Minimum wages and/or universal benefits? The broader policy question is important.

[LWolf]

1. These kinds of arguments are interesting to me.

So many arguments, so many talking points, so many political maneuvers, start off based on the misleading assumption, the projection, the mindset, that we can't have both, that we must always choose between what we need, that we must always start from a position of weakness and then give up more ground. We must set the bar low so that we can claim victory when we don't lose more ground, or when we win symbolic rather than concrete victories.

To be honest, that echoes the education "reform" movement way too closely for comfort. As a teacher, I know it doesn't work. Frankly, that's not the way I get things done, and that's not the way I want to see any group of people trying to achieve positives for the planet and her people do things. Here's a better way:

Start by making the ideal outcome the goal. (Yes. I'm an idealist.) Start from a place of vision and strength. Set the bar high. Then fight like hell to get there. Whatever we do, DON'T FUCKING BACK UP. DON'T GIVE GROUND. Even if we gained not a hairsbreadth, at least we wouldn't have lost anything. If we do make incremental gains, they aren't at the expense of anything else. In every case, we make more progress by setting that bar high. The problem is with perceiving, and allowing the perception to be framed, as somehow a failure if you don't get all the way there, instead of celebrating every step of the journey forward as a win.

So...I don't accept "either/or." I'll take on both, and I want people to be determined enough to join me.

If I am fighting for $15 an hour and I end up with $12, I'll call that a victory and press on, regardless of where so-called "universal benefits" stand.

As far as "universal benefits" go, I'll keep marching forward, one step at a time, until we have a universal, national health care plan providing abundant, high-quality, easily accessible care free at point of service, universal and universally free public education pre-school through trade or university, public ownership of utilities, fully developed public transportation systems, and all infrastructure of any kind under non-profit public governance.

It's not either or. It's keep taking steps forward on both of these, and other important issues.