At the last General Meeting, we discussed how we wanted to frame the next “Why Liberals Lose” article using this new Abundance Agenda as a case study.
Some key points that Members raised were:
- The abundance agenda claims that scarcity is caused by bad ideas, excessive regulation, and a progressive fear of growth
- In reality, capitalists won’t build things that reduce their profits or if the profit is not large enough
- There is a valid critique that NGOs/excessive bureaucracy does present roadblocks, but the answer is greater democratic control of decision making, not putting it in the hands of the wealthy few and hoping they do what is right for the vast majority of people
- Democrats keep recycling the same neoliberal ideas about private + public partnerships and cutting regulations
- There’s a disconnect between Democratic Party politicians + their wealthy base and the majority of working people
Article Outline
We voted to approve this as a general outline for the article:
1. Neoliberalism 2.0/3.0
- Show how the abundance agenda is just a repackaged version of old neoliberal ideas
2. Material analysis framework
- Teach readers how doing a material analysis and asking questions such as “Who owns? Who profits? Who labors?” are good places to start analyzing people’s claims, instead of taking them at their word because they work for Vox
3.Why liberal worldview makes them lose
- Democrats promise things they cannot deliver without fighting the wealthy portions of their base
- This disconnect leads to them appearing as if they cannot govern, followed by electoral losses
4. Practical Examples
- Housing, infrastructure decay
- Showing how our explanation for how the world works may resonate more with people
The goal is to give readers the tools they need to see through idealist arguments and understand the material forces that shape society.
We have two upcoming meetings to further discuss and start drafting this article:
June 23rd (Monday) - 6pm-8pm | Working Meeting - “Why Liberals Lose” Article Review (Calendar)
June 30th (Monday) - 6pm-8pm | Working Meeting - “Why Liberals Lose” Article Review (Calendar)