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J-Pat : Jason Patrick Quinn's avatar

This is one of, if not the best, pieces of writing i've seen which seeks to examine and articulate the extreme, ugly bi-partisanship which afflicts US politics, the disenchantment and disgust many "Leftist" *former* Democratic party voters supporters have either begun to or have felt about the Party establishment for some time.

It rings a particularly familiar note to many ex-Labour Party leftists in the U.K.

I currently work and reside in the U.K. I am a Dual National with dual citizenship due to my parents being a U.S. & U.K. (father and mother respectively) citizen. I hail from New Jersey.

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c1ue's avatar

A good writeup but a key issue is overlooked: the present political situation is as much, if not more, a class outcome as it is about the duopoly.

For example: the duopoly in politics exists for many reasons but principally because power in a "winner takes all" system is always going to aggregate into 2 camps.

But the problem isn't the duopoly per se - it is that direct linkage to government is the overwhelming driver of wealth. The wealthiest counties in the United States are no longer New York, San Francisco and the like - it is the counties in and around Washington DC. Politicians used to go into government to serve - now they clearly go into government to become rich (or richer). The demographic drivers of the Democrat party are no longer the working class - they are the PMCs - the professional, managerial class furthermore aggregated by Twitter and other social media into literally comically synchronized speech.

So yes, the demonization of the other side - it isn't just Democrats demonizing Trump supporters; the same exists for a number of groups in the Democrat coalition by red staters - is a desired outcome if a ruling class wants to ensure its failed policies and incompetence don't lead to their being removed from the reins of power and money.

And thus while I fully agree with your proposition of civic engagement in the interests of improving the lot of the 90% - what is unclear to me is how this can occur given the political entrenchment in the leadership of the American political class overall, plus the entrenchment within the Federal (and to varying degrees, state) government bureaucracies, plus the entrenchment within the entire upper class from doctors to lawyers to CEOs to consultants.

From my personal view: the ongoing existence of the oozing wound that is American health care is the most obvious sign that leadership in this country has failed, and worse, failed for the most egregiously selfish and fiduciarily incompetent reasons.

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