No matter who “wins” in the upcoming midterm elections, the people of this planet and the planet itself are likely to be the losers. We’ll lose because the Democrats are unwilling to take the bold steps necessary to create meaningful reform and transformation in our country. Intimidated by the threat of right-wing smears, Democrats have been reluctant to articulate and build support for a vision of what Western societies could look like if we got money out of politics, democratized our economy and our politics, repaired the damage done to the life-support systems of our planet by global capitalism, elevated media and political leaders that tell the truth, and prioritized social and economic justice, equality, and environmental sanity. The Democrats’ focus on a “minimum wage” may gain them some seats in Congress, but it is a pathetically inadequate step—compare, if you will, their plan for a minimum wage with what MIT economists have shown to be “a living wage” required to meet minimum standards of subsistence (see livingwage.mit.edu).
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