labor Portside Moderators’ Crystal Ball 2023

Could the clash between democracy and authoritarianism become even sharper in 2023? Yes – in fact, that may be the safest prediction we can make. Here’s how we – the moderators of Portside – see it:

Portside Moderators Portside
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Dear Portside Labor Reader,

Once in a while, we – the volunteer moderators of Portside – take the opportunity to talk directly to us – the entire Portside community – about how we see things and how you can pitch in. Our thoughts, in brief:

Take a breath. We earned this moment. Yes, we – not just Portside, but an extraordinary democratic coalition – earned the right to breathe easier – for a moment. We mobilized and beat the historical odds that usually give the out-of-power party a huge automatic kick-the-bums-out victory in an off-year election.

Instead, this year enough people recognized the threat posed by the out-of-power MAGA bums and the clerical-minded politicians in judicial robes they’ve installed on the Supreme Court.

Women voted. Young people voted. Black people voted. A progressive multiracial coalition mobilized. MAGA lost.

 

But it ain’t over. The new “choice” offered by the MAGA party is between a washed-up Mussolini wannabe, still driven by the mad dream of being carried to power on the shoulders of a mob, and the DeSantis experiment in semi-tropical semi-fascism. Hell no to both.

We help people to know the world in order to change it. We provide vital information about struggles, in our country and globally, to achieve a radically more democratic society that moves beyond capitalism. We moderators are happy to work without pay, but we still need to keep our servers running, our software secure and up to date. We need to reach out to more people. That all costs money.

Once a year we ask you to contribute to support this work.

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We’ve got some interesting new plans for the coming year – new ways to use technology to empower the left community. To make the left more connected, more organized, more united. That is the power that can overcome billionaire politics, and a billionaire society.  We’ll be unveiling those plans soon.

 

Please share Portside. Please keep sending your input to portside@portside.org or reader comments.

Know the world and change it!!!

Yours in struggle,
The entire Portside crew

Judy Atkins, Mark Brody, Peter N. Carroll, Barry Cohen, David Cohen, Ira Cohen, Jeannette Ferrary, Marti Garza, Greg Heires, Geoffrey Jacques, Will Jones, Maureen LaMar, Stephanie Luce, Ray Markey, John P. Pittman, Natalie Reuss, Nan Rubin, Meredith Schafer, Jay Schaffner, Kurt Stand, Ethan Young

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Portside
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