this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026
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The duopoly of 2 pro-capitalist parties must end.
During the general election: Easy there friend, I agree with you but now is not the time. Do party building during midterms.
During midterms: Oh this is the time for a united front. Simply promote third parties between elections.
Between elections: You're taking momentum away from smaller local challengers right now.
In what ways has the united states shifted right over the last 20 years? Tbh I've never understood this narrative. To me it's very very obvious that the united states has shifted left steadily for my whole life. Short term there have been rightward shifts, but the overall trend is definitely left.
It is very common for privileged liberals to barely notice the rise of fascism. This has been the problem for quite a while.
How many changes over the last 20 years have:-
increased social spending
reduced wealth inequality
favored consumers over corporations
improved environmental protections
reduced health care costs
reduced authoritarian power
You probably live in a blue area. (Most people live in a blue area.) The actual situation is that we've polarized. People around you, in the blue area, have moved left. People elsewhere, in the red areas, have moved right.
Pew Research for some graphics.
In certain ways, this has been a victory for civil liberties. Gay people from small towns can move to a place where they might have entire neighborhoods of likeminded people. Trans people from small towns can move to a place where they won't be shot on sight. Hell, someone in NYC who suddenly finds Jesus can go to a smaller town where no one will make fun of them for proselytizing AND they can hang out with likeminded people AND they get cheaper rent.
But it's also more dangerous than it has ever been to be an immigrant. Wealth inequality has been rising. Increases in wages has been vastly outpaced by increases in the cost of housing and healthcare, and combined with inflation, we're making more units of USD, sure, but we aren't able to sustain any better a quality of life. Corporate Taxes were increased for small companies, and cut for large companies.
Depending on whether you're more focused on the kinds of people living around you, or on the wide-reaching systemic changes that have been taking place, you're going to notice different things. The really really important stuff that has shifted to the right is kind of boring, so you wouldn't have seen much reporting on it.
The ratchet effect exists because leftists would rather bitch every general election and allow Republicans to be elected, while simultaneously not participating in the primaries.
The fascists knew the primaries were the secret, and their voters are generally loyal in November. Every member of the GOP that opposes Trump is removed in the primaries, and the party moves further right.
The ratchet effect works because vast swathes of people can't perceive of any way to affect change beyond voting, thus creating a single (recurring) major choke point for going through the 'correct' channels.
If all you do is vote, you can't complain.
Vast swathes of people don’t vote though.
That's fine, there are a great deal of more impactful and meaningful things that people can do instead of voting. My point is that if someone's sole contribution is voting, they haven't actually done anything.
The problem is there is no actual choice for progressive leftism on offer. This is the whole issue. The Dems are just Capitalism with cute decorations vs the depraved capitalism of Republicans. If there were actual parties that outside this framework, they can be very successful. That's why DSA is winning. They are at least acting like another option, whether or not they will significantly change things is to be seen, but they are not centrists like most Dems try to be.
The PSL is on the right track. A disciplined socialist party will get the power to change things, or be an object lesson in the necessity of revolutionary organizing to use other means of change.
Are there any statistics about people who complain about nominees not participating in primaries?
No, but ShitLibs operate on vibes and not facts anyway. If they operated on facts, they'd notice their party has done nothing but help push the Overton Window right for damn near half a century now.
Obamacare was copied directly from the Republicans, originally called Romneycare. The chance for M4A was completely squandered by the Dems at the time. Have some damn object permance like an actual adult.
Obamacare was broken because the Dems had a filibuster-proof majority in the senate for like 1 month at in the 2009 holidays. By the time Al Franken got to take his seat, Kennedy had stopped showing up for work, then he died, then it took time to seat his temporary replacement, then the Tea Party win their special election.
With that, the broken Senate version that was meant to be reconciled with the House version and cleaned up couldn't happen, so the House had to pass the Senate version verbatim to avoid a filibuster by the Dems.