Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Standing Up for Free Speech

Tags: activism, news
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  • 4 comments
...go 2 levels up... Expand
tomtac

Re: Yes...

tomtac

March 16 2016, 00:45:31 UTC 5 years ago

>> Frankly I hope they field a different candidate and Trump runs Independent. While I abhor America's tendency to reduce a wide field to two parties in which a third-party candidate does nothing but ensure the more similar candidate won't win, I remain willing to take advantage of this in such situations.

Something "reverse-but-similar" may happen.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/top-conservatives-gather-to-plot-third-party-run-against-trump-220786

I have mixed feelings about this. My gut suspects that "top conservatives" correlate with "thoroughly bought politicians and their rich sponsors". One thing that has happened this year is that the "rich sponsors" have found themselves emasculated. Usually, they just pay some candidate's way, and then can order them around like a puppet because they need the money and because a politician has to win more than the next election.

None of these things apply to Trump, especially the "order around" part. For once, the rich cannot get the Republican front runner to pay attention to them.

My "mixed feelings" come from the possibility that I might have to cheer these plutocrats on, for once.
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

March 16 2016, 00:59:25 UTC 5 years ago

>>My "mixed feelings" come from the possibility that I might have to cheer these plutocrats on, for once.<<

I am an old-guard activist. The things I learned are not taught or practiced much anymore. But here they are anyhow.

* You do not have to like someone to work with them.

* You do not have to agree with them either.

* All you need is a common goal. Ideally, it should be sufficiently valuable to both of you that you're willing to be at least vaguely civil and cooperate together.

* But you can also work on a common goal separately. This includes you noticing that somebody else's actions are advantageous to you, and thus support them.

* Try not to alienate people completely. Even if you disagree on today's issue, you may find yourself agreeing on something else tomorrow and would benefit from working together. This is difficult if you hate each other.

I may have mixed feelings, but I don't have to let that get in the way of me making use of opportunities. Would I trust plutocrats? Of course not. But they're predictable, so I can rely on them to follow certain patterns of behavior.