Blexit Campaign - Black Exit from the US Democratic Party

[Porcupine]

I used to be a card-carrying libertarian, and I still sympathize but their lizards are not perfect either. No lizards are.

Lizards?

[downbeatplumb]

I used to be a card-carrying libertarian, and I still sympathize but their lizards are not perfect either. No lizards are.

Lizards?

“It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
"What?"
"I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"
"I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."
Ford shrugged again.
"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happenned to them," he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."
"But that's terrible," said Arthur.
"Listen, bud," said Ford, "if I had one Altairian dollar for every time I heard one bit of the Universe look at another bit of the Universe and say 'That's terrible' I wouldn't be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.”

From so long and thanks for all the fish.

[The Architect Of Fate]

Disagree. Libertarians are in favour of liberal economics (free markets, no socialism etc) and so in a very real, if not in fact THE most important sense, they are accurately described as being liberal

Nah Libertarians are neo feudalists mixed with social darwinism . They are not Liberals

[Mister Agenda]

One of the things that kept me a libertarian so long was the over-the-top definitions of them by liberals. Since I knew I wasn't what they said I was, it was harder to take them seriously on their other claims.

[TaraJo]

I think there are a LOT of people dissatisfied with the democratic party. I'm one of them. But what's the alternative? When have the green party or libertarians had enough political power to have a significant influence on politics? Have we ever had a president from a third party? Has the congressional majority ever been in the hands of a political party other than those two?

IMO, I'd like to see some fundamental changes to our political system to encourage third party participation. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening. The people in power achieved power with the system the way it is; why would they want to rock the boat if rocking the boat could cause them to lose power?

[Pat Mustard]

I think there are a LOT of people dissatisfied with the democratic party.  I'm one of them.  But what's the alternative?  When have the green party or libertarians had enough political power to have a significant influence on politics?  Have we ever had a president from a third party?  Has the congressional majority ever been in the hands of a political party other than those two?  

IMO, I'd like to see some fundamental changes to our political system to encourage third party participation.  Unfortunately, I don't see it happening.  The people in power achieved power with the system the way it is; why would they want to rock the boat if rocking the boat could cause them to lose power?

I think that if the republitraitors eventually disappear (which is likely in the long run, their base is dying), the Democrats will fracture into at least two parties eventually. They're too big of a tent to hold together as a party with factions from the pro-business hard right to the solidly leftwing social democrats united only by two things, a disapproval/hatred to those with an R beside their name (and rightly so) and a broad consensus that social rights should be more extensive and available to all (though that consensus doesn't extend to how those ideas should be implemented, with the right wing factions being more hesitant in bringing forward social policy).

The Democrats if they end up as the main party will be split by the massive economic policy fractures that are currently being papered over by having such a horrible opposition.

[SteelCurtain]

As a black man, I find it pretty laughable that there is a Blexit of any kind happening. Black voters have never been a liberal monolith. We vote Democratic even though the Democratic party is far from perfect, because for the past 55+ years, one party has been doing everything it can to disenfranchise us and punish us for asking for equal rights. And that party isn't the Democratic party.

Using the political and social zeitgeist of the 90s to judge where the party is now is silliness, and I think you all know that. The crime bill was unilaterally popular, and it was an unmitigated disaster, and there are few Democrats who would stand by it now, and even Biden isn't one of them. Populism can suck.

Black voters tend to be way more conservative than the Democratic party because active black voters tend to be older, but that is changing. Of course you can find black voters who will vote for Trump, but that isn't a sign of an exodus. In 2016 "Superpredator" Clinton got the largest share of the black vote in history, and early polling suggests more of the same in 2020.

Don't be obtuse.

[Fireball]

As a black man, I find it pretty laughable that there is a Blexit of any kind happening. Black voters have never been a liberal monolith. We vote Democratic even though the Democratic party is far from perfect, because for the past 55+ years, one party has been doing everything it can to disenfranchise us and punish us for asking for equal rights. And that party isn't the Democratic party.

Using the political and social zeitgeist of the 90s to judge where the party is now is silliness, and I think you all know that. The crime bill was unilaterally popular, and it was an unmitigated disaster, and there are few Democrats who would stand by it now, and even Biden isn't one of them. Populism can suck.

Black voters tend to be way more conservative than the Democratic party because active black voters tend to be older, but that is changing. Of course you can find black voters who will vote for Trump, but that isn't a sign of an exodus. In 2016 "Superpredator" Clinton got the largest share of the black vote in history, and early polling suggests more of the same in 2020.

Don't be obtuse.

Man, you can't believe how much I hope you are right, Chief. No matter what people may say about the alleged phoniness of the Dems, the Reps are so much worse that it defies belief. It would appear that 40% of the population still supports the chump. That sucks donkey balls. I might despair of this country, but even (SOME OF) the dorks I know who voted for the chump in '16 are regretting their decision. I'm hoping for a landslide come November.

[Athene]

Democrats don't want blacks to prosper any more than they did when they were the CHAMPIONS of slavery and Jim Crow. 
The Dems need to keep blacks mentally enslaved/brainwashed in a mindset of helpless, hopeless victimhood and dependent on the government in order to retain their votes and support. 

The thing that they don't get is most Black Americans aren't about that life. They want to build. 
And while they recognize that racism is quite real in the US, they are unconvinced that they aren't living in a free country and are unable to move forward in life because they're black; and I'm in agreement with them. I reject the notion that I can't succeed unless masses of random, unremarkable white people surrender all their privilege unto me. It's a lie; and a remarkably white supremacist one at that. It implies that black people are so hopelessly inferior that the only substantive advantage/power we can ever hope to have is that which whites graciously give to us. Lol....WRONG.

Truth is, Democrats' fork-tongued policies and messaging has undermined and weakened black families and damn near destroyed entire communities; no one needs looks further than Democrat-run districts to see that it's true. Thankfully, more and more blacks are coming to recognize the Dems true role in the black community; corrupt-as-fuck oppression pimps posing as the "good guys"---still racist as all fuck and still working hard as ever to keep black Americans in their place as slaves on the Democratic Plantation.

Between the growing number of black voters who are open to voting for Trump--never in my life have I seen this many Black people eager to vote Republican---AND the growing number of disgusted black voters who are committed to withdrawing their support for the Dems by staying at home, I think 2020 might just be the year Black Americans are poised to deliver a figurative death blow to the Democratic Party--at least for the foreseeable future. And I am SO there for it.

Don't need the majority of us to be on board; only enough. A fraction somewhere in the low to mid teens, and it's GAME OVER.

[HappySkeptic]

Democrats don't want blacks to prosper any more than they did when they were the CHAMPIONS of slavery and Jim Crow. 
The Dems need to keep blacks mentally enslaved/brainwashed in a mindset of helpless, hopeless victimhood and dependent on the government in order to retain their votes and support. 

The thing that they don't get is most Black Americans aren't about that life. They want to build. 
And while they recognize that racism is quite real in the US, they are unconvinced that they aren't living in a free country and are unable to move forward in life because they're black; and I'm in agreement with them. I reject the notion that I can't succeed unless masses of random, unremarkable white people surrender all their privilege unto me. It's a lie; and a remarkably white supremacist one at that. It implies that black people are so hopelessly inferior that the only substantive advantage/power we can ever hope to have is that which whites graciously give to us. Lol....WRONG.

Truth is, Democrats' fork-tongued policies and messaging has undermined and weakened black families and damn near destroyed entire communities; no one needs looks further than Democrat-run districts to see that it's true. Thankfully, more and more blacks are coming to recognize the Dems true role in the black community; corrupt-as-fuck oppression pimps posing as the "good guys"---still racist as all fuck and still working hard as ever to keep black Americans in their place as slaves on the Democratic Plantation.

Between the growing number of black voters who are open to voting for Trump--never in my life have I seen this many Black people eager to vote Republican---AND the growing number of disgusted black voters who are committed to withdrawing their support for the Dems by staying at home, I think 2020 might just be the year Black Americans are poised to deliver a figurative death blow to the Democratic Party--at least for the foreseeable future. And I am SO there for it.

Don't need the majority of us to be on board; only enough. A fraction somewhere in the low to mid teens, and it's GAME OVER.

Wow, you disagree with the concepts of white privilege and black victimhood, so you are hoping that the party who caters to middle-class (and super-rich) rural whites wins?

Political parties have one job -- to convince more than half the population that they should be elected.  That rarely means providing more rational or workable policies.  It means providing an emotional reason for people to identify with your party, and demonizing the other.

I agree that the idea of black victimhood is not going to help black people.  I absolutely hate the concept of "white privilege", as if being white is the reason I got ahead in the world, and not the fact that I got an education and worked hard.  That teaches black people that the reason they haven't succeeded yet is only because of their skin color, which will never inspire them to do what I did.

On the other hand, there are still vestiges of institutional racism in the U.S., and I hope that they will be addressed now that BLM has succeeded in becoming a movement.  You can be sure the Republicans won't do anything about it.

However, I find the BLM movement as a whole to be based on a lie -- that white cops are roaming the streets eager to kill black people.  They waited each year for just the right trigger event that would fire up their political movement, and they got lots of them wrong.  Now they finally got their long sought-after example with George Floyd, and that somehow proves that white cops are out to kill blacks?   Give me a break.