Does today's left and center-left really have much more static impeding communication and creating self-righteousness than was the case in the past? I could be convinced, I suppose...
My view as a Brit transplanted to the US at the end of the1980s.
When I arrived, I couldn't tell the difference between the GOP and the Democrats when their pols spoke. I needed to know their party affiliation. They all sounded very similar compared to British politicians. After 30+ years, that is no longer true. The two parties are clearly very different, and that is not because I have learned to distinguish them, but because what the pols say is very different now.
Regarding a "golden age". I only know British political history, and was fully cognizant of what was happening by the late 1960s. British politics very very fractious in those days, with a lot of vitriol thrown at each side by the others and various institutions and media. Today, the Tory and Labour parties have policies far closer together than they did back then.
What seems to be similar in the UK and US (and AUS, and a number of EU countries) is a rather nasty trend towards fascism. Martin Wolf may be correct about the economic causes, although I think he cannot be entirely correct given the differences in the economic changes across the different countries. Something else is going on.
What we cannot have is the US and China both authoritarian in outlook, with India following, and the EU belatedly going in the same direction. This will not end well, with abundant examples from history to support this.
I don’t know Brad - Pre-McConnell DC really was different in my recollection. Things were well along sliding in the wrong direction but the imperative of governing was pre-vestigial, and the monetization of gridlock was in its teen years. Those were big differences.
An attack on stutterers gets him off my list. It's a sad joke to see very wealthy podcasters playing roles they hope will put more bucks in their pockets
Mr. Buetler seems to be suffering from "Golden Ageism" the belief that some prior eta was superior to the present. He's actually a little young to be falling into this error. It is usually the fault of old codgers like me. As you pointed out obliquely in Slouching, these are the good old days.
But, Brad, are you considering how much of this tension is generational? Brian Buetler's "relative place" in the thoughtverse may have changed, but his position relative to you and me has not. He may be distinguishing himself from (mostly younger) list-of-117ers, but he's one with them in not wanting to be ruled by an octogenarian.
I think of Sondheim's twenty or thirty somethings, in "Merrily We Roll Along," singing "Our Time" on the rooftop. Nuance isn't their strong suit. Self-importance is. But it can hardly be otherwise.
Oh yes. Absolutely. But 'what we are' is a lot of moving parts. Not many stakeholders, for fear of Trump, are going to sit down and shut up for a year and a half election cycle. Geopolitics never stops. Political maneuvering never stops. And would-be influencers need something to write about.
And what about us Center Right (I guess if "center right" means a stronger safety net/life circumstances transfers like CTC? and UI paid for with taxes, net taxation of net CO2 emissions, low fiscal deficits at full employment, merit based immigration, free trade agreements with everybody but ..., greater support for science and research and development? It's tough when a Party has to supply its own Loyal Opposition
The notion of Governor Harris really jumped out to me. Why would we want to test her arguably suspect skills by putting the world's eighth largest economy at risk? Let her to try being mayor of Sacramento. If that works out, she can practice for awhile on an entire state.
But then I realized that this unlikely risk is not what should have caught my attention.
Why do you prefer Governor Pritzker over Governor Newsom?
She has run the California AG's office. That's a bigger operation than the Sacramento Mayoralty—but neither has the complexity of a state. Pritzker is a very impressive guy.
Agreed that Pritzker has proven himself adept and possessed of both a spine and a heart. Newsom, for reasons I am unable to articulate, does not inspire trust; I see the French Laundry episode as telling vis a vis character. Unfortunately, Pritzker is affected by the same disadvantage as Christy. It is impolite to notice these things, but we need to be realistic about the shallowness of our fellow citizens. We need to keep looking.
My view as a Brit transplanted to the US at the end of the1980s.
When I arrived, I couldn't tell the difference between the GOP and the Democrats when their pols spoke. I needed to know their party affiliation. They all sounded very similar compared to British politicians. After 30+ years, that is no longer true. The two parties are clearly very different, and that is not because I have learned to distinguish them, but because what the pols say is very different now.
Regarding a "golden age". I only know British political history, and was fully cognizant of what was happening by the late 1960s. British politics very very fractious in those days, with a lot of vitriol thrown at each side by the others and various institutions and media. Today, the Tory and Labour parties have policies far closer together than they did back then.
What seems to be similar in the UK and US (and AUS, and a number of EU countries) is a rather nasty trend towards fascism. Martin Wolf may be correct about the economic causes, although I think he cannot be entirely correct given the differences in the economic changes across the different countries. Something else is going on.
What we cannot have is the US and China both authoritarian in outlook, with India following, and the EU belatedly going in the same direction. This will not end well, with abundant examples from history to support this.
I don’t know Brad - Pre-McConnell DC really was different in my recollection. Things were well along sliding in the wrong direction but the imperative of governing was pre-vestigial, and the monetization of gridlock was in its teen years. Those were big differences.
An attack on stutterers gets him off my list. It's a sad joke to see very wealthy podcasters playing roles they hope will put more bucks in their pockets
Mr. Buetler seems to be suffering from "Golden Ageism" the belief that some prior eta was superior to the present. He's actually a little young to be falling into this error. It is usually the fault of old codgers like me. As you pointed out obliquely in Slouching, these are the good old days.
But, Brad, are you considering how much of this tension is generational? Brian Buetler's "relative place" in the thoughtverse may have changed, but his position relative to you and me has not. He may be distinguishing himself from (mostly younger) list-of-117ers, but he's one with them in not wanting to be ruled by an octogenarian.
I think of Sondheim's twenty or thirty somethings, in "Merrily We Roll Along," singing "Our Time" on the rooftop. Nuance isn't their strong suit. Self-importance is. But it can hardly be otherwise.
Hell. I don't want to be ruled by somebody who grew up in the 1950s. But what we are, we are. We are not something else.
Oh yes. Absolutely. But 'what we are' is a lot of moving parts. Not many stakeholders, for fear of Trump, are going to sit down and shut up for a year and a half election cycle. Geopolitics never stops. Political maneuvering never stops. And would-be influencers need something to write about.
And what about us Center Right (I guess if "center right" means a stronger safety net/life circumstances transfers like CTC? and UI paid for with taxes, net taxation of net CO2 emissions, low fiscal deficits at full employment, merit based immigration, free trade agreements with everybody but ..., greater support for science and research and development? It's tough when a Party has to supply its own Loyal Opposition
Center-right has a much bigger problem—and, really, has had one since 1983, or perhaps since 1981...
If I were going to nominate anyone other than Biden, I would look at a Whitmer-Cooper ticket.
The notion of Governor Harris really jumped out to me. Why would we want to test her arguably suspect skills by putting the world's eighth largest economy at risk? Let her to try being mayor of Sacramento. If that works out, she can practice for awhile on an entire state.
But then I realized that this unlikely risk is not what should have caught my attention.
Why do you prefer Governor Pritzker over Governor Newsom?
She has run the California AG's office. That's a bigger operation than the Sacramento Mayoralty—but neither has the complexity of a state. Pritzker is a very impressive guy.
Agreed that Pritzker has proven himself adept and possessed of both a spine and a heart. Newsom, for reasons I am unable to articulate, does not inspire trust; I see the French Laundry episode as telling vis a vis character. Unfortunately, Pritzker is affected by the same disadvantage as Christy. It is impolite to notice these things, but we need to be realistic about the shallowness of our fellow citizens. We need to keep looking.