My Responses to Typical Campaign Slogans and Spiels
Now that we are heading towards an election year, the pundits from the duopoly — along with Independents and third-party candidates — are going to start revving up their campaign speeches and slogans. They’re all going to be competing for attention (not fairly, mind you, since those with the most money can purchase the bigger pulpit), and much of them will be saying basically the same things with somewhat different wording.
It’s all familiar, and our response as members of the working class seeking unity among us for our shared material interests need to see through it all and not fall for phony attempts to manipulate us with divisive and feel-good emotional rhetoric.
So, what are a lot of these common spiels, and what should our responses be as we hold to our principles and keep a working class agenda firmly in place? Read on for examples you can expect to hear between now and next year (or any election year), sometimes almost in so many words, presented in italics… followed by what I believe our responses should be in quotes.
We need to elect good people and achieve common goals to improve America and make it a nation we can all be proud to live in!
“So, what about universal health care?
“Shelter and food as human rights?
“Free utilities so we don’t freeze to death in the winter or have to go without electricity if we can’t pay the utility bills because our low-paying jobs require us to put rent, food, and car payments first?
“What about free college so youths do not enter their adult years in massive debt?
“Full college debt forgiveness to eliminate the problem for existing college graduates who worked so hard to achieve their degrees?
“A meaningful job guarantee with a living wage so we’re encouraged in a non-coercive way to do our best job and get well-compensated for honest work?
“A free Internet with discussion platforms that belong entirely to the commons, not any private owners, to offset censorship and government-spread disinformation?
“Free daycare for working parents so raising a family does not become a crushing economic calculation?
“Do not evade this topic, or we’re not going to vote for you.”
We are dedicated to equality and inclusiveness, and we are determined to combat white supremacy wherever it rears its head.
“What about giving all workers the above benefits and stop race-baiting to get us pissed off at each other, trying to turn black workers against white workers, and get the latter on the defensive so that we do not unite as a class? How about we achieve something close to material equality and freedom from want for all workers rather than getting us to ‘fight’ each other based on ideological divisions that are ultimately fueled by a combination of material inequality and long-standing resentments that are relics of a previous era of American history? We stand united as a class, not divided based on immutable characteristics like race or gender, or personal choices such as religion or party affiliation.”
We will return to the traditional principles of our country to make America great again!
“You mean return to traditions that hardly worked well for everyone but capitalists firmly in power & privilege, and which were products of a social environment fostered by an earlier era of economic development and thus are no longer applicable today?
“If you want to support truly timeless values, how about securing the Bill of Rights to eliminate censorship based on partisan ideology, combat cancel culture, and allow dissent against war and any extant political party?”
America will not tolerate dictatorships anywhere in the world, and will support global freedom and democracy!
“If this is a feel-good way of saying we’re going to be fighting more and more wars, then no, we’re not in support of spending billions to enrich the Military Industrial Complex while claiming we lack funds to end homelessness, relieve college debt, end hunger due to the commodification of food, and support small businesses over here etc et al. We can’t effectively combat dictatorships abroad and spread democracy across the world without first addressing the dictatorship and lack of democracy we have over here.”
We will appoint the right people to the right offices to make America strong again!
“Meaning, appoint ‘representatives’ who are fully complicit with the American war-profiteering machine and with running capitalism the way it’s always been run.
“We repeat: we will not support war and economic imperialism. And we will not permit you to fill said positions with bankers, lobbyists, former CEOs, and other capitalists while seriously expecting them to help the working class. We know what you mean when you make these ambiguous statements, and who you actually mean to strengthen when you talk about making America ‘strong again.’”
We need to preserve Democracy by keeping [insert Boogeyman Oligarch from the “other” wing of the duopoly] from getting elected!
“No, we need to preserve Democracy by taking the Bill of Rights seriously and apply it to everyone, and stop making excuses to subvert Democracy just temporarily to keep some capitalist boogeyman out of office by electing other capitalists who are just as bad and support the exact same global world order. Our goal is to make a system that works for workers, not one that continues to put capitalists in power and expect them to empathize with our class.”
This is a unique moment in American history!
“No, it’s a typical moment: rival capitalists trying to emotionally manipulate workers into supporting capitalists from one wing or the other to keep capitalists in charge — which is a win for the entire capitalist class and a loss for the working class. The tactics are always the same, the attempts at manipulation and polarization of our class is always the same, and we’re not falling for it anymore.
“No capitalists in charge! The workers are taking over to enact fundamental change towards creating a new system that works well for everyone. Modern technology makes that possible, and it’s over 100 years past the time that we finally started working towards this.”