Michael, I enjoy reading your missives. I agree with many, disagree when you go off on an extreme tangent. C-P story is no more than an anecdote and only mildly interesting. Young, intellectually agitated people love revolutionary ideas; they always will. Then, they start real-life and the ideas die. This is as far as C-P "strategy" travelled. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/nyregion/frances-fox-piven-democratic-socialism.html
I'm of your age bracket (71). I escaped Polish communism forty years ago and so I'm biased. Since Mulroney's days I voted PC or Reform.
I'm also a pragmatic. I know a lot about Europe and often find useful to compare and reflect on how social-democratic ideas work in practice. Americans are highly focused on creating material wealth with a religious-like zest. Europeans redistribute higher portion of their wealth for social-equality aka social-peace and values within commons eg. culture, healthcare (Gini coefficient illustrates this well https://ourworldindata.org/what-is-the-gini-coefficient). Both live very good lives. In my pragmatic test as to who’s “better off” I observe that, today, it is mostly a matter of individual preferences and circumstances (geo-politics such as US/Mexico border and war in Syria or Ukraine do meddle here).
Agree . And the other best hope is Elon Musk . Because there is no news , only propaganda. X is the only hope for free speech . So the Cloward-Piven strategy will try to take down these guys through kangaroo courts and / or financial ruin
Michael, I enjoy reading your missives. I agree with many, disagree when you go off on an extreme tangent. C-P story is no more than an anecdote and only mildly interesting. Young, intellectually agitated people love revolutionary ideas; they always will. Then, they start real-life and the ideas die. This is as far as C-P "strategy" travelled. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/nyregion/frances-fox-piven-democratic-socialism.html
I'm of your age bracket (71). I escaped Polish communism forty years ago and so I'm biased. Since Mulroney's days I voted PC or Reform.
I'm also a pragmatic. I know a lot about Europe and often find useful to compare and reflect on how social-democratic ideas work in practice. Americans are highly focused on creating material wealth with a religious-like zest. Europeans redistribute higher portion of their wealth for social-equality aka social-peace and values within commons eg. culture, healthcare (Gini coefficient illustrates this well https://ourworldindata.org/what-is-the-gini-coefficient). Both live very good lives. In my pragmatic test as to who’s “better off” I observe that, today, it is mostly a matter of individual preferences and circumstances (geo-politics such as US/Mexico border and war in Syria or Ukraine do meddle here).
I admire your prolific writing.
Best regards, Marek
Agree . And the other best hope is Elon Musk . Because there is no news , only propaganda. X is the only hope for free speech . So the Cloward-Piven strategy will try to take down these guys through kangaroo courts and / or financial ruin