i get that and the choice of words in that statement is almost childish and ruins the message

however with the argument that you have to be graceful, because this lying piece of warmongering crap has passed away, you are playing the game of the mass media

and you will never win playing their game, its impossible

now its being graceful after his passing, in a few months its "dont speak ill of the dead" to deflect everything

people in the west, who want to turn things around, have to stop caring about this fake moral bullshit

the first step, call the scumbag a scumbag

I'm totally in favor of critically reviewing his body of work after a couple of days or so. An obituary/the day after his death are not the right moment for that though. Let the man be put to rest before dunking on his work and policies.

Because you are misrepresenting what I said lol

Reagan was the poster child for neoliberalism in the United States, and the Republican party was the party of Reagan up until 2016, when Trump tore the party apart. You're gaslighting every criticism of the Republican party from the left over the course of the past twenty years. Minimalist state sans defense, the privatization of state functions, a sharp reduction in regulation and state oversight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

Every major party has inherent contradictions. But we are talking about a party that was positioning itself as the party of small government, free trade, and minimalist entitlement spending. Trump comes along and advocates for a big government, protectionism, and the protection of entitlements. Republicans at the federal level have generally followed suit. Presidential hopefuls (e.g. Cruz, Rubio, Hawley, DeSantis) have all adopted his language. It's the reason that Bush, Cheney, Romney, and Ryan are so out of place in the modern Republican party.

It should be noted that Trump's rise to power and takeover of the Republican party were a consequence, rather than the cause, of the rejection of these neoliberal policies by wide swaths of voters. Neoliberal policies had proven disastrous for far too many people and the 2012 election, when Romney/Ryan ran on a platform of doubling down on this stuff, was the final confirmation that neoliberalism had also become an electoral stinker.

By 2016, it was about time to get off the dead horse and pivot to something new. The Trump years produced a rough outline of what this new, recalibrated ideology of the GOP will look like. But he was an intellectual lightweight, self-absorbed and so divisive that this ideological realignment got stuck halfway between and took a backseat to endless, unproductive drama.

The few people who did vote for Trump for economic reasons are probably better off voting for Democrats IMO. The GOP may pay lip service but it's just empty words. If you look at the elected officials, where is the shift?

Stances on issues like trade, climate change, regulations, covid lockdowns, immigration, China and many more are having a profound economic impact.

Even if the Dem platform would see the entitlements and benefits go up for a coal miner from West Virginia or an oil worker from North Dakota, they will still be better off economically with Republicans in charge. A shop owner in Minneapolis or St. Louis might be impacted more by the politics of policing than by any originary economic policies. Someone working in the hospitality industry might prefer the "keep venues open"-approach of red state governors over the slightly higher minimum wage the Dems promise him or her.



There are definitely lots of voters who vote against their own interests - but at the same time, I, personally, believe that their number is exaggerated. Many of the contempary political fault lines are more than just "empty, irrelevant culture wars", they are affecting people in very tangible ways.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Oct 20 2021 06:36pm

Please tell me you're joking.

I'd support Bloomberg, maybe. Not this fuckup.

uhhh no. i make a buck they want half plus 0.1% on top, fuck that

This post was edited by excellence on Oct 20 2021 06:56pm

Electoral stinker != bad policy. The issue with neoliberalism is that it's communicated with absolute conceit alongside a refusal to acknowledge issues as they arise. Most markets should be less regulated. Certain industries will have to be allowed to die. But attending those policies needs to be a component that binds people together and provides them the avenue for meaningful improvement in their lives.

But yes, Trump ran on the right message at the right time. The Republican party had been completely discredited by Bush JRs failures and Romney's electoral defeat. The old agenda was tired and dead, it was time to move on.