An OP-ed from UK politician David Miliband

[Recursion]

David is the brother of Ed Miliband, who was the leader of the Labour party before Corbyn. I'm posting this and calling out one section because I think it's applicability to the 2020 Democratic primaries goes without saying.

(Emphasis below mine)

The fundamental errors that made Labour unelectable

John McDonnell said at the 2017 party conference that the more dire the situation a Labour government inherits, the more radical would need to be its efforts. Fair enough. The greater the inequality, the greater the need for remediation. There was and is an appetite for a step change from austerity that is serious about redistribution and wealth creation.

But there is a corollary. The greater the proposed radicalism, the greater the credibility needed of the policy and and the plan and the team to make the changes. Labour failed on all counts. Every extra promise weakened the appeal of all the promises.

Credibility is scorned by the hard left. We are told it means sucking up to the establishment. Or taking Tory positions. Rubbish. It is about recognising that people with the least have the most reason to be risk averse about taking a chance on the future. And we should take our cue from them. If you are proposing to make a big change in someone’s life, they want to be sure that you know what you are doing. Radicalism without credibility is just posturing.

I think this is a dynamic we are already seeing and will continue to see in 2020: the most vulnerable groups are the least interested in radical remakes of the system because they inevitably bear the full cost of those.

Despite the rhetoric, revolutions are not historically started by the poor. Revolution is a hobby of the petit-bourgeoisie. Those who are more vulnerable don't have the luxury of risking big changes.

[OnDoutside]

1. David is such a massive loss to UK politics, I wish he would return though I understand

why he wouldn't.

[NYMinute]

2. Some points in the OP need to be repeated over and over

Like this ...

Credibility is scorned by the hard left. We are told it means sucking up to the establishment. Or taking Tory positions. Rubbish. It is about recognising that people with the least have the most reason to be risk averse about taking a chance on the future. And we should take our cue from them. If you are proposing to make a big change in someone’s life, they want to be sure that you know what you are doing. Radicalism without credibility is just posturing.

And this ...

I think this is a dynamic we are already seeing and will continue to see in 2020: the most vulnerable groups are the least interested in radical remakes of the system because they inevitably bear the full cost of those.

Despite the rhetoric, revolutions are not historically started by the poor. Revolution is a hobby of the petit-bourgeoisie. Those who are more vulnerable don't have the luxury of risking big changes.

A bunch of fairly well-to-do northern non-diverse devotees will not bring credibility to all the pie-in-the-sky.

[evertonfc]

3. There isn't going to be some he and revolution.

I never liked that word and it's disingenuous.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. Radicalism without credibility is just posturing

That's perfect.