this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2026
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Also if a dem candidate is running on a bad platform the relevant time to criticize that is while they're running, since that's the whole point of the platform. There are criticisms which make the most sense to mention at specific times. Trying to mention a Democrats anti-trans ad, for example, and how that negatively affects trans people after the ad is off the air and the election is over makes no sense.
If that were true then you'd never had Harris or Biden as nominees. Universal healthcare is massively popular, as is almost every other common left-wing policy - No wars, less money for the military, fix infrastructure. These are all policies with majority support, they are massively popular.
Politicians get picked by an oligarchic elite that then manipulates the minority of the electorate who isn't completely checked out or alienated from voting, into voting for their capitalist stooge. Anytime an actual popular candidate appears to get traction they are immediately hamstrung and sabotaged. This is not a bug but a feature of the democratic party and the larger duopolitic structure that masquerades as a "democracy".
And, this is crucial, I really need the non voters to listen to this:
We can all influence how popular a policy is
The popularity of a policy does not at all influence whether a dem advances it.
Exactly. People tend to be a bit myopic on the left. They struggle to look beyond their distaste for specific parts of specific people to see the ideal strategy for change.
Republicans get this in spades. Your campaign rhetoric is virtually irrelevant after the primaries beyond its value in securing votes. Securing state and local government control is critical if you want to protect (or disenfranchise) a specific voting bloc.
We're so busy eating our own for not being good enough that we just end up losing.
I'm aggressively progressive - I support reparations, reducing funding of police in favor of mental health care, free health care for all, UBI, etc - but holy shit does the left have no clue how to achieve their goals.
UBI is cool, but I recently watched some videos by Hazel Thayer that advocate for Universal Basic Services instead. Basically, if you give people UBI that covers the cost of rent, you're putting money in landlords' pockets. And I hate landlords! Guaranteeing free social housing for everyone would fix that problem. We should have basic housing, basic food, basic medicine, basic education, basic clothes, basic electricity.
UBI is cool because it's easy to implement in policy overnight. It would take one single bill to do it. But UBS is a recipe for a better society, with less wealth going to capitalists.
Valid argument and probably correct. You've certainly nailed the appeal of UBI vs UBS.
The only thing I'd consider "better" about UBI is some amount of discretionary spending and choice
I might be be happy living in a shoebox apartment in NYC and keeping extra money for food or entertainment, while you might prefer a nicer apartment with simple food and your existing library of books.