General Politics Discussion [ARCHIVED] • Page 368

I take this tweet to be in response to the people who said that Bernie supporters had nothing to worry from a Clinton administration vis a vis betraying the left. To me, invoking a Reagan slogan that essentially glorifies Cold War politics and Leave it to Beaver-styled Americanism is incompatible with leftism.

 

I don't know why anyone would have said that with a straight face. But then, I did spend a whole day arguing about why she (and virtually all candidates) was going to move to the center and people yelled at me, so, I'll just bask in being right. (But not right, amiright?)

 

Also, yep. The third party situation is going to play a roll this year.

 

Not wrong.

 

Jason, I've got no clue what your politics are so I don't know what kind of context to view your posts. I also thought that she would pivot center (and, in certain areas, right of center) so I guess I was with ya?

 

But what reforms did PT implement recently? PT was a force for laborers before Dilma but it hasn't done Brazilians any good for a while, before she came into office and after. Dilma has taken resources away from poor people of color and the real workers of Brazil (not the doctors, lawyers and those in the senate-- the ones actually required to show up for work). Dilma's impeachment is the result of years of Brazilians protesting against her and PT and letting the world know that we won't allow the gross mismanagement of Brazil that has run rampant for decades.

 

Alex Jones Says He "Personally Talked To" Trump And Encouraged Him To Push Rigged Election Conspiracy Theory

 

well we know Trump's an anti vaxxer, I can see him believing in chemtrails too

 

How I feel reading this.

 

"
For example, the real minimum wage rose by 70 percent and 21 million (mostly low-paid) jobs were created in the 2000s. Social provision increased significantly, including the world-famous Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer program, and the government supported a dramatic expansion of higher education, including quotas for blacks and state school pupils.

For the first time, the poor could access education as well as income and bank loans. They proceeded to study, earn, and borrow, and to occupy spaces, literally, previously the preserve of the upper-middle class: airports, shopping malls, banks, private health facilities, and roads, with the latter clogged up by cheap cars purchased on seventy-two easy payments. The government enjoyed a comfortable majority in a highly fragmented Congress, and Lula’s legendary political skills managed to keep most of the political elite on his side."


Also, I've seen the protests recently in Brazil. It seems mostly white, mostly upper-middle-class in contrast to the constituency of the Worker's Party. I am aware that that is whose interests will be dominant in the forthcoming government. Now, this is not to say you aren't right on a number of your points, namely the extent to which the party itself drifted to the right and accommodated neoliberalism. I,myself, am much more supportive of the radical left in the country than this one. However, I also see that this move, rather than assisting in democracy, will see the horrible policies you mentioned exacerbated significantly. Given that most of the government is corrupt, I doubt this will resolve anything; rather, it seems much more likely that the right and the rich will engage in a form of corruption that enhances corporate power by dismantling an outpost on the left and, as a consequence, will attack the radical left as well, leaving the average Brazilian worse off. A few of my comrades that are from the country and have family there are horrified at the prospect of an ascendant, white right in the country.

 

Recent YouGov poll has Bill's favorability at 51/44 and Hillary's at 44/53

What reason is there for someone to like Bill and dislike Hillary?

 

Here Is the Perfect Replacement for Jeremy Corbyn | VICE | United Kingdom

This is about a month old but I only just saw it and it's good.

 

He's a man. She's a woman.

 

The poor aren't the ones accessing any of that. That's Brazil's middle class who are finally starting to get jobs, travel and purchase cars. The poor are still trying to pay for shoes. A regular pair of shoes that is worth $20 in the States sells for 80 reais in Brazil and most end up using a payment plan, which, when you have a family or if you need clothes for work, can add up quickly. In other words, the new minimum wage is 4 reais an hour, which means Brazilians have to work 20 hours to afford something as basic as a pair of shoes. Add to that food, rent and health care and it becomes obvious that it's impossible for anyone to live on Brazil's minimum wage, much less buy a car.

Those improvements to the country have been focused in cities in the south, where tourists visit (because if nothing else, Brazil is obsessed with appearing rich), not in the north where poor people of color actually live and are in need of assistance.

To your point that the movement against PT is mostly white, I wouldn't be surprised. Who can afford to take time out of their day to protest? Brazil's working class is made up of farmers who live far from the cities where protests take place and most people can't afford to travel out of state.

The idea that Brazil could potentially be worse off is not a good enough reason not to impeach a leader who has ruined Brazil's struggling economy and repeatedly chosen the interests of corporations such as Petrobras, FIFA and the Olympics instead of investing in the population. These choices mean more shopping malls, airports and better roads -- but that's not for Brazil. That's for the tourists. Brazilians shouldn't have to withstand that injustice because it might get worse.

 

As I said, I don't think their reforms were extensive enough and I do think they pivoted in terms of their focus. I am not defending the party. What I am attacking is the movement to impeach her, because the grounds on which she was impeached were, first of all, frivolous and aimed to bolster reform so extensive as to enhance the racial and wage gap. My preference, obviously, would be for radical left reform, but, as with Brexit, the content of it is pure racial and class animus. This isn't potential, it is evident by the proposals the alternative is articulating, like getting rid of the literacy programs, for example, and rolling back worker's protections. There is an alternative, but who has now been empowered is not it and it's basis is fundamentally undemocratic. You've said it yourself that the government is corrupt, so on what merit do you think this will lead to them cleaning house? Once the right is in power, the movement of the upper middle class will cease because theirs are the interests that will be represented in government. Again, that isn't to say that the PT is blameless or free of corruption or the best possible alternative, but to say that the basis of their attack has a class content that is, in reality, for the one percent. One might argue that "anybody but •insert party here•" is sound, but it seems to me that it is devoid of any agenda that will redress the very real grievances that Brazilians have.

 

Poll: Clinton Unpopularity at New High, on Par With Trump

 

I can't really believe people want this imaginary wall.

 

It's not about the two parties. Both parties are corrupt, so most Brazilians I know and I myself don't really care which party is in power as long as the corruption is addressed. The merit through which I think this may lead to cleaning house is the legal precedent it sets-- that anyone involved in a corruption scandal is subject to being bolstered out of power. I don't think this means that the government will suddenly start playing nice. I think it means that political opponents can use it as a legal threat against each other, which I'm sure will discourage untold future corruption. Impeaching Dilma, again, is not about political parties, it's about what sort of injustice Brazilians will and will not withstand and my hope -- and I'll concede that it may not be logical-- is that Brazilian residents will continue to protest any and all mismanagement of our economy and our future.

 

Expect this to be enhanced under Clinton:

US Triples Special Ops Training Budget for Latin America