This morning I read Robert Reich’s blog post titled “What do Democrats stand for?” that made me think. Everyone tends to know the Democratic ethos whether or not Democratic politicians abide by it or not. Do we know the Republican ethos?
Reich points out something that is very important.
Democrats can’t just be anti-Trump or move to the middle. To be successful Democrats must address the forces that created Trump: The toxic combination of widening inequality and racism. The richest one percent now own more than the bottom 90 percent. Corporations and the rich are running our politics.
The resulting economic stresses have made many people vulnerable to Trump’s politics of hate and bigotry. If Democrats stand for one thing, it must be overcoming this unprecedented economic imbalance and creating a multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition of the bottom 90 percent, to take back our economy and politics.
Notice how Reich did not forget that it is impossible to drop identity politics because it is a part of the reason behind economic disparities among different “identities.” It does not make the message any less encompassing in support of ALL those aggrieved by our current economic and social systems.
Robert Reich explains how Democrats must move forward
Reich enumerated what Democrats must stand for to win the votes of Americans.
- Public investments in world-class schools and infrastructure for all.
- Free public universities and first-class technical training for all
- Single-payer Medicare-for-All
- Higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for this
- Using antitrust to break up powerful monopolies on Wall Street, Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Agriculture
- Getting big money out of our politics.
Ironically, the spirit and much of the letter of the Democratic Platform already codifies these principles. Will Progressives force Democrats to live by their platform?
When one reads the Republican Platform, it is hard to identify how one transfers the words into action that supports the poor and middle-class. Their concentration on retooled supply-side economics, a proven failure, speaks volume. Their environmental stance with meaningless words shows they believe in rhetoric over reality. The social stances on healthcare, criminal justice, education are at best malpractice and at worse criminal if with beautiful wording.
The reality is that it is not about Republican vs Democrats. It is about right versus wrong, humane versus inhumane.