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The NICA Progressive is one Hidden Reason We Have Trump [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-07
I haven’t posted to the site in many years, but there’s something I really have to get off my chest.
Starting with two basic facts:
College-educated voters supported Kamala Harris overwhelmingly in 2024.
87% of bachelor’s degree holders report financial wellbeing, 20 percentage points higher than groups with any other level of education.
To paraphrase Lord Acton, absolute economic power corrupts absolutely. And the stench of corruption emanating from the left is impossible to ignore, now that the Democratic Party is officially the party of the well-to-do.
The problem goes beyond NIMBYism, though that’s a bit part of it. (How many Harris voters also vote against housing density and object to recovery centers and homeless shelters in their neighborhoods?)
The problem also goes deeper than what Klein and Thompson argue in “Abundance”, although it’s quite true that progressives have managed to stumble over ourselves, making it extremely challenging to accomplish ambitious projects like affordable housing or high speed rail.
The corruption I’m talking about is a very basic, pocketbook selfishness — a progressive ideology that’s tempered and constrained by NICAism (“Not if it Costs Anything”). And the accumulated impact of our selfish economic decisions has been the main driver of inequality and the main reason why we even need the social safety nets that are currently under threat by a demagogue. Here are just some of the everyday economic actions that are completely mainstream among progressives:
Buying “fast fashion” clothes made by exploited and impoverished workers in the Global South, driving prices and wages down for all garment workers, including the ~100,000 that are still standing here in the U.S.
Continuing to drive gas-powered cars. Just yesterday, I literally heard a progressive person say they won’t switch to electric until charging is equally fast and convenient as going to a gas station.
Investing in the stock market, regardless of the negative impact those public corporations are having on people and the planet.
Shopping at Amazon, trading convenience for the slow and painful death of the mom and pop store.
Shopping at places like Trader Joe’s, which somehow became associated with liberals even though it’s non-union, and even though TJ’s is a huge part of the global food system that drives prices down and perpetuates global inequality.
Does it strike anyone else as odd that the party of upper-income Americans (that is to say, the Democratic Party) doesn’t want to have a meaningful national conversation about how we spend our wealth? It seems we’d rather talk about anything else, so long as we’re allowed to keep spending our money in whatever way is most enjoyable and convenient. How many of us have used our disposable income on a Trump-era “getaway” to decompress from the stress of doomscrolling? Are we fully aware of how that spend may be contributing to inequality and environmental destruction?
Basic economics tells us that whoever has the best access to market information is likeliest to profit most from a transaction. In other words, those of us with college degrees are going to make better economic decisions at the expense of those without college degrees. Are we surprised that this has led to union members fleeing the party and embracing Trump? Or to cash-strapped young people being turned off by the virtue signaling of the wealthiest among us?
The DailyKos merch store says it is proud to offer “USA Made, Union decorated” merch. This is Daily Freakin’ Kos. “Made in USA” is not a “get out of sweatshops free” card. Union decoration is virtue signaling. If we can’t do better than that here, what does that say about the decisions we’re all making behind closed doors?
It’s — of COURSE — absolutely essential to stand up against the encroaching nationalist autocracy. But if we’re going to win back a majority coalition, we’re going to have to do better than virtue signal. We’re going to have to start supporting decent jobs and environmental sustainability in our own lives, and we need a movement to support each other in that transition. Believe me, I know it’s hard, and I still haven’t found the will to cancel my Amazon Prime membership. But I’m increasingly disgusted by that decision. I did recently switch to a (used) electric car, and it feels really good to know I never have to stop at Exxon or BP again, and hand over cash to those who are very literally making the world worse every day.
I’m thinking about starting some kind of online support group with the goal of challenging each other to do better, and break the cycle of the rich (i.e. Democrats) getting richer on the backs of the undereducated poor. Anyone interested in helping out?
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/7/2315120/-The-NICA-Progressive-is-the-Reason-We-Have-Trump?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
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