resummarizing my politics for 2024
One of the issues I can select on the new Oath website for supposedly "maximizing" my donation impact is climate change. [I wrote more about Oath in a friends-only post, for reasons explained in that friends-only post LOL.]
But here's where I hit one of my basic critiques of Democrats, and a major reason why I'm currently registered as a Green in Maryland (even though the Greens here lost their official party status, because they can't even pull 1% in a statewide election).
When Democrats have been in full power of the federal government, during the first two years of Obama's reign, and then the first two years of Biden's reign, they didn't do anything to limit the production of fossil fuels in the US, which is absolutely the first requirement of doing anyfuck about climate change. In order to reduce carbon emissions, you have to reduce the production (and so the consumption by somebody) of fossil fuels.
Under Obama, oil and natural gas extraction increased 64%!!! [So much for the "peak oil" worries of 20 years ago.]
So far under Biden, the US has continued to hit new record highs in oil and natural gas extraction during both 2022 and 2023, just as the US did under Trump during 2017-2019. Whatever the rhetoric of Democrats and Republicans, there's bipartisan agreement to continue expanding the production of oil & natural gas year after year after year after year ...
And my readers have heard this from me before --> subsidizing "clean" power doesn't do shit to stop people from also using "dirty" power. It's just a waste of money. And clean power isn't 100% clean anyway, fossil fuels are consumed in the process of clean power production.
So I don't believe there's any way to maximize my impact with respect to climate change by giving campaign cash to Democrats. I might give campaign cash to Democrats for other reasons, but not to stop climate change, because they won't. Democrats delude themselves about their climate change policies to the extent they aren't cynically lying to the rest of us.
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At this point in my life, I'd summarize my politics as follows:
First, we need to have a democracy, or everything else is pointless, because without democracy it doesn't matter what you or I think about anything, nondemocratic power will simply do whatever it must do to remain in power.
Next, under democracy, I would aim to create a truly sustainable set of relationships between our species and the planetary environment, without delusion, cynicism, half-measures, or lying; while sharing our sustainable production more fairly (and generally treating people more fairly) locally, nationally, and globally.
I have to rank sustainability first, because otherwise what's the point, we'll simply destroy everything on the planet by 2300AD (if not far sooner) and have nothing left to "share more fairly" amongst ourselves. This is ultimately why I choose Green over Socialist or Anarchist (or Capitalist LOL). How must we refashion our economics, our standard of living, and our population level to survive for centuries in harmony?
[One might conclude from the history of humanity that we cannot and will not do this.]
Sometimes I think I'm even more Green than the typical Green, because I reject the fantasy of a Green New Deal that would magically both end fossil fuels and increase living standards for the working class. Do the math LOL. I am here to bring poverty back to the entire human race LOL.
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Democrats claim they are the party of Protecting Democracy, which, if true, would be my top priority. If I truly believed this claim, then I would register as a Democrat and work for my sustainability priorities within the Democratic party.
Democrats argue that Republicans subvert democracy by ignoring election results, so we should support result-respecting Democrats instead. But as I've written before, this argument sounds circular and empty to me. I know people who believe that if Trump wins in November, we'll never have another election again in the US, similar to Germany after Hitler. Somehow we had an election in 2020 even though Trump was President. Somehow we gave the White House to Biden on Jan 20, 2021, even though Trump was President. But if Trump is President again, Democrats argue, then Game Over as we re-enact Hitler's Third Reich with WW3 and gas chambers.
Meanwhile, Democrats are doing all they can to deny ballot access to third party and independent candidates such as RFK Jr, who is currently polling at 17%. And this is nothing new! The hypocrisy of Democrats hurts my brain when they talk endlessly about protecting your right to vote while doing all they can to limit the choices on your ballot to Biden v. Trump. If Democrats truly believed in democracy, they wouldn't go apeshit every time somebody talks about Ralph Nader or Jill Stein. Actual democracy means people might vote for somebody other than your candidate, Democrats.
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What I'm struggling with this election season is whether to donate any cash to any Democrats at all. I've already written in here about how I donate to the Green Party at the state, national, and global levels. Do I stop there, or do I try to help Democrats in close elections in swing states, on the premise that I do prefer Democrats to Republicans for reasons other than "protecting democracy" or "climate change". Such as reproductive rights or gun safety or LGBT equality. Democrats are also marginally better on fiscal policy (including the social safety net) and judicial appointments. I oppose Biden's warmongering and imperialism, but I don't believe for a second that once Republicans are in power they'll go full isolationist and bring all the troops back home.
I don't argue that Democrats are "the same" as Republicans. I'd rather have four more years of senile Biden than four more years of senile Trump, but I do resent that y'all are putting that ridiculous senility choice before me.
I think gun safety is a lost cause, and LGBT equality is so far ahead of where it was when I was a kid, and even Democrats aren't facing up to our deepest fiscal challenges. But reproductive rights are essential to my dream of long-term sustainability, so I'm left debating whether and how to support Democrats in key races that could tip the balance toward reproductive rights. I had been thinking about Emily's List for this purpose, but Oath gives me some other options.
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I had to dig really hard to find the fine print, but Oath takes a fee out of donations made through their site: "processing fees generally range from 3.75% to 6% plus $0.20 to $0.30/transaction". This fee is larger than the typical credit card processing fee.
If I do use their suggestions regarding reproductive rights, I'll make my donations directly to the candidates/campaigns myself.
But here's where I hit one of my basic critiques of Democrats, and a major reason why I'm currently registered as a Green in Maryland (even though the Greens here lost their official party status, because they can't even pull 1% in a statewide election).
When Democrats have been in full power of the federal government, during the first two years of Obama's reign, and then the first two years of Biden's reign, they didn't do anything to limit the production of fossil fuels in the US, which is absolutely the first requirement of doing anyfuck about climate change. In order to reduce carbon emissions, you have to reduce the production (and so the consumption by somebody) of fossil fuels.
Under Obama, oil and natural gas extraction increased 64%!!! [So much for the "peak oil" worries of 20 years ago.]
So far under Biden, the US has continued to hit new record highs in oil and natural gas extraction during both 2022 and 2023, just as the US did under Trump during 2017-2019. Whatever the rhetoric of Democrats and Republicans, there's bipartisan agreement to continue expanding the production of oil & natural gas year after year after year after year ...
And my readers have heard this from me before --> subsidizing "clean" power doesn't do shit to stop people from also using "dirty" power. It's just a waste of money. And clean power isn't 100% clean anyway, fossil fuels are consumed in the process of clean power production.
So I don't believe there's any way to maximize my impact with respect to climate change by giving campaign cash to Democrats. I might give campaign cash to Democrats for other reasons, but not to stop climate change, because they won't. Democrats delude themselves about their climate change policies to the extent they aren't cynically lying to the rest of us.
-----
At this point in my life, I'd summarize my politics as follows:
First, we need to have a democracy, or everything else is pointless, because without democracy it doesn't matter what you or I think about anything, nondemocratic power will simply do whatever it must do to remain in power.
Next, under democracy, I would aim to create a truly sustainable set of relationships between our species and the planetary environment, without delusion, cynicism, half-measures, or lying; while sharing our sustainable production more fairly (and generally treating people more fairly) locally, nationally, and globally.
I have to rank sustainability first, because otherwise what's the point, we'll simply destroy everything on the planet by 2300AD (if not far sooner) and have nothing left to "share more fairly" amongst ourselves. This is ultimately why I choose Green over Socialist or Anarchist (or Capitalist LOL). How must we refashion our economics, our standard of living, and our population level to survive for centuries in harmony?
[One might conclude from the history of humanity that we cannot and will not do this.]
Sometimes I think I'm even more Green than the typical Green, because I reject the fantasy of a Green New Deal that would magically both end fossil fuels and increase living standards for the working class. Do the math LOL. I am here to bring poverty back to the entire human race LOL.
-----
Democrats claim they are the party of Protecting Democracy, which, if true, would be my top priority. If I truly believed this claim, then I would register as a Democrat and work for my sustainability priorities within the Democratic party.
Democrats argue that Republicans subvert democracy by ignoring election results, so we should support result-respecting Democrats instead. But as I've written before, this argument sounds circular and empty to me. I know people who believe that if Trump wins in November, we'll never have another election again in the US, similar to Germany after Hitler. Somehow we had an election in 2020 even though Trump was President. Somehow we gave the White House to Biden on Jan 20, 2021, even though Trump was President. But if Trump is President again, Democrats argue, then Game Over as we re-enact Hitler's Third Reich with WW3 and gas chambers.
Meanwhile, Democrats are doing all they can to deny ballot access to third party and independent candidates such as RFK Jr, who is currently polling at 17%. And this is nothing new! The hypocrisy of Democrats hurts my brain when they talk endlessly about protecting your right to vote while doing all they can to limit the choices on your ballot to Biden v. Trump. If Democrats truly believed in democracy, they wouldn't go apeshit every time somebody talks about Ralph Nader or Jill Stein. Actual democracy means people might vote for somebody other than your candidate, Democrats.
-----
What I'm struggling with this election season is whether to donate any cash to any Democrats at all. I've already written in here about how I donate to the Green Party at the state, national, and global levels. Do I stop there, or do I try to help Democrats in close elections in swing states, on the premise that I do prefer Democrats to Republicans for reasons other than "protecting democracy" or "climate change". Such as reproductive rights or gun safety or LGBT equality. Democrats are also marginally better on fiscal policy (including the social safety net) and judicial appointments. I oppose Biden's warmongering and imperialism, but I don't believe for a second that once Republicans are in power they'll go full isolationist and bring all the troops back home.
I don't argue that Democrats are "the same" as Republicans. I'd rather have four more years of senile Biden than four more years of senile Trump, but I do resent that y'all are putting that ridiculous senility choice before me.
I think gun safety is a lost cause, and LGBT equality is so far ahead of where it was when I was a kid, and even Democrats aren't facing up to our deepest fiscal challenges. But reproductive rights are essential to my dream of long-term sustainability, so I'm left debating whether and how to support Democrats in key races that could tip the balance toward reproductive rights. I had been thinking about Emily's List for this purpose, but Oath gives me some other options.
-----
I had to dig really hard to find the fine print, but Oath takes a fee out of donations made through their site: "processing fees generally range from 3.75% to 6% plus $0.20 to $0.30/transaction". This fee is larger than the typical credit card processing fee.
If I do use their suggestions regarding reproductive rights, I'll make my donations directly to the candidates/campaigns myself.