can be reclaimed from people who only use it to moralize thier selfish behavior. As in once your own needs are met, you have a Personal Responsibility to help other people in your community, especially if you can do so at little cost to yourself. Maybe reframe the conversation so that having the moral conviction to help others is looked at with the same romanticism as Rugged Individualism is in the current environment. ... Welp, guess I'll pull my heads out of the Clouds and return to reality, such as it is.

I know a handful of these people, it's genuinely sad to see them being so obviously manipulated and taken advantage of. Fact is that the Republican party has literally nothing to offer the average American that will make their lives better in any way, so it makes sense that they have to resort to these sort of tactics to win elections. And that's in addition to just outright disenfranchising people.

Also people don't become fantastically devoted to a hateful political ideology because everything in their life is going awesome; just going off from the MAGA supporters that I've personally known, most of them have had some sort of obvious unmet deficiency need in their life that they project outwards on to others. People whose lives aren't going great and who feel like they have nothing to lose are obvious fodder for being propagandized into violence. Of course more of these people are just weak men LARPing as soldiers, but no way to tell at a glance who might be unbalanced or radicalized enough to shoot someone in the face or drive their car through a crowd of people. Of course it doesn't even have to come to that, just making someone who happens to be black think twice about potentially putting themselves in harms way in order to Vote accomplishes the same thing.

Humorous look at stage Green narcissism.

From an awesome rap album that's a playful stage Green take down of Corporate Greed, Privatization, and of shallow Consumerism ruining Rap as an art form. Also happens to be a concept album that's set in a cyberpunk dystopia with a host of science fiction references for good measure. Wind the clocks back to a simpler times Where you could talk and speak your mind Without assault or attack or combat All resources available in large quantities Before the deceit and greed and privatization Of everything that society placed inside it Spaces as a service to the patrons Now you pay for it and your credit better be good Or if there's an emergency, never see a foot Extended in your direction to help forget it Shred any evidence of wrong doing to make pledges Among secret societies with freaky fetishes Lie about what's really inside, they never let us in

Yeah I can think of a number of public intellectuals on the Left who've had some negative experiences with some aspect of Green (usually some politically charged culture wars issue that's impacted them in some way), and end up dipping a toe in to Right wing reactionary politics in response to this. You don't want to throw out the baby with the bath water though, as people can still provide valuable insights through their work, despite them having somewhat unenlightened or misinformed positions on some social issues.

@Leo Gura That's amazing. Don't think the writers of the show could have predicted how prescient this feels in 2020.

This ^^ %1000.

If anyone is familiar with Mos Def, that was where he got his start. First rapper I think of for stage Green.

Even more cringeworthy for anyone else who can see a younger version of themselves resonating with that mindset, rather than engaging with the messy realities of the political system in the US.