What Is Socialism... It Ain't Progressivism.

 

Socialism:   social and economic doctrine calling for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it.
Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members.

Socialists argue capitalism leads to unfair and exploitative concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of the relative few who emerge victorious from free-market competition—people who then use their wealth and power to reinforce their dominance in society.  (the 1/10th of 1% we have in America today)

Because such people are rich, they may choose where and how to live, and their choices in turn limit the options of the poor. As a result, terms such as individual freedom and equality of opportunity may be meaningful for capitalists but can only ring hollow for working people, who must do the capitalists’ bidding if they are to survive.
As socialists see it, true freedom and true equality require social control of the resources that provide the basis for prosperity in any society.

Socialists may diverge-disagree among themselves with regard to two key points: 

• First: concerns extent and kind of property society should own or control. Some socialists have thought almost everything except personal items such as clothing should be public property. Other socialists have been willing to accept or even welcome private ownership of farms, shops, and other small or medium-sized businesses.

• Second: disagreement concerns the way in which society is to exercise control of property and other resources. In this case, main camps consist of loosely defined groups of centralists and decentralists.
  
  On the centralist side are socialists who want to invest public control of property in some central authority, such as the state—or the state under the guidance of a political party, as was the case in the Soviet Union (USSR-Communism).
  
  Decentralists believe decisions about the use of public property and resources should be made at the local, or lowest-possible, level by the people who will be most directly affected by those decisions.
  

This conflict has persisted throughout the history of socialism as a political movement.


... Republicans are very quick calling Progressivism - Socialism (many calling Progressivism new-Communism), but there are MAJOR differences:


Socialism versus Progressivism:

Socialism is an economic system where government runs and controls production resources collectively owned by society to achieve its common good.

Progressivism is a political philosophy seeking to raise the standard of living of the average member of society in order to achieve a positive social change.


While socialism and progressivism both seek economic and political equality of all members of society, they differ in their views and approaches:

Socialists want to abolish capitalism as they believe it exploits the working class. They want the working class to play an overpowering role in shifting society from capitalism to socialism either through a popular vote or going on a general strike or even going to the extreme of uprising or revolution.

Progressives believe capitalism is the most expeditious way to grow wealth of society under a "regulated business environment." They want to attain social change gradually. They do not expect the working class to play a major role in the social change they want. They also object to any form of violence to achieve social change.

Progressives believe the approach of the socialists in achieving social change is too drastic and could cause social unrest. Instead, progressives work to convince the less-privileged-poor in society to be questioning-critical of capitalist-plutocracy in order to influence the working class to vote progressives into office and perform the government obligation[s] of improving life for the entire-overall-community of citizens.

Socialism promotes a planned economy - wherein the blueprint for the production and distribution of goods and services is determined ahead of time. Socialists also believe in the equitable distribution of productivity gains. They believe that those who worked more, deserve to be given more.

Progressivism goes for a mixed economy - where basic features of capitalism and socialism are present. Progressives support economic egalitarianism and treat members of society as co-equals in terms of their right to use the economic resources and wealth and their contribution to such wealth and resources.

... they're different - very different ... unregulated-capitalism is profit at-any-all-cost[s], to society & environment ... and that's just way-too-expensive

 

**********************

Why do immigration numbers go dramatically up? Not understanding-addressing real causes of refugee-flight will have it go on indefinitely.

 

Encounters with migrants at U.S.-Mexico border remain near record highs.

Some of the biggest increases in recent-border-encounters have involved people from Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru & Venezuela.

People just pick up and leave their home countries just to arrive at America's borders seeking access to government handouts. That's an extreme simplistic view of these countries problems, actually causing increased flight from their homelands.

• Nicaragua: democracy is crumbling. It’s been a long time coming.  Nicaragua’s already fragile democracy is quickly backsliding into a dictatorship. President Daniel Ortega has been spending-using his control of the undisputed-abusive-power of the country’s police and courts to crack down on his political opposition with brutal efficiency. This is the product of fear and terror that Daniel Ortega has engaged in the face of transparent, competitive free-elections, Nicaragua's people are desperate and afraid, seeking refuge-shelter in their neighboring-country-America.

• Colombia:  has been torn apart by conflict for over 40 years. The war that has raged between the Colombian government, guerilla groups such as the FARC and ELN, paramilitaries, and narco-traffickers has cost the lives of an estimated 50,000 – 200,000 people and has displaced millions of others. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are currently 3.5 million internally displaced persons inside Colombia, while another 500,000 – 750,000 are seeking refuge in neighboring countries. It is the largest displacement crisis in the Western Hemisphere, and constitutes the 7th largest refugee population in the world. 

• Peru: political instability is prompting migrants to flock to the U.S. southern border. Peru is dealing with political instability, widespread corruption, the highest inflation since 1998, and protests driving illegal immigration to the U.S.. There’s a high level of distrust with the government, and parents and young people alike see an uncertainty about what their future holds in Peru.
  “You can be assaulted and robbed on the street, including lose your life over a cell phone someone wants to steal from you. Crime is on the rise and police don’t have control over it. Sicarios and organized crime are more and more common. Criminals can buy their freedom even if they’re arrested."
  “Peru is descending into anarchy. On the face of it, the country has a constitutional government, but really it’s anarchy. No one knows how it’s going to end.”

• Cuba: more Cubans are migrating to the United States. Cubans don’t see a future with the corrupt and inefficient military gerontocracy ruling the country. Profound reforms such as allowing Cubans to own export businesses or to partner with foreign companies are not forthcoming. Low prices for Cuba’s exports, a stifling bureaucracy and continuous repression are making life on the island increasingly unbearable.
  The Castro regime has encouraged emigration. It alleviates internal pressure by creating an escape valve which weakens opposition. In addition it eliminates one of the major complaints of Cubans on the island – that they were prohibited from traveling abroad.
  Finally, the powerful attraction and help of some two million Cuban-Americans living in the U.S. encourages and facilitates the migration process. Their experience in this country is an attraction for those suffering on the island and longing for a better future.

• Venezuela:  Venezuelans propelled to U.S. by crisis, not immigration policy. Venezuela is a unique case of an economic catastrophe. Only country in peacetime able to engineer a decline in GDP of 80%... that compares to a GDP decline of 28% during the Great Depression in the U.S. and a 50% drop in GDP in Germany during World War II.
  Economy went into a tailspin because government tried to control society by taking away economic rights. In the middle of the oil boom, the government thought, we have enough money coming from oil, so we don’t need the private sector. In fact, we can expropriate the private sector. We can put all sorts of controls on the private sector and make it obey. Many people decided under those conditions, it was not possible to dream, to plan, to invest, to do things in Venezuela, and people started to leave.

... in ALL these cases, these are not people wanting-desiring to leave-their-homelands just to go on government assistance in the U.S. ... that's GOP-disinformation-propaganda
... economics are the driving-forces propelling them to our borders, and that's NOT-gonna-be-changing anytime-soon ... matter-of-fact, it's all to only to be getting worse

... the U.S. should be watching closely and learn-react from what is happening in all of these countries.. we are not immune to similar circumstances occurring here... we're on the edge now
... here in this country we don't have government wise enough to understand this border issues-crises are only to increase in the very near future... desperate people willing-are to continue taking desperate measures

... Republican-arguments, saying they are all coming-flocking to U.S borders simply to get 'free-social-benefits' is beyond naivete.. another con being perpetrated on the American-people by their leadership

... land has been fought over for all of history... Europeans invading-conquering America... seizing lands having been inhabited by indigenous-peoples for thousands-of-years

... my father Bernard Arias came to America early last century fleeing Fascism in Spain
... majority of these Latin American refugees doing-nothing-wrongfully-different
... America's immigration system in drastic-need-of-overhaul

 

 

 

What is Progressivism? ... there are many think they know, but what they think is NOT what Progressivism is in fact.

 

Progressivism in American politics refers to a reform movement advocating progress – change and improvement – over conservatism, preserving the status quo.

Progressivism was a reaction to the increasing economic inequality that was a product of the Industrial Revolution and virtually unregulated capitalism, including the exploitation of labor.

As an idea, Progressivism generally refers to the belief that government or people acting on its behalf can be used to address social problems, inequalities, or inequities facing the nation.

Whether you were a Progressive only in spirit or a member of the political organization of the same name, you shared several major goals:

• Ending corruption - Progressives wanted consumer rights, the ending of monopolies, and clean government.

• Efficiency and perfection - Progressives held the belief that we really could eradicate most social failings and problems. At the minimum, if we couldn't end these problems, we could streamline our solutions to provide the most efficient solutions.

There were several policies that had-have leverage with both Progressives and everyday Americans. Key areas of social reform addressed by Progressivism Movements are:

• Conservationism: the promotion of nature and wildness, as well for ideas about the “commons” and its protection. 

• Quality of life: progressivism saw that human flourishing was less possible in poverty conditions – from hunger to unsafe housing.

• Education: the virtue of public education wasn't just to provide a 'way out' for poor minorities or immigrants, as it's often viewed today. Instead, it was viewed as a civilizing force by Progressives, a social mechanism for creating new, industrious Americans.

• Labor Rights & Conditions: progressives sought to end dramatic industrial accidents in which workers perished or were injured because of poor working conditions. Labor organizing was generally supported by the Progressive movement, and so were creation of safety codes for factories and other buildings.

• Shorter Working Days: the eight-hour day enforced by overtime requirements was a long fight on the part of the Progressive movement and the labor movement (at first with active opposition from courts which found that changes in labor laws interfered with the individual rights of corporate owners).

• Child Labor: the progressives came to oppose permitting children at young ages could be employed in dangerous occupations, from four year olds selling newspapers in the street, to children in the mines, to children operating dangerous machinery in textile mills and factories. Prior to the Progressive era, child labor was depressingly common. Factory owners often preferred child workers since they were more manageable (that is, less likely to strike) and cheaper. Children in factories often worked 16-hour days in highly dangerous conditions. The anti-child-labor activism continued into the 20^th century, and the highest courts at first made it difficult to pass such laws. Sound familiar, today there's once again talk (by R's) of loosening child labor laws.

• Equal Treatment: the political disenfranchisement of African Americans and women was a major issue for all Progressive groups.

•  Women’s Rights: though the women’s rights movement began organizing before the Progressive Era, and arguably helped begin it, the Progressive Era saw the expansion of women’s rights from child custody, to more liberal divorce laws, to information about contraceptives and family planning, to “protective labor laws” to make it possible for women to be both mothers and workers. Women finally were able to get a constitutional amendment in 1920 removing sex as a barrier to voting.

• Race: some reformers worked for racial inclusion and racial justice. Black people founded reform organizations of their own, such as the NACW, working for such issues as education, women’s rights, child labor reform. The NAACP brought together White and Black reformers in response to destructive riots. Ida B. Wells-Barnett worked to end lynching. Other progressives fought against those (like Woodrow Wilson) who enforced and promoted racial segregation.

• Better Government: in the face not only of increased concentrations of money into corporate hands, but also the rise of big city machine politics, reforming government to put more power into the hands of ordinary Americans was a major part of progressivism. This included establishing a primary system where voters, not party leaders, selected candidates for their party, and it included direct election of Senators, rather than having them elected by state legislatures.

• Limits on Corporate Power: busting and regulating monopolies and establishing antitrust laws were policies seen as not only benefiting more people and preventing unconscionable wealth disparities, but also as a way for capitalism to function more effectively through a more competitive market. "Muckraking-journalism" helped expose corruption in politics and business, and motivate limits on both government and business power.

Republicans go on and on about how bad progressives are ... why do they, because they are exclusively on the side of business interests (majority of corporate-democrats are as well), and their lobbying-spending hundreds-of-millions to keep "that-status-quo," and all the unending-billions-of-dollars it brings along with it.

 

Progressivism is the fight against all-monied-interests wanting-demanding full control of government, along with the 'laissez-faire' right of doing business as they alone see fit.

Progressives want 'to-change-reform' all-of-this, so they've-become-are the-ultimate-bad-guys in all-the-propaganda of the GOP faithful, bought and paid for by plutocrats and oligarchs with ever increasing abusive-obscene-wealth.

Our current systems are not working, they are crying out for reforms. Those believing progressives are the 'bad-guys' all-have-are-being-conned, by the exact same system[s] doing-them-in and so-benefiting e-n-o-r-m-o-u-s-l-y... FOLLOW-THE-MONEY. 

 

*****

 

... were this 'New-Republicanism' to have an-actual-stated "GOP-political-platform".. that it was running on.. what would it be including... (R's-wish-list)

Observations from years-researching all-highlighted-subjects.. uncovering-readily-discoverable, oodles-of-research-information. They are listed in no-particular-order.

• "one-party-rule" is imminent-necessary & a-highly-desirable form of government

• "gerrymandering".. restricting-voting is-a-necessary 'acceptable'-political-practice

•  no one has any-full-or-partial-rights to "universal-healthcare" - medicare should-be-fully-privatized
  

•  social-security should-must be dramatically-cut-back, if not eliminated-altogether

• U.S. needs-to-dramatically-increase-all military-expenditures

• "trickle-down" economic-growth is best created by deregulation & lowering taxes - it would be-unfair-unjust to-tax-plutocracy at-higher-rates than they're-now-paying, if anything, they should be reduced-further

• student-loans should-not-be-forgiven - full or in-part

• U.S.-border-walls are necessary to-keep-out "undesirables"
  

• immigration must be "dramatically-guarded-restricted"... immigrants that are 'not-citizens' need-to-be-deported

• marijuana needs to remain an-illegal-substance, & all-those now in prison for minor-possession-charges should-remain-in-prison

• prisons-privatization must-needs to-remain-in-place

• Christianity-should-be-declared "the-national-religion" - "the-establishment-clause" & separation of church & state are "extra-constitutional-doctrine" and "a recent-thing that is unhistorical & unconstitutional"
  

• abortion-must-be-illegal & outlawed-nationwide - under-any-all-circumstances

• "corporations-are-people"

• SCOTUS-expansion must-never-happen - seeking to 'balance'-decisions-handed-down

• having gone-too-far, affirmative-action-programs must be scaled-back or eliminated
  

• Puerto Rico & District of Columbia must never-be-granted U.S. statehood

• there's really no-such-thing as "climate-disruption" or "tipping-points"
  

• all-government-whistleblowers must be treated-thought-of as-traitors - regardless of any-all circumstances surrounding their case[s]
  

• U.S. needs to convene a 2nd-Continental-Congress for revision-rewriting-the-Constitution 

• regardless-of-consequences, gun-ownership is an-inalienable-right without-restriction[s]
  

• there are only-two sexual-identities-genders.. male & female

• 'critical race theory' should not be taught in schools... as for need of 'higher-education'..“most college professors teach liberal propaganda”

• all-public-education should be privatized - no one has any-rights to "free-education" at higher-education-levels

• no one has rights to any forms of "assisted-housing"

• childcare should not be provided through government assistance
  

• no one has rights to "guaranteed-income or employment"
  

• U.S. has the right to intervene in foreign-government-policies anywhere-anytime it sees fit due to national-security-interests
  

Of course none of these declarations are-to-be-admitted stated-directly by-the-party.
Any-all thoughts on what might have-been-overlooked-omitted.. please-advise.

... THE CULT-OF-TRUMPISM ... (signs obvious & everywhere)

 ... as-true-disciples-members of the 'Cult-of-Trump' few if any of them are going to read ANY of these articles

... otherwise they would not be cult members... for it is blatantly-obvious he's a conman-cult-leader... has been from the start

 ... worse... he's spawned a whole-new-brood of like-minded-sycophants wanting-willing to take over when he goes... having-been-present witnessing-the-powers

... THEY-BELIEVE ... !!!

... good-luck-America ... those of us knowing what-could-have-been.. wishing-you-well

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

01.21.21
"So Many Great, Educated, Functional People Were Brainwashed”: Can Trump’s Cult of Followers Be Deprogrammed?
As the president’s conspiracy theories start to unspool with his departure from office, cult experts believe there’s hope—if the way Americans consume information undergoes a radical change.

07.27.21
Why is it was so easy for Donald Trump to sucker Americans into his cult?
Trump grew a cult following by casting himself as an outsider.

07.19.21
Certified Loser Donald Trump Is Rebranding MAGA as a Full-On Cult
As a twice-impeached, one-term historical freak show of a president, his only hope is to turn his movement into a cult, worshiping himself.

07.14.21
Is It Finally Time to Begin Calling Trumpism Fascist?
Hitler's Fascism in America has become the cult of Trump's Fascism

02.01.21
What American Horror Story: Cult Got Right — and Very Wrong — About the Trump Era
Even though Trump’s time as commander-in-chief has ended, the cult of Trumpism is still very much alive.

01.19.21
Another mess left by Trump: A cult of die-hard followers whose delusions run deep.
The real carnage wrought by the Trump years is cognitive. It won’t be fixed by prosecution or policy alone.

01.11.21
The ‘Shared Psychosis’ of Donald Trump and His Loyalists
The outgoing president’s pathological appeal and how to wean people from it.

12.15.20
Denying Reality Is How Trumpists Pray
Odds are, you have someone in your life that should know better mindlessly parroting some bit of empty drivel originating in the Trump lie machine.

11.18.20
The Cult of Trumpism and the ‘Stop the Steal’ Lunacy
Trumpism is a perilous path for the virus, the climate, human rights, world affairs, and for the future of America’s democracy.

07.30.20
The Sad Cult of Esoteric Trumpism
The pattern of cults.  A revelation of truth from on high will set you free; a Gnostic secret, known only to adepts.

04.04.20
Cult Experts Warn That Trumpism Is Starting to Look Awfully Familiar
Calls to sacrifice life to the coronavirus “evoke memories of people lining up to drink cyanide.”

 

Climate: What a summer of disaster tells us - The-Week - July 31, 2021

 "Apocalypse Right Now" would be an apt title, said Maureen Dowd at The New York Times,
or maybe "The Day After Tomorrow Was Yesterday."
Either way, this summer of climate horror feels like the "first, vertiginous 15 minutes of a disaster movie."

 
After the hottest June in recorded history obliterated temperature records not only in Death Valley (130 degrees) but also in usually mild locales like Seattle (108) and British Columbia (121), supercharged rainstorms created massive flooding in central Europe and China, turning streets into raging rivers and killing hundreds. Forest fires are now ravaging Siberia (Siberia!), Canada, and the Pacific Northwest, where Oregon's historic Bootleg Fire has so far consumed a staggering 400,000 acres of woodland, in a blaze so intense it has its own weather system — including lightning storms that start more fires.

The inferno has also created a continent-wide plume of smoke now reddening sunsets and making it hard to breathe as far away as New York. If there's any consolation for this "catastrophic summer," said Sofia Andrade at Slate, it's that "more and more people are becoming concerned with the existential threat that the climate crisis poses."

The dire scenarios climate scientists have projected for 2030 or 2040
are "already here."

In fact, said Andrew Freedman at Axios, scientists are now wondering if their computer models of climate change were too conservative by an order of magnitude. The Pacific Northwest heat wave in particular, which killed at least 200 and melted power lines in Portland, Oregon, with mind-blowing temperatures of 116 degrees, was "so far from the norm" that it's "causing experts to re-evaluate what's possible."

One phenomenon climate models didn't foresee is a "stuck" jet stream, which instead of moving weather around, locks in rainstorms, hurricanes, heat waves, and droughts for extended periods.

Ironically, the Pacific Northwest is where Silicon Valley's millionaires have been buying up property, said Naomi Klein at The Intercept. They figured a warming climate would turn Oregon into something "like California in its glory days," while California itself became an arid inferno. Let's hope this summer's horrors shatter that "fantasy of safety" for all the world's complacent elites.

Climate change is here, and nowhere and no one on this planet will be unaffected.

With extreme weather events now the norm, said Ilan Kelman at The Washington Post, we need to start adapting. Housing should no longer be built in woodsy fire zones, and we need both natural fires and prescribed burns to cleanse forests of dry timber. To limit damage from surging rivers and rising seas, cities must build walls and new drainage tunnels. Places like Portland need to set up cooling shelters to protect the elderly and vulnerable in heat waves. This summer's disasters have added "urgency for action."

"Adaptation" has long been a "dirty word" among eco-activists, said David Wallace-Wells at New York Magazine. They've seen it as surrender in the fight to decarbonize society and stop the planet from warming. But this summer's "freakish showcases of climate horror" should expose that as a false choice.

Efforts to replace fossil fuels must accelerate dramatically, but it would be "criminal to fail to focus on managing climate change," now that summer has already become a mass-casualty event. We need to help people already suffering and dying in 117-degree heat, biblical floods, and decades-long droughts.

The "permanent emergency" has begun.

TheWeek.com - July 31, 2021

 

... make no mistake ... there is NO-moral-justification ... futures of all-those we-know-&-love at-stake

 

On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was stormed during a riot & violent attack against the U.S. Congress.

 

se•di•tion sĭ-dĭsh′ən

• n.  Conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state.
• n.  Insurrection; rebellion.
• n.  A factious commotion in a state; the stirring up of such a commotion; incitement of discontent against government and disturbance of public tranquillity, as by inflammatory speeches or writings, or acts or language tending to breach of public order: as, to stir up a sedition; a speech or pamphlet, abounding in sedition.
   

Sedition remains a crime in the United States under 18 U.S.C.A. § 2384, a federal statute that punishes seditious conspiracy, and 18 U.S.C.A. § 2385, which outlaws advocating the overthrow of the federal government by force.

 

... Donald Trump's actions regarding the Capital riot on January 6th was-is-sedition & he must be banned from ever holding political office again

... there are obviously millions who disagreed... but I've yet to read anything even remotely indicating-justifying why he should not have been immediately impeached 

 

... for years we continually accepted totally-unacceptable-behaviors from this lurid-individual
... for what:   corporate-profits... propping-up-stock-prices ... what

... bringing anything up about his extreme inadequacies of leadership & all the conspiracy-theories get regurgitated by all those hard-right-believers abandoning-refusing rational-thinking

... not liking the idea they in fact believe-act in cult-like-fashion decrying anyone disputing the hard-facts of the horrors Trump has unleashed on this country & the world

... not only the worst political force this nation has been subjected to
... he's one of the worst the world has experienced

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  

Then there is:   The-Sedition Nobody's-Talking-About

 

... we must decide who we are to believe
... all these guys with big-money-at-stake
... or those actually caring about democracy & the welfare of all-every American-citizen

 

 

... and any of those attempting-coping-out saying they don't want to discuss-politics are trying to separate their world from reality ... can't be done ... they are waaay-too-intertwined

... this entire world surrounding us, as well as our-entire-future totally-controlled at-the-mercy-of political-rulers
... and their-backstage-plutocratic-masters pulling-their-our-strings

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~