About the Economy...There's a misnomer that all us avid never-trumpers must therefore be liberal. Not so! I've always believed many ideas from the more progressive wing are inherently redistributionist in nature, creating a wider safety net that many are more than willing to jump into & robs people of their individual initiative. Instead of a dependency mindset, our society should incentivize achievement. I may be the biggest never-trumper you'll ever know, but it's strictly because the lying orange coup-attempting insurrectionist criminal is a divisive wannabe fascist dictator. He must be defeated to preserve democracy. But ideologically, I have always considered myself more of a moderate conservative.
My economic thoughts over the past decade have shifted more to the left when presented with new information. After seeing reports like the Panama Papers (see 1st link below) where the wealthy avail themselves of generous tax havens/shelters/loopholes/dodges, along with a Rand Corp study (2nd link below) where rich monopolistic corporate oligarchs have rigged the system & robbed the working middle class to the tune of $50 trillion over the past half-century (that's created unprecedented wage-wealth gaps as seen in the 3rd link), it can really open our eyes to reality. Now Trump wants to double-down on his previous mistake by giving ultra-wealthy oligarchs another huge tax cut, which fails to trickle down but sure does spike deficits (4th link).
As for other preferred talking points from MAGA & their fake media, inflation & cost-of-living has been a problem off & on for a long time, particularly in sectors like housing, healthcare & education. In the past 3 years, post-pandemic inflation exploded into a worldwide challenge for various reasons, which America did handle better than most countries. Inflation rates have come down as have migrant crossings this year, helped by a cooperative arrangement with Mexico & investments in commerce for the host countries. But the overall immigration system is broken & needs fixed, as a managed vetting system in the right numbers doesn't so much replace American jobs as fill jobs Americans don't want. Any attempts to repair the system these past couple decades have been shot down by the GOP & their fear-mongering right-wing media screaming "amnesty." They also shot down a worthy border security bill this year as Trump demanded, fearing it would hurt him politically if passed. So ironically, it's the orange demagogue who wants open borders!
The conservative mantra of demonizing big government has turned out to be a facade, since it's clear large monolithic multi-national corporations have devastated middle class lifestyles far more than any governmental policies. The oligarchs with the wealth, leverage & power to control us have systematically run roughshod over smaller competitors, suppressed wages to their workers & raised prices to their consumers (and as donors they've also bought & paid for politicians on both sides). The disparities have become so profound that MAGA conservative warnings of socialism ring hollow, since our current economic structure has evolved into something about as far away from socialism as possible.
It's interesting that many young people & far-left progressives advocate for socialism since capitalism has largely failed them, which they do have a valid point. Typical service jobs simply do not pay a living wage. I believe the solutions lie in fixing modern-day capitalism so working class families & small businesses can more readily earn their fair share, since the anger & despair are very real out there & could someday usher in the collapse of capitalism through a populist movement on the fringes of the right or left (or both together). It's only then we run the risk of falling into socialism, communism or worse.
Our immediate threat is fascism if MAGA wins in November. It's also interesting that Trump has always spoken to workers' desperations & carved out a significant blue-collar following, but it's been lost on his fans that it is all hot air as he proposes no viable remedies. These workers have been neglected for so long as companies have shipped their good-paying jobs overseas or across the border, so they've fallen for the orange word-salad bluster which has given Trump a reliable power source by speaking their language. Another key constituency the orange blob has bamboozled is the evangelical vote by speaking to social issues. I can no longer recognize my former church & former party, or the people still supporting/defending them. By hijacking what was once the Republican Party, Trump has turned the conservative movement into some hyperpartisan Frankenstein monster based on power-hungry grievance, vengeance & nihilism that fails to provide constructive answers for our country.
Sadly, neither party has articulated any ideas on the fundamental structural changes our economic system truly needs, since we're a bitterly divided nation & bipartisan solutions can't see the light of day in our current environment. So in our country which is likely creating more wealth than any society in world history, it's unconscionable that roughly 2/3 of working families are living paycheck to paycheck. Such economic uncertainty results directly in family breakdowns, mental health issues, addictions, health problems & countless other societal ills. A Harris administration would be no panacea, but it's imperative we start by defeating MAGA fascism. Only then could we begin the process of trying to unite as a nation around policies to tackle all our various issues, which would become the only possible way to make America great again.
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