For anyone that’s known me for even just a year or two, you’ll know that I’m pretty on the left side of the fence. For nearly 25 years , I have been a dire hard leftist, liberal, and Democrat. Hell, when I first felt this way back in 2001 (My bones just creaked), I didn’t know why I connected with that ideology so much, but connected I did. Now, in the beginning of November 2024, with election day just on the horizon, at this point the Democrats are the ONLY right choice for the country going forward into 2025 & beyond.
But make no mistake: The Democratic Party are not saints by any means. Not since the day of Reagan & Bush Sr. did we have a truly leftist party, but the moment that the Clintons entered the picture everything changed. Bill & Hillary, on the surface at least, seemed like actual Democrats, and were a perfect counter balance to the over decade of Republican rule. However, underneath the surface things were far different. Bill & Hillary weren’t actual Democrats, but instead were Centrists, and for those who may not know, a Centrist is basically someone who right’s smack in the middle. On the outside that might not sound, since they don’t lean one way or another, but if you’re going to be the face of a political party, you should belong to that party. That obviously was not the case for slick willy, and you can see the aftermath of both of his terms to this day.
Here in 2024, the Democrats are not the party of the left. As Bill Maher said back in 2015 during a tour in Europe (Click Here), we have a center-right party in the case of the Democrats. They’re certainly not as right as what the Republicans are nowadays, but they definitely lean in the right direction more often than the left, while at the same time trying their damn hardest to somehow try & remain in the middle. If you don’t believe me, look at how many more illegal immigrants Obama deported & Biden deported during their runs. Obama deported so many, that he eventually earned the nickname “Deporter In Chief”. Thankfully, since Kamala Harris took the nomination a few months back, the party seemed to scoot back towards the left, but perhaps just a little. Regardless, they are not the Democrats of over 4 decades ago. More often than not, their actions & decisions do not benefit the average joe that they so often claim to champion. On the state level, however, Democratic governors have been fairing far better than on the national scale. Tim Walz is a giant example of this, and to just list a tiny few of the things he’s done (***):
- Signed a $2.3 billion education budget into law
- Established ironclad reproductive freedom, protections for Trans individuals, and gender-affirming care as fundamental rights in Minnesota
- Banned the use of hand-held cell phones while driving and raised the age to purchase tobacco to 21
So at the very least, Democrats on the stateside of politics in this country are doing wonderful, but on the national level things could be definitely improved. That just leaves us with the average joe member of the Democratic Party. People like you & me.....and this is where I fell I will be losing some of my left leaning friends.
Half the time, I find my self identifying with the left on many occasions. I believe in representation of races/gender/sexual orientations, workers actually being paid properly for their effort, decent health care that’s not run for profit, big businesses & other massively wealthy people actually paying their due & not constantly getting tax cuts from their republican pets they own, housing that won’t need an arm & a leg to pay for, etc. Those are all things I hold close to my heart, and when properly implemented can do some real good. Where I find myself butting heads with my own side.....is everything else. I’ll just talk about 3 of them, since I don’t want to pop a blood vessel.
For starters, the treating of social issues as if they were trends hurts the very issues to promote. Now, if an issue is popular, of course you’re gonna jump onto it & see if something can be done! It’s how we became an independent country, and it’s how we solved many issues in America over the centuries since then. The problem nowadays is that if a genuinely important issue does come up, and people try to push it to see if it can do something, and if no-one takes any real interest, it’s just tossed to the side for the next popular thing. Wall Street United is a huge example of this: a group that wanted those on Wall Street to pay their fair share, only to immediately give up when nobody took their goals serious. Another example is the whole Blitzchung incident involving Blizzard Entertainment & the Hong Kong riots of 2019. When news broke out about what happened, not to mentioned the despicable acts that Blizzard did in service to the Chinese government, we were all rightfully mad.....for about 2 solid weeks until Blizzcon of that year....and everything just dropped off after. Now, things did get reversed in Blitzchung’s favor, but any pressure that Blizzard fans were giving the company just died off. All because the issue wasn’t trending enough, and it was tossed to the side for something shiny down the road.
Secondly, the that many leftist feel more than think is absurd. Look, it life there’s moments where you just gotta feel things out. Friendships, relationships, you name it. There are times where you just have to feel, and see where it goes. However, if all you do is just feel things instead of adding some kind of logic, you will fail in whatever you’re trying to do. Going back to the Wall Street United thing I mentioned above: giving everybody a voice but making your organization leaderless, and wanting everything instead of just a few things, will ruin any chance you have of making a difference. Now, everyone in your group having a voice can be a wonderful thing. A beautiful thing even! If you don’t have even a single person at the helm steering the ship, you crash onto the rocks with little to no chance of rescue. As for wanting everything? It all goes back to a lack of focus, and not having even a hint of control over it all. Feeling isn’t bad, but unless you don’t sharpen it to a finer edge, it will not work the way you want it.
Finally, the whole “Okay Boomer” crap from a few years back that somehow still persists now is dumb. Hell, even when this started getting popular a few years back, I never understood why the Baby Boomer generation was getting a torrent of shit pumped their way. I’m not saying that the entire generation are saints, as there are a few bad apples that have certainly tainted their generation’s image, not to mention those same bad apples have definitely pooped the bed for everybody in the United States. However, you mean to tell me that the entire Boomer generation is the anti-christ? You mean to tell me that all of them have ruined people? You mean to tell me that not a single one of them have wisdom you can learn from, and you can dismiss them because you’re so “Woke”. Dismissing the entire Baby Boomer generation is no better than when the “Conservatives” dismiss the entire LGBTQ & Trans communities, or when the entire Furry community is picked on because of the assholes that unfortunately get in front of a camera & ruin things for everybody. It’s short-sighted, and incredibly ignorant.
And yet.....the Democrats are the lesser evil this election cycle, and leftists (Especially young leftists) are the more favorable side to follow right now. Yes, the party is corrupt, but they aren’t as corrupt as the GOP, and at least they maintain the illusion of giving a damn. Yes, most Democratic politicians on the national levels are fools, but at least a small few still care, and on the state level many of them have done good & possibly will continue to do so. Finally, at times the average jane/joe leftist can be difficult to work with on occasion, but you can work with them. Lesser Evil voting may be how we got to this point in 2024, but it’s all we got to save what few shreds of Democracy we have left.
My final words are as follows: there’s almost no left party in the United States anymore. Not since before the 90s have we had a left party, and in the decades since the 90s, it’s only gotten worse & worse, and more & more to the right. As for the average joe lefty. Well, I’ve said my piece on that already....but we gotta stick with them. The Democratic Party, and by extension the left, are the only ones that might be able to fix things.
And that was my giant rant on the Democrats & the left. Kinda like yesterday, I’m gonna lose friends & family over this.....and a part of me oddly doesn’t care. See you all after the election, and depending on who wins, I have something to say regardless, and then my honorable mention & final no. 1 album of 2023 reviews. See you soon.
***
A complete list of Tim Walz’s accomplishments:
https://mn.gov/governor/accomplishments/accomplishments.jsp
Also, something from Foamy The Squirrel that really hammers home the whole “Okay Boomer/Woke” thing:
OK Boomennials : Foamy The Squirrel
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