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"Listen Liberal" What to Make of the Age of Trump


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This is a lecture by Thomas Frank given on a book tour for his latest work "Listen Liberal". 

It offers a scathing review of the recent history of the Democratic Party, which - starting largely with Clinton - betrayed it's history as the populist party and became a party representing Wall Street and the elites. 

I highly recommend it.

(The length includes a QA session)

 

Edited by homersapien
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Awesome video, thanks for sharing.

Maher, many others, and I have been saying this for several years but somehow we get marginalized at every turn on this forum.

Glad to see some of you at the party...finally.

Edited by DKW 86
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When he is talking about Citibank and Wells Fargo and the Obama Administration i could hear my own voice in every word of that.

When we had the chance to fix things back in 2009, WE BLEW IT. We made Wall Street Elites stronger than ever and made them the Oligarchs they are now,

Middle Class TO THE Creative Class
36:00 Inequality is out of control and the Party of the Left is not interested in its historic mission....

Clap Applause GIF - Clap Applause - Discover & Share GIFs

44:00 Everywhere you go, Parties of the Left are dis-spirited. They dont know what they believe any more. people are abandoning these parties by the millions. and lining up with demagogues of the right, Trump, LePen, etc.

53:00 Do you remember when I used to be on MSNBC all the time? The reason I am not is because this is not allowed at the debate.

Edited by DKW 86
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Democrats have fallen into the money trap.  Without the endless supply of union money, Democrats have been forced to look elsewhere.  It is no coincidence that Pelosi and Schumer are the most powerful Democrats.  One has the ability to raise money from Wall St., the other the ability to tap the tech industry.

The taint of this money keeps Democrats from being truly progressive and populist.  The taint puts Democrats in the box of being always perceived as weak and/or disingenuous.

Still, at this moment in time, Democrats are the only party willing to recognize the need for balancing the interests of capital and society.  But, as long as they rely on the money, the duplicity is dishonest and, will remain a liability for the party, the economy, and the country.

Democrats need to stop being afraid to be Democrats, stop worrying about where the money will come from.  Money as power is the problem.

 

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1 minute ago, DKW 86 said:

We are so much alike on so many things

We seem to always come to the same place going in opposite directions. 

Just goes to show, the heart is more important than the head.

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9 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

When he is talking about Citibank and Wells Fargo and the Obama Administration i could hear my own voice in every word of that.

When we had the chance to fix things back in 2009, WE BLEW IT. We made Wall Street Elites stronger than ever and made them the Oligarchs they are now,

Fear. 

Fear of the "without us, the entire global financial system will fail" narrative.  Somewhat legitimate.

Fear of being called "socialists".  Pure cowardice.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/3/2022 at 6:31 AM, DKW 86 said:

When he is talking about Citibank and Wells Fargo and the Obama Administration i could hear my own voice in every word of that.

When we had the chance to fix things back in 2009, WE BLEW IT. We made Wall Street Elites stronger than ever and made them the Oligarchs they are now,

Middle Class TO THE Creative Class
36:00 Inequality is out of control and the Party of the Left is not interested in its historic mission....

Clap Applause GIF - Clap Applause - Discover & Share GIFs

44:00 Everywhere you go, Parties of the Left are dis-spirited. They dont know what they believe any more. people are abandoning these parties by the millions. and lining up with demagogues of the right, Trump, LePen, etc.

53:00 Do you remember when I used to be on MSNBC all the time? The reason I am not is because this is not allowed at the debate.

You aren't wrong.  However, the number of factors and voices demanding to be heard required action immediately.  That was part of the power behind the too big to fail strategy.  The choice had to be made as to whether we stop the bleeding now or simply head to the hospital pray that the patient makes it there without bleeding out.

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On 6/3/2022 at 4:11 PM, icanthearyou said:

Fear. 

Fear of the "without us, the entire global financial system will fail" narrative.  Somewhat legitimate.

Fear of being called "socialists".  Pure cowardice.

I will admit that - as someone whose assets are pretty much totally invested in the market - fear is a very effective coercive tool politically. 

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