Indeed.
It’s only bad when it’s the other guy.
The hollowing out that has happened in just a few weeks, the knowledge loss and the jettisoning of systems/processes/data/etc…I doubt the US will ever recover. I guess all that remains to be seen is whether or not economic decline will follow the same trajectory.
So, now we live in a world where China is the most stable nuclear power. When history looks back at why power shifted eastward, it’ll be how the west reacted to everything post-2008.
And further: back to the late 1970s, and the launch of the neoliberal agenda on the unsuspecting masses.
These shenanigans from Trump will play into China’s hands,they are not slow to build up a circle of friends.
Once again throws light on just how fucking stupid this administration is.
Thanks @RedOverTheWater
I don’t plan on posting much about politics here. I’m here to talk about my favorite sporting club.
My frustration lies with the Democratic Party becoming so focused on issues most people don’t care about - or are actively hostile towards - that to wide swaths of the country, they’ve become irrelevant, even if their economic message is popular with those same people. I have often voted Democrat over the past decade, including in the last election, mainly because I couldn’t stand the guy on the other side. But the party has to course correct. They will most likely win the elections in 2026, but it’s hard to see this version of the party winning the Presidency anytime soon.
I use the trans issue as one of several issues the Democratic activist class has pushed to absurd extremes. It’s pretty simple. Most Americans don’t care if someone gets a sex change. I think most Americans are genuinely sympathetic to those who truly suffer from gender dysphoria. But most Americans don’t want biological males playing in women’s sports either. Having long pedantic discussions about “What is a male?” just turns most people off, or worse makes the party look crazy.
I could have used race instead of trans issues as another wedge issue the Democrats took to absurd extremes as well. “Tax the billionaires” is actually a pretty popular policy issue with the American people. But if you’re obsessed with the “intersectionality of oppressive hierarchical social structures,” ie you’re a piece of sh!t if you’re a white guy, it’s not a surprise that people tune you out when you discuss economics.
One more thing before I duck out of this discussion. The Republicans biggest gains were in blue cities. Far extreme left wing local politicians were turfed for allowing urban disorder.
My first trip after the pandemic was to LA for a series of meetings - coincidentally one with the guy who would eventually buy Chelsea FC. I arrived at my hotel in Santa Monica a few hours before the meeting so I thought I’d go for a walk. There’s a Target store close to my hotel, and I needed to pick something up. As I entered the store, the doors opened and the alarm started going off. Two young women with armfuls of clothes still on hangers ran by me out of the store. They dumped their stolen goods into their car and drove off. I saw the security guard. You know what he did? Absolutely nothing.
As I walked through Santa Monica, I went into several other stores. At least twice, I heard political advertisements on the radio blasting the criminality on the streets. These ads reminded me of ones I used to hear in rural Georgia in the 1990s. But this was LA in the 2020s.
The Democrats got way too far to the left, enthralled by the extremist theories of their crazy activist class. This is one reason why Donald Trump got re-elected. If you’re here pushing “colonial/settler” theories and other far left wing racist nonsense, you’re a big reason why the Democrats lost.
Great honest post but the above statement bugs me and I can’t fully explain why. The Democrats are not left leaning, not by a long way but they have not convinced anyone that doing the right thing by the environment, economy, and all the rest is actually in peoples best interest.
Yeah, it’s so hard for us in Europe to think of the Democrats as radical leftists. They’d be a centre right party here. Even Conservative parties in Europe support universal healthcare, for example. I still don’t get the impression that they are ramming extreme positions down people’s throats, that narrative comes from the right wing media. Obviously I’m not there, but I followed the election as closely as anyone in another country could, and I don’t remember the Harris team even mentioning Trans sportspeople, let alone forcing the issue.
That’s absolutely nothing to do with blue cities though?
Employees of big retail stores are quite literally banned by corporate from intervening because retail stores are insured and the likely cost of being sued for hurting a shoplifter in any attempt to stop them is way higher than the few hundred dollars of stuff they may take.
@toro the following would be the textbook definition of a left-leaning government. I think you are using the term “extremely leftist” very incorrectly.
Democrats haven’t gone to war for any of these policies. Literally none! The Democratic Party of the US is like a conservative-light party.
A very left-leaning government typically promotes policies centered around economic equality, social justice, and government intervention in the economy to protect workers and marginalized communities. The exact policies can vary depending on the country and political tradition, but here are some common areas of focus:
Economic Policies
• Progressive Taxation: Higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations to fund social programs.
• Universal Healthcare: Publicly funded healthcare systems to ensure medical care for all citizens.
• Strong Workers’ Rights: Higher minimum wages, union protections, and labor-friendly regulations.
• Public Ownership & Regulation: Nationalization of key industries (e.g., energy, transportation) or strong government regulation of big businesses.
• Universal Basic Income (UBI): Direct cash payments to all citizens to reduce poverty and economic insecurity.
Social & Welfare Policies
• Expansive Social Safety Nets: Increased welfare programs, unemployment benefits, and housing assistance.
• Affordable Housing Initiatives: Government-funded housing or rent controls to combat homelessness.
• Free or Subsidized Education: Free public college, student debt relief, or universal early childhood education.
Environmental Policies
• Aggressive Climate Action: Investments in renewable energy, phasing out fossil fuels, and strict environmental regulations.
• Green New Deal-Style Policies: Large-scale public projects to create green jobs and transition to a sustainable economy.
Civil Rights & Social Justice
• Criminal Justice Reform: Reducing incarceration rates, eliminating private prisons, and rehabilitative justice over punitive measures.
• Expanding LGBTQ+ & Minority Rights: Legal protections, anti-discrimination laws, and affirmative action policies.
• Immigrant-Friendly Policies: Pathways to citizenship, refugee protections, and fewer immigration restrictions.
Foreign Policy
• Anti-Imperialism & Diplomacy-Focused Strategies: Reduced military interventions, emphasis on diplomacy and international cooperation.
• Fair Trade Over Free Trade: Trade policies that protect workers and the environment rather than prioritizing corporate interests.
Because they didn’t. For all the criticism that Democrats are obsessed with identity politics there is only one side that actually talks about it non-stop and that side won. People didn’t vote Republican to avoid identity politics, they voted Republican because they share the same identity politics.
The extreme-left Democrats criticism is bizarre. As other have pointed out Democrats are not extreme in any capacity, they are the very definition of centrist.
Also as others have pointed out just because the Republicans won the last election doesn’t mean their positions are morally correct or that Democrats should bend to them.
It reeks of right wing news media poisoning the narrative. It’s neither left or right wing to say that trans people exist and deserve to participate in our society. To label this as extreme-left is a failure to understand what left politics are.
This is Putin-esque, I fear we will see much more of this and there is no one stopping him.
Edit
Due to our history, I think it’s important to point this out… we have a word for it and that’s “Gleichschaltung”, (we are really good at making up words ) but perhaps it would be appropriate to google that.
Gleichschaltung refers to the forced integration of all social, economic, political and cultural forces into the uniform organization of a dictatorship that ideologically appropriates and controls them.
Far be it for me to promote sexist language, but it was difficult not to be amused by the nickname i heard recently: Bondi Bitch 
Careful with those analogies, they make some people very mad…
But yet here we are talking about radical leftists, because of issues that have very little impact on most people and the Dems didn’t actually campaign on, while the Republicans and a bunch of oligarchs are delivering the most radical right-wing extremist assault on American society/government that will affect everyone.
In the US, being left is often confused with being very socially liberal. I hear it from very educated Americans too, all the time. Many don’t seem to know that it’s really about economics.
The truth is that I am less socially liberal (I think the culture war stuff is absurd at times and self castrating and often leads to very unecessary conflict and polarisation) than many in the US Democratic party, but I am still very much to the left of that party.
