About Lambert Strether
Dear readers, a correspondent has described my views as pragmatic 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 so are tuition-free college and post office banking. So are job guarantees and debt forgiveness. Obviously, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver these 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 either way we must put our common humanity first, not the market. I don’t know whether a second Franklin Roosevelt will save capitalism, or democratic socialism will put a shackle on it, or communism will destroy it. As long as the benefits come, I don’t care much. For me, the key issue, and this is why Medicare for All will always be my primary concern, is the excessive occurrence of tens of thousands of “deaths of despair,” as described in the Case-Deaton study and other recent studies. This enormous death toll makes Medicare for All at least a moral and strategic imperative. And this level of suffering and biological damage makes identity politics concerns pale in comparison, even to the worthy fight to help the refugees created by the Bush, Obama, and Clinton wars. That’s why I’m frustrated by the news stream. 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 press. The news stream forces us to constantly focus on issues that I see as less important than excess deaths: what kind of political economy would halt or reverse the gains in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? And I am very hopeful that the continuing destruction of the bipartisan system will create space for voices in favor of programs like the ones I’ve listed. Let’s call such voices “left.” Instability creates opportunity, especially if the market-first, pro-market Democratic establishment that opposes such programs cannot be brought back to power. Goal achieved! I love the tactical level, and I’ve been blogging daily for 14 years, so although I secretly love horse racing too, everything I write has this perspective as a backdrop.
