Andrew C Wang's Blog

Getting political operatives with non-truth-seeking motives out

Getting political operatives with non-truth-seeking motives out: money in politics and rich people entering politics has been a thing forever. Secretary of State and democratic gubernatorial nominee in Michigan Jocelyn Benson is one of them, setting up her life to be the perfect spitting image of a politician. I met someone whose brother was the Harvard commencement speaker (and donors banned him from giving the HLS comment address too) who moved to Detroit to also set up a perfect story like being a public defender in preparation for entering politics. Both are from wealthy families, neither are from Michigan. It's the Obama playbook, but the playbook is decades old now. To be honest, I don't have that big of a problem with it if they live there long enough. Though I feel a patriotic sense to my home state, if they get the right policies in, then sure. However, I feel uncomfortable whenever politicians who advocate for certain policies loudly are not in the gray area. And that's what I see with the DSA and Republican Party. Everyone is a conservative to some degree; xenophobia is an example of this, and it's found in NYC (i.e. NYC transplants) and SF (i.e. tech companies). So I get it for conservatives because people don't like change because the future is unknown. However, I have a problem with folks who push an ideology without practical, historical within reasonable context, or academic backing, and this lack of nuance is the problem with the DSA when they push their narrative. Worse, DSA members are forcing people to believe that to accomplish their goals, they need to make all of America run under the socialist system. This to me is sinister. I have my thoughts on capitalism, reforms, and socialism from an innovation standpoint, and I've written about it before if you'd like to read.