Honestly, Joe Biden may go down as one of the worst, weakest presidents in history.
He epitomizes the sorry state of the Democratic Party — old, out of touch, ineffectual, beholden to special interests, and wasting time in the face of pressing crises.
Strong Weimar vibes.
For decades, the right has worked to weaken/dismantle/complicate the federal government to the point where another New Deal was impossible. It has largely succeeded (with help from neoliberal Democrats).
Between the filibuster, the unleashed political spending, and the outsourcing of government jobs to the private sector through public-private partnerships, government today barely functions.
The COVID pandemic, more than anything in my lifetime — more than the 2016 or 2020 primaries — has really revealed where people stand on the role of government.
Neoliberalism has been deeply woven into our social fabric indeed.
The idea that public health, in a deadly pandemic, should be left to individual choice, the private sector, and states rather than the federal government? Neoliberalism.
The idea that there is no social contract and any restriction on individuals is tyranny? More neoliberalism.
Because what these ideas really boil down to is simple: there should be no infringement on capital by government.
Hop, skip, and a jump from the reactionary,neoliberal pandemic response to right-to-work laws and support for free trade.
Anti-vaxxers often claim there’s a conspiracy to vaccinate everyone. The opposite is true.
Pfizer and Moderna have been fighting efforts at the WTO to share their vaccine IP with the world — between that and drug pricing, it’s their top priority right now.
Doses expiring before they get into people’s arms works out just fine for these companies bc governments will need to buy more jabs.
Global vaccine apartheid works for them too bc new variants emerging means more vaccines — potentially even new vaccines — will be needed.
We know these companies have prioritized wealthy nations that can afford their products.
April 30, 2020 letter from ALEC to President Trump urging him to reopen America.
Similar arguments are being used today by self-identified leftists against public health measures. alec.org/article/empowe…
Another right-wing, business-aligned group making these arguments at the time was the Koch-founded FreedomWorks, which organized Tea Party protests in 2009 and anti-lockdown protests in April 2020. nytimes.com/2020/04/21/us/…
In March 2021, DonorsTrust, another Koch affiliate, started spending big to spread the narrative that the pandemic death toll was actually due to public health measures.
The COVID pandemic is a historic wasted opportunity for the American left. What ought to have been a moment for progressives to promote an alternative to neoliberalism has been defined by tacit acceptance and, in some cases, outright promotion under the guise of "freedom."
Early on, it looked like that might have been possible. Bernie Sanders and members of the Squad were calling for $2,000 monthly checks.
But, even as the U.S. prepares to enter yet another COVID wave, those voices are silent -- and programs like that aren't part of the discourse.
~800,000 Americans have already died from this virus while the federal government has left mitigation efforts largely up to the states and private sector.
Where is the progressive reimagining of the role of government? Nowhere to be found.