I was chided (mildly) the other day about a comment I made to a fairly fervent Trump supporter who felt Trump might turn into one of the best presidents ever (would that be a Trumpbot?). My pushback to the commenter was evidently seen as contrary to the site's non-partisan, all views are welcome policy. The theory is we're all part of the 99% who have a common opponent in the One Percent. It follows with the "divide and conquer" concerns voiced by many whereby the ruling elite endeavor to create conditions to divide the public, making it easier to "conquer" us. It's like, "don't let them divide us, man".
Reality is different.
It isn't as simple as the very rich versus the rest of us, it's also about goals, agendas and ideology. If person A wants the Republican party to win and person B wants the Democratic party to win then they have different goals. They can't work together toward the same goal. If person A, the republican, and person B, the democrat, both want to work toward a common goal, then they can work together, unless other goals get in the way.
It's all about the goals.
If my goal is to try to enact a single payer health care system but someone else supports the republican party which does not support a single payer health care system, we could still work toward that goal if the republican person also supported single payer.
But it doesn't usually work that way. The reason Person B, the republican, supports the republican party is because of the goals, agenda and ideology of that party. So you generally are not going to find many republicans who you can work with toward that goal of single payer because of their ideology.
It's all about ideology.
If my goal is to oppose the duopoly (democratic and republican parties), seek a more democratic political system, and end Rule by the Rich, while another person's goal is to support Donald Trump and the republican party, that makes it difficult to work together. We don't want the same thing and in fact, Person B the republican, by virture of supporting Trump and the republican party, is in effect opposing my goal. The same could be said with a supporter of the Democratic party. By virture of their support for the Democratic party they are opposing my goal. How do people with competing goals work together?
Take war and imperialism, it's the same thing. If I want to end the wars and U.S. imperialism and you support the Democratic/Republican party that wants to continue the wars and U.S. imperialism, then we can't work toward that same goal. You can't honestly say you are against the wars and U.S. imperialism while supporting a political party that does.
Well, you could but how many republican/democratic party supporters are really against the wars and U.S. imperialism? And if they are, why are they supporting a political party that supports U.S. wars and imperialism?
If I want a revolution and you don't, can we work together? Aren't we then working AGAINST each other? If you are supporting one of the oligarchy's political parties who are gravely against a real people's revolution or movement, then you are in effect opposing a real people's revolution or movement.
We've got many divisions in this country. Based on class, race, religion, gender, but also based on ideology. We're never going to get 99% of the people to join together toward a common goal, that's impossible. The only possible common goal at that level would be ending Rule by the Rich and implementing an actual democratic political system. Everything else would have to be decided by democracy, how it should be.
That's not to say there can't be changing sides. Someone supporting the republican/democratic party could decide they will no longer support the party and instead will support the people's revolution. But there's that ideology thing.
For example:
" A new website is asking students and others to “expose and document” professors who “discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.”
The site, called Professor Watchlist, is not without precedent — predecessors include the now-defunct NoIndoctrination.org, which logged accounts of alleged bias in the classroom. There’s also David Horowitz’s 2006 book, The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America. But such efforts arguably have new meaning in an era of talk about registering certain social groups and concerns about free speech.
Professor Watchlist, launched Monday, is a project of Turning Point USA. The group’s mission is to “identify, educate, train and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government.” Its national college and university field program works to “identify young conservative activists, build and maintain effective student groups, advertise and rebrand conservative values, engage in face-to-face and peer-to-peer conversations about the pressing issues facing our country,” according to its website. The group’s founder, Charlie Kirk – a millennial who has emerged in some conservative political circles as a major player — did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Professor Watchlist, but he promoted it on social media."
http://www.globalresearch.ca/anti-american-leftist-professors-being-watched/5558821 Does that sound like someone who radical leftists could work with to change the capitalist system and overthrow the establishment? I don't think so, I would bet they would actively work against such a Revolution. I would imagine most of them are not of the One Percent but of the 99 Percent. What if they visited C99?
Back to working with Trump and republican party supporters. I understand all viewpoints are supposedly accepted on this blog, the only rule being DBAD (don't be a dick). However I've seen more than a few run off because their views didn't fit in with the majority here, i.e., Clinton supporters. Trump supporters seem to have been treated a little differently based on the perception from some that Trump and his republican party administration might not be that bad, certainly not as bad as Hillary Clinton.
I can't stress enough, a REPUBLICAN PARTY administration that is for war and imperialism, unregulated capitalism, privatizing Medicare and Social Security, a fascist police state, and serves the top .001% that rule over We the Serfs. A party that will work to KILL any working class or Serf's revolution or movement.
No, for me there's no working with that. Anyone who supports that is not on my team, they are my opponent. There is no room for discussion or debate, the only way to change that would be for them to come over to my team. If not, that's how it will stay.
This isn't a time for Pollyanna "Imagine all the People" chants, we're in a war of ideologies. Those of us wanting truth, justice and real democracy are getting creamed. There's no room for niceties when considering the stakes. The existence of the planet and the human race is at stake. I've got kids and grandkids, screw these people who want to take away their futures.
We need solidarity for a people's movement against the oligarchy. It won't be the 99% that does it. Those that want it will have to join in with others around the planet to form a global people's revolution against the global oligarchy. We'll have many opponents but our cause is just and that's what will win in the end. It has to.
