We are still in an economy ultimately created by Reagan’s trickle-down economics. We must not be on the defensive for the ills it has inflicted on poor and middle-class America. The Republicans must defend its putrid outcome for many.
Democrats tend to be less than aggressive in pointing out the reality of the failed Republican economy in the terms necessary. Maybe it is from a fear that if they hit the supposed unfettered capitalist economy too hard, that the Republicans will stamp them with the socialist moniker.
I addressed this in the enclosed video clip from Politics Done Right recently.
Republicans must answer for their economy
Democrats need not fear. They will be pinned as socialists no matter what. They need to lean into policy and not moniker or label.
Eastern Michigan University Professor Emeritus Walter G. Moss gives points out the following in his piece “Capitalism? Socialism? How about Just a Fair and Moral Economy?“
In early 2019, Donald Trump warned against socialism: it “promises unity, but it delivers hatred and it delivers division. Socialism promises a better future, but it always returns to the darkest chapters of the past. That never fails. It always happens. Socialism is a sad and discredited ideology rooted in the total ignorance of history and human nature.”
His campaign claimed that “Bernie Sanders has already won the debate in the Democrat primary, because every candidate is embracing his brand of socialism.” But in February and March 2019, numerous candidates such as Beto O’Rourke, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and John Hickenlooper scrambled to answer whether they favored capitalism or socialism. If I were any of them, I would simply say, “I’m for a fair and moral economy, call it what you will. Politics is too full of labeling.” My rationale for such a statement is that both capitalism and socialism have too much historical baggage.
A fair and moral economy requires Medicare for All, pay-it-forward college, student debt forgiveness, family leave, and other social programs we can well afford. Healthy and stress-free people are sustainable. Our current economy isn’t.
HELP: Please join my YouTube channel so I can get the numbers up to open up some more features and reach more folks. Gracias!