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AZJonnie

(1,628 posts)
2. First our side must convince the public that such a massive wealth distribution is fair/deserved
Wed Sep 17, 2025, 01:40 PM
Sep 17

The rich have spent billions on propaganda convincing the public that they deserve their wealth "as long as they're not breaking the law". It's presented to us as something we could all accomplish "with hard work" so you have a lot of people thinking "Well, when *I* get rich I don't want half of what I earned paid in taxes". They are generally smart people, and also shamelessly predatory and manipulative. This is why they've bought up the media and social media, and populate our government and the judiciary with their own. Plus the public is woefully uneducated about how, well, just about everything, actually works. They either don't understand how the rich have rigged the system in their favor, or they admire how they've done so and just want "in". We need to explain to people how the rich have rigged the system, and made sure "the laws" they've "not broken" were (or were not) created by their forces in the first place, on their behalf, and to the detriment of the common citizen.

If Dems just go out and run on taking money away from the very rich without convincing a significant number (who are not already convinced) why it's "deserved", we will lose. The rich have a MUCH louder megaphone than we do, and they will scream "socialist" from their own bully pulpit. And our side just doesn't seem very good at fighting them on the points they make is the truth, and we get outplayed at every turn. The whole "Medicare for All" nomenclature is one of the dumbest ones. Not the general idea, just the naming. Fighting for a Public Option was and is still the much better angle.

If we can convince the public that it's bullshit that our government should disallow itself from "competing" to provide services/products with these mega-corporations backed by so much money, that may be the best angle. But the way we're heading now is backsliding on We The People even keeping the services we do (or did) get direct from the government, such as the USPS (which I think may not survive this regime), Social Security, and Medicare (that has been hugely eroded by for-profit corporations interjecting themselves into the revenue stream). Democrats being seen as strongly advocating against the cutting of government services/funds people depend on, just so the billionaires get tax breaks, is among the best angles we can take to return to our rightful place as helpers of the common citizen.

And then we have to convince many more of the country, that the very wealthy are NOT our friends, they are our COMPETITORS with a very unfair advantage over regular people, and a deeply predacious mindset. The public are conditioned to fear "predators" (in fact it's part of our genome), so this is the angle to work. The right leverage it ALL the time, to great success. They understand base human nature much better that our side, it seems.

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