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2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Democrats want 'major role' for Sanders: Reuters/Ipsos poll [View all]Snarkoleptic
(5,996 posts)17. Good nugget from Huffpo "Stop Calling Yourself ‘Socially Liberal and Fiscally Conservative’"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jess-coleman/stop-calling-yourself-socially-liberal-and-fiscally-conservative_b_7155550.html
The terms social and fiscal rights are better understood by political scientists as negative and positive rights. Negative rights are those that require no action the right to free speech, the right to marry, the right to smoke pot are all categorized by the government not doing anything, by leaving you alone. On the other hand, positive rights are those that require the government to take action the right not to be discriminated against in the workplace, the right to receive health care and food if you cannot afford it, and the right to be compensated if you are injured at work all require the government to step in.
Thus, what the socially liberal, fiscally conservative person is really saying is: I support the plight of the marginalized, so long as I dont have to do anything about it.
Yet you cannot support one without the other. Social rights mean nothing without economic rights alongside them. Think of the Civil Rights Movement. We tend to refer to the March on Washington, forgetting that organizers advertised the event as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Martin Luther King stressed that genuine equality means economic equality. For we know that it isnt enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesnt earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?
This sentiment resonates for all marginalized groups. As same-sex marriage was set to head to the Supreme Court, lawyers were not just concerned about securing the right to marry, but also protecting against other forms of discrimination, such as in the workplace. Women, who generally have all the same negative rights as men, are still fighting for wage-equality and maternity leave. In short, you cannot claim to support any form of equality until you support it in all forms. Otherwise, the fight just continues.
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The only reason it lasted so long was that Bernie wasn't willing to admit it was over
Renew Deal
Jun 2016
#2
Crap, I actually thought you were one of them saying what they actually felt for a moment. nt
Live and Learn
Jun 2016
#41
"A self-described Democratic socialist", please can people just grow up ? He's a Socialist loosely
OnDoutside
Jun 2016
#3
You can't be a grownup and a Socialist or the much more moderate Democratic Socialist?
highprincipleswork
Jun 2016
#8
There's a massive difference between a Democratic Socialist and a Social Democrat.
OnDoutside
Jun 2016
#13
Fiscally to the right after the shellacking the working, middle, and poverty classes have received
stillwaiting
Jun 2016
#15
It was mostly a failure of regulation, not only in the US but in Europe and elsewhere.
OnDoutside
Jun 2016
#18
Good nugget from Huffpo "Stop Calling Yourself ‘Socially Liberal and Fiscally Conservative’"
Snarkoleptic
Jun 2016
#17
Loyal Democrats here, who appreciate his 93% democratic vote record over the 80% average
ancianita
Jun 2016
#66
Maybe if Sanders hadn't CALLED himself a Democratic Socialist, his campaign would have gone further
brooklynite
Jun 2016
#16
FDR would be horrified to hear how far the Democratic Party has fallen from his values.
tecelote
Jun 2016
#58
Far left Socialists are ideologues who are steadfastly unwilling to compromise and who view
OnDoutside
Jun 2016
#61
Where's the actual poll though? There's no link I can find to the actual results to back this up.
BobbyDrake
Jun 2016
#53
Since the modern primary system started in 1972, he won the most states, 22, of any runner-up. NT
Eric J in MN
Jun 2016
#54