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Celerity
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Celerity's Journal
April 7, 2019
Pete Buttigieg rallies against white nationalism, calls climate security a 'life and death issue'
April 5, 2019
Stacey Abrams is an African American woman, of “sturdy build” she says, from the South who barely lost the Georgia governor’s race, has made voting rights her passion and knocked it out of the ballpark in her response to this year’s State of the Union. Pete Buttigieg is a white, gay man of slight build from the Midwest who’s spent eight years as mayor of South Bend, Ind., a mid-sized city, served in the military and is a genuine intellectual. They couldn’t be more different, right?
Not exactly. Both are quite progressive but do well in red states and both have made a giant impression on the media and among those voters who know who they are. What’s the secret of their success? I’d argue they have important ingredients rarely found in a single politician.
First, both are crazy-smart. She’s a Yale Law School grad, he’s a Harvard grad and Rhodes scholar. They don’t simply have credentials, however. They have nimble, curious minds and are voracious readers. That makes them interesting to listen to and makes them sound somehow different, more serious than traditional politicians who rely on buzzwords and catchphrases.
Second, while quite young (he is 37, she is 45) they can be almost eerily calm and composed. They speak with deliberation and don’t stumble over words, fill in gaps with a series of ahs and uh-huhs. They rarely raise their voices yet command the room.
Third, they are very still when speaking. No arm gestures, no fidgeting, no nervous habits. That also helps convey a sense of command and purposefulness.
Fourth, they present progressive ideas as common sense solutions without inflammatory language and labels. They explain what voters need (e.g. Abrams on broadband and health care in rural areas, Buttigieg on economic development.) If Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) aims to define himself as a socialist, they embrace humane capitalism, and thereby don’t scare away more conservative voters.
snip
Things Stacey Abrams and Pete Buttigieg get that most other pols don't
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/04/05/five-things-stacey-abrams-pete-buttigieg-get-than-most-pols-dont/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.849508f8a59bStacey Abrams is an African American woman, of “sturdy build” she says, from the South who barely lost the Georgia governor’s race, has made voting rights her passion and knocked it out of the ballpark in her response to this year’s State of the Union. Pete Buttigieg is a white, gay man of slight build from the Midwest who’s spent eight years as mayor of South Bend, Ind., a mid-sized city, served in the military and is a genuine intellectual. They couldn’t be more different, right?
Not exactly. Both are quite progressive but do well in red states and both have made a giant impression on the media and among those voters who know who they are. What’s the secret of their success? I’d argue they have important ingredients rarely found in a single politician.
First, both are crazy-smart. She’s a Yale Law School grad, he’s a Harvard grad and Rhodes scholar. They don’t simply have credentials, however. They have nimble, curious minds and are voracious readers. That makes them interesting to listen to and makes them sound somehow different, more serious than traditional politicians who rely on buzzwords and catchphrases.
Second, while quite young (he is 37, she is 45) they can be almost eerily calm and composed. They speak with deliberation and don’t stumble over words, fill in gaps with a series of ahs and uh-huhs. They rarely raise their voices yet command the room.
Third, they are very still when speaking. No arm gestures, no fidgeting, no nervous habits. That also helps convey a sense of command and purposefulness.
Fourth, they present progressive ideas as common sense solutions without inflammatory language and labels. They explain what voters need (e.g. Abrams on broadband and health care in rural areas, Buttigieg on economic development.) If Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) aims to define himself as a socialist, they embrace humane capitalism, and thereby don’t scare away more conservative voters.
snip
April 4, 2019
Thank you for your support over the last two months. In that short amount of time, this community met the 65,000-donor threshold to get invited to the DNC debate, raised more than $7,000,000 in the first quarter, and introduced us to voters all across the country.
I’m making an announcement in South Bend on April 14th and would be honored if you would join me.
Whether you’ll be supporting us from home through our livestream or joining us in person, we want you to be a part of the special day.
Probably his official launch.
Pete Buttigieg: Join me in South Bend on April 14th for a special announcement
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=361805897864971Thank you for your support over the last two months. In that short amount of time, this community met the 65,000-donor threshold to get invited to the DNC debate, raised more than $7,000,000 in the first quarter, and introduced us to voters all across the country.
I’m making an announcement in South Bend on April 14th and would be honored if you would join me.
Whether you’ll be supporting us from home through our livestream or joining us in person, we want you to be a part of the special day.
Probably his official launch.
April 3, 2019
https://www.ebony.com/exclusive/is-pete-buttigieg-black-voters-2020-presidential-dark-horse/
From Black women to Black LGBTQ millennials, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s messages on economic opportunity and gun violence are resonating with the Democratic Party’s base—Black voters.
The openly gay Democrat running the city of South Bend, Indiana, was a lesser-known 2020 presidential candidate until his acclaimed town hall performance on CNN on March 10. Since then, the midwestern mayor has captured the attention of Black voters and David Axelrod, the former campaign manager for Barack Obama.
https://twitter.com/davidaxelrod/status/1104922963386630144
Buttigieg, 37, contends that every candidate “brings a different profile and a different life experience,” but the conversation around intersectionality and his personal experience as a member of a marginalized community helps him find “new sources of solidarity” across identity groups.
South Bend might not be known for having a large Black population. But, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Black community represents over a quarter of the city’s population.
Before “Pete for America” officially launched, Mark Meier ran the “Draft Mayor Pete” political action committee in an effort to bolster nationwide name recognition for the Afghanistan War veteran. Meier who like Buttigieg is a millennial member of the LGBTQ community, said on the PAC’s website that Buttigieg is a uniquely suited candidate to bring together Democrats from every part of our big tent party.”
snip
South Bend is overall 45% minority btw and Pete was re-elected with 80% of the vote
https://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Buttigieg-vies-for-second-term-as-South-Bend-mayor-340002362.html
During his 8 year tenure, African American wages, wealth, home ownership rates, and employment rates are all up, and although they still lag under the national average, but they were far worse before he was initially elected.
He also has dealt with a diverse South Bend City Council, and even often has gotten the Republicans (at present there is only one) to go along with the city's initiatives.
https://southbendin.gov/department/common-council/
here is his interview with Charlamagne Tha God and The Breakfast Club
Pete Buttigieg On Political Honesty, His Black Agenda, Open Homosexuality + More
Ebony Magazine: Is Pete Buttigieg Black Voters' 2020 Presidential Dark Horse?
The midwestern mayor has captured the attention of Black voters and David Axelrod, Obama’s former campaign manager.https://www.ebony.com/exclusive/is-pete-buttigieg-black-voters-2020-presidential-dark-horse/
From Black women to Black LGBTQ millennials, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s messages on economic opportunity and gun violence are resonating with the Democratic Party’s base—Black voters.
The openly gay Democrat running the city of South Bend, Indiana, was a lesser-known 2020 presidential candidate until his acclaimed town hall performance on CNN on March 10. Since then, the midwestern mayor has captured the attention of Black voters and David Axelrod, the former campaign manager for Barack Obama.
https://twitter.com/davidaxelrod/status/1104922963386630144
Buttigieg, 37, contends that every candidate “brings a different profile and a different life experience,” but the conversation around intersectionality and his personal experience as a member of a marginalized community helps him find “new sources of solidarity” across identity groups.
South Bend might not be known for having a large Black population. But, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Black community represents over a quarter of the city’s population.
Before “Pete for America” officially launched, Mark Meier ran the “Draft Mayor Pete” political action committee in an effort to bolster nationwide name recognition for the Afghanistan War veteran. Meier who like Buttigieg is a millennial member of the LGBTQ community, said on the PAC’s website that Buttigieg is a uniquely suited candidate to bring together Democrats from every part of our big tent party.”
snip
South Bend is overall 45% minority btw and Pete was re-elected with 80% of the vote
https://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Buttigieg-vies-for-second-term-as-South-Bend-mayor-340002362.html
During his 8 year tenure, African American wages, wealth, home ownership rates, and employment rates are all up, and although they still lag under the national average, but they were far worse before he was initially elected.
He also has dealt with a diverse South Bend City Council, and even often has gotten the Republicans (at present there is only one) to go along with the city's initiatives.
https://southbendin.gov/department/common-council/
here is his interview with Charlamagne Tha God and The Breakfast Club
Pete Buttigieg On Political Honesty, His Black Agenda, Open Homosexuality + More
April 2, 2019
https://www.socialeurope.eu/pis-attacks-lgbt-rights-in-poland
In the run-up to this year’s European and national parliamentary elections, LGBT+ rights are dividing Polish politics. Speaking recently against their extension, the leader of the ruling, right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, said: “This is not about tolerance. This is about the affirmation of same-sex unions, about their marriage, and their right to adopt children. We want to say it clearly. We are saying No!, especially when it concerns children. Stay away from our children!’
This renewed campaign by PiS against LGBT+ rights was launched in the wake of the recent decision by the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski—from the main opposition party, Citizens’ Platform (PO)—to sign a declaration protecting LGBT+ rights in the capital. The declaration guarantees the basic needs of Warsaw’s LGBT+ community and commits the local government to delivering such things as hostels, a crisis-intervention system and anti-discrimination education in schools.
The conservative right has responded by whipping up an atmosphere of homophobia and hostility towards the LGBT+ community. The public media (and those parts of the private media sympathetic to PiS) have engaged in a barrage of propaganda against the LGBT+ community. Demonstrations have been organised by the conservative and nationalist right outside the Warsaw local-government offices, in protest against the declaration, and banners with homophobic slogans have been displayed in football stadia.
‘Dangerous diseases’
The tactic of finding an enemy, against whom its supporters can unite, has been deployed before by PiS. During the 2015 parliamentary elections, the party ran a strongly negative campaign against refugees, with Kaczyński spreading fear that asylum-seekers could carry ‘very dangerous diseases long absent from Europe’ and that Poland might be forced to resettle more than 100,000 Muslims in the country. PiS argued that it was defending Poland against an attempt by the European Union to impose multicultural values and lifestyles upon it.
The party tried to repeat this strategy during last year’s local election campaigns, contending that PO would allow a wave of refugees to come into those areas where it won power. This negative propaganda resulted in a sharp increase in the number of those opposing Poland taking in refugees.
Such rhetoric is now being repeated against LGBT+ rights, with the conservative and nationalist right maintaining that they are protecting the traditional Polish family and values. A leading PiS candidate in the European elections has said: ‘I think that Poland will be a region free from LGBT. I hope so.’ Some on the right have even absurdly argued that Muslims and the LGBT+ community represent a combined threat: the editor of the right-wing weekly DoRzeczy has claimed that the west faces the choice between becoming a ‘caliphate or a homoland’.
snip
PiS attacks LGBT+ rights in Poland, as elections loom
Amid simmering social discontent and with the Catholic Church wracked by sex-abuse scandals, Poland’s clerical-nationalist party is exploiting homophobia to drive a wedge into the opposition.https://www.socialeurope.eu/pis-attacks-lgbt-rights-in-poland
In the run-up to this year’s European and national parliamentary elections, LGBT+ rights are dividing Polish politics. Speaking recently against their extension, the leader of the ruling, right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, said: “This is not about tolerance. This is about the affirmation of same-sex unions, about their marriage, and their right to adopt children. We want to say it clearly. We are saying No!, especially when it concerns children. Stay away from our children!’
This renewed campaign by PiS against LGBT+ rights was launched in the wake of the recent decision by the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski—from the main opposition party, Citizens’ Platform (PO)—to sign a declaration protecting LGBT+ rights in the capital. The declaration guarantees the basic needs of Warsaw’s LGBT+ community and commits the local government to delivering such things as hostels, a crisis-intervention system and anti-discrimination education in schools.
The conservative right has responded by whipping up an atmosphere of homophobia and hostility towards the LGBT+ community. The public media (and those parts of the private media sympathetic to PiS) have engaged in a barrage of propaganda against the LGBT+ community. Demonstrations have been organised by the conservative and nationalist right outside the Warsaw local-government offices, in protest against the declaration, and banners with homophobic slogans have been displayed in football stadia.
‘Dangerous diseases’
The tactic of finding an enemy, against whom its supporters can unite, has been deployed before by PiS. During the 2015 parliamentary elections, the party ran a strongly negative campaign against refugees, with Kaczyński spreading fear that asylum-seekers could carry ‘very dangerous diseases long absent from Europe’ and that Poland might be forced to resettle more than 100,000 Muslims in the country. PiS argued that it was defending Poland against an attempt by the European Union to impose multicultural values and lifestyles upon it.
The party tried to repeat this strategy during last year’s local election campaigns, contending that PO would allow a wave of refugees to come into those areas where it won power. This negative propaganda resulted in a sharp increase in the number of those opposing Poland taking in refugees.
Such rhetoric is now being repeated against LGBT+ rights, with the conservative and nationalist right maintaining that they are protecting the traditional Polish family and values. A leading PiS candidate in the European elections has said: ‘I think that Poland will be a region free from LGBT. I hope so.’ Some on the right have even absurdly argued that Muslims and the LGBT+ community represent a combined threat: the editor of the right-wing weekly DoRzeczy has claimed that the west faces the choice between becoming a ‘caliphate or a homoland’.
snip
April 2, 2019
Frikandel Speciaal, Bitterballen, and something called “smulrol” are a few favorites on the menu at Wendy’s in the Dutch city of Goes. There are no 4 for 4€ deals, no Baconators or Son of Baconators, no Frostys to dip your fries. There’s not even an adorable, freckle-faced mascot. Instead, it’s the glorious mullet of the chain-smoking man behind the counter, Albert van der Hoek.
This is what Wendy’s looks like in Europe: A hole-in-the-wall chippie run by some brute Dutch sailors with a serious case of stick-it-to-the-man-itis. It’s the reason a certain billion-dollar, red-headed American fast food chain has been kicked off the continent.
From the corner of Koningstraat, a sign advertising the crispy chicken burger, chicken strips, and crispy hot wings stands among pristine cobblestone streets and gabled facades from the Dutch Golden Age. It’s a setting straight out of Amsterdam, except rather than museums, prostitutes, and panicked Brits on ‘shrooms, the town’s lure is a steam train that takes you… right out of the town.
Unlike most European cities, though, the romantic setting in Goes has yet to be infiltrated by commercial taste-buds. There’s no Burger King, no McDonald’s in the shadow of the town’s gothic cathedral De Grote Kerk. Instead of Starbucks, Old World cafes serve up unpronounceable delicacies like ontbijtkoek, or the unfortunately-named pastry “Zeeuwse Bolus.”
snip
How This Tiny Dutch Restaurant Is Keeping Wendy's Out of Europe
https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/wendys-locations-europe-netherlands-goes-restaurantFrikandel Speciaal, Bitterballen, and something called “smulrol” are a few favorites on the menu at Wendy’s in the Dutch city of Goes. There are no 4 for 4€ deals, no Baconators or Son of Baconators, no Frostys to dip your fries. There’s not even an adorable, freckle-faced mascot. Instead, it’s the glorious mullet of the chain-smoking man behind the counter, Albert van der Hoek.
This is what Wendy’s looks like in Europe: A hole-in-the-wall chippie run by some brute Dutch sailors with a serious case of stick-it-to-the-man-itis. It’s the reason a certain billion-dollar, red-headed American fast food chain has been kicked off the continent.
From the corner of Koningstraat, a sign advertising the crispy chicken burger, chicken strips, and crispy hot wings stands among pristine cobblestone streets and gabled facades from the Dutch Golden Age. It’s a setting straight out of Amsterdam, except rather than museums, prostitutes, and panicked Brits on ‘shrooms, the town’s lure is a steam train that takes you… right out of the town.
Unlike most European cities, though, the romantic setting in Goes has yet to be infiltrated by commercial taste-buds. There’s no Burger King, no McDonald’s in the shadow of the town’s gothic cathedral De Grote Kerk. Instead of Starbucks, Old World cafes serve up unpronounceable delicacies like ontbijtkoek, or the unfortunately-named pastry “Zeeuwse Bolus.”
snip
April 1, 2019
Scripps Presents: Pete Buttigieg
April 1, 2019
We are proud to present our latest watch TRIWA Wig, based on one of our bestselling cases Klinga, with a strap made from recycled wigs.
To demonstrate the importance of wigs, the watch comes with an illustration on the dial, highlighting hair loss issues.
TRIWA Wig is limited to 100 pieces where each piece is unique due to the nature of the strap material. For each watch sold we give back 15% to the International Comb Over Foundation (ICOF).
”We are really, really, really proud to make our contribution to this little talked about issue. We want to make wigs great again and by recycling them into watch straps they get a new purpose.” Says, Hary Boldman, Cheif Strap designer at TRIWA.
Please sign up here to contribute to the fight against bad hair loss
TIME FOR WIG
https://www.triwa.com/us/page/TIME-WIG/We are proud to present our latest watch TRIWA Wig, based on one of our bestselling cases Klinga, with a strap made from recycled wigs.
To demonstrate the importance of wigs, the watch comes with an illustration on the dial, highlighting hair loss issues.
TRIWA Wig is limited to 100 pieces where each piece is unique due to the nature of the strap material. For each watch sold we give back 15% to the International Comb Over Foundation (ICOF).
”We are really, really, really proud to make our contribution to this little talked about issue. We want to make wigs great again and by recycling them into watch straps they get a new purpose.” Says, Hary Boldman, Cheif Strap designer at TRIWA.
Please sign up here to contribute to the fight against bad hair loss
March 30, 2019
Buttigieg: You might have followed this widely publicized case involving a small-business owner from Granger, the next community over, very conservative. This guy was an important part of the community, undocumented, went in for an annual ICE visit and didn’t come back out. The fiercely protective response came mostly from white members of the community who were conservative and largely voted for Trump, but did not view what he was talking about as going against somebody like Roberto, who they loved. Yes, you have a lot of people in my part of the country who feel we’re spending too many resources on immigrants, even though that’s inaccurate and immigration subsidizes us. But it doesn’t necessarily apply to people you actually know and meet and see.
Buttigieg: Absolutely. We need to recognize 21st-century threats. Cybersecurity, climate security and security in the face of white nationalism are all clear and present security threats that folks on the other side of the aisle either refuse to acknowledge or decline to do anything about. It’s extremely important for Democrats to very vocally talk about those threats.
Buttigieg: In the narrow tactical sense, it’s something we need to stay ahead of and monitor the way you would any kind of violent radical movement from abroad. There’s a deeper phenomenon going on. As we see dislocation and disruption in certain parts of the country, from rural areas to my home in the industrial Midwest, and in the economy, this leads to a kind of disorientation and loss of community and identity. That void can be filled through constructive and positive things, like community involvement or family. And it can be filled by destructive things, like white identity politics. This is one thing well-intentioned job training programs often miss: If we’re not attending to that, then making sure somebody’s income is steady or replaced after their place in the economy is disrupted, that’s not really enough.
Buttigieg: I don’t want this to slide into the idea that some of these racist behaviors can be excused because they can be connected to economic issues. But I do think it’s easier to fall into these forms of extremism when you don’t know where your place is. There’s this very basic human desire for belonging that historically has often been supplied by the workplace. It’s been based on the presumption of a lifelong relationship with a single employer. This isn’t just a blue-collar phenomenon. We’ve come to be pretty reliant on the way that your workplace explains who you are. That’s breaking down. That doesn’t have to be a soul-crushing thing, provided that there are alternate sources for community, identity, and purpose. In South Bend, we focus a lot on enlisting people in the project of the city itself. The sense of belonging can be very powerful, and we’re very fragile without it. It’s not accidental that some areas that have seen the most disruption in our social and economic life are those that are most likely to produce a lot of domestic extremists.
snip
Pete Buttigieg Is a Political Star. You Just Don't Know It Yet.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/03/pete-buttigigeg-has-a-better-chance-than-you-think.html
snip
Socialism vs. Capitalism. Buttigieg sidesteps this false choice: Like Elizabeth Warren, he believes in capitalism “as long as there’s a strong rule of law around it.” He’s said that “the biggest problem with capitalism is the way it has become intertwined with power… the growth of business is eroding our democracy. Capitalism without democracy is Russia.” Buttigieg is conscious of his youth in this regard, and points out “we’re dealing with a whole [older] generation that was really shaped by a Cold War environment where socialism was treated as the same thing as communism. And the opposite of that was democracy and capitalism. So to be for socialism was to be for communism and against democracy and capitalism. Now you see how these things are really shaking loose from each other in a lot of ways. They’ve become unbundled. The big question is what you prioritize, and I prioritize democracy. People are trying to make sense of the distance between socialism in Canada, say, and Denmark versus Venezuela. And the answer is democracy.”
“Economic anxiety” and the rise of white nationalism. This is perhaps where Buttigieg is at his most eloquent, turning a venomously and now murderously divisive issue into an opportunity for growth. The Post’s Greg Sargent tweeted of his interview with Buttigieg that “he talks about race and the economy in a way that gets beyond the tedious ‘LOL but economic anxiety’ versus ‘not everyone in Trump country is racist’ debate.” In his recent Morning Joe interview, Buttigieg connected white nationalism to the rise of AI and automation to national service, the military, marriage, and career-hopping in 90 seconds.
snip
Immigration. Buttigieg is staunchly pro-immigrant. He wants to roll back Trump’s policies and raise immigration caps across the board, but he also manages somehow to embrace possibilities for reconciling that position with the right wing’s obsessive and baseless xenophobia: “You might have followed this widely publicized case involving a small-business owner from Granger, the next community over, very conservative. This guy was an important part of the community, undocumented, went in for an annual ICE visit and didn’t come back out.
“The fiercely protective response came mostly from white members of the community who were conservative and largely voted for Trump, but did not view what he was talking about as going against somebody like Roberto, who they loved.
“Yes, you have a lot of people in my part of the country who feel we’re spending too many resources on immigrants, even though that’s inaccurate and immigration subsidizes us. But it doesn’t necessarily apply to people you actually know and meet and see.”
snip
Buttigieg: racist behaviors cannot be excused because they can be connected to economic issues
So many false memes floating out there all of sudden since his polling numbers have taken off (3rd in Iowa for example zero to 11 percent in a month or so) People take snippets and pull quotes (see here for instance https://www.democraticunderground.com/128733687 of a Twitter troll trying to do just that and Wonkette slapping them down) and try to turn it into some binary, simplistic misrepresentation or phoney 'gothcha' moment that dismisses even moderately deep thought and does nothing to advance our party in terms of drilling down to not only root problems, but intelligent solutions to those very problems as well. It turns into a food fight that does a disservice to everyone, not just Buttigieg. 
Buttigieg: “I don’t want this to slide into the idea that some of these racist behaviors can be excused because they can be connected to economic issues.
How Democrats can defeat Trump and his ugly ideas, according to Pete Buttigieg
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/19/how-democrats-can-defeat-trump-his-ugly-ideas-according-pete-buttigieg/?utm_term=.3d338b3fbcea
snip
Plum Line: There’s a genre of half-baked punditry which holds that working-class whites supported Trump in part because they perceive immigrants as a threat to them, economically or culturally. Indiana is a major Trump state. What’s your perception of the view of immigrants in Trump country?
Buttigieg: You might have followed this widely publicized case involving a small-business owner from Granger, the next community over, very conservative. This guy was an important part of the community, undocumented, went in for an annual ICE visit and didn’t come back out. The fiercely protective response came mostly from white members of the community who were conservative and largely voted for Trump, but did not view what he was talking about as going against somebody like Roberto, who they loved. Yes, you have a lot of people in my part of the country who feel we’re spending too many resources on immigrants, even though that’s inaccurate and immigration subsidizes us. But it doesn’t necessarily apply to people you actually know and meet and see.
Plum Line: We’re seeing a rise in white nationalism and serious anti-immigrant fervor in some parts of the country, and also globally. Are you going to be addressing this in a comprehensive way? It occurs to me that the 2020 Democrats should go bigger on these issues.
Buttigieg: Absolutely. We need to recognize 21st-century threats. Cybersecurity, climate security and security in the face of white nationalism are all clear and present security threats that folks on the other side of the aisle either refuse to acknowledge or decline to do anything about. It’s extremely important for Democrats to very vocally talk about those threats.
Plum Line: How do you view white nationalism as a policy problem?
Buttigieg: In the narrow tactical sense, it’s something we need to stay ahead of and monitor the way you would any kind of violent radical movement from abroad. There’s a deeper phenomenon going on. As we see dislocation and disruption in certain parts of the country, from rural areas to my home in the industrial Midwest, and in the economy, this leads to a kind of disorientation and loss of community and identity. That void can be filled through constructive and positive things, like community involvement or family. And it can be filled by destructive things, like white identity politics. This is one thing well-intentioned job training programs often miss: If we’re not attending to that, then making sure somebody’s income is steady or replaced after their place in the economy is disrupted, that’s not really enough.
Plum Line: Can you talk about your broader sense of the role that this type of economic vulnerability plays in creating the conditions for the kind of communitarian collapse that creates an opening for sentiments like white nationalism to flourish?
Buttigieg: I don’t want this to slide into the idea that some of these racist behaviors can be excused because they can be connected to economic issues. But I do think it’s easier to fall into these forms of extremism when you don’t know where your place is. There’s this very basic human desire for belonging that historically has often been supplied by the workplace. It’s been based on the presumption of a lifelong relationship with a single employer. This isn’t just a blue-collar phenomenon. We’ve come to be pretty reliant on the way that your workplace explains who you are. That’s breaking down. That doesn’t have to be a soul-crushing thing, provided that there are alternate sources for community, identity, and purpose. In South Bend, we focus a lot on enlisting people in the project of the city itself. The sense of belonging can be very powerful, and we’re very fragile without it. It’s not accidental that some areas that have seen the most disruption in our social and economic life are those that are most likely to produce a lot of domestic extremists.
snip
Pete Buttigieg Is a Political Star. You Just Don't Know It Yet.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/03/pete-buttigigeg-has-a-better-chance-than-you-think.html
snip
Socialism vs. Capitalism. Buttigieg sidesteps this false choice: Like Elizabeth Warren, he believes in capitalism “as long as there’s a strong rule of law around it.” He’s said that “the biggest problem with capitalism is the way it has become intertwined with power… the growth of business is eroding our democracy. Capitalism without democracy is Russia.” Buttigieg is conscious of his youth in this regard, and points out “we’re dealing with a whole [older] generation that was really shaped by a Cold War environment where socialism was treated as the same thing as communism. And the opposite of that was democracy and capitalism. So to be for socialism was to be for communism and against democracy and capitalism. Now you see how these things are really shaking loose from each other in a lot of ways. They’ve become unbundled. The big question is what you prioritize, and I prioritize democracy. People are trying to make sense of the distance between socialism in Canada, say, and Denmark versus Venezuela. And the answer is democracy.”
“Economic anxiety” and the rise of white nationalism. This is perhaps where Buttigieg is at his most eloquent, turning a venomously and now murderously divisive issue into an opportunity for growth. The Post’s Greg Sargent tweeted of his interview with Buttigieg that “he talks about race and the economy in a way that gets beyond the tedious ‘LOL but economic anxiety’ versus ‘not everyone in Trump country is racist’ debate.” In his recent Morning Joe interview, Buttigieg connected white nationalism to the rise of AI and automation to national service, the military, marriage, and career-hopping in 90 seconds.
snip
Immigration. Buttigieg is staunchly pro-immigrant. He wants to roll back Trump’s policies and raise immigration caps across the board, but he also manages somehow to embrace possibilities for reconciling that position with the right wing’s obsessive and baseless xenophobia: “You might have followed this widely publicized case involving a small-business owner from Granger, the next community over, very conservative. This guy was an important part of the community, undocumented, went in for an annual ICE visit and didn’t come back out.
“The fiercely protective response came mostly from white members of the community who were conservative and largely voted for Trump, but did not view what he was talking about as going against somebody like Roberto, who they loved.
“Yes, you have a lot of people in my part of the country who feel we’re spending too many resources on immigrants, even though that’s inaccurate and immigration subsidizes us. But it doesn’t necessarily apply to people you actually know and meet and see.”
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March 29, 2019
Midwestern mayor Buttigieg wows progressive Dems in San Francisco
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/29/pete-buttigieg-san-francisco-1243203
Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay major presidential candidate, took his campaign Thursday to San Francisco — a heartland of progressive gay politics — but said he is running “not to be a candidate for the LGBTQ community alone, or for any one group,’’ but to speak to all Americans.
“I’m proud of who I am, I am proud of my husband and our marriage,’’ said the Democratic mayor of South Bend, Ind., whose spouse, Chasten, sat nearby as he addressed reporters here prior to a sold-out speech before hundreds at the Commonwealth Club. “It might just be the most normal thing in my life.’’ His husband, Buttigieg said, will have a role in his upstart campaign for the White House because he is “somebody who’s passionate about education, passionate about family ... and his story is part of my story.’’
When asked how he will get past what many believe could be his greatest hurdle in running for the presidency — his status as a married gay man — Buttigieg told POLITICO, “I don’t know how it plays in San Francisco. But I can tell you I came out, during a reelection campaign, in Indiana, while Mike Pence was the governor. And I wound up winning reelection by 80 percent."
Buttigieg was greeted by a rousing standing ovation, whoops and cheers from the audience in the progressive bastion of San Francisco, the hometown of fellow Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, who served as district attorney in the city before becoming the state’s attorney general.
Asked about competing with Harris, Buttigieg said, “I don’t think I’m running against any individual, especially when there’s like 20 of us. I admire a lot of the people in this process, but each of us has a different message.’’
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Pete Buttigieg 3/28/2019 Inforum at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco (video)
Midwestern mayor Buttigieg wows progressive Dems in San Francisco
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/29/pete-buttigieg-san-francisco-1243203
Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay major presidential candidate, took his campaign Thursday to San Francisco — a heartland of progressive gay politics — but said he is running “not to be a candidate for the LGBTQ community alone, or for any one group,’’ but to speak to all Americans.
“I’m proud of who I am, I am proud of my husband and our marriage,’’ said the Democratic mayor of South Bend, Ind., whose spouse, Chasten, sat nearby as he addressed reporters here prior to a sold-out speech before hundreds at the Commonwealth Club. “It might just be the most normal thing in my life.’’ His husband, Buttigieg said, will have a role in his upstart campaign for the White House because he is “somebody who’s passionate about education, passionate about family ... and his story is part of my story.’’
When asked how he will get past what many believe could be his greatest hurdle in running for the presidency — his status as a married gay man — Buttigieg told POLITICO, “I don’t know how it plays in San Francisco. But I can tell you I came out, during a reelection campaign, in Indiana, while Mike Pence was the governor. And I wound up winning reelection by 80 percent."
Buttigieg was greeted by a rousing standing ovation, whoops and cheers from the audience in the progressive bastion of San Francisco, the hometown of fellow Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, who served as district attorney in the city before becoming the state’s attorney general.
Asked about competing with Harris, Buttigieg said, “I don’t think I’m running against any individual, especially when there’s like 20 of us. I admire a lot of the people in this process, but each of us has a different message.’’
snip
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