So JKD points out that the New Deal is dead. With it, I imagine the notion that government can be a collection of people and resources put towards the easing of human suffering. And frankly, for me that just sucks.
It seems like the general hatred of government has been generalized to include minorities of all stripes. Ie, government has become something that only works for and with those who are "not mainstream." If government is tied to the left, and tied to people giving money to blacks and rights to gays, then what do we do. By separating government from mainstream values the Right has effectively shot the Left with a magic bullet...hitting us twice.
So...what the fuck do we do? I personally would love to rehab the image of the government. But I think that that may be too close to a heroic reeducation project...the intellectual version of the TVA.
Can Democrats demonize government? Can we say, that government (this wonderful abstract concept) no longer represents the values of fairness, mutual responsibility. I think we can. Government is no longer about helping the little guy, it's about maintaining power for partisan ideologues (or a more red state friendly word). Government (ie, CIA, FBI) are now owned by partisans, and the little guy never gets a fair chance.
Can Democrats talk about values without bringing up our desire to use government towards the end of making things better? Democrats fight for better jobs. Democrats work for working people. and not mention government.
I need to read the sermon on the mount, I'm told it's all Jesusy, but also about loving and respecting others. As Sun Tzu said, "Know the enemy (not christians, but the right) and know thyself and in a 1,000 battles you will not know defeat."
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"Can Democrats talk about values without bringing up our desire to use government towards the end of making things better?"
You're not quite understanding me, Aaron - we should no longer HAVE the desire to use goverment towards the end of making things better.
THAT is the lesson.
So you think that the result is to give up on government as a curative for people's problems?
I don't know that I'm able to go that far, but maybe that's where I have to get to.
"So you think that the result is to give up on government as a curative for people's problems?"
Yes. Because it doesn't work.
There are back-end ways of reframing just what "government" is when providing policy solutions, that can be dealt with when we get back in power.
Among other things - get big business on our side. Why/how? They are pretty damn well aware of just how insufficient the American educational system is in terms of producing workers who can do things (e.g., write, read, etc.). So start by getting big business (and small-business alliances) working with Democratic governors and legislatures to implement job-training programs.
Have tax abatements tied to the training and hiring of workers within those states.
Etc. Somebody else pick this ball up and run with it...
Education is a government program. Public private partnerships are all the rage, but I think it's hard to imagine corporations trying to limit the pool of employees. Would it be like a credit that you get for hiring an Iowan? So that a person coming through your Iowa jobs program would be a more advantageous hire because you'd get to "write them off?"
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