Now is the time to focus not only on ideas, but also on strategy—organizing and building the kinds of alliances that can develop into robust networks, institutions, and political power.
Thank you for creating and sharing! I hope you continue to write and publish on Substack — I enjoy your more formal publications and would appreciate hearing more from you, especially on topics that you're still processing.
Thank you, as well, for linking your "Building Post-Neoliberal Institutions" article from Democracy. Your post here picks up on a thread from it that I found interesting—that, as "ideas did come first for neoliberals," they must for us, too, and we're on the verge of (if not now reaching) a new idea landscape. One piece of the new idea landscape that I ask myself often is what it would mean to expand the bounds of our care to include not only to all humanity but all life. How would that shift the focus of our societal and economic frames? It may be one of those ideas that is less-fit as a bridge from where we are now, as you say, and is instead more of a long-term venture.
I'd enjoy hearing your updated reflections on the other piece of that previous article, as well, which you reference again here, about our actions after we have ideas: In your experience, what is the status of post-neoliberal institutions? What types of private (non-governmental) and public orgs are leading the way and what types of new or connecting orgs could need better developing? These are questions I, as a young person about to jump into the fight, am asking myself. I'd appreciate the perspective from your view.
Thank you again, whether or not these questions of mine pique your interest. I look forward to your next posts!
You are missing one very important factor. If your supporters include the types I will describe you are doomed to failure. What I am talking about is individuals who accumulate so much wealth that it provides them with mass political power. Power to control the behavior of the rest of us. Wealth beyond what any person or even extended "family" unit can spend on consumable goods and services. It's bad enough when such power is vested in other nations over which we have no control and against which we must spend much of our resources for defense. But when we allow this power to accumulate in some of our residents we poison the well of modern democracy while having no control over the harm they can create.
There is one answer to this. Take away the political power of of individual wealth. The easiest way is taxation. Other thriving modern democracies have done that. We can too. And this is easiest done before the wealth is accumulated , rather than after. But if it must be done after in order to remove financial power from those who would try to illegitimately control the rest of us, then our resources are still a good investment.
In a growing economy no accumulation of wealth beyond a number in the low millions of US dollars can be described as "hard earned". Not when its control has been the result of work by hired professional investment counselors. The majority of American people may dream about riding on the "gravy train"; but they don't want to have to lay down on the tracks waiting for it to run over them.
Thank you for creating and sharing! I hope you continue to write and publish on Substack — I enjoy your more formal publications and would appreciate hearing more from you, especially on topics that you're still processing.
Thank you, as well, for linking your "Building Post-Neoliberal Institutions" article from Democracy. Your post here picks up on a thread from it that I found interesting—that, as "ideas did come first for neoliberals," they must for us, too, and we're on the verge of (if not now reaching) a new idea landscape. One piece of the new idea landscape that I ask myself often is what it would mean to expand the bounds of our care to include not only to all humanity but all life. How would that shift the focus of our societal and economic frames? It may be one of those ideas that is less-fit as a bridge from where we are now, as you say, and is instead more of a long-term venture.
I'd enjoy hearing your updated reflections on the other piece of that previous article, as well, which you reference again here, about our actions after we have ideas: In your experience, what is the status of post-neoliberal institutions? What types of private (non-governmental) and public orgs are leading the way and what types of new or connecting orgs could need better developing? These are questions I, as a young person about to jump into the fight, am asking myself. I'd appreciate the perspective from your view.
Thank you again, whether or not these questions of mine pique your interest. I look forward to your next posts!
You are missing one very important factor. If your supporters include the types I will describe you are doomed to failure. What I am talking about is individuals who accumulate so much wealth that it provides them with mass political power. Power to control the behavior of the rest of us. Wealth beyond what any person or even extended "family" unit can spend on consumable goods and services. It's bad enough when such power is vested in other nations over which we have no control and against which we must spend much of our resources for defense. But when we allow this power to accumulate in some of our residents we poison the well of modern democracy while having no control over the harm they can create.
There is one answer to this. Take away the political power of of individual wealth. The easiest way is taxation. Other thriving modern democracies have done that. We can too. And this is easiest done before the wealth is accumulated , rather than after. But if it must be done after in order to remove financial power from those who would try to illegitimately control the rest of us, then our resources are still a good investment.
In a growing economy no accumulation of wealth beyond a number in the low millions of US dollars can be described as "hard earned". Not when its control has been the result of work by hired professional investment counselors. The majority of American people may dream about riding on the "gravy train"; but they don't want to have to lay down on the tracks waiting for it to run over them.
Ed Weldon, Los Gatos, CA