Obama, Alex Jones, Julia Salazar: 3 Stories You Should Read Today – 8/2/2018
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In the category of: A term you should learn because it really does mean something.
Democratic socialism, explained by a democratic socialist
It’s not just New Deal liberalism.
Big reforms can dramatically change the political conversation
Today’s democratic socialists don’t see positive policy reforms as something we’ll stack up until one day, voilà!, we have socialism. As DSA member and New York state Senate candidate Julia Salazar told me in a recent interview for Jacobin, “There’s no question that we have to expand and comprehensively fund the social safety net, but if we do that without altering the more basic structures that disempower people and keep them in wage slavery, we’re never going to see long-term social change.”
That’s why when democratic socialists choose reforms to rally behind, we favor battles with the potential to transform ordinary people’s lives for the better and teach millions of people the value of uniting to fight the capitalist Goliaths currently in charge of our society.
In the category of: Reasonable questions
CAN AMERICA SURVIVE THE INTERNET OF ALEX JONES?
The culture wars over social-media hoaxes, Russian propaganda, and 3-D-printed guns insinuate a darker truth: maybe the Constitution wasn’t built for the future we’re creating.
The central problem, of course, is not Jones and Wilson, who clearly have ideals they believe in, which we can agree or disagree with. It’s that the U.S. Constitution, which was written over 230 years ago, could never have foreseen the way people with these ideas and ideals would attempt to distort the original intent of the Constitution to fit their arguments today. I’ve been writing about technology for decades, and have seen things intended for one use be twisted for a very different purpose. The first time I saw a 3-D printer, for instance, it never occurred to me that someone would use it to offer gun blueprints to children and felons online, and then cite the First Amendment as their justification. (On the contrary, I thought it would be fun to make my own wall hooks.) I can’t imagine that James Madison, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton would have had the foresight to imagine that would happen, either.
In the category of: It’s about time.
Obama’s return sets up a heavyweight fight with Trump
A battle between two heavyweights is on: It’s President Trump versus former President Obama for the 2018 midterms.
Some liberals have been frustrated by Obama for keeping a low profile since leaving office. With the former president offstage, the Democratic Party has lacked an obvious leader as it seeks to recover from a devastating 2016 election cycle and the ongoing conflicts between the grass-roots and establishment wings of the party.
But Obama announced his return to politics on Wednesday, endorsing dozens of Democratic candidates at all levels of government. The president also has a memoir on the way and a deal with Netflix. He had been working behind the scenes to raise money for the Democratic campaign arms and a few candidates.
The endorsements marked a cautious first dip into the 2018 midterms cycle for the former president, who notably steered clear of several high-profile or contentious races on Wednesday.
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