From Maduro to Iran to the Fed, reflexive resistance risks turning the left into defenders of an indefensible status quo. Don't fall for it, Corbin Trent argues
This is true, and once again I would like to point out that my governor, Gavin Newsom, is not the answer. People seem to be rallying around him because of his theatrics but listen: he's a corporate Democrat in the vein of Bill Clinton and he will only help rich people. He killed rooftop solar, he refused to tax billionaires, and he doesn't support trans people. Do not be fooled. A vote for him is a vote for all the things Corbin mentioned.
I agree that we should build a better place here in America after Trump. That is my hope. One that works for for all of us and takes into account how we move through the world. I hope for a more civically engaged and informed public.
I am not sure how many of us are defending the intuitions as they are when we rise against Trump though as Corbin writes. I am certainly not. Most of my energy is spent trying to fight against Trumps lawlessness, his cruelty, stupidity... It's a lot day in and day out.
Beating Trumpism requires an alternative. That alternative cannot simply be "not Trump" that's the point. I keep hearing about needing a reckoning bit I've not seen a ton of appetite for it.
I want to add something to Corbin's point on adapting. It works for us and against us. During Covid, we were back at work in June of 2020. As soon as Cuomo said we could. They were shutting the subway down at night and cleaning the cars. I can't tell you what that was like commuting to work! It was amazing to have a clean, nice smelling subway car sit in. I thought to myself " I can't believe I put up with disgusting smelly cars this whole time. Why isn't it always like this?"
It's like people melting down over Mamdani's wanting free buses here in NYC. People are openly hostile towards this possibility! I don't get it. Have we accepted crumbs for so long, when someone finally comes along and offers something better, we are distrustful?
We adapt to crappy circumstances and call it being resilient. When really we are white knuckling it.
Corbin Trent is a prophet for our times. His writings are a blueprint for a new democratic party and leadership (whatever it be called) that could bring us into a sane, just and prosperous future. His work should be read and shared widely. It's the real deal.
I agree totally with what Cindy Wheeler said. Corbin’s analysis of the current challenge we face is the clearest and most thorough of any in the US that I have read. It requires a willingness to fundamentally change the policies that have dominated our country since the early 70’s, minimally. A big job. A lot of work. A LOT OF WORK. But it’s what will get us home.
Truer words. Corporate greed is at the root of most of today's outrages. Let's be thoughtful and accurate about making changes, even if they're incremental. The price of liberty is ETERNAL vigilance.
I agree with the argument, but not the criticism of the Fed. The official data sources used by the Fed as a measure of inflation when setting interest rate policy are not produced by the Fed. They are published by the Administration: the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index is published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the Commerce Dept.; the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Producer Price Index (PCI) are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the Labor Dept. If the inflation number the Fed uses is a lie, it's the Administration that is doing the lying.
While I basically agree with the argument too, sometimes there are more important things than being right. The ACLU was "right" about their arguments on Citizens United, but the results are unforgivable and have had an almost fatal effect on our democracy. To just abandon yet another control on any corrupt President's efforts would be devastating to the world's economy, not just our battered country.
You raise interesting points here to be sure, but it is an intellectual exercise. What are you actually advocating as a plan of action? Not defending Powell at this moment equates to allowing authoritarian control to continue expanding.
I re-read and stand by my point. I do not disagree with anything Trent wrote. But the two step he is talking about is complex and long term, as he acknowledges. In the short term, the immediate, opposing growing fascism is all there is.
What you call an intellectual exercise, I call strategy. Working very hard, all hands on deck, for the wrong strategy is not helpful. The intellectual exercise of knowing what we should be trying to do has always seemed valuable to me. The urgent is no alibi for the important.
I agree with that. IMHO, Bernie helped unleash these furies with very little strategy as how to channel them beyond his own campaign in 2016. He never joined the Dem party, ran in the primary without ever trying to reform it or the system, then railed that the system was rigged against him, helped push out the Russian-hacked emails, and all of that I believe helped pave the road to where we are. So I am inherently skeptical of some of this.
I am in love with Corbin Trent. Can't get enough of his common sense and sanity. Everyone needs to watch that entire interview from October. Brilliant, just brilliant. I'm in love with you, too, Anand and can't thank you enough for all you do. Stay well. Stay safe.
If you are saying that Trump is the latest and probably the worst overseer of a sick , corrupt, outdated system, you should just say it higher up in your story. I agree with what you are saying, I disagree with your premise. I don’t think anyone subscribing to The Ink is defending the status quo. We can all leave that to Chuck Schumer. More importantly, I don’t think anyone who voted for Trump — especially not the former Democrats — was voting for the status quo. And I certainly wasn’t voting for no change when I went for Harris. That may be the most important intelligence from the last election. The majority of the electorate wanted fundamental change. For starters, then, we need a system that delivers real choices to the people, so no one has to chose between our terrible status quo and a monster. Right now, every presidential election looks like a lose-lose choice to too many Americans.
I disagree with Corbin. Powell's recent actions demonstrate a level of integrity we should admire; they reinforce exactly what we want to see in public officials. We shouldn't laden him with all societal ills—criticism Trump would surely relish. As JFK wrote, “This is a book about that most admirable of human virtues.” I read that--Courage grows through shared risk, mutual support, and collective voice; it’s sustained when people stand together, not alone.
Now is the time to support those who speak out. We can simultaneously talk about the need to not accept the status quo. But if we lose the democracy, what will be seen as the better tactic?
You talk about simultaneously rejecting the status quo and authoritarianism. What I don’t understand is how you think that is different than what I was suggesting. I am saying that we can understand that Trump’s tactics are illegal in an immoral, but that his target is also part of the problem that we faced as a nation.
This is so true, example is who doesn’t hate the ice approach to “immigration management .. yet now one is actually working on an immigrations system that works .. simply deporting people doesn’t fix anything.
This is true, and once again I would like to point out that my governor, Gavin Newsom, is not the answer. People seem to be rallying around him because of his theatrics but listen: he's a corporate Democrat in the vein of Bill Clinton and he will only help rich people. He killed rooftop solar, he refused to tax billionaires, and he doesn't support trans people. Do not be fooled. A vote for him is a vote for all the things Corbin mentioned.
Agree, Im in IL and not enough people hear what Pritzker is doing, but he's quietly using law to fight the regime over & over!
That's great!!
I agree that we should build a better place here in America after Trump. That is my hope. One that works for for all of us and takes into account how we move through the world. I hope for a more civically engaged and informed public.
I am not sure how many of us are defending the intuitions as they are when we rise against Trump though as Corbin writes. I am certainly not. Most of my energy is spent trying to fight against Trumps lawlessness, his cruelty, stupidity... It's a lot day in and day out.
Beating Trumpism requires an alternative. That alternative cannot simply be "not Trump" that's the point. I keep hearing about needing a reckoning bit I've not seen a ton of appetite for it.
Well- you got my appetite!! My kid too. I agree - it can’t be “not Trump”.
I want to add something to Corbin's point on adapting. It works for us and against us. During Covid, we were back at work in June of 2020. As soon as Cuomo said we could. They were shutting the subway down at night and cleaning the cars. I can't tell you what that was like commuting to work! It was amazing to have a clean, nice smelling subway car sit in. I thought to myself " I can't believe I put up with disgusting smelly cars this whole time. Why isn't it always like this?"
It's like people melting down over Mamdani's wanting free buses here in NYC. People are openly hostile towards this possibility! I don't get it. Have we accepted crumbs for so long, when someone finally comes along and offers something better, we are distrustful?
We adapt to crappy circumstances and call it being resilient. When really we are white knuckling it.
Corbin Trent is a prophet for our times. His writings are a blueprint for a new democratic party and leadership (whatever it be called) that could bring us into a sane, just and prosperous future. His work should be read and shared widely. It's the real deal.
I agree totally with what Cindy Wheeler said. Corbin’s analysis of the current challenge we face is the clearest and most thorough of any in the US that I have read. It requires a willingness to fundamentally change the policies that have dominated our country since the early 70’s, minimally. A big job. A lot of work. A LOT OF WORK. But it’s what will get us home.
Truer words. Corporate greed is at the root of most of today's outrages. Let's be thoughtful and accurate about making changes, even if they're incremental. The price of liberty is ETERNAL vigilance.
I agree with the argument, but not the criticism of the Fed. The official data sources used by the Fed as a measure of inflation when setting interest rate policy are not produced by the Fed. They are published by the Administration: the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index is published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the Commerce Dept.; the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Producer Price Index (PCI) are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the Labor Dept. If the inflation number the Fed uses is a lie, it's the Administration that is doing the lying.
While I basically agree with the argument too, sometimes there are more important things than being right. The ACLU was "right" about their arguments on Citizens United, but the results are unforgivable and have had an almost fatal effect on our democracy. To just abandon yet another control on any corrupt President's efforts would be devastating to the world's economy, not just our battered country.
You raise interesting points here to be sure, but it is an intellectual exercise. What are you actually advocating as a plan of action? Not defending Powell at this moment equates to allowing authoritarian control to continue expanding.
You may want to reread the piece.
I re-read and stand by my point. I do not disagree with anything Trent wrote. But the two step he is talking about is complex and long term, as he acknowledges. In the short term, the immediate, opposing growing fascism is all there is.
What you call an intellectual exercise, I call strategy. Working very hard, all hands on deck, for the wrong strategy is not helpful. The intellectual exercise of knowing what we should be trying to do has always seemed valuable to me. The urgent is no alibi for the important.
I agree with that. IMHO, Bernie helped unleash these furies with very little strategy as how to channel them beyond his own campaign in 2016. He never joined the Dem party, ran in the primary without ever trying to reform it or the system, then railed that the system was rigged against him, helped push out the Russian-hacked emails, and all of that I believe helped pave the road to where we are. So I am inherently skeptical of some of this.
This essay is so true! Thank you!
I am in love with Corbin Trent. Can't get enough of his common sense and sanity. Everyone needs to watch that entire interview from October. Brilliant, just brilliant. I'm in love with you, too, Anand and can't thank you enough for all you do. Stay well. Stay safe.
If you are saying that Trump is the latest and probably the worst overseer of a sick , corrupt, outdated system, you should just say it higher up in your story. I agree with what you are saying, I disagree with your premise. I don’t think anyone subscribing to The Ink is defending the status quo. We can all leave that to Chuck Schumer. More importantly, I don’t think anyone who voted for Trump — especially not the former Democrats — was voting for the status quo. And I certainly wasn’t voting for no change when I went for Harris. That may be the most important intelligence from the last election. The majority of the electorate wanted fundamental change. For starters, then, we need a system that delivers real choices to the people, so no one has to chose between our terrible status quo and a monster. Right now, every presidential election looks like a lose-lose choice to too many Americans.
Anand, thank you for another brilliant post. Corbin Trent is just what I needed. This is the kind of deep logic we need. Thank you, again.
I disagree with Corbin. Powell's recent actions demonstrate a level of integrity we should admire; they reinforce exactly what we want to see in public officials. We shouldn't laden him with all societal ills—criticism Trump would surely relish. As JFK wrote, “This is a book about that most admirable of human virtues.” I read that--Courage grows through shared risk, mutual support, and collective voice; it’s sustained when people stand together, not alone.
Now is the time to support those who speak out. We can simultaneously talk about the need to not accept the status quo. But if we lose the democracy, what will be seen as the better tactic?
You talk about simultaneously rejecting the status quo and authoritarianism. What I don’t understand is how you think that is different than what I was suggesting. I am saying that we can understand that Trump’s tactics are illegal in an immoral, but that his target is also part of the problem that we faced as a nation.
Thanks for clarifying and for gently pointing out my error. You are a better writer than me. I am glad you pointed this out
This is so true, example is who doesn’t hate the ice approach to “immigration management .. yet now one is actually working on an immigrations system that works .. simply deporting people doesn’t fix anything.
This piece is really important! Thank you.