Sep 24 2020
I think we have to just really be laser focused on the pro-democratic project. That doesn't mean that we ignore the harms that this authoritarian incursion has put upon our society, our government, et cetera. I think there are many things that probably need to be unwound, right? Either fully or partially in terms of autocratic state capacity. But I also think that it is not going to be just enough to undo because the systems and the structures that we've been living in have not delivered for people for decades. We've been in a sort of cost of living crisis for decades. People have been struggling with healthcare, the cost of education, the cost of housing for decades. And so simply undoing what Trump has done is not going to be enough to actually create the society, the democracy, and the economy that we need and we deserve. And frankly, in my opinion, it's not going to be enough to win an election, right? I don't think people are looking for just the opposite of what we're experiencing right now. I think people are looking for policy makers who truly listen. Who truly understand and who truly are putting forth their best effort to address the concerns of regular people and put power back in the hands of regular people. So just as the administration and its allies have really kind of laced our political institutions with an authoritarian administration, such as retooling the IRS to be used for surveillance as opposed to in tax enforcement. A pro-democracy coalition has to do the same thing. And so a big question I think for all of us and all of your listeners is what are the different ways in which we can kind of weave in a pro-democracy bias into our state institutions? This is not to be clear about partisanship. This is about democracy. How do we make sure that our democratic institutions are sort of fundamentally oriented towards helping people, helping society, and building that trust back in the public sector?
Rakeem Mabud speaks with This Is Hell! about her new essay for Common Wealth that she co-wrote with Melanie Brusseler titled “The Power Grab: The Authoritarian Coalition’s Strategy of Power Consolidation”.
Rakeen is an expert on how economic trends impact people’s everyday lives. She was most recently the Chief Economist at Groundwork Collaborative, and has also held roles in the US Treasury Department, Roosevelt Institute and Time’s Up. She holds a PhD in Government from Harvard University, and a BA from Wellesley College.
We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will... read more
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Sep 17 2020
Posted by Matthew Boedy
Welcome to the Moment of Truth: the thirst that is the drink.
As founding and sole member of the Socialist Leisure Party, I’m always looking for a way out of working at dreary jobs or having to perform irksome tasks. Unfortunately, I have a work ethic, though not much of one. I have trained myself by now, in the third trimester of my life, to actually do a job when I have one. I discovered long ago that time passes more quickly when you’re engaged in an activity rather than avoiding one, but it’s taken me some time to actually put it into practice.
And then the pandemic comes along and I’m pretty much confined to quarters. And all that great self-motivating attitude goes out the window. I’m predisposed to staying away from people anyway, even on the best of days, even when I’m doing something I feel is wonderful onstage with a group of people I’m energized working with. So I easily slipped into the habit of cringing away from the fetid breath of my fellow denizens of the neighborhood, and the city, county, state, nation, and world.
Then the protests started. I have a probationary sentence from the Burbank Superior Court that prohibits me from having any run-ins with the law, so joining in with the current historic uprising is out for now. Then the Nazis got involved, but I’m prohibited from street fighting due to physical limitations I won’t get into. Then came the fires, and I happen to suffer from flammable off-gassing, so I can’t pitch in. Hurricanes blow, polluters are liberated, the final Norquistian nails are being hammered into democracy’s coffin as an election destined to be followed by some form of major civil conflict grows ever nearer, and on top of all of this I have hypertension, a bruised kidney, bipolar disorder, male pattern baldness, shortness of stature and temper, and fear of day-walking vampires. All of which is conducive to hiding from everything and gradually sliding into Miss Havisham-style decay.
So, how you guys doin’? That’s what I say to the group of coffee clubbers on Zoom every other day. And they all seem to be muddling along okay. The elderly socialist couple in New Zealand assures us that if we can make it to their farm we’ll all have a place to stay.
The two weeks just after David Graeber died, I felt I’d accomplished a good deal. I encapsulated the case for abolishing money, with the... read more