How do you construct a simple economic message without pandering or lying?

[HughBeaumont]

To prepare for 2018 and beyond, we're supposed to be canvassing, getting out the vote . . . (snicker) constructing a dialogue with the opposition to try and get them on your side . . .

OK, I'm all ears.

* What is our plan to communicate with the upper-middle and above regarding income inequality and Capitalism's glaring distribution flaw? Are we going to try and persuade the wealthy to ignore lower-costing workers? Are we going to try and persuade them to say no to event-driven algorithms that can replace hordes of workers in one fell swoop?

* How do we tell the wealthy that their greed is ultimately self-destructive without them crying "CLASS WARFARE!!!"??

* What are some realistic solutions for the worker who is going to be replaced by automation/right to work/offshore outsourcing? Expensive-as-hell college (while trying to pay bills in unemployment)? Relocate with no guarantee of a permanent, living-wage job? Try and make do with low retail wages and bad benefits in the face of soaring living/necessity costs? Have them try their luck at the self-employment casino?

* How do we tell the well-conditioned Fox-watcher that pretty much everything that station has taught them about economics is false? Do we have charts and stats at the ready? Do we tell them tax cuts are not a substitute for a living wage and are one of the worst and least effective forms of economic stimulus? How do we say THAT mouthful in one or two words?

* What is our plan to combat the one-sided "Free Trade" deals that leave American workers worse off economically?

If we're talking "reasonable Americans" and not "Batshit racist hyper-fundie wingnuts" (sorry, that's a disease requiring a long-term cure), you might be with them on foreign policy and domestic rights issues.

Economics is quite a different story. As we've seen, people without hope need someone to tell them everything is going to be OK . . . even though it's painfully obvious that more than a few things regarding labor issues, benefits and future employment prospects for them and their children are NOT OK. People without hope rely on faith . . . even if that faith is with a labor-stiffing real-estate billionaire.

I'm at a loss as to what to tell those without hope. I don't know what to tell them. Forget brevity; I know how corporate America (that corporate America that now fully runs our country, public AND private) IS. They were never about doing what's right for their employees.

That's the challenge: An economic message that allows them to remain complacent, doesn't blame Republicans or the rich, gives them hope for the future and doesn't bore them within one minute's time.

Anyone got a road map to that pot of gold?

[Girard442]

1. Look to the labor movement in the early 20th century

They had a simple message: the rich bosses are screwing us and we have to join together and fight them.

You don't rally folks to your cause with monographs by Nobel laureate economists.

[HughBeaumont]

3. But a lot of those workers voted a labor-screwing "rich boss" as President.

There might be a handful of them that could receive a million dollars apiece from our party and still never vote for a Democrat.

What do we tell the rest, though?

[randome]

2. Point out the strength and national unity that comes from equitable taxation.

Point out that our social safety net is the envy of the world (doesn't matter if it's entirely true or not).
Sing the economic praises that will come from shoring up our infrastructure in a first-class manner.
Call out the GOPers who want us to believe that America is near broke and can't aspire to anything better.
We are not paupers! We are the richest, most successful nation in the world!

More of that and fewer facts and figures, I think.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[Blanks]

4. We need a plan to re-purpose abandoned land...

Vice has a series about a few abandoned places throughout North America.

https://video.vice.com/en_us/show/abandoned

There are a few examples of organizations and persons that take abandoned places and make that space productive again. Detroit is probably the best example, there is a fair amount of urban farming and elimination of 'food deserts' within the city.

We have these cities where people have left, leaving schools and malls empty and whole communities are left without much hope. We need to promise to coordinate with these communities, and the states where they reside to turn empty schools into 'business incubators' and a plan to demolish and clean up houses and businesses, and abandon streets where no one is served. Whole blocks that have only one or two residences could relocate those residents and take up the streets and allow that property to be redeveloped.

We need to provide financial incentives to communities to plant trees, and gardens and aquaponics and take up hard surface area (like mall parking lots) and reuse that land resource and the building if it is salvageable.

There is a fair amount of value in these abandoned properties as long as they are re-purposed into something more in line with the needs of the current population of the communities.

That's what I think anyway.

[HughBeaumont]

5. Montreal repurposed their Olympic village and athletic compounds.

Two of the buildings are now used as a biodome and a planetarium.

Repurposing would put lots of people to work and I feel there are several hundred places across the country where this plan can come into play. The problem lies in the public/private dollars backing the plan . . . states are going to experience severe shortfalls when re-hashed Supply Side rears its nasty head again, just as it did when Dubya tried it.

[Blanks]

6. That's gonna depend on the repurpose...

What happens is 'big money people' get in there and make investments on things where there is no realistic return on investment.

If you start with something simple, for example, when a roadway widening or resurface is scheduled. The contract requires the contractor to recycle the hard surface parking area around an abandoned high school, then the school can survey the property and sell it in parcels which doesn't include the building, and the land that they're selling is cleared. Such things require coordination with school districts, city public works departments and state highway departments, but in the end all three entities benefit without any additional cost to any of them. These abandoned communities have schools to sell, but the building itself may be more than a small investor is capable of taking on.

It is when people try to be bold and impressive that the plan fails. We need a bunch of small scale projects that increase the net worth of a community. Maybe it creates a few jobs, but the primary concern is improving the community, ideally through some educational or training program.

England has a mine that they repurposed into the Eden Project. The ideas are out there, people just need to be made aware of them, and be provided with some level of support to make things happen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden_Project

[Afromania]

7. imho

The only way to get it done is let them have exactly what they want. For instance you don't want to pay taxes? Fine don't pay taxes but here is what you as a non tax paying citizen get

*no education
public or private(that takes any form of government subsidizing, i.e. financial aid, forget home schooling and getting a GED. You as a non tax paying citizen are not entitled to anything subsidized by tax paying citizens.

*no public utilities price protection
You as a non-tax paying citizen you are no longer protected from price gauging by the utilities, they may charge you whatever they feel like charging you at the time. Consumer protection no longer applies to you. Woooo, you think that water bill is awful now, just you wait.

*no services
No sanitation, no street repair, no calling the police or fire. If you should require their services you will be charged for it. Anything that requires the court system. So say you decide to buy that shiny new car and it's a total dud. Too bad, sucker you should have paid some taxes.

*additional fees to use subsidized infrastructure
Want to register that new car you just bought and is a total lemon anyway? Well since you don't pay taxes your registration has an added road usage fee that is calculated every year based on how much you drive your car. Also you can't get an EZpass or whatever auto toll booth payment system your state has. You get the Not-So-EZpass without taxpayer subsidized pricing. Well, you don't drive much anyway so you don't care.

Part of the reason you aren't driving all that much is that along with differences in pricing based on if you use a debit or credit card. There is now non taxpaying citizen pricing as well. You know since its our tax dollar at work keeping those prices artificially lower than they could be. I hope your ass likes European gas prices. You'll take the bus, train, ferry , whatever. Yea, ooops guess what pays for that too.


*No access to Medicare/Medicaid/ Disability/Social Security
Well, I'm doing well off enough that I don't need any of that? Welp, you can only use for profit hospitals (which will have to open up for these folks). No using hospitals that get tax payer money either directly(grant) or indirectly(takes Medicaid/Medicare).



ok, that was a bit long winded. sorry for rambling.