Unfortunately, the people who you and I see as villains are people who see us as villains. (That's because they see themselves as some sort of nobility, who were born deserving all our stuff.) To be understood by a third party, you'll need language that is more specific. I like "punish the rich."

Good analysis, except I wouldn't say "endangering democracy." Mostly our seeming democracy is really a plutocracy. If we have democracy, it's only a matter of degree -- and you're right, the degree is shrinking. And I think that's a tendency of capitalism in general -- it has little to do with AI.

I think it's unlikely that any of us can persuade the Democratic Party to become a party for the working class. The things that the Dems say and do indicate that the Dems love their big donors, and perhaps BELIEVE in plutocracy -- i.e., they believe that the rich are somehow "noble."

I wince every time someone says "It's Not left vs Right, it's Top vs Bottom." People who say that don't know what the left is all about. Do they think "left" means "Democrats"? It doesn't. The Dems and GOP are both on the right; they have the same big donors. Look up "Overton Window."

I have been in lots of protests, for 20 years. Recently I've been in fewer protests, because of health problems. But I'm still revising a leaflet that I hand out at rallies.

leftymathprof.wordpress.com/endcap/#top

Actually, I was talking about the USA. I have no idea what it's like in other countries. I was astonished at how the UK is locking up people who say "I oppose genocide, I stand with Palestine action." That's a complete denial of freedom of speech.

I've heard it said, and I think it's true, that "there is no good writing except good rewriting," and I wish I remembered who said it. I've been rewriting one essay -- my political views -- for about 20 years now. It has gotten shorter, and I think it has gotten better.

Maybe there has been a little bit of change. The wars haven't become smaller or less frequent, but maybe more people are now willing to protest.

If you take Waldman's 2006 definition of "progressive" and then think about its implications, I think it leads inescapably to socialism. That's how I became a socialist. Though I don't think Waldman himself followed that path.

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Illegal orders are nothing new. The USA has been starting wars ("interventions") almost constantly, at least since 1946, all based on lies, killing millions of people.

What is new is not the crimes or the obedience to illegal orders, but the fact that they're so visible. But the USA has had many, many wars since 1946, all based on lies. We need to remind everyone of that.

What's wrong with ACP ?

I'm new at this, and I haven't gotten very far in comparing the various "tendencies."

Start using the phrase "human civilization." We humans will survive together or not at all.

D's and R's are trying to please the same donors.

It didn't start with Trump. The USA has been in many many wars, far more than most people realize. All of them, at least since 1946, have been wars of aggression, based on lies. So our military has obeyed illegal orders, killing millions of people. I'm ashamed of my species -- but we can be better.

What would you recommend that we do?

Stephen, you skipped a step. Trump's stormtroopers are largely coming for people of color.

Russia and China both had revolutions that largely replaced competition with collaboration. The quality of life improved greatly in both places. I would call that evidence, not woowoo.