Martinez campaigned on a platform focused on affordable insurance, stronger local infrastructure, and expanded access to health care, including mental health and substance-abuse services. She also focused on government transparency, support for public education, and advocacy for working families.
It’s almost like if you focus on the stuff that’s most important to the vast majority of voters, you’ll get more votes. Hmm…
I was in SF last year for a 9ers game (stayed in San Mateo, did a bunch of touristy stuff in SF and of course the actual game was in Santa Clara). Some homeless people digging through the trash in Portsmouth Square Park. I think someone tried to break into our Airbnb, too. But, I never really felt unsafe. It’s not really any worse than most any other big city in the US. Kinda run down, seems like it could use some TLC, but that’s true of most American cities. And of course everything is stupid expensive.
The worst part was the traffic, imo. We used Caltrain and I think Bart? Idk, it was confusing. And expensive. And slow. But we also did a fair amount of driving, and driving around SF is like my own personal hell. To be fair, though, I generally hate driving in any major US city. But I think SF is worse than most.
SF isn’t terrible, but it ain’t great, either.
I don’t claim to be the ultimate authority on what is or is not considered socialism.
They’re basically cult members. I feel bad for them.
I agree, socialism is a great idea.
If the Democrats want to have any future at all, they need to become a majoritarian party, not a party of elites or special interests. And, just to be clear, they need to be a party of the majority of PEOPLE, not a party of the people who have a majority of the MONEY. People, not dollars.
The results will be “honest” if they are good for him.
It all seems so obvious, but I suppose that’s where we are as a country in 2026.
Billionaires become billionaires because they want all of the power and privileges that come along with it. If having the total freedom and liberty to do whatever you want is your goal, there doesn’t seem to be any better way to accomplish that than to become obscenely rich. And I think that’s why so many people tolerate this cultural, social arrangement: because their goals are aligned with the super wealthy. The difference between the rich and the poor isn’t their values, it’s their net worth. That’s why everyone is hustling so hard every day to try and get as rich as possible, so that one day, maybe, they might be the one laying out on the deck of a yacht, drinking expensive champagne, snorting coke and getting a hand job from a beautiful, young girl.
I guess I just think you’re holding onto the idea of a world (or the USA) that no longer exists.
Not necessarily. I think we are in the early days of the unwinding of US hegemony. I really don’t think anything is going to stop that, at this point, and I think that’s a good thing for the world, and even the US, in the long run. But I think a weakening US is at least potentially a dangerous thing, in the near term. I hope leveler heads will prevail but I’m not sure there are enough of those around in this country right now. I definitely hope I’m wrong, though.
I think the US might even collapse. Not necessarily in the very near future, but at some point. And by collapse I mean the Federation dissolves and the Federal government ceases to exist. Some states might try to become independent nations, some might try to form a new federation or union. I’m not saying I think that’s going to happen, or even that I think it’s likely, but I think it’s a possibility, albeit perhaps a remote one.
There are a lot of future possibilities for the US, some better than others, but I don’t know which future will happen nor which future “should” happen, necessarily. I just don’t know. But I assure you, I’m not under any delusion that we can return to some mythical, stable past where everything was sunshine and roses. No, the past ain’t coming back, nor should it. But that’s the extent of what I’m confident about. Beyond that the future is a dense fog of possibility, and I certainly don’t have the clarity to see which we are headed for.
It’s why it’s so difficult for you to state any concrete plan
I haven’t stated a concrete plan because I don’t have one. I have a general idea of what I want the US to be, but I have no idea how to bring that about. But even my general idea is not static. I constantly go back and forth on what I even want for this country. Do I want the US to even continue existing? Should we “balkanize?” Should the Federation remain in place, but perhaps with a significantly “weakened” Federal government? Or, should the opposite happen, with more centralization and nationalisation? I just don’t know. I suppose there are advantages and disadvantages to all.
I think a majority of Americans want the US to remain one nation, but I also think there’s confusion about what the even means. A nation is more than a legal or civic arrangement. A nation is a group of people who share a common culture, language, traditions, beliefs, etc. I suppose we do share a lot of those things, but not necessarily all. And so when any American talks about America as a nation, I think they’re talking about their own conception of it, their own experience of it, and our own conceptions and experiences of being “American” differ. I think that’s part of what’s happening right now: different Americans competing for the power to define what it means to be American, for all.
But, ultimately, it’s not up to me, anyway. I don’t have the power to determine America’s future. I’m just along for the ride.
You’re right, I’m too scared. I’m clearly not cut out for this resistance stuff. But I’m sure you’ve got what it takes, so I’m pulling for you. Go get those fascists!
Do you have a line?
What’s yours? If your line has been crossed, you go do something about it. Go ahead. I’m rooting for you.
Look, go play soldier then. Go ahead. Go on, March to war. Good luck, I hope you win.
They already ARE escalating
If you think this is the maximum extent of how far they could escalate things, you are delusional.
There’s a reason why they wear masks, why they lie, manipulate and spread propaganda: because they can’t yet act with total impunity. If they could they wouldn’t bother with the masks or the secrecy, they’d just roll their tanks down every main street in the nation, capturing and/or killing anyone they felt like. They want that, but they can’t possibly get away with that. Yet. There are too many citizens and social, cultural, and political institutions preventing them from the full, violent takeover that they want.
However, if they can convince enough Americans that the “violent, traitorous left” is a serious enough threat, that they need to be given the powers to really take forceful control, then maybe. That’s why they want us to commit violent acts against them, so they can portray us as violent socialists hell bent on destroying America. THEY WANT US TO ACT OUT VIOLENTLY AGAINST THEM. They’re hoping for it.
You know who knew this? Martin Luther King. He didn’t advocate so strongly for nonviolent resistance just because he wanted to be a nice, peaceful guy. He did it because he knew the white supremacists desperately wanted to goat black civil rights activists into acting out violently, so that they could then go before a mostly ignorant, white populace and say, “See! See how violent these blacks can be?! We need to respond with force!”
I’m telling you, trying to fight violence with violence is a very poor strategy. Maybe it will eventually come to that. Maybe a full out, knock down, drag out fight is inevitable, but we’re not there yet. Don’t be so quick to go to war. Not when it can still be prevented.
There are about 235 million people in the US who identify as Christian. They are far from a monolith. There is considerable variability of values between all of those different denominations and congregations.
But you are essentially arguing for doing nothing
No, that’s not true. I am arguing that we must be smart about what we do. Nonviolence is not the same as doing nothing.
The plug they came up with, that eventually became the NAC standard. Technology Connections did a video about it, and he is no Tesla fan, I assure you of that.
No. That’s exactly what they want. They want us to give them a reason to escalate. If they escalate anyway, then they expose themselves as the violent fascists that they are. That’s important. Public perception does matter.
This is why Tesla has been a mixed bag. They have made some smart choices and they have made some not so smart choices. Unfortunately, because they essentially are the EV market in America, all other companies looking to bring EVs to the market have copied Tesla in many ways, both the good and the bad. I think that’s at least part of the reason why the EV market is suffering right now.
Historic economic crises tend to do that.
Neoliberalism collapsed with the financial crisis. It was fully exposed as a failed ideology. But, nearly two decades later, there still isn’t a consensus on what should replace it. There are plenty of ideas, but no consensus. The division will continue until a consensus emerges.