What should the left's aims and priorities be?

[Ariddia]

I'm making this a very open question, in the hopes of encouraging actual ideas, and respectful intelligent discussion between people with different approaches.

What should the objectives, values and priorities of the political left be? I'm thinking mainly about the Western world, but views regarding the left in non-Western countries are also welcome.

I know one should usually give one's own view, but last time I did that in an opening post, quite a few "contributors" simply descended into grossly misrepresenting what I'd written, attacking those simplistic misrepresentations, deciding that I somehow meant the opposite of what I was expressing, making all sorts of absurd unwarranted assumptions about me and my private life, and slandering me, without expressing their own ideas about the core issue. So: No thank you. Just express your own ideas on what the left should be, please.

Don't focus on what it shouldn't be; explain what you think it should be, in a positive way.

Edit: Based on a fairly good point by user Mountains and Volcanoes, I'd add this question: Do you think your ideas about what the objectives, values and priorities of the left should be are feasible in the real world, in improving society from the starting point of what it is today? If so, do you have ideas about how the left should go about implementing and achieving them in practice?

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

My personal take is that it should aim to lessen wealth gaps, and its current priority should be ensuring the benefits and profits from new technology don't just get to a handful of people.

[Equai]

Destroying a capitalist system and establishing dictatorship of the proletariat.

[Wolfstruppen]

Perhaps what they should be focusing on is the continued advancement towards welfare and benefits for those who need it, and work on a progressive safety blanket for those falling on hard times.

[Mountains and Volcanoes]

Here’s a better question: how you plan to implement your ideas, without subtracting the rights of others? (Also, will you take responsibility if your ideology causes mass causalities?)

[Tillania]

Right now?
Defense of democracy and civil rights.
The ultra-rich are once again turning to fascism in the face of growing dissatisfaction with unrestricted capitalism.
That must be priority one because there is nothing we can do from inside the camps.

[Andavarast]

The creation and maintenance of the closest thing to a society where people who are honest and diligent can live well, and those who are dishonest and lazy cannot destroy the lives of others.

[Equai]

Here’s a bester question: how you plan to implement your ideas, without subtracting the rights of others? (Also, will you take responsibility if your ideology causes mass causalities?)

Who is "others"? Fascists, right-wing grifters? top 1%? Can't have a proper society with hitlerites running around and existing.

[Planets and Systems]

One thing; equality. I’m willing to discuss what that means (in my opinion), but simply that is the left’s goal, whilst the right seeks to divide and separate us into classes in multiple ways.

[Page]

You aren't getting anywhere until you improve people's lives. Erase the medical debt, erase the student loan debt, make housing and heating and AC inalienable human rights. Once everybody is fed and comfortable, then they'll be amenable to intersectionality and the like.

[Planets and Systems]

You aren't getting anywhere until you improve people's lives. Erase the medical debt, erase the student loan debt, make housing and heating and AC inalienable human rights. Once everybody is fed and comfortable, then they'll be amenable to intersectionality and the like.

Hehehe, American problems with healthcare, whilst all us other developed countries point and laugh. And most have free college, (though Britain unfortunately has tuition fees of 9250 quid a year)

[Wolfstruppen]

You aren't getting anywhere until you improve people's lives. Erase the medical debt, erase the student loan debt, make housing and heating and AC inalienable human rights. Once everybody is fed and comfortable, then they'll be amenable to intersectionality and the like.

Hehehe, American problems with healthcare, whilst all us other developed countries point and laugh. And most have free college, (though Britain unfortunately has tuition fees of 9250 quid a year)

The American population laughing with guns firing off into the distance

But seriously, really the whole healthcare shpeal comes down to taxes, the things we hate paying, as well as insurance, the things we also hate paying. Insurance in America is an absolute tomfoolery of a mess.

And hey!!! We have free-ish colleges.

[Edush]

One of the left's aims should be improving public transport and limiting car ownership, so that a transition to more human-friendly cities can happen from car-oriented ones. I think that is an issue which isn't talked about that often.

[Terminus Station]

right now the left needs to focus on disarming religious strong-arming into everyday politics. A lot of progressive and morally good laws are being turned back to match archaic religious dogma in the west and that should be halted with extreme prejudice. Same-sex marriage, interracial marriage and abortion rights are all being stolen by zealots who want to make their religion the law. That must not come to pass. Money, religion and government should all be separated.

There needs to be a renewed focus on egalitarian initiatives like supplying clean water to impoverish municipalities, strengthening public services like universal healthcare, a war effort in creating sustainable housing and the strengthening/protection of workers unions so the working class can find their true value in the market, lifting the rest of us up by comparison to their salaries.

The greatest push for income equality was born from the great Depression when workers started to Unionized not out of necessity, but desperation to have enough money to have food on the table, and in its wake lead to the greatest workers rights renaissance for the working class that we all take for granted today, like weekends, time off, an 8 hour work day, and "safety standards".

There needs a divorce between identity politics and transexuality, instead biology and psychology should be spearheading the definition of transexuality in the modern world, NOT POLITICAL SCIENCE. We've seen how using politics turns the conversation into redefining the definitions of man, woman and trans to mean anything, ultimately subverting transexuality by making it mean nothing.

We need to figure out how to make all forms of green technology profitable and running as soon as possible, we have to find a balance of opening our borders to the world but also firmly standing against the toxic beliefs that comes from the more regressive parts of the world. Religion in particular with its hypocrisies has a tendency to play victim yet victimizes those who don't follow their beliefs in the worst ways, that has to be addressed thoughtfully and compassionately. You can't expect to live in a free society then use those freedoms to suppress people your dogma arbitrarily villainizes. Its time for the left to stop knee-jerk reacting to every provocation the alt-right has and be more purposeful in fulfilling out policies that emphasize knowledge, skills and egalitarian progress.

[Risottia]

In the words of Enrico Berlinguer: "a socialist society matching the conditions of our country [Italy], mirroring all liberties stated by the [Italian] Constitution, founded on a plurality of [political] parties, on the participation of different social forces. A society respecting all liberties except for one: the liberty of exploiting the work of other human beings, because this liberty destroys all other ones and makes them useless".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8jRbphbLJ4

[Terminus Station]

In the words of Enrico Berlinguer: "a socialist society matching the conditions of our country [Italy], mirroring all liberties stated by the [Italian] Constitution, founded on a plurality of [political] parties, on the participation of different social forces. A society respecting all liberties except for one: the liberty of exploiting the work of other human beings, because this liberty destroys all other ones and makes them useless".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8jRbphbLJ4

unions were supposed to be the safety valve in the capitalist system to stop workers exploitation, but as we've seen, no system survives when a few hold all the power.

[Risottia]

In the words of Enrico Berlinguer: "a socialist society matching the conditions of our country [Italy], mirroring all liberties stated by the [Italian] Constitution, founded on a plurality of [political] parties, on the participation of different social forces. A society respecting all liberties except for one: the liberty of exploiting the work of other human beings, because this liberty destroys all other ones and makes them useless".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8jRbphbLJ4

unions were supposed to be the safety valve in the capitalist system to stop workers exploitation, but as we've seen, no system survives when a few hold all the power.

Has wasn't just talking unions there. He was talking about the whole society, government included.

[Rusticus I Damianus]

Here’s a better question: how you plan to implement your ideas, without subtracting the rights of others? (Also, will you take responsibility if your ideology causes mass causalities?)

They haven't done it before so I highly doubt they'd do it after this latest attempt crashes and burns like all the others before it.

As for the thread question. The current Left, as it is, should die. Does that mean all opposition to the Right should cease to exist? Absolutely not. As they say, Iron sharpens iron, likewise an Airplane or Eagle cannot fly with just one wing, it needs both.

It's my opinion that the different political groups all serve vital roles in a nation when they're doing their jobs properly, which I would in someways compare to the controls of a car. The Conservatives are supposed to be the break pedal, the Progressives are supposed to be the Gas pedal, then we have, or should have, other groups to represent things like the steering wheel, gear lever, etc, all of which are needed in order to ensure that a vehicle is able to drive to it's destination quickly, smoothly, efficiently, and safely. The problem though is that if you only have one control, or one or more controls aren't working properly, at best you'll never get anywhere, and at worst you could end up in an accident that results in injury or death.

The problem we have is that the gas pedal is being stomped down as much as possible, the break pedal is being pressed down as much as possible to stop the car from careening over the cliff in front of the car, and the other controls are too weak to do much anything at the moment, and if we don't end up careening off the side of the cliff, we're probably going to explode anyways when the car can't take the stress anymore.

We all need to stop so we can get our bearings, come to an understanding, then proceed on by working together and fulfilling the roles that we're intended to fulfill so that we'll all arrive at that better destination together quickly and safely.

We're a body with organs fighting each other. We're a car with controls fighting each other. We're a plane and the wings are fighting each other. Unless the fighting ceases the only outcome will be the destruction of us all and all for nothing.

[Picairn]

- Defend civil rights (e.g. same-sex marriages, LGBTQ+ rights, minority rights) and political freedoms (e.g. expanding the right to vote, reform the police)
- Preserve and expand the welfare state
- Implement universal healthcare
- Fight climate change, replace fossil fuels with renewables and nuclear, build viable public transport and NUKE THE CAR-CENTRIC SUBURBS. AND PARKING LOTS. AND HIGHWAYS.
- Expand worker rights, higher wages, right to collective bargaining and unionization

[Planets and Systems]

- Defend civil rights (e.g. same-sex marriages, LGBTQ+ rights, minority rights) and political freedoms (e.g. expanding the right to vote, reform the police)
- Preserve and expand the welfare state
- Implement universal healthcare
- Fight climate change, replace fossil fuels with renewables and nuclear, build viable public transport and NUKE THE CAR-CENTRIC SUBURBS. AND PARKING LOTS. AND HIGHWAYS.
- Expand worker rights, higher wages, right to collective bargaining and unionization

Common America L moment when you realise we already have that in the rest of the developed world.

[Wolfstruppen]

-snip-

Each list or bullet is a reponse to a paragraph

• Well while I believe that there are some "zealots" who are trying to shove their religion down everyone else's throats, there is an understanding that many devout people believe their religiously inspired laws are also "morally good". It boils down to the basis that both sides believe that what they are doing is morally good. Also, I haven't heard about interracial marriage being stolen by "zealots", Could I get more info on that?
• I totally agree with that. There's got to be more effort and funding and reorganizing of just basic services and necessities that people need.
• I also agree with that statement
• This I don't particularly agree with. The reason of now that it is being spearheaded by Political science is because it's being driven by the Political Left. Biology very much disagrees with the beliefs of the pro-trans community. Psychology is perhaps a different story.
• There are some statements I agree with, partially agree with and somewhat disagree with here. For sure I agree that we need to push for sustainable green energy quickly. Open borders I somewhat agree with: What I think we really need to do is make the process easier for people to legally naturalize while also maintaining security at our border. The whole immigration process is an absolute nightmare and because it's such a clusterbomb of paperwork and due dates is the reason there are innocent people waiting to come. Open borders would be a lovely idea if there weren't bad people waiting to exploit such a wonderful privilege everyone wishes was possible. Now I do somewhat disagree with the hypocrisy of Religion, by that, I mean your statement. Both sides have perpetuated hypocrisies and the tendency to play the victim, and even incentivizing people to play the victim. That's an attribute shown by both sides which I gloriously despise. The sooner both sides come TOGETHER to work on the issues instead of partaking in two side trench warfare, the sooner we can actually work towards a better society

Do not take this as an attack I simply just wanted to put my word in.

EDIT: L list moment

[Wolfstruppen]

- Defend civil rights (e.g. same-sex marriages, LGBTQ+ rights, minority rights) and political freedoms (e.g. expanding the right to vote, reform the police)
- Preserve and expand the welfare state
- Implement universal healthcare
- Fight climate change, replace fossil fuels with renewables and nuclear, build viable public transport and NUKE THE CAR-CENTRIC SUBURBS. AND PARKING LOTS. AND HIGHWAYS.
- Expand worker rights, higher wages, right to collective bargaining and unionization

Common America L moment when you realise we already have that in the rest of the developed world.

We have minority rights, some states have same-sex marriage. We have political freedoms. We are fighting climate change. We do have workers rights.

I wouldn't take it as an America L moment, simply a bump in the road. You know I've had the thought that there is gonna be a massive political change in the U.S. soon enough, it's too turbulent as of now not to.

And also come on man, don't rub dirt on America, we saved you guys from the Nazis , and the Communists .

[Planets and Systems]

Common America L moment when you realise we already have that in the rest of the developed world.

We have minority rights, some states have same-sex marriage. We have political freedoms. We are fighting climate change. We do have workers rights.

I wouldn't take it as an America L moment, simply a bump in the road. You know I've had the thought that there is gonna be a massive political change in the U.S. soon enough, it's too turbulent as of now not to.

And also come on man, don't rub dirt on America, we saved you guys from the Nazis , and the Communists .

Well, the commies saved us from the Nazis, but you saved us from too many commies.

[Osmauri]

Here’s a bester question: how you plan to implement your ideas, without subtracting the rights of others? (Also, will you take responsibility if your ideology causes mass causalities?)

Who is "others"? Fascists, right-wing grifters? top 1%? Can't have a proper society with hitlerites running around and existing.

There's other people in the world who aren't either group.

The issue is how do we create a red paradise without half the red being the blood of randos? I don't sob all that much for a fascist getting shanked, but there has to be a way to cut down on random civilians dying to revolution.

[Kubra]

Luxury automated gay space communism
In that order