I often hear people use the phrases "why can't we have nice things?" and "career politicians"

While the career politicians are the ones holding back those nice things...WE are the reason that we can't have those nice things.

(1/10)

The career politicians are career politicians for a reason: they blow in the direction of public sentiment in order to keep their jobs (ie, a career politician)

If we, as a society, overwhelmingly demand something enough...they move that direction

(2/10)

We saw it in the Democratic primaries. One of the big reasons Warren and Harris' campaigns took huge hits is because they sat on the Medicare for All fence for too long while they took the temperature of the electorate

(3/10)

If enough people demanded something like Medicare for All or the Green New Deal...Nancy Pelosi would be wearing Medicare for All t-shirts and Chuck Schumer would change his last name to GND. Hell, even Mitch McConnell would offer free college if enough people demanded it

(4/10)

I often get discouraged about the direction of the Democratic Party (you've all seen it), but the silver lining is we got something like 35% of the party demanding universal health care and free college and climate action. That's still not enough, but the needle is moving

(5/10)

It's up to us to keep pushing the "career politicians" (which is why I'm so hard on Biden and other Democrats for what I think are their short-falls) so that we can have nice things. But those nice things won't happen unless we demand them

(6/10)

We pay enough in taxes that we *should* get these things. Instead, we settle for half measures, an increased defense budget, and wasted spending on god-knows-what (from both parties). And a freaking global pandemic is the time to demand these things

(7/10)

We all need to aim higher in terms of our expectations of government. These people work FOR us. We pay their salaries.

Do you ever get mad at your favorite team's coach for making a bad call or trade? Do the same with your favorite politicians. It's ok to criticize them

(8/10)

I don't have the silver bullet answer on how to make this change happen (call your senator/representative, donate to activist funds, strike/protest if you can -- safely!). But I think the first thing that needs to happen is a shift in mindset.

(9/10)

If enough of us want (and demand) nice things...the "career politicians" will give us nice things. But if we don't advocate for ourselves...we get what we deserve.

Happy Tuesday!

(Fin/10)