re: #265 EPR-radar

Once all the personal crap is stripped out of the 2016 Democratic primary, real issues remain that the party has to sort out. IMO the key question is: what is the Democratic party position going to be on plutocracy, globalization and automation, three trends which have already and will continue to severely fuck over anyone who works for a living.

The pattern of places where t**** won or did well for a Republican is a sign of this, IMO.

I feel like, when I was in high school and college in the 90s, the thinking was our economy was changing from manufacturing to service. That was a big reason behind the push that everyone should go to college, because the workplace was changing. But then there was the inevitable pushback, about how college isn’t for everyone (which, fine, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to adapt to the new economic landscape), and that turned into “what about blue collar jobs?” We knew about globalization and automation for 25 years, and it remains as true today as it was then: the best way forward is more and better education.

With respect to consolidation and monopolies, the only answer is to dust off the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It’ll be good for the economy, and it’s an easy sell: we all have smartphones because we broke up AT&T in the 80s. That’s what competition does, it moves the economy forward, it’s good for the workers, which is good for the consumers, which is good for business.