Category: Politics

I Want to Make a Case for New England Seceding From the “United” States

A thing I think about sometimes. Maybe you do too?

I sometimes fantasize about our northeastern states seceding from the Union (capitalized for clarity and for the sake of divorcing the word from certain specific meanings) because I no longer feel that the government as constituted in Washington DC represents the interests of its citizens. It would be easy enough to claim that the problem is Stinky Don and his minions, but the issues run deeper, and are unlikely to be resolved by replacing him as head of state.

It would be hard. Crashing out comes with damage. Along with the risks, there would be some rewards, most having to do with not having to listen to and work within the whims of the cadre of corrupt billionaires who currently run too much of our lives. As such, this might not be my last post about this. I think about national divorce a bunch.

There are a number of areas of governance we would have to consider here: economics/feeding ourselves, defending ourselves/relations with our neighbors, living by the social contract/civic policy, and the thousand unknowns of going it alone seem to me to be the basics.

This map is from the US Geological Survey.

One thing I often hear talked about is that New England states are “donor states.” In truth, three New England states qualify as donor states, and three of our number are recipient states. Massachusetts and Connecticut consistently pay more in taxes than we recieve in benefits, New Hampshire is usually a donor state, though not always because they’re close to the line between donor and recipient always. Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island are consistently recipient states.

The thing to remember here is that states don’t pay federal taxes, individuals do. Massachusetts and Connecticut (and to a lesser extent, southern New Hampshire) are where the highest concentrations of wealth are. Every possible solution to the donor/recipient state disparity that I’ve heard looks like bad policy, including some “fixes” that are pure regressive taxation.

This is not something that should be thought of in making the case for secession. Honestly, the fact that the first place I went to in thinking about this is an example of right-wing framing is surprising to me, now that I’ve investigated a little bit. To get to the goal of a free New England, there’s clearly some reflection and self-deprogramming that needs to happen.

Perhaps the main reason I want to cut away from the rest of the country is that this region, in self-rule, would be more humanist and more left-leaning. A smaller system would be more likely to support the people of that system. It would be our responsibility to realign away from sheer wealth creation to making a local system of governance that respects and supports individuals in a way that the current federal government has almost completely abdicated from.

Sorry this post is so random. There’s a ton to think about here, and I will have to do a bunch of digging to even scratch the surface of how this massive historical shift could even begin to be considered. I will make little swipes at this from time to time… more so if readers of this blog show interest, of course. Does anybody else around here sometimes imagine a social-democratic New England, standing proud and free? Let me know in the comments.

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I Voted for Ed Clark in my first Presidential Election

I was a bit naive, but I was aware that American politics was a scam.

This was 1980. Jimmy Carter (Democrat) v. Ronald Reagan (Republican) v. John B. Anderson (Independent) v. Ed Clark (Libertarian)

I lifted this pic from his wikipedia page. Oh — btw? Support Wikipedia.

That moment in time feels crucially foundational to this moment. I won’t say that I chose correctly. I don’t believe I did, to be honest with you, but given the situation the country was in and the choices available, I’m not terribly mad at myself for this vote. That said, based on my understanding of myself and of the world of that time with my 20/40 hindsight, I might have done better to vote for John B. Anderson.

Jimmy Carter, much as he is now admired by modern Liberals, was an ineffective and arrogant failPOTUS. For those who don’t know the history, he faced a difficult geopolitical era. The US-installed Shah of Iran was deposed and that country was taken over by fundamentalist Muslims under the leadership of the Ayatollah Khomeni. As Iran had been the US’s main supplier of petroleum to that point, the US suddenly found itself in yet another round of long lines at the gas pumps and rising prices for things like heating oil and jet fuel and all of the down-market items that depend on oil for either production or transport, which is pretty much everything. At the same time that prices were rising, so was unemployment — a situation known as stagflation.

Complicating this was that Iran then kidnapped and held hostage 52 Americans employed at the US Embassy to Iran. They were held in Tehran for 444 days, and only released (suspiciously) within hours of Ronald Reagan’s swearing-in on 1/20/81. Carter had launched a rescue attempt in April 1980, which failed and led to the deaths of 8 American servicemen.

Let’s just say that it’s no surprise that Carter lost in 1980 in a landslide, even without understanding his own arrogance and high-handedness within the confines of the leadership of his own party. He even got on television and gave a speech in which he chastized the American people for a “lack of confidence.”

I certainly had no loyalty to him as a Democratic presidential candidate. In my opinion, he typefies the breed: Ineffectual and smug. I continue to view the leadership of the Democratic Party in this way to this day. Carter got 44% of the vote, winning 6 states in the Electoral College.

Ronald Reagan was not a good option, either. Darling of the Christian right, least articulate and intellectually rigorous of all four candidates on my ballot that year, and championing some of the craziest economic policy of the era, which his own vice presidential candidate, GHW Bush, had characterized as “voodoo economics” right up until the moment that Reagan chose him as his running mate. Me voting for that fascist was never gonna happen. Still, he got 47% of the vote and 44 states in the Electoral College.

Ed Clark angered his party once by describing Libertarianism as “low-tax Liberalism.” He’d run in the previous California gubernatorial race in favor of the anti property-tax referendum Proposition 13 and against Proposition 6, which sought to bar gay men and lesbians from working in public schools. It was his pro-gay stance and record of fighting for us that won me over. My burgeoning understanding of myself as a queer person made him an attractive candidate in a field of terrifying prospects. I’ve only recently been reminded that his running mate in that election was David Koch of Koch Industries. eep. He got just over 1% of the vote.

John B. Anderson, the candidate today-me would have absolutely supported in that election was also pro-civil rights, including gay rights, ran in the Republican primary that year warning that Reagan’s economic policies would be a disaster for the country (he was right) proposed a 50% hike in gasoline taxes, using that to offset a 50% reduction in Social Security payroll contributions, which I recall liking, and which I now think is a little bit questionable as policy, based on how it would have tied the Social Security fund to unrelated outside factors. He was also against the draft registration that Carter had initiated in 1978, and which Reagan supporters were very excited about. Anderson wound up with 6.6% of the vote, not winning even a single precinct across the country.

I can’t claim to be an authority on this, but it seems to me that Anderson was the last gasp of Liberal Republicanism in this country’s politics. I would not ever describe myself as any such thing as a Liberal or a Republican, much less some hybrid combination of the two, but from this standpoint almost five decades later (damn, I’m old!) He looks to me like the best path forward the country could have chosen at the time. He wasn’t perfect on policy, but at least he was generally pointed in the right direction.

Jackie O and Paul Newman supported this guy for POTUS in 1980. I also swiped this photo off of Wikipedia.

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Gang of Four at the State Theater in Portland, Maine

A rock show for this time, playing music that sends a message across the decades.

I have to start by saying that the State Theater is one of the worst-sounding music venues I’ve ever been in. Opening band The Downtown Boys, who I really wanted to like (and probably would on any other night) were absolutely unlistenable in that room. Pure sonic mud. They were passionate and political and clearly having fun up there on that stage (their saxaphonist/keyboard player is a hoot!) but if you played me one of their songs today and didn’t tell me who I was listening to, I’m about 90% sure I wouldn’t be able to tell you who they were. It was that bad. I apologize for not having the ability to form more of an opinion about their performance. I suppose I should make an attempt to learn more about them, and I will certainly try to do so at some point.

Regular readers (hah!) of this blog will know that most of the music I write about here fits under the “prog” umbrella, but it should be noted that I have had lots of years of music listening, and my tastes are quite broad. I have both obsessed about and reacted against more different music than most people hear in a lifetime, and in the fullness of time, I have probably both loved and hated almost every sort of music.

Gang of Four at the State Theater in Portland, Maine. Photo by Landi Michaels.

So when I tell you that this first-gen obsessively hard-left post-punk band, Gang of Four, hit the stage the other night, I about lost my mind. I LOVE Gang of Four. I am not rational about it (except, of course, that I have lots of thoughts about them, and have sorted through them at length) and I couldn’t help abandoning everything and just hopping up on to my spindly old pegs and DANCING as soon as they began their set. Their energy did not let up, nor did mine. Start to finish, they were amazing.

I found myself thinking about how, with four albums and a couple of EPs to their name, this band could play a full set that sounded like a high-level greatest hits comp, and they absolutely did! They didn’t play anything from their final album Hard. Frankly, that was no great loss. Give me those first three albums and the interstitial EPs and I’m all set.

And speaking of greatest hits: I know it’s a standard set piece, but Jon’s very rhythmic whacking of a microwave oven with a baseball bat was extremely satisfying. In fact, that was one of the many moments of cultural resonance that came with the set in general. There was a feeling in the air that what Gang of Four was offering from the stage was medicine, that every note and nuance was there to counteract the effects of fascist evil. It was a utopian moment in time for that very reason.

And it was also the band saying goodbye. Original band members Jon King and Hugo Burnham have said that they won’t be bringing the band out on tour again, that they’re closing the book on headlining tours. I’m grateful that I got to see them. I haven’t been able to get to any of their shows before, no matter how much I love them, but this moment seems like the most impactful time to have come to their positive, warm, anti-fascist performance. It is fuel, which I suspect is what they want their music to be.

Finally, I want to shout out Ted Leo and especially Gale Greenwood who did a great job of filling giant shoes. Gale especially was having a great time on that stage, bouncing around and clowning and holding down that very heavy beat along with Hugo. She was a great addition to the show. (I just learned that my friend Linda Bean Pardee played bass with Gang of Four before Gale! Hey, Mikey!)

Also, Hugo took a few moments at the end of the night to shill for Graham Platner, which I greatly appreciated.

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Well-Situated Between New York City and Maine on Primary Day

Wherein I discuss certain warriors in the current struggle for Democracy in America

Up in the north and east from where I’m tap tap tapping away drafting this blog post, they put forward Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee for Senator from Maine two weeks ago on June 9th. The opposition besmirching that happened during the final months of the primary campaign and then immediately after the primary from his opponents’ campaigns seems not to be affecting Platner’s strong following significantly.

Graham Platner on a boat
Oyster Farmer and Senate Candidate Graham Platner

I’m sensitive about this, because I see him as crucial to any chance this country has of defeating the fascist oligarchy currently trying to “revolutionize” this country into oblivion. I keep seeing substanceless attacks pointed at his character, some of which have validity, but only in the context of the history of a man who has had some relatable and entirely understandable struggles.

Nothing in his background can compare to things Donald Trump’s administration does in a typical week. His opponent in the coming general election this November, incumbent Republican Susal Collins, has voted with Trump 95% of the time over the course of their concurrent terms in office. Collins’ close association with the Trump regime renders her far less credible in my estimation than the relatively unknown quantity that Graham Platner represents.

I hope to see Platner sworn in as Senator from Maine when the next Congress convenes this coming January.

To the south and west, it’s primary day today in New York. There are 2 Democratic Socialists of America candidates running for US Congress, and I wish them both the best of luck. It’s great to see leftist candidates making headway in these times of rising fascism. Zohran Mamdani‘s win in New York last year still feels like a bellwether event, and I hope it’s enough of a turning point to actually be a mark on the path towards saving us.

Good luck to Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier today. I dare say that their good luck would extend to the country at large.

I checked the map at the DSA site linked to above, and there is definitely a chapter in my neighborhood, which makes me happy. I’m probably going to check them out. They seem to be on about the same page as the Greens policy-wise, and they’re having a bit more success, because they’re working within the framework of one of the “legitimate” facets of the country’s two-party system.

In fact, it looks like every one of the contiguous states has at least a chapter or two, with the possible exception of West Virginia. I would suggest checking them out, if you’re like-minded. It’s a nexus for grass roots leftism, and since we’re in a fight for the life of this democracy, it might be worth remembering that the USA was always a leftist populist project, and that when working people wake up to the need to fight, and when we align with these left-populist impulses, we’re pretty much unstoppable.

Here in my area, we have a fairly good congressperson in Jim McGovern, and I’ll be supporting his re-election bid. I’ll never forget him mentioning the possibility of a general strike at the town hall he did here in Greenfield last year. The impetus towards that strike has long since dissipated, but it was nice to hear it mentioned by someone with the position, power, and influence to actually help with that project mention the possibility.

Of course, at the same time, he said supportive things about Hakeem Jeffries, who I see as a major part of the problem the Democrats have with their elected officials, but I think it would be very difficult to come up with a better candidate than McGovern for my disctrict right now. We’ve got a long struggle ahead of us. We’re not going to restore American Democracy tomorrow. So as we travel this long, uphill road, we need to pick leaders who can help us get where we’re trying to go.

People who I see as being helpful leaders on the path, I’ve linked to their websites. You can tell who I see as obstructionists by the lack of any such link.

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When the Establishment Gadflies Go Gadding About, Causing Massive Cognitive Dissonance.

I’m trying not to repeat things that are being said everywhere online right now. You don’t need that from me. I don’t need that from me. Maybe I have something to say, if I say it now? Someone else will come along with a similar hot take and a larger following soon enough.

Still…

In the aftermath of the Maduro abduction (and the related murders of various Venezuelans in order to accomplish the crime) all I can do is watch the news come out, gather what information I can, and try to think about what’s happening from as many viewpoints as I can manage.

One viewpoint that I’m having real trouble with, though, is the number of people who are willing to try and justify the US’s actions in this case. That hurts my head. There are so many people out there willing to ignore every relevant fact that doesn’t fit in order to say, “The people of Venezuela are actually happy we invaded their country and kidnapped their president and his wife, and killed a bunch of people in order to accomplish it!” How stupid do they think we are?

“Now we’re going to steal all of the good things out of their ground just like a bunch of pirates, which is what we are. But if we’re pirates, we’re pirates for the good of the Venezuelan people!”

And yeah, there’s a brilliant video online already where a guy says he’s taking over his neighbor’s houses “for the good of the neighborhood.” I can’t top that. I can certainly enjoy it though. Go find it, it’s really funny.

Screenshot

But what it comes down to is that Fascism doesn’t give an inch, and it will take a mile if you give an inch. And here’s the time when we see the proof. Remember: these people are stupid – too stupid to realize that in the long term, Fascism always fails, and that the way forward for humanity and the planet is science, reason, and compassion.

We have to be adamant, and set the world on that course.