Gray Champion Predictions

[David Horn]

(08-17-2020, 06:48 PM)jleagans Wrote: I'm pegging AOC as a 2030's President, I just don't see how she doesn't define one of the parties for the next two turnings.  

And I think she ends up defining herself in relief to an Andrew Yang technocrat-silicon valley Democrat party.  He's not a one-trick pony, UBI was just a starting point (though I can make an argument that UBI is the most important policy debate we will have in this era). Yang's pitch that sold me toward the end is that the Democratic party should be the party that trusts the people.  THAT is a platform you can build a party around that dovetails with modern conservative thinking that opens the door for coalitions.  

I'm seeing Yang as the next FDR/Reagan party era starter, and AOC either takes over the Republican party or we see a Progressive party actually replace the Republican party.

The historical rhyming with AOD and Teddy Roosevelt is strong, as the Dems stand now exactly where the R's stood when Teddy had to run as a Bull Moose.  No one in the flank of a party has ever been able to pull the party back to them.

First, UBI is not that new. The Swiss have tinkered with it for at least 15 years.  Second, the plutocrats will want to keep the spoils they've accumulated, even in the event of a strong leveling event. UBI is a perfect tool to keep them rich and the proles quiet. So Yang may be prescient, but not all that progressive.  Also remember, UBI is a government benefit that is easily subject to abuse by the government if the wrong people get a chance to tinker.  In that, it's a lot like Social Security, and should have an annual COLA and a strict COLA policy to keep meddling to a minimum.

A better choice would be a large and growing Sovereign Wealth Fund, that holds voting stock in most public stocks.  Then, the profits benefit everyone and the control on unacceptable behavior is constrained by the ability to vote proxies.