If you're already familiar with this idea, this won't be news to you.
It is often argued that the US doesn't have two parties, but one. Then, people criticize the notion by showing how Republicans and Democrats reverse each other's policies whenever the Presidency or Congress changes hands.
So, fine: it's not one party in that way. Rather, it is a one-party state in the way other one-party states with token opposition are. The thing about being controlled opposition is that you don't necessarily know you're controlled or even agree to be. Instead, norms and power structures are arranged such that, as the opposition, you are limited in how much you can disrupt the status quo. You can even get your turn at the wheel sometimes, but your ability to impact anything is relatively small--and changes you do make are likely to be rolled back.
It wasn't always like this. I'd say the trend began with Nixon, though it's fair to say that every President has built on the excesses of his predecessors. Nixon certainly had designs on being nearly dictatorial, and having to resign in disgrace is a wound the GOP never got over. You can see the escalating levels of power asserted by Republican Presidents with Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump.
Democrats did have choices. But because they require the power of capital to fund and operate their campaigns, allying with leftists or even progressives is usually untenable. So, they end up supporting Republican efforts to shore up the interests of capital. This makes them dependent on the whims of Republicans, and limits their options in terms of representing any real opposition. After all, they can't bite the hand that feeds them, and corporate America feeds both parties.
Dems' status as controlled opposition is probably clearest when they run and lose elections. They immediately blame leftists, which are too few in number to swing anything. They also take up all the space for any resistance to the Republican agenda, then they do little or nothing to actually obstruct it. When they have to choose between supporting their left flank and enabling fascists, they always choose the latter.
Pretty much the second Trump won last year, Dems ran straight to blaming leftists, and even gloated about the harm that would be done to marginalized people as a just punishment for not supporting Kamala Harris. Why don't they sound like they're on our side? Because they simply aren't, and haven't been for decades, if ever.
I'm not going to say you shouldn't vote, as even a small impact is better than none, but nobody should put their hopes on electoral solutions to any of the dire problems that plague this country. We're way, way past that point.
It is often argued that the US doesn't have two parties, but one. Then, people criticize the notion by showing how Republicans and Democrats reverse each other's policies whenever the Presidency or Congress changes hands.
So, fine: it's not one party in that way. Rather, it is a one-party state in the way other one-party states with token opposition are. The thing about being controlled opposition is that you don't necessarily know you're controlled or even agree to be. Instead, norms and power structures are arranged such that, as the opposition, you are limited in how much you can disrupt the status quo. You can even get your turn at the wheel sometimes, but your ability to impact anything is relatively small--and changes you do make are likely to be rolled back.
It wasn't always like this. I'd say the trend began with Nixon, though it's fair to say that every President has built on the excesses of his predecessors. Nixon certainly had designs on being nearly dictatorial, and having to resign in disgrace is a wound the GOP never got over. You can see the escalating levels of power asserted by Republican Presidents with Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump.
Democrats did have choices. But because they require the power of capital to fund and operate their campaigns, allying with leftists or even progressives is usually untenable. So, they end up supporting Republican efforts to shore up the interests of capital. This makes them dependent on the whims of Republicans, and limits their options in terms of representing any real opposition. After all, they can't bite the hand that feeds them, and corporate America feeds both parties.
Dems' status as controlled opposition is probably clearest when they run and lose elections. They immediately blame leftists, which are too few in number to swing anything. They also take up all the space for any resistance to the Republican agenda, then they do little or nothing to actually obstruct it. When they have to choose between supporting their left flank and enabling fascists, they always choose the latter.
Pretty much the second Trump won last year, Dems ran straight to blaming leftists, and even gloated about the harm that would be done to marginalized people as a just punishment for not supporting Kamala Harris. Why don't they sound like they're on our side? Because they simply aren't, and haven't been for decades, if ever.
I'm not going to say you shouldn't vote, as even a small impact is better than none, but nobody should put their hopes on electoral solutions to any of the dire problems that plague this country. We're way, way past that point.
the horrors persist, but so do we
(aka large mozz)
(aka large mozz)