US LWMAs: Who (if anyone) are you supporting in the Democratic Presidential primary?

serpentineeyelash · 2020-02-10T03:35:31+00:00

I'm not American but here are my updated thoughts on the candidates.

On general left-wing causes, I greatly prefer Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, and Andrew Yang. Though there is considerable variation between them, these candidates come across as most genuine and tend to have the most humane policies on the bigger issues of economics, climate change, wars, corruption, and censorship.

Which candidate is best for men's issues is not an easy question to answer because the candidates are not usually asked about men's issues, and because it's a pretty broad range of issues that men face so a candidate might support some but not others.

Our differences with right-wing MRAs

Incidentally, I also raised the topic at r/MensRights, and I think their answers highlight their ideological differences with LWMA.

They generally argued that to be a good candidate for men would require cutting taxes, because men pay more taxes and women receive more welfare and government services. I consider their position short-sighted and a tad vindictive - reducing the total tax revenue won’t help expand services to men. So I am not evaluating candidates on that criterion!

Various problematic candidates

Many of the candidates are known for tough-on-crime policies which are racist and/or misandrist. Klobuchar was recently exposed as having falsely convicted a black teenage boy. Bloomberg supported stop-and-frisk. Buttigieg has been accused of extreme racist policies during his council administration. Biden supported the Iraq War and brags about instituting the Violence Against Women Act, which excluded male victims (especially in its original form).

Elizabeth Warren has often campaigned on her identity as a woman and indeed lied about her identity. Compared to Sanders she has shown a preference for means-tested policies, a way of thinking which may cause her administration to be callous towards anyone whose vulnerabilities are less obvious. Warren has also signaled her support for censorship, recently calling for criminal penalties for any "disinformation" about the Democratic nominee. (I know there are differing views about alleged foreign interference, but either way censorship is worse than the alleged problem.)

Andrew Yang

Yang has commented on male issues more than most other candidates, but tends to hedge in his rhetoric. He's criticized male genital mutilation, but also said it's okay if it's chosen by the boy's parents for religious reasons. He said some positive things about boys' education when interviewed by Warren Farrell, but recited girl power rhetoric to the mainstream media.

Yang's central proposal of a universal basic income (also advocated by Tulsi) would help to ameliorate the male breadwinner role in a world of increasing technological unemployment. It would eliminate absolute poverty, though it would do nothing to address the issue of relative deprivation which has its own detrimental effect on the psychology and wellbeing of humans, particularly men.

Bernie Sanders

Bernie is strongest on reducing class inequality in a more structural sense, with his various democratic socialist reforms which could help flatten the hierarchy among males. Though note that even Bernie is not particularly radical - although Bernie may ultimately have the radical ambition of democraticizing workplaces, most of his policies are still incremental reforms which already exist in most countries (eg. government healthcare). Other candidates have adopted some similar policies but equivocate and flip-flop on how committed they are to them, while Bernie has been consistent for decades.

Bernie's policies include attempting to create new jobs through Green New Deal style initiatives as well as fairer trade policies. Many of these jobs (eg. making buildings more energy-efficient) would be in predominantly male industries such as construction.

Yang and Bernie, like probably all the candidates, see the gender earnings gap as being caused by female economic disadvantage rather than males being pressured into a breadwinner role. However, this might not matter much considering their policies are aimed at benefiting all non-elites.

It's harder to predict where candidates would land on the more controversial male issues involving abuse, accusations, and relationship conflicts between men and women. But one ray of hope is that Bernie in 2016 criticized the campus rape kangaroo courts. Also, feminists have accused Bernie of rape apologism because of some controversial articles he wrote at the time of the sexual revolution.

Bernie has repeatedly spoken out against the idea that a candidate should be judged on their identity rather than their policies. (Note that this is separate from the issue of who is benefited by the candidate's policies.)

Tulsi Gabbard

War, which is of course a major issue affecting men, is the biggest dividing line between the pro-establishment and anti-establishment Democrats. Seemingly all candidates except Tulsi and Bernie support the establishment foreign policy.

Tulsi has emerged as the most anti-war candidate. Though even Tulsi supports some form of war on Islamic terrorism, she has recently been much more aggressive than Bernie in calling out war propaganda and related narratives like "Russiagate". She has likewise been more aggressive than Bernie in calling out unfairness in the election process such as media bias, internet censorship, and election fraud, all issues that must be addressed for anti-establishment candidates to win. In contrast, Bernie has tended to try to get along with other Democrats when they tell him to fall in line.

Tulsi also wants to abolish private prisons and end the War on Drugs, which will reduce the number of men in prison.

The Political Compass classifies her as the most left-wing candidate: https://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2020

Conclusions

Overall I think it's a tossup between Tulsi, Bernie, and Yang. Tulsi may be strongest on peace and free speech. Yang may be strongest on technological unemployment. And Bernie may be strongest on universalism, due process, and relative inequality in economic status.

I'm pessimistic about whether any genuine candidate can win such a corrupt process as the Undemocratic Party primary elections (I'm of the opinion that Buttigieg and/or the DNC tried to cheat in Iowa), but Bernie has the best chance with his current surge in the polls.

Unconfidence · 2020-02-10T06:02:47+00:00

Bernie Sanders. If he wins the nom I'll campaign door to door for him.

serpentineeyelash · 2020-02-10T02:05:27+00:00

We've already had two other threads on the topic which you might be interested to check out:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/excsij/which_of_the_democratic_presidential_candidates/

https://www.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/f0xfed/who_do_you_support_for_president/

The consensus here is roughly that Sanders, Yang, and Gabbard seem less bad, while Klobuchar, Warren, Biden, and Buttigieg seem worse.

2020-02-10T11:36:56+00:00

I have supported and textbanked for Andrew Yang for putting UBI and technological unemployment on the agenda (as well bringing attention to some men's issues such as circumcision, even if he adopted more "girl power" rhetoric in some debates on mainstream media). His plan is not perfect, but I hope his campaign manages to put UBI and automation on the forefront of international political discussion. Unfortunately, I think his campaign is close to having run its course now, but I hope he will re-run in 2024 unless a candidate with a better UBI plan (and a similar "Humanity First", cross-party appeal) steps up.

At this point in the race, I support Bernie Sanders. I do not consider Sanders' plans to be perfect, but I do believe that a country like the U.S. might need some more left-leaning reforms before it is ready to implement measures like UBI. I am skeptical that Sanders will manage to implement his program as it exists, however he is nothing if not committed to the cause, and a watered down version of Bernie's plans would probably be better than a watered down version of most other candidates' plans. Moreover, Sanders' appeal to universalism is what clinches the deal for me.

serpentineeyelash · 2020-02-10T01:48:32+00:00

I’m torn between pete buttigieg and Bloomberg.

Title	US LWMAs: Who (if anyone) are you supporting in the Democratic Presidential primary?
Author	Ciceros_Assassin
Upvotes	5
Comments	14
Date	February 9, 2020 8:34 PM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/f1emh9/us_lwmas_who_if_anyone_are_you_supporting_in_the/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/us-lwmas-who-if-anyone-are-you-supporting-in-the.1064036 https://theredarchive.com/post/1064036

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