Benjamin Cain
2 min readJan 28, 2021

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We're largely in agreement, including about the DNC or the corporatist side of the Democrats. But I'll focus on some possible disagreements.

Like Trumpism, the progressive extremism of cancel culture, safe spaces, defund the police, the green new deal, and the like is a reaction to the downside of neoliberal orthodoxy. At least the progressives talk explicitly about oligarchy and plutocracy, though. Trump talked vaguely about "draining the swamp," but did you see him move to reform the political campaign system or to get big money out of Congress? The swamp for Trump turned out to be anyone competent in government who didn't swear fealty to Trump and to his frauds, as though the US were a medieval monarchy or an organized crime syndicate.

You say progressives are pushing to overturn longstanding traditions. But what Americans call "progressive" would be considered centrist in Europe, Canada, and other developed countries. So this kind of progressivism is hardly radical or untested. It's a question of bringing the US up to the standards of other developed countries, at least in certain respects in which the US has clearly fallen behind.

You seem to be a conservative about family values. If that has a religious basis, such conservatism is like that of the Muslim world. Both are subject to modernization, which is to say secularization. In any case, no one's powerful enough to undo the social instincts at the root of basic family values, not without a re-engineering of the human psyche. If you're talking just about gay rights and feminism, that ship has sailed.

I see disadvantages of both hyperfeminine and hypermasculine values. Patriarchy is largely the cause of the self-destructiveness of the entire Anthropocene. In light of the environmental crisis due to unbridled economic "progress," "growth," and selfishness, saying we need to stay true to our hypermasculine, patriarchal traditions out of conservative loyalty or "prudence" is asinine.

You also seem soft on the Republicans. Yeah, talking about Democratic obstruction in light of what McConnell did to Obama is ludicrous. Trump still has a stranglehold over the Republicans, so that whole party could collapse after the civil war it needs to wage with itself to be viable in a national election, assuming that party doesn't resort to wholesale cheating which is now standard for it (the Electoral College, gerrymandering, voter suppression, fake news about massive voter fraud from the Democrats).

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Benjamin Cain
Benjamin Cain

Written by Benjamin Cain

Ph.D. in philosophy / Knowledge condemns. Art redeems. / https://benjamincain.substack.com / https://ko-fi.com/benjamincain / benjamincain8@gmailDOTcom

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