Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Four Socialist-Backed Candidates Win Pennsylvania Legislative Primaries


Four Democratic candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won primary elections for legislative seats in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, reports The Hill.

Arielle Cohen, co-chair of the Pittsburgh DSA chapter, told HuffPost that she feels a "monumental shift" after the victories, noting DSA’s growing membership since President Trump's election.

"We won on popular demands that were deemed impossible. We won on health care for all, we won on free education,” she said.

“We’re turning the state the right shade of red tonight,” she added.

This doesn't surprise me.

Immediately after the election on November 10, 2016, I wrote:
Heading into the election, I felt that for strategic reasons Hillary Clinton was the best alternative for libertarians. Not because she is good on many issues, she is not, but because she would come with a ready-made opposition that would listen to libertarian arguments against her.

It would have been a great opportunity to reach out to Trump supporters and spread the libertarian message. That opportunity is now gone with the Trump victory. Trump supporters are rabid, they will likely
follow him down almost any hell hole.

These people are not going to listen to our arguments for smaller government. Their man is in power.

There will be opposition to Trump but it will be coming from the left, not the Trump right.

The left is all about expanding the state. Thus, it will be very difficult to reach out to these people and present state shrinking anti-Trump ideas. They are a perfect target for the socialists...

 The socialists are going to experience a boom in followers under Trump.

Thus, neither the left nor the right is going to be open to libertarian ideas at the present time.
-Robert Wenzel  

8 comments:

  1. If the socialists take power, won't that be good for libertarians, since there would be a ready-made audience that would listen to opposition against socialism?

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    1. I’d say that’s better described as a “silver lining” rather than being “good”. It wouldn’t compensate for having to live under socialism.

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    2. "If the socialists take power, won't that be good for libertarians..."
      I don't think so. Libertarianism is about personal responsibility and the freedom inured from that responsibility. Socialism is about other peoples' responsibility. The battle on the ground is left socialism vs right socialism.

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    3. Sometimes it's hard to convey sarcasm!

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    4. I saw what you did there! I was thinking that too, when I read the piece. i.e., "I hope a bad candidate wins so that our side looks more favorable in comparison, and we get more converts later on."

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  2. Pennsylvania has sure come a long way since its founding. William Penn may be regretting his colony from the grave.

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  3. I agree with Wenzel. All Republicans seem to care about is "Team Red," and that their own strong-man won the election. I have plenty of Republican friends who, during the bleak, Obama years, gave plenty of lip-service to Old Right Conservativism: Free markets, free trade, a more rational and equanimitous foreign-policy, etc. Yet now, that is all abandoned, and all that matters is "Trump! Trump! Trump!", no matter how many tariffs he creates or regime-changes he contemplates, etc.

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  4. Wenzel, you’re not a Prophet, but you sure can Predict.

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