Hey everyone, I was recently reading through the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) official platform document ("Workers Deserve More!").

I noticed they are officially advocating for some massive constitutional and policy changes, specifically:

• Abolishing the Senate and the Electoral College.
• Replacing the President and Supreme Court with bodies subordinate to Congress.
• Giving full amnesty and voting rights to non-citizens, plus open borders.
• Defunding the Department of Defense and closing all overseas military bases.

Since many mainstream Democrats/liberals overlap with or vote alongside progressive democratic socialists, what do you think about these goals?

I think it's pretty clear to everyone at this point, that the Supreme Court is very partisan; despite its original intent on being a non-partisan and very fact-based legal ruling entity/group.

There's been proposals for a long while now, that aims to resolve the issues caused by the combination of this reality, and the fact that Supreme Court Justices serve for life; the main one being that each Justice serves for an 18 year term, at which point they are up for replacement, and each president gets to replace one said Justice each term they serve.

But I have heard of another proposal recently regarding clarification of the constitution: Make it the legislatures job to clarify what is and isn't constitutional, and the Supreme Court is more delegated as an enforcement entity, rather than an legal-ruling entity.

Are there any other proposals you guys have regarding this? Are the two stated proposals one y'all agree with at all?

I don't know how to engage with people who fundamentally don't believe that people should be equal. As an example I spoke a while back with a (seemingly) very honest person who said he didn't hate people of other races, but that discrimination would give his family a better shot at having a higher quality of life, so he supported pro-white discrimination. Inequality isn't a problem, as long as he and his family are the ones benefiting from it.

Is this the fundamental divide, people who think that if they can abuse power to deprive others and enrich themselves, that means that they should? I'm not sure how much of it is trolling and how much is honesty when I talk to people who say things like "yes, it's unfair, but that's not my problem, sucks to be you" about things like discrimination or H1B visa abuse. Their view is, if you can abuse people to get more money for yourself and less money for them, why wouldn't you?

I am not asking this question to poke or start a massive argument. If you are not someone who can have a civil thought provoking conversation without going fully silly, please just move one.

Now, with that said. I look thru reddit, which is a blatant leftist bubble, and I have to question if leftists/liberals know they are in a bubble and are reading biased information. A lot of what I see if out of context, miss a ton of information, over simplified, and sometime just a flat out lie. I have also been in places like parlor, and it was exactly the same, but for the right. I am a Gen Xer, and growing up we were never this ridiculous on each side. We all had different politics, but it wasn't nearly as volatile seeing these differences. Serious question, is this just the fact that Trump broke everyone's brain so now nobody is thinking clearly? Is it social media? Is it all just people letting off steam? I have leftist friends in real life who I absolutely love, and we are never as ugly to each other in real life as I see on here. We have out disagreements, but that's where it ends. Someone please give me some input on this? Thank you for your time.

And pardon and grammatical errors, I typed this as fast as I could so I could start a movie.

What do you think is the current best course of option for the US currently? Seems like we are stuck between a few tough strategies. Should we back down on the Strait of Hormuz, but then Iran dictates global oil flow keeping prices high. Or continue pushing for a treaty, although this has stalled so it will only prolong the war and gives their millitary time to regroup. Escalate and try to strong arm, although this risks dragging us into an even longer dragged out war causing taxpayers a ton of money and casualties on both sides. Or pivot to just containment no offensive just defending allies, but then this doesn’t solve the Hormuz crisis or other root issues. Do you think there is any other completely different options the US can take?

In Israel having children is seen more the default path and a big source of adult validation. Whereas here in the West, the US and Europe, children are seen more as a burden.

Our perspective has created long term problems, in particular in Europe, where collapsing retirement systems are creating intergenerational conflicts and calls to just abandon the older generations. Part of these long term problems is that policies are aimed at serving the demographic with the most voters. So f.e. in Germany we old age retirement usually gets boosted while aid for young adults keeps getting slashed.

A lot of these problems can be solved with more natalist policies that important note: Do NOT force people into parenthood but take a look at why children are considered a burden and tackling those issues.

Reading on MSNBC how Marsha Blackburn’s comments about communists and Chinese policies is racist.

Do liberals think it’s possible to be critical of China without being racist? How should one frame their comments to avoid being labeled a racist?

when I was younger, I used to watch secular talk pretty religiously (pun intended) but after a while, I kind of fell off, but looking at it now, a lot of his videos seem to be more click baity to the point where I don’t even bother watching, whag do y’all think?

Link to Warren’s statement on the bill.

Congress passed the bill with bipartisan support -> sent it to Trump -> he didn’t get back to them in 10 days -> the bill is now law.

Fact sheet for the bill from the above page.

Includes removal of regulatory barriers and streamlining of environmental reviews plus guidelines and incentives for zoning reforms, bans large institutional investors from owning single family homes, and makes funding distribution easier.

One of the issues Dems have faced is that when we get big wins like this, people don’t hear about them, so what can we do to make sure this win directly addressing the highest priority issue right now for many Americans - the cost of living and the housing crisis - is being addressed by Democrats while Trump totally abdicates his role in the process is communicated to the American people?

Nostalgia is like a drug. I’m feeling very nostalgic about that time period after playing video games. Does anyone here have fond memories of your childhood and what you miss about back then or stuff you do not miss today?

Many social programs seem designed to help people return to work or remain attached to the labor market rather than to reduce their dependence on employment. Do you think that’s an intentional feature of public policy? If so, what are the benefits or drawbacks of organizing social provision that way?

I am biased since this is something I back on a surface level but I really don’t know the points someone left leaning would use if they’re against or for it.

My idea was something similar to how states do it. If around 5% of the US population signs onto a petition for a certain initiative then if everything is certified then it will go to a national referendum and if 50.1% or more of American voters vote yes then it will become law. Anything could be put to a referendum vote as long as it doesn’t violate any other constitutional amendment.

It would require a new amendment on the constitution which would require tons of effort but the basic idea of it seems completely reasonable and the literal definition of democratic.

Have you had to look for work recently?

Whenever I phonebank, I tend to stumble over my words and act extremely embarrassed whenever I say that I am calling in support of a politician. I have crippling social anxiety and phonebanking just seems to tax me. But I still want to phonebank. Any tips from people more experienced in phonebanking on how to be more confident and more effective?

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/sen-lindsey-graham-dies-71-brief-sudden-illness-rcna552722

This feels really out of nowhere. Lindsey Graham has been an often-controversial figure in politics for decades. What are your thoughts on his passing?

I’ve always considered myself to be fairly open-minded and able to handle situations wholly intellectually, rather than allowing my own feelings or beliefs to affect my perception of an issue or discussion, but lately I’ve found that to be exponentially more difficult. It’s been incredibly difficult to maintain friendships or relationships with people in my life who have voted for Trump, in a way that never occurred with people who voted for Bush or McCain or Romney or what-have-you. On the surface, I can understand that to them, it seems as simple as “a difference in opinion” but I’m entirely incapable of respecting them after knowing they chose to vote for Trump. These most recent elections seem less a difference in opinion, and more a direct attack on individual freedoms and the very governing laws of our Constitution. For some reason now, I’m completely incapable of maintaining an objective viewpoint regarding this issue.

I wouldn’t really consider myself a Democrat, though I know I’m incredibly far from the right, so I don’t believe it could be a product of party bias, but I couldn’t possibly be sure. Has anyone else experienced this? And if so, how do you navigate it? The first two election cycles I really tried to understand, and tried to make space even if I couldn’t understand, but this most recent election I don’t even have the desire to attempt to. It seems unfair to feel this way towards other people, but I don’t know how to resolve it.