We're Looking For America

Join us as we're looking for America this week. We might even find it if we're lucky.

It's a family reunion of sorts here on The Revolution Continues. My fellow Bernie2016TV teammates and frequent contributors Bern Notice and Eddie Alvarado have each submitted an excellent piece for our enlightenment. Enjoy!

First up, Bern Notice gives us some useful information to help you decide where you might fall on the political spectrum.

original meme by Bern Notice

The Political Spectrum
by Bern Notice

There seems to be confusion on what a progressive is these days. Sometimes it’s due to a how a candidate is portrayed, or taking one individual's quote out of context and applying it to a movement.

I think the best way to truly understand what “progressive” means is to define what the other four ideologies are. This way it gives better context for understanding the important differences. Please note, the political ideologies are not always reflective of a party.

Libertarian: Supports extremely limited government and unfettered capitalism. (Socially: indifferent, Fiscally: right, Government policy: right) Best identified with Ayn Rand.

Conservative: Supports limited but robust government with limited (conservative) change from the original constitution and unfettered capitalism. (Socially: right, Fiscally: right, Government policy: right) Best identified with  Ronald Reagan.

Independent: No commitment to ideology. Independents run with what makes the most practical sense by each individual issue. (Socially: variable by issue, Fiscally: variable by issue, Government policy: variable by issue) Best identified with Ray Bradbury.

Liberal: Support strong government with incremental change, and strong capitalism with limited checks. (Socially: left, Fiscally: left, Government policy: center left) Best identified with Bill Clinton.

and finally…

Progressive: Supports very strong government with aggressive change and limited capitalism strong oversight. (Socially: left, Fiscally: left, Government policy: left) Best Identified with Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In short, the break between liberal and progressive is akin to the break between conservatives and libertarians. Progressives are in line with with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Liberals are in line with Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama and Teddy Kennedy. Essentially it comes down to how much your want the government involved in oversight and how rapidly you want the change to occur.

BIO: Check out Bern Notice's informational articles  like this one at  Seeing Through the B.S.  Currently he's blogging on each of the declared Democratic candidates for the presidency for 2020. Here's a list of the candidates he's covered (very thoroughly) so far:

Bernie Sanders: https://bernnoticepolitics.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/2020-presidential-candidate-profiles-part-2-senator-bernie-sanders/

Kamala Harris: https://bernnoticepolitics.wordpress.com/2019/02/28/2020-presidential-candidate-profiles-part-1-senator-kamala-harris/

Andrew Yang: https://bernnoticepolitics.wordpress.com/2019/03/05/2020-presidential-candidate-profiles-part-3-andrew-yang/

Cory Booker: https://bernnoticepolitics.wordpress.com/2019/03/11/2020-presidential-candidate-profiles-part-4-senator-cory-booker/#like-1619


Another Bernie2016TV colleague is looking for more than just a candidate to back--he's looking for America itself. Eddie's poignant essay touches on the anguish we feel when we can't find what we thought once was there.

Looking for America
by Eddie Alvarado  

It is something we all do from time to time. We ponder about where is that America we were told about when we were young. Many have found that America. Unfortunately, a lot more haven’t. For many, America is the place of opportunity. But it is too often the place only the rich can afford. A place where its people want to work together to build each other up, but it is often the rich and powerful who actively work to keep us broken and difficult to put back together. To the apathetic, awaiting their reality, it’s only the name of a Simon and Garfunkel or Switchfoot song.

We stand in the reality of a public health crisis where many of our loved ones die from opiate overdoses. We’re looking for a place that treats our sick with the respect they deserve, not throwing them in a prison to die because of non-violent charges. We see our climate slowly being turned out of balance by men who literally want to watch the world burn. And where are we? We’re pacing. We’re trying to provide for all in an ever more grueling world. We’re trying to come to the land of opportunity, which continues to be fogged from view, by a demagogue of a president. We’re looking for that shining torch of liberty. We’re looking for America.

We used to be able to gather without the threat of being mowed down by the extreme right whose views are so toxic that any opposition to their abhorrent agenda constitutes a death sentence. We used to rise over injustice when a fellow man was kicked to the ground--we used to pick him up and fight for him. Any criticism of a certain group so invested in kicking down a people wishing to be recognized as a state is now considered anti-Semitic. For merely mentioning this bully's crimes, not the party who did nothing wrong, it is labeled that way. We’re looking for a place where we can rise against lobbyists who work to kick people down. We’re looking for America.

We’re looking for a place that told our parents, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” But the cost of freedom is to breathe toxic air or lead infested waters. The cost of breathing free is to stare down the barrel of a handgun if you’re Black. We’re looking for that place which guaranteed us equal protection under the law, not protection if you can afford it. We’re looking for the place that enforces the Clean Air and Water Act. We’re looking for the place that said if we worked to better ourselves, we’d get the Dream greater than anything. We’re looking for America.    

We’re looking for a place where if you get sick you can see a doctor to treat you and not come away filing bankruptcy. We’re looking for a place where if you can get an education you can begin your career and attain your dream job, not dependent on nepotism, where if you fall on hard times there is an option to ensure you can pick back up where you left off to earn for your family because you paid your taxes. We’re looking for that place that doesn’t look blindly and believe crooks who say we can’t do it. We’re looking for those revolutionaries who said, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” We’re looking for America.

We’re looking for the reasons for the death of our dead overseas, and we learn  that fighting for regime change is wrong. We’re looking for the people who know that sending our family members to die on foreign soil should be discouraged. We’re looking for the place where we not only care for our veterans in speeches, but we care for our veterans by action. We’re looking for the place where we know not to honor traitors or racists who praised slavery and segregation. We’re looking for the heroes who fought it not only on the battlefield, but in Selma, in Chicago, in Alabama and anywhere in this nation. 

We’re looking for America.

We’re looking for a place that doesn’t reject science because of billionaires hellbent on earning an extra dollar. We’re looking for a place that not only has concern for the unborn but has concern for the people living in real time, a place where we’re helping disenfranchised children born without a dollar to their name. We’re looking for that place that remembers  the people that aren’t seen on TV, the ones who lost their jobs when their jobs were shipped off for cheaper labor. We’re looking for America.

We’re looking for a place while we count the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike hoping there isn’t a dangerous pothole ready to take a person’s life. We’re looking for a place that isn't falling apart because of hubris. We’re looking for a place where we invest in not bombs but roads. We’re looking for a place where we get rid of crime with education and not incarceration, where we can let our children enjoy being kids and not afraid to step out of their house. We’re looking for America.

I’m looking for a place which recognizes that “A nation rises above the fear and fight that haunts these streets.” You’re looking for the place that is ready to see change and not be indoctrinated by the elites which work against them. We’re all  looking for that red, white and blue flag which tells us we’re in America. 

Where is that place? Can we only conjure it up in our minds? Where is America? 

We’re looking for America.

BIO: Eddie is a young activist who works hard for progressive candidates and causes he believes in.  He lives and blogs in New Jersey.

***

Let's keep looking for the real America!

 

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