Jay's Politics Blog

Although I see building the wall as a mistake I see it stemming from the same feelings as people who unfriend others on Facebook who disagree with them and college students who attempt to create safe spaces. The common feeling is fear, trying to block out that which you are afraid of and feel unable to deal with. In the case of the wall it is really a symbol for what people really wish to block out, which is their feelings of desperation and helplessness as far as being able to make a living and have Healthcare and all the other ways in which they struggle. Those who support the wall believe that their biggest problem is immigrants taking their jobs and creating problems for them in other ways. Of course the issues are far far more complex, but that's one of the things they're trying to block out. It's a lot easier to think you can solve the problems by keeping some immigrants from coming in than by acknowledging that the system itself is built for the average working per

The single biggest cause of our current environmental catastrophe is the fact that, no matter what economic system you live under, capitalism,  socialism,  communism, with few exceptions the only way to make money,  which in almost every system is what one needs to stay alive and feed their families, is by destroying nature, turning nature into a product to be sold. Until that changes, and people have ways to feed their families and themselves without suicidally destroying the ecosystem they live in, it is going to be very hard to convince people to save the environment even though there is no other choice. For most people not paying the rent and the prospect of being homeless is a lot more immediately frightening then some future environmental disaster, even though of course we are experiencing many environmental disasters right now. Still people are doing what people often do when faced with unacceptable ideas, denial. Until we stop demonizing frightened people who are simply t

Donald Trump is the perfect trigger to outrage anyone on the blue side of the spectrum, the perfect distraction from the deep structural problems in the country. Instead of efforts towards changing the system, all those outraged are content to use their energies hating Trump. The ruling elites must be overjoyed that Corporate Personhood, corrupt, dysfunctional elections and the substitution of plutocracy for democracy  get so little attention while Trump serves as lightning rod, as Obama did before him in stimulating complacency on the left and outrage on the right Let's go back to the 2016 election. Trump only got 30% of the vote in most of the primaries.  Many Republicans couldn't stand him, in fact there was a very strong anti Trump movement in the Republican Party itself. Many Republicans would have voted for any Democratic candidate but Hillary Clinton. It's very well known that a candidate with very high negative perceptions has a very hard time winning an elec