Here's reality: The "radical left" is so small, they barely exist. There are a few shitheads tearing down statues, sure -- but most of us are at home, trying not to catch COVID-19.

The majority the left simply wants a functioning government that resembles other OECD nations.

I know this may sound unbelievable, but I've been to other countries. One was this exotic place called Canada, where they were impossibly polite, almost gun-free, and universally covered by affordable healthcare.

They looked and talked almost exactly like us. It was crazy.

Do I think it's a bad idea to have Confederate statues up? Absolutely. Take them down.

But also, once that's done, most of us on the left just want to get back to the business of making our day to day lives better.

It's not radical to want jobs to offer paid maternity/paternity leave. It's not radical to want a path for clean and affordable energy. It's not radical to be tired of constant US military intervention.

These ideas are all very normal and moderate.

I'll make this clear: There are a few personalities on Twitter and Instagram who have some ideas that are pretty far left. I don't agree with most of the Democratic Socialist platform.

In day to day life, most of "the left" is moderate; Not uber-progressive.

When I say "de-fund the police", I'm not asking to abolish armed police entirely. I'm saying that we don't need someone with a gun showing up for a health and wellness check, or to help addicts and the mentally ill.

Most of "the left" understands that. We aren't radical.

Listening to how Fox News and Donald Trump characterize Democrats, they make it sound like we just sit around reading Karl Marx, planning ways to nationalize our industries -- and that's just silly.

Man, I just want my son to be in good schools where he won't get shot, okay?

I don't think it's radical to say that people earning more than $10M a year are living a really comfortable life. In my opinion, I think it's radical to say that $10M a year isn't enough. Why can't we return to the Eisenhower era of taxation, where the 1% were taxed at 89%?

I know the ideas of the left aren't radical, because the ideas I'm talking about used to be US policies. We used to be anti-intervention. It took us a long time to get involved in both WWI and WWII. (Probably too long on WWII, but I'll give FDR a pass.)

We can do that again.

Creating a public works program, where we give out-of-work Americans jobs to do much-needed infrastructure building isn't "socialism", and it's certainly not radical.

It was called the Works Progress Administration, and it built the Hoover Dam, among other public infrastructure.

Legalizing and taxing weed isn't radical. Something like 35+ states have already done it. We can stop jacking up poor minorities for having weed in their car, okay? They're not dangerous. They just want to play Call of Duty on their couch like the rest of us.

It's not radical to say, "We need to stop paying for all these wars." War is expensive, not just in money, but in lives. My peers fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lots of them aren't doing so hot today.

"Supporting the troops" means giving a shit about their quality of life.

Growing up, I was on food stamps. I got reduced price lunch in schools. I'm thankful for that. I want other kids to have food, so they can learn.

That's not a radical idea. We have to stop penalizing kids because they have bad parents. That's not radical. That's compassionate.

It's not radical to want drug addicts to get drug treatment, rather than prison time. Drug addicts do bad things when they're battling addiction. It doesn't make them bad people. It makes them addicts who need help, so they can return to being functioning members of society.

It's not radical to look at the high costs of college, and wonder if there is a better way to finance college, or if we need more oversight.

Going to college shouldn't cripple you financially for 25% of your life. That's not a radical idea. That's common sense.

I'm so damn tired of hearing talking heads on the right accuse people like me of being "radical leftists" without even knowing about me, my values, or what I'm all about.

Heck, in most European nations, I'd be a conservative.

I'm tired of hearing that "all you radical Democrats wanna ban guns." No, asshole. I'm sitting 6 inches from a gun, right now. I have a CCP.

I just want MORE background checks, safety, registration, and fewer semi-automatic rifles with high capacity NATO magazines.

There is nothing radical about saying, "Wow, that AR-15 is derived from a gun that is used by our military. We probably want to limit who owns that sort of weapon."

If you want to hunt, get a bolt action hunting rifle. That's not radical. That's common sense.

There is nothing radical about removing Confederate imagery, statues, etc from public display.

If you want to preserve history, that's 100% fine. I learned history from books, lectures and museums. I assure you, it can work for you, too.

It's not radical, during the middle of a pandemic, to make sure people who did nothing wrong don't lose their housing.

Evicting working people because we're enduring a pandemic? That's radical. That's insane.

There is nothing radical about single-payer, free or universal healthcare.

You see, I have access to these things called maps.

And the internet.

And I have friends who have broken legs or gotten sick in these countries... and lo and fucking behold, they lived!

What I'm trying to say here, is that the radical people, the truly, DEEPLY radical people? They're all on the right now.

They're projecting their bullshit onto us. Their policies are absolutely radical, and we're seeing just how badly those policies look, right now.

I think it's radical to terrorize a little girl with Down's Syndrome, by separating her from her mother, and putting her in a cage -- all in the name of "border control".

That right there? That's radical. That protects no one. Why are my tax dollars paying for this bullshit?

I think it's RADICAL that Burwell v. Hobby Lobby allowed your employer to decide, based upon their religious values, that their healthcare plans could exempt birth control, AND also abortions.

It's radical that your employer's religious beliefs impact your healthcare.

I think it's radical that the Trump/GOP's "tax cuts", worth over $1.7T, resulted in households with a net worth of $50M or higher taking over $1.4T of the money available.

They simply took all our money, and bought their own stock, padding their own pockets.

I think it's radical to spend $700B+ every year on defense, when we haven't been attacked by a sovereign country since 1941, and we out-spend the next 10 nations in total defense spending, COMBINED.

Who are we gonna fight? ALL of them?

I think it's radical to spend $135M+ per unit, and $1.5T total on just a single fighter program.

For perspective: There are 3.5M public school teachers in America. With that same money, we could give every single teacher in America a $42,800 annual raise.

That's just one plane.

I think it's radical to tell 20 million American children (1 in 4) on SNAP (food stamps), or free/reduced lunch that you're cutting them off.

Sorry kids, we've got brown people to bomb in faraway places, so you'll just have to go hungry today in school.

That's radical. REALLY.

If I was proposing the "Free Ford Mustang For Every Child In America Program" -- *THAT* would be radical. But I'm not advocating for a Ford Mustang. I'm trying to hand some kids sandwiches, so they ain't hungry -- and y'all have the audacity to call that radical?

You call us socialists? Isn't that when the government takes money that people earn, and then give it to other people?

Okay then -- let's stop socialism. I'm 100% cool with that. We can start with all the defense contractors getting a free lunch from the American taxpayers.

If the GOP wants to "stop radical socialism" -- perhaps they should consider ending the $20B+ in annual subsidies they're giving to the oil and natural gas industries.

That sure sounds like socialism to me, when you take what I earn, and give it to someone else.

If the GOP wants to stop socialism, they can stop school voucher programs that take taxpayer money, and give it to people who want to put their kids into private, or religious schools.

That sounds like socialism to me. You took my money, and gave it to someone else.

You see, the GOP only hates "radical" socialism when it's not helping their causes.

"Too big to fail" is socialism. That's taking OUR money, and then giving it to people who made bad investments or business decisions.

That's "radical" corporate socialism.

I'm going to put a neat little bow on this. What we're talking about isn't radical. None of these ideas are. The GOP is simply projecting. What *they* do is radical. What we're proposing is common sense, and they're shit-scared their base might see the common sense in your ideas.

In November, you need to get out and vote for Joe Biden, along with other Democratic candidates up and down the ticket. America isn't careening towards some "radical socialist agenda" -- in fact, anywhere else, Democrats would barely even be considered Centrists.

Y'all have a good Sunday. I'm gonna go do some damn yard work.

/thread