Thank you for coming Leah. The ASP's presidential candidate Peter Sonski, and especially his running mate Lauren Onak, are going to contribute a lot to these conversations.
Thank you Leah for your thoughtful and inspiring message to the American Solidarity Party convention and beyond. To your point, America needs a new approach to longstanding needs and deficiencies. I hope the ASP can advance that message during the upcoming campaign.
I enjoyed your speech! I completely agree that we need to look at the whole structure of our economy and markets as we imagine the future that we hope to create. I think you'd particularly love digging in on the work of the New Economy Coalition & their 200+ member orgs if you haven't already. https://neweconomy.net/
The heart of my quibble with the speech and with ASP in general isn't the broader thrust of the vision, but the framing of 'both the left and the right are wrong' without grappling with all the incredible work actively happening on the Left to create a humane future in line with what you discussed. Left leaning orgs have been fairly successful in pushing their states to be better when it comes to key indicators of child well being, for instance, while states dominated by Republicans fail children and families horrifically and constantly. https://assets.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-2022kidscountdatabook-2022.pdf
And when it comes to abortion - a fundamental question I've raised before is how you & the party reckon with the deployment of our expansive and invasive security state in support of the "pro-life" and "anti-trans" movements. It appears from what I've seen that the choice of Texas for the convention was purposeful, and I haven't seen a critique of SB8, SB14 & similar legislation turning neighbor against neighbor from the party or nominees. Banning safe & legal abortions doesn't stop abortions from happening, but it does empower an oppressive and tyrannical state.
My quibble with this quibble is that the raison d'être for any third party must necessarily be a profound dissatisfaction with both major parties. Otherwise, why bother? If you see the major parties as "bad vs. worse" (as I do) rather than "better vs. worse" (as you might), it's pointless to keep score.
Whether or not the ASP's policy proposals are good is a separate issue, of course.
I’m a big fan of third parties! And the history of third parties (I’m from Minnesota, proud home of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party). I believe the time is ripe for new parties to rise, but if they want to succeed I think they must start from a place of clarity, authenticity and honesty.
I don’t see that from ASP at the moment, mostly because they seem to hold their punches when it comes to critiquing Republican policies and dodge hard questions when it comes to where they stand on state power. Successful third parties say what they mean - what they intend to do and how they will get there. ASP seems more interested in being a home for Catholic conservative intellectuals who want influence when the Dominionists succeed in their coup, while also having plausible deniability.
Thank you for coming Leah. The ASP's presidential candidate Peter Sonski, and especially his running mate Lauren Onak, are going to contribute a lot to these conversations.
What a privilege to get to meet you and see you speak in person! Thank you for sharing your brilliance and your mastery of words with us.
It was lovely to meet you, too! I'll pray for your daughter's trip.
Thank you Leah for your thoughtful and inspiring message to the American Solidarity Party convention and beyond. To your point, America needs a new approach to longstanding needs and deficiencies. I hope the ASP can advance that message during the upcoming campaign.
I enjoyed your speech! I completely agree that we need to look at the whole structure of our economy and markets as we imagine the future that we hope to create. I think you'd particularly love digging in on the work of the New Economy Coalition & their 200+ member orgs if you haven't already. https://neweconomy.net/
The heart of my quibble with the speech and with ASP in general isn't the broader thrust of the vision, but the framing of 'both the left and the right are wrong' without grappling with all the incredible work actively happening on the Left to create a humane future in line with what you discussed. Left leaning orgs have been fairly successful in pushing their states to be better when it comes to key indicators of child well being, for instance, while states dominated by Republicans fail children and families horrifically and constantly. https://assets.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-2022kidscountdatabook-2022.pdf
And when it comes to abortion - a fundamental question I've raised before is how you & the party reckon with the deployment of our expansive and invasive security state in support of the "pro-life" and "anti-trans" movements. It appears from what I've seen that the choice of Texas for the convention was purposeful, and I haven't seen a critique of SB8, SB14 & similar legislation turning neighbor against neighbor from the party or nominees. Banning safe & legal abortions doesn't stop abortions from happening, but it does empower an oppressive and tyrannical state.
My quibble with this quibble is that the raison d'être for any third party must necessarily be a profound dissatisfaction with both major parties. Otherwise, why bother? If you see the major parties as "bad vs. worse" (as I do) rather than "better vs. worse" (as you might), it's pointless to keep score.
Whether or not the ASP's policy proposals are good is a separate issue, of course.
I’m a big fan of third parties! And the history of third parties (I’m from Minnesota, proud home of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party). I believe the time is ripe for new parties to rise, but if they want to succeed I think they must start from a place of clarity, authenticity and honesty.
I don’t see that from ASP at the moment, mostly because they seem to hold their punches when it comes to critiquing Republican policies and dodge hard questions when it comes to where they stand on state power. Successful third parties say what they mean - what they intend to do and how they will get there. ASP seems more interested in being a home for Catholic conservative intellectuals who want influence when the Dominionists succeed in their coup, while also having plausible deniability.