Good points but it is one-sided.
Regarding labels such as “socialist”, the Left does that too: “racist” (if you are against illegal immigration), “fascist” (if you are patriotic), “climate denier” (if you question the full narrative of climate change — including that humans might go extinct), “Islamophobic” (if you are not opposed to the liberal-described “Muslim ban”, which is actually not that, but is a ban on travel from those countries that the Obama-era CIA identified as terrorist risks), and so on.
All these labels are designed to disparage and silence. People who use those labels are not interested in what is actually bothering “the other side” — they just want to win and force their will on others — they are the true fascists. If you hear someone using labels like that, stop listening to them — you will learn nothing from them. They don’t care about you.
I agree about corporate interests — they are like the landowners of old, and they do their best to lock up what they have and keep others out. But that is not the result of our system of government: it is a result of corporate law, and the concept of “shareholders” as owners, and workers as non-owners in a company. As a result of that paradigm, the rich invest — and get richer — while the employees merely make it through another day.
The problem is that so-called “Progressives” should really be called “Regressives”, because their only idea is to have the Federal government provide more services. That’s a tired old failed 20th century idea. It’s not socialism per-se, but it is a big social safety net.
Many people — including me — like the idea of a social safety net, but don’t think the US Federal government could ever possibly provide that effectively. It would operate like the IRS, or VA health care. No thanks.
The problem started in the early 20th century, when the US Federal government started to play a larger role in the lives of Americans. That began our downward slide. If we were more like the European Union — a federation of independent nations — then individual states could provide social safety nets, and the ones that work well could be models for others.
As long as “Progressives” behave as “regressives”, by looking to the Federal government for everything, they will not be getting my vote.
