What needs to happen to heal DU's unnecessary "social issues vs. economic issues" divide?

[cascadiance]

144. I want to start by saying I think social issues we want solved are VERY important too!

I think that so many out there now are suffering from many different problems in today's society, it's hard to say that one is more important than another, because I think each person has some issue that has probably this year screwed them over as much or more as it has their whole life, and they perhaps have suffered through many years from it too. It's hard to think globally today when so many of these problems are destroying each of our lives and we feel some focus is needed on them.

Many are really heavily affected by immigration issues and really feel that should be our top priority in solving. I'm with them on many of those that could have been fixed with the immigration bill last year. BUT, my big issue that has screwed up my life a lot in the last decade or so has been H-1B Visa programs and how it has been used against IT workers, both Americans who lose their jobs and salary levels along with permanent vs. contract status, and those who work here under them under "indentured servant" conditions in the jobs they work. I have a hard time supporting a bill that would have many like me and my friends suffer even more. We need to find ways to work together so that we do things like get H-1B expansion out of that bill, and then people like me can work doubly hard to help others get real immigration bill reform passed in exchange for the help they give us in getting that mess out to have a cleaner bill in the coming years.

As for social vs. economic issues... Yes, they are BOTH important! And I think the important thing is to realize who controls our system now and is setting the rules in their favor that has created this mess of problems for so much of the rest of us now, and how they manipulate the political landscape to keep their power.

They fuel us talking and dividing ourselves as a populace ("left" vs. "right&quot on more social issues, because it serves their purpose of distracting us with those issues that the very rich care less about so that they can in stealth push through legislation that the wealthy care about without us noticing or complaining about. Like the TPP. That doesn't mean it is wrong to be involved with taking a side on these social issues. I myself want to help progressives on many of these issues too.

But I step back and ask the question on these bigger and less talked about economic issues, that the corporate media and corporate owned politicians and PTB don't want us to talk about and make issues for people to vote on in selecting their leaders. These are the issues that they DO care about, and they realize that only a small number of people in this country want them decided the way they want them to be decided. That is why they try to have the media and their owned politicians not talk about them or take stands on them.

That puts an added burden on us to make them issues and raise voices when the media won't talk about them, and too few politicians listen to us on them. If we can force the media and politicians' hands by getting them to be talked about so that politicians are forced to take a stand on them, that is what is needed to get the changes made to get this country back to being a democracy again where they have less power over us. Then I have confidence that so many of these social issues will actually get resolved in our way, because I have faith that when our electorate is informed (and not just propagandized by Fox and the likes of Rush Limbaugh), that we'll be less divided and actually work more towards solutions that work for us all. I think that is why the younger generation is a lot more progressive on issues such as women's issues and gay and lesbian issues. They are actually more informed by social media where they can see these being ethical issues for them to be concerned about, and are less propagandized by over the air hate radio.

We're not going to change overnight the nature of how so many of these ill informed righties think about social issues such as gay marriage and even many issues like our civil rights, etc. But on many of these money issues, like prosecution of banksters, the TPP, government spying, etc. I think if we can find a way on each side to in instances where it is important to put away our divisions there and focus on these issues where we both currently have concerns about them, that working together, we'll have the power to overturn the 1%'s power over us on them, and get them fixed, and get politicians to listen to us rather than the 1% money, when they see the deck is stacked when there is REAL bipartisan support against the 1%'s views with their voting populace on them.

I think candidates like Bernie and Liz Warren focusing on issues such as the TPP, bankster accountability, student debt, etc. where we all have a common interest so that they can reach across the aisle and get support where the corporate media is trying to say they don't have a chance to do so as "far left" candidates, that this is a constructive way to change the system in our favor.

I strongly feel that even though someone like Elizabeth Warren focuses less on social issues, that she does have good social issue stances, but is trying to appeal to many people in general to galvanize a true populist movement that works for us all at a time we have some key battles to win on that front, and probably can't win unless we reach beyond the Democratic Party base to get that support. We certainly won't get that support from the 1% and the media and politicians that they own.

I think many of us here that want to emphasize economic issues aren't saying that social issues aren't important, but that our focus needs to be on economic issues, if we as a movement are going to bring about a change that will change not just things on these issues but change the fundamental corrupted system that we have that affects everything now, whether they be economic or social in their nature.

I'm all for Obama through executive order doing things to help with issues like gay marriage, etc. where he probably is given "permission" to push the envelope on by the PTB. We can help him in those areas too. But we need to focus our energies strongly when he takes stances like the TPP against us to work more for the 1% than he is working for us then. And if the focus of what we say here is those issues, when we as a group have to be the ones to do so, then so be it.