3 ms·
> Does that mean the content of one's political beliefs is not essential to their political identity If your political ideology allows you to think that 'peopl
by cirgue 9y ago
> Does that mean the content of one's political beliefs is not essential to their political identity
If your political ideology allows you to think that 'people who disagree with me about policy but agree with me in principle are still bad people and deserve as much righteous indignation as I can muster from others' then no, the virtue of your particular policy positions do not distinguish you in any meaningful way. That attitude is how the Republican party manages to churn out bulllshit platforms year after year
- danharaj 9y agoHow about we talk about Trump's actual policies. Let's take healthcare specifically. If Trump and the republican congress's healthcare policy were put into effect, millions of people would lose their health insurance. I know how shitty it can be to go about health insurance with a chronic illness. I expect thousands of people to die if this policy were put into place. What the fuck does it mean to disagree with me about policy but agree with me in principle, in this case? Am I supposed to ignore the fact that political decisions impact the material lives of actual human beings? Am I supposed to play polite with politics that will harm people I care about because it's more important to agree in principle than to agree on actual concrete policy? People who complain about how close-minded it is to be vehemently against Trump and by corollary people who put Trump into power never mention actual policies and how those policy differences actually impact people. It is always vague statements about politics in the abstract. Politics in the abstract is never the reason for anything.
- supremesaboteur 9y agoIf you listen to these types of arguments you would think that the Democrats have figured out how to synthesize healthcare out of thin air and the Republicans are putting a stop to it
- heurist 9y agoDemocrats have produced several viable options based on existing models across the world. The ACA was the most conservative option and Republicans still fought to stop it.
- danharaj 9y agoI think there's a 20% chance that the Democrats abandon their center-right neoliberal platform next presidential election and actually push for single payer healthcare. I'm not holding my breath though.
- kthejoker2 9y agoHealthcare has already been successfully synthesized in dozens of countries around the world. There is nothing unique about America that precludes universal healthcare.
- cirgue 9y agoJust to be clear, I think the president is a fraud and a grifter who is attempting to use the fundamentally broken ideology of the far right for his own advantage. We can discuss the absurd details of his agenda all we want, but he is ultimately a symptom and not a cause of really shitty political discourse, or 'politics in the abstract'. There is no reason that progressives cannot fall into the same trap as conservatives have.