About Lambert Strether
Dear readers, a correspondent has described my views as realistic and cynical. Let me explain briefly. I believe in universal programs that bring concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is a prime example, but tuition-free college and post office banking also fall into this category. So do jobs guarantees and debt forgiveness. Obviously, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can implement such programs, because they are different flavors of neoliberalism (“because it’s the market”). I don’t care much about the “isms” that bring profits, but which one must prioritize our common humanity, not the market. I don’t know whether a second Franklin Roosevelt will save capitalism, or democratic socialism will put a shackle on capitalism, or communism will destroy it. As long as the profits come, I don’t care much. The key issue for me, and this is why Medicare for All will always be my primary concern, is the excess of tens of thousands of “deaths of despair” as described in the Case-Deaton study and other recent studies. This massive death toll makes Medicare for All at least a moral and strategic imperative. And this level of suffering and bio-damage makes identity politics concerns pale in comparison, even to the worthy fight to help the refugees created by Bush’s, Obama’s and Clinton’s wars. That’s why I’m frustrated by the news flow. Right now, in my view, there are two separate shock doctrine movements swirling around, one driven by the administration and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the state and the media. The news flow forces me to constantly focus on issues that I consider less important than excess deaths. What political economy could possibly be behind halting or reversing the gains in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of the bipartisan establishment will create space for voices in support of the kind of program I have listed. Let’s call such voices “left-wing.” Instability creates opportunity, especially if the market-first Democratic establishment that opposes such programs cannot regain power. Goal accomplished! I love the tactical level. I also secretly love horse racing, having blogged daily for 14 years, but everything I write is written with this perspective as a backdrop.
