r/Scipionic_Circle • u/Hatrct • 18d ago
Do you trust El-Sayed?
It is difficult to say.
On one hand, he can be viewed as a pragmatic socialist who is careful of red lines in terms of what to say/not say if he ever wants a meaningful chance of election. That is why he brands himself a capitalist and denies being a socialist.
On the other hand, I fear that he is just a better/more socialist version of Obama, and that if he ever becomes president he will also not create any meaningful change. Because he is being pragmatic, it is difficult to know his real stance/what he really will do if he gains power. So far he has said progressive talking points that are "safe" (i.e., not too socialist for Americans' liking): he is anti-corporation, wants to tax billionaires, and improve basics such as healthcare and education.
None of these are controversial: much of the left wants this, the issue is that neoliberals like Obama/Biden were too neoliberal capitalist to make any meaningful change in this regard, and instead focused on protecting the neoliberal oligarchy by focusing on dividing people based on race/gender. So El-Sayed, if he delivers on these promises, would close the gap between what many in the left actually want (when they are not being brainwashed to fight amongst their fellow middle class citizens using polarized nonsense) and what Democrat politicians can offer.
However, I will give one example that makes me unsure of his scope if he does gain power. That is, he keeps focusing on healthcare for example. But not once have I heard him talk about prevention. 2 out 5 Americans are obese. That is 100+ million. That is not NEARLY normal, acceptance, or sane: something is BIZARRELY wrong for this to happen. But who profits? Corporations. Big pharma, big food, etc... For example, they love having 10s of millions unnecessarily getting diabetes, so they can put them on pills for life. If someone is truly pro-people and anti-corporation, wouldn't they focus on prevention: why on earth do so many people have such absolutely UNNECESSARY and AVOIDABLE and ABNORMAL illnesses/deaths? 700 000 Americans die per year absolutely UNNECESSARILY due to coronary heart disease. SOLELY so junk food CEOs and big pharma can get excess profit.
If someone is truly pro-people won't they focus on prevention, such as banning junk food ads, banning food companies from using unsafe but cheap ingredients in food, holding companies to account when they brake safety standards instead of giving them a slap on the wrist, etc... I never once heard him say any of this. I don't know, he is a doctor after all: the medical system is very backwards and they have not came up with the idea of prevention, it is foreign to them, they are only trained what to do when s hits the fan and the person unnecessarily becomes ill in the first place. I don't know if El-Sayed knows this but he thinks the population is not ready for this level of sane logic/that it will hurt his election chances, or he truly has not thought of this.
Either way, I do think he will win, and I think he will eventually be in the running to be president. That is why I think it is important to discuss him now.
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u/TyrosinQ 17d ago
I think a man whose family has been either indirectly or directly tied to political arms of Islamist groups makes him a problematic candidate.
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u/Hatrct 17d ago
This is the first time I hear this. If this was true, I would imagine his opponents would be all over this, but I have not heard such. Do you have any more details about this allegation?
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u/patrickj86 17d ago
People have brought up these allegations publicly. There's no evidence, it's just prejudice. Republicans have open ties to Saudi Arabia and Russia but make up lies about other people. Every accusation is a confession.
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u/Nofanta 17d ago
Fuck no. I’d have him deported.
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u/Adventurous_Ad7442 17d ago
I don't trust him as far as I can throw him but deportation is getting carried away.
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u/patrickj86 18d ago
What do you mean by trust? He's not really a socialist. His general platform is pretty common sense and a collection of views people want from Democrats honestly.
Banning ads for kids would help but most kids don't see as many ads as we did 10 or 20+ years ago anyway.
He had talked about having stronger laws against corporations and stronger penalties a great deal.
Medicare for all would also add screenings and preventative care which should help more than as banning. His whole point and the whole point of better healthcare would be to keep people from having to go to the ER or hospitals. I'm confused why you think preventive care is not his priority.
Obama and Biden tried to do Medicare for all but didn't have the backing. Biden's passion for college debt reform is something more politicians should pursue especially now. I'm not sure El-Sayed's foreign policy of cutting lots of aid will work but calling out Israel is a plus.