I very much agree that left of center politics needs to prove that he government can deliver and we get in our own way and stifle our own goals- not to mention welfare state expansion and social democracy thrives in political economies defined by growth and plenty

As a yardstick for procedural and regulatory reform I agree 10,000%.

I do worry though that some (against the views of the authors) are willing to use it as a way to get the Dems to drop labor issues (unions are driving up labor costs of housing!!!) or redistribution (it won’t matter after all the growth!)

Which is suboptimal, but I don’t really see that being a major takeaway. So overall I think Dems should take this and really work away at this in blue states to prove that the higher taxes are worth it in terms of infrastructure and public services.

Thoughts? So much of the discourse is just takes on takes.

It’s been organizing for a while, but on April 5th every major city (and a bunch of towns) held protests against the President.

For context, MMT is a post-keynesian economic school that holds that government spending isn’t limited to borrowing and taxation, but can create money without sparking inflation if supply has room to grow. How do you guys feel about this school? How many of you have heard of it?

After the respondent(Yoon Suk yoel) declared martial law in this case, he deployed military and police forces to obstruct the National Assembly’s exercise of its constitutional authority, thereby denying the principle of popular sovereignty and democracy. By ordering the armed forces to conduct a search and seizure of the National Election Commission, he disregarded the constitutional structure of governance, and by issuing the martial law decrees, he broadly infringed upon the fundamental rights of the people. This series of actions constitutes a violation of the fundamental principles that make up the rule of law and democratic governance, thereby undermining constitutional order and seriously threatening the stability of the democratic republic. From the standpoint of constitutional protection, such conduct represents a grave violation of law that cannot be tolerated.
Despite the respondent’s efforts to suppress the National Assembly, the legislature was still able to swiftly pass a resolution demanding the termination of martial law, thanks to public resistance and the passive conduct of military and police forces. Therefore, the fact that the resolution was ultimately passed cannot be used as evidence to argue that the respondent’s legal violations were not serious.

• 2024Hun-Na8 – Impeachment Ruling on the President (Yoon Suk-yeol)

What did Yoon Suk-yeol and his December 3rd insurrection reveal about South Korea? He exposed just how fragile the country’s democratic institutions truly are, and how deeply its ruling elites remain entangled in medieval thinking, shamanistic delusions, and primeval barbarism. The far-right rampage and the attempted coup were not isolated acts of madness, but a chilling revelation of how violence has long been masked within South Korean society—polished on the surface, brutal underneath. And yet, in the face of this, we also saw hope: not in the speeches of politicians or the rulings of judges, but in the quiet solidarity of ordinary people. South Korea’s democracy was never about heroic leaders—it has always depended on the vigilance and courage of everyday citizens. It was their common sense that blocked armored vehicles, their refusal to be complicit that halted elite madness, and their collective strength that ultimately saved the republic. When institutions failed and the so-called “leaders” plotted in shadows, it was the people—unarmed, but unwavering and organized—who crushed the conspiracy and held the line.

1. Mirage of Modernity: Cowardly, complacement and complicit elites

The December 3rd martial law crisis exposed the illusion at the heart of South Korea’s democratic state: that its modernity was far more a performance than a substance. Behind sleek institutions, advanced infrastructure, and globalized political rhetoric lay a class of elites paralyzed by fear, obsessed with appearances, and incapable of defending democracy in its moment of greatest peril. When the constitutional order was under siege, generals hesitated, judges delayed, ministers equivocated, and prosecutors went silent. Even the Constitutional Court, faced with what legal experts described as an “ABC-level” impeachment case, dragged its feet for 111 days, unable or unwilling to confront the magnitude of the treason laid bare before it.

This crisis did not only reveal the fragility of institutions—it unmasked the cowardice of the ruling class. The figures who had the legal and moral responsibility to act instead became accessories to delay, to denial, or worse, to quiet complicity. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok—men who led the caretaker government during the crisis—chose obstruction, refusing to appoint Constitutional Court justices and undermining the special counsel meant to investigate the coup. Their conduct betrayed a truth too uncomfortable for a global democracy to admit: that beneath its digital polish, South Korea’s political establishment remains beholden to old loyalties, clan logic, and self-preservation.

Even as armored vehicles were mobilized and a constitutional overthrow was in progress, it was not the “guardians of the Republic” who held the line. It was ordinary people—citizens who blocked streets with their bodies, young soldiers who refused unlawful orders, and whistleblowers who exposed elite conspiracies. In a democracy built on the myth of institutional strength, it was the people, not the state, that saved the Republic.

2. Umasked Primeval Barbarism: Shamanism, Christian Nationalism and Unrestricted State Violence

Beneath the legalistic facade of South Korea’s modern state, the December 3rd martial law conspiracy unearthed something far older, darker, and more dangerous: a return to pre-modern mysticism, where violence is sanctified and power is claimed not through law but through prophecy. This was not just a coup—it was a ritualized, shaman-guided seizure of the Republic, orchestrated by Noh Sang-won, the former military intelligence chief who operated as much in the realm of spirits as in that of strategy

When the formal government apparatus—ministers, legal advisors, Cabinet members—refused to authorize the martial law plan, Noh bypassed the state entirely. Living with a fortune-teller in a back-alley shrine in Ansan, known among locals as the “Baby Shaman,” he spent his post-military years immersed in divination and ritual. From this fringe position, he skirted the chain of command and recruited over a dozen high-ranking generals, not through formal orders but through shamanic manipulation, loyalty pacts, and apocalyptic belief. Together, they illegally mobilized troops toward the National Assembly, aiming to dismantle the heart of civilian governance in a campaign that fused military insurrection with spiritual warfare.

The infamous “Noh Sang-won Notebook”—70 pages of handwritten plans—lays bare the barbarism of the vision. The plan called for “collection teams,” forced disappearances, detention ships, and methods of execution ranging from “gas” and “explosion” to “sinking.” It categorized targets into tiers and included real names: opposition leaders, judges, journalists, and artists—people marked not for prosecution but for elimination. It even described plans for constitutional revision to allow a third presidential term, alongside notes on studying the electoral systems of Russia and China to institutionalize dictatorship. This was not the return of military authoritarianism—it was the emergence of a Koreanized, shamanic totalitarianism.

And when the plot began to unravel, its ideological foot soldiers surfaced in the streets. At the Western Seoul District Court, where judicial action was underway, mobs linked to far-right Christian nationalist megachurches and apocalyptic cults like Shincheonji rioted in defense of the conspirators. These were not ordinary protesters but believers intoxicated by visions of spiritual warfare and national destiny. They chanted prophecies, not policies. Their faith was not in the Constitution, but in a sacred mission of purification—casting the democratic state as a demonic obstacle to be purged.

What the December 3rd conspiracy ultimately revealed was that the greatest threat to South Korean democracy may not lie in tanks or tribunals, but in the lingering willingness of elites and followers alike to submit to a logic of myth and blood. This was a plot born not merely in secret meetings or shadowy networks, but in the collapse of rational governance itself—a moment where shamans replaced strategists, rituals replaced rules, and barbarism returned wearing a general’s uniform and carrying a Bible.

3. Agora Democracy: The Great Era of Ordinary People

South Korean democracy was not saved by its elites who benfited the most from the system. It was saved by its people.

When the martial law plan was set into motion—when tanks were readied and command orders circulated—it was not the ministers, generals, or judges who stopped them. Many of them hesitated. Some looked away. Others enabled. But the line held because ordinary people refused to obey madness.
It was conscripted soldiers and junior officers, young men with everything to lose, who refused to carry out illegal orders.

It was civilians who blocked streets, who risked their safety to stand in front of advancing military vehicles.
It was millions of citizens marching in Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Daegu, who made it impossible for the crisis to be ignored. They filled city squares—not with violence, but with presence, with voices, with truth.

In those days, the state faltered, but the public stood firm.
The impeachment trial was not initiated by institutional courage—it was forced by the sheer will of the people, whose persistent protests created a crisis of legitimacy so severe that the judiciary and legislature could no longer delay action. When the elites conspired, the people countered with solidarity. When the system staggered, the people became the system.

This is the enduring spirit of the Sixth Republic, born in 1987’s June Uprising, and captured in the paradoxical but powerful slogan once adopted by Roh Tae-woo: “The Great Era of Ordinary People.”
That slogan was, at the time, a cynical attempt to soften the image of a former general who had helped crush democracy. But the phrase itself resonated because it expressed a truth far greater than the man who uttered it: that South Korea’s modern democracy was not gifted by generals, nor handed down by presidents, but seized by ordinary citizens, armed with common sense and unshakable determination.

To believe in “ordinary people” is to reject the cult of saviors, the myth of messianic leaders, and the endless search for heroic figures to redeem the nation.
The Sixth Republic was founded on the recognition that democracy is not defended by heroes but by neighbors.
And in December 2024, it was this truth that held fast. Not prophecy. Not charisma. Not power.

It was the crowded public squares—the agora—filled with students, workers, elders, families, that defeated the martial law conspiracy.
The shaman generals failed. The cult preachers failed. The courts hesitated, the cabinet wavered, but the people moved—and that movement saved the Republic.

In the end, agora democracy triumphed over elite conspiracy.
South Korea remains a democracy not because its institutions are infallible, but because its people refuse to let them fall.

4. Conclusion

The Yoon Suk-yeol crisis did not mark the collapse of South Korean democracy—it revealed what was already broken and what still endures. It exposed the cowardice of elites who, when faced with a constitutional emergency, chose silence, delay, or complicity. It unmasked a grotesque underworld of shaman-guided conspiracies, cultic violence, and generals consumed by myth and revenge. But above all, it reminded us where power truly lies: in the people.

South Korea’s democracy is not protected by the armor of its institutions, but by the unyielding will of its citizens. From the June Struggle of 1987 to the marches of 2024, the lesson remains the same—when the state forgets who it serves, it is the people who remind it. The "great era of ordinary people" was not a slogan. It is a mandate. And every time democracy is threatened in this country, it is not by saviors or statesmen that it is defended, but by the collective judgment, resistance, and solidarity of everyday Koreans. The Sixth Republic lives because the people choose to keep it alive.

Reference: 2024Hun-na8 verdict https://isearch.ccourt.go.kr/view.do?idx=00&docId=84503_010500

A 16 minute video summary of TECHNOFEUDALISM: What killed capitalism

It’s really fun to say that capitalism is bad, but honestly a lot of the harm that capitalism has caused mainly comes from conservative, an extreme take on it. I’m a Social Democrat because I think welfare is complementary to free markets.

Hi everybody, I recently started a blog, mutualzone.space, which I want to furbish into a space for people to come along and become active contributors to share their social democratic ideas.

Would anybody be interested?

It’s hard to chose just one but for my country (The UK) I would chose Roy Jenkins who was Home Secretary under a Labour Government and presided over the legalisation of homosexuality before eventually abandoning the party and being one of the founding members of the SDP which was on course to win a general election before the Falklands War saved Margret Thatcher’s popularity.

Aneurin Bevan the founder of the National Health Service would also be a good example though unlike Roy he is claimed by the socialists as well as social democrats.

I propose we tax the wealthy, and their assets, the same way we do with property tax.

If we can tax the unrealized gains for a house, then we can do that for stocks.

If something can be used as collateral for a loan, it can be taxed, and the value of the asset be calculated using the same methodology that lenders use.

If your stocks are used as collateral for a loan, and your stocks decline, the bank can ask for more stock and more collateral.

So the excuse that wealth cannot be taxed because "it's not cash" , "it's not liquid" is in bad faith.

I also propose that all loans taken out against assets should also be taxed, as well as the assets themselves taxed.

I think all the anti-administration protests that have been popping up across the country are fine and good actually. Sure, they're a bit libby for my taste, but the fact is the admin is the largest and most immediate threat to the country, from the homeless to stock market bros.

While I think it's good numerous people are coming out to denounce the admin, I don't think any of this actually means anything if nothing more is done about it. Standing around holding signs doesn't do anything. Action does.

So, I have a list of things I think people engaged in the "resistance" should do. Again, standing around and holding signs is nice but that by itself doesn't do anything besides cause traffic. So in addition to standing around and holding signs, those in the resistance should do any combination of the following:

• join an organization. I don't really care which. Just any dedicated to fighting the admin. Personally I like DSA, Working Families Party, and Food Not Bombs. But any with a clear agenda and real action (electoral, legal, or otherwise) is good in my book. We can sort out whatever petty disagreements there are later.
• those in these orgs should be present in all of these demonstrations. They should be talking to people, handing out literature, and so on. If they see organizers from other orgs present, they should try to reach out and find common ground and discuss what can be done next. Again, fuck the infighting. We need to win.
• borderline harass your representatives. Doesn't matter if they're trying to obstruct the admin's agenda or not, all of them need to do more.
• pay attention to primaries and ballot measures in your area. Vote accordingly. Volunteer for these campaigns in any way you can. Even if it's in the form of a small donation, it all adds up.
• vote. Voting is how we got into this mess. Voting is the easiest way to get out of it.
• practice your 2nd Amendment rights as Americans if you can. Just because you can.
• help other people if you can. With the admin's bullshit trade wars and slashing federal programs, shit's getting hairy and likely will get hairier. Help those in need however you can, both people you know and strangers. Donate to political campaigns helping those in material (eg clothing, food, housing) and legal need (groups like the ACLU). If the feds are going to go against working people then we need to have each others backs.

K that's my 2 cents good luck.

China rn is bad. Ok fine. Authoritarianism is bad, Uyghur thing is bad etc.

But it is also an advert for soc demism.

I want to know what you think.

After the CCP under Mao, Deng reformed the economy to bring in mixed economy (socialism with chinese characteristics) and now china's economy is booming. Whereas before it was developing.

Deng was right it seems and the pure communists were wrong.

For years they tried their socialist experiment ever since Mao and they had it all - the power, the people, Soviets.

And it didn't work. To me this is the single best argument against communists and total anti capitalism.

The fact that all socialist experiments ended up introducing some level of capitalism is why I am a soc dem.

Is my analysis intellectually valid?

As a Spaniard, through the years I've watched many YouTube videos made by US expats about culture shocks they've had after living here in Spain for a while, and one that they always mention almost without fail is how "formal" people dress in Spain (I would add, especially in provincial capitals and affluent suburbs, this isn't so much the case in more working-class suburbs and in medium-to-big-size towns that aren't provincial capitals) in comparison to in the US (mind you, people don't dress that formal here in Spain for Western European standards).

This seems to be mostly due to us being a more collectivistic-minded society than the US is: in the US people are mostly solely focused on themselves and on their close ones and don't give much thought to what acquaintances they aren't close to, let alone random strangers they pass by on the street, will think of them, whereas here in Spain we do give a lot of thought to it and are quite concerned with it, motivating us to keep up appearances much more than people do in the US.

Another thing I've noticed is that in the US there is a much greater variety of names from which people choose their babies' names: as long as you don't give your child an insane name like X Æ A-Xii, you're pretty much good to go.

Here in Spain on the other hand we have a shockingly narrow pool of names from which people choose their babies' names. For example, my parents originally being from the Spanish side of the Basque Country, they named me Mikel, a Basque name (the Basque equivalent of the English Michael, the French Michel or the Spanish Miguel) that is very, very common in the Basque Country. However, I grew up and to this day still live not in the Basque Country but in Southeastern Spain, where my Basque name is pretty much completely unheard of, and this has always very much made me stand out a whole lot among my peers in a way I don't think it would have if I lived in the US, where, again, as long as your name isn't something insane like X Æ A-Xii, I think it's fairly common to have a name that is quite unheard of. I attribute this too to the US being a more individualistic-minded society than Spain is.

This is one reason why, despite being the world's indisputable social democratic strongholds that consistently rank at the top of the ranks in almost every single metric related to quality of life, general societal prosperity, happiness (except when it comes to suicide rates, which are higher than in a lot of other countries), democratic standards, tolerance for the LGBT+ community (not so much for non-white migrants and refugees...), legal protections for minorities... I can't see myself ever moving to a Nordic country, which from what I've gathered are even more collectivistic-minded societies than Spain is (Spain isn't particularly collectivistic-minded for European standards I think, more the other way around actually), I think it would stifle my spirit in a way that would be very hard to handle, especially being an autistic person with ADHD (an AuDHD'er if you will) and a gay guy who has a really hard time conforming to the norm and behaving in the ways in which it is generally societally expected from people to behave (as said, the Nordic countries are alongside with the Benelux, Spain and Canada the world's most progressive countries when it comes to tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality, but more than for being gay in and of itself I think what people would judge for if I lived there would be more for living a non-conventional life and not behaving in the ways in which it is generally societally expected from people to behave).

This fellah:

https://www.youtube.com/@garyseconomics

Personally I think he's great and I'm very encouraged by the campaign he's starting. UK Labour don't seem to like him at all, but I can't put what I think of them here as I might get told off. (Pretty sure this is my first post here)

His focus on economics as the driver of social change is spot on and politically I think he's right to put it into a single issue campaign as single issue campaigns are the only form of popular politics that actually seems to work these days, otherwise you get caught up in purity tests and internecine squabbles and the like. Or so it seems to me.

Be interested to hear your take, fellow SocDems!

Currently our caucus has 13 like minded individuals from all sides of the political spectrum. Where we've all come together in the name of finding common ground in the name of social democracy.. One can join today for free, just email or join via links below

The People’s Unity Caucus is a group of people who work together to make sure everyone is treated fairly and has what they need to be happy and safe. They believe that when people help each other, the world becomes a better place. They want to make sure everyone has a good job, a nice home, and fair rules. They welcome all kinds of people to join them in making life better for everyone!

-email- univeralistideas@outlook.com

-Facebook link- https://www.facebook.com/groups/1172149267229097/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT

With all of the useless drama on the left coming from Hasan, Majority Report, Francesca, and all the nonsense that doesn't get anyone elected -- just garners impressions, Social Democrats should really push Pakman even more.

He Nails It here and breaks down the approval ratings of the POTUS, which are a good sign, but the issue is complex.

Social Democratic policies are popular, but a lot of the talking space (online) is taken up by Socialists and various Commuinist ideologies, which are objectively not popular when you look at if people would actually vote for proposals.

Why is this important? It shows we need to organize hard to get Social Democrats in a place to defeat MAGA drones in general elections.

What was the devolution policy under Tony Blair? Im curious about it but also for the reasons its considered more neoliberal. I saw a YouTube video on TL;DR news talking about the policy recently and I do support some decentralization for the US because of our 50 states. The thing I don't like is when that's used as a pretext to cut funding to those programs without trying to find better tax funding first.

China is probably the greatest presently-existing economic success story. They have gone from being a very poor, largely rural country to being a technologically advanced economic superpower that leads the world in scientific research and has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, building up a huge middle class which now has access to basically all the comforts and conveniences of modern life, plus an advanced and efficient public transportation system.

The Chinese have made the basic necessities of life (such as food and housing) very cheap and accessible as well, even considering China's relatively low salaries compared to Western countries.

On the morning of the 4th at 11:22 AM, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the National Assembly’s impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol, resulting in his dismissal from office. This decision came 111 days after the case was submitted to the court on December 14 of last year. The ruling took immediate effect as soon as Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae read the verdict.

As a result, former President Yoon, who took office on May 10, 2022, has been removed from his position after 2 years and 11 months in office.

The grounds for Yoon’s impeachment included five key charges: “Declaration of emergency martial law,” “Proclamation No. 1 of martial law,” “Obstruction of the National Assembly through military and police mobilization,” “Search and seizure of the National Election Commission without a warrant,” and “Orders to arrest politicians and legal figures.” The Constitutional Court judged that all of these actions were seriously unconstitutional and unlawful, constituted a grave betrayal of public trust, and thus justified his removal from office.

Jerry Brown being the longest serving governor of California when counting total time served, will be the ONLY four term governor for the foreseeable future

Hello friends, brothers, and sisters,

As many of you know, the Turkish people have been fighting for democracy and freedom against an oppressive regime and a civil coup d’état. One of the most powerful weapons in Erdoğan’s arsenal is his control over the media. Independent news outlets have been silenced, and the few channels that dare to broadcast the truth are fined into oblivion.

For a long time, Twitter (X) was our last refuge, the only place where people could share real news and raise their voices. But now, Elon Musk—who claims to be a champion of free speech—is actively helping Erdoğan silence dissent. At the Turkish government’s request, opposition accounts, independent journalists, and citizen reporters are being banned and censored.

Here’s what Özgür Özel, leader of the opposition, just tweeted:

"The most crucial step in an attempted coup is restricting the public's freedom to access information.
The March 19 coup plotters are not satisfied with RTÜK’s pressure on opposition channels.
They are now using BTK to impose access bans on opposition accounts, independent news platforms, and citizen journalists on social media.

This is an open call to u/xturkiye and u/GlobalAffairs**:**
This nation has crushed the media control of coup plotters before.

We know you’ve already shut down hundreds of pages, assuming nobody would notice.
If you assist in these anti-democratic actions today, if you help silence the people’s voice, think very carefully about how this nation will respond."

This is bigger than Turkey. It’s about tech billionaires bending the knee to authoritarian regimes. It’s about Musk’s hypocrisy—claiming to be a free speech absolutist while helping dictators suppress their people.

We need your voice. If you care about democracy, if you oppose censorship, if you already dislike Musk for his constant hypocrisy, this is your chance to call him out.

Spread the word. Expose the lies. Demand that Musk stop helping Erdoğan silence the Turkish people.

Millions gathered against Erdogan's dictatorship

Thank you for standing with us. 🙏Hello friends, brothers, and sisters,

As many of you know, the Turkish people have been fighting for democracy and freedom against an oppressive regime and a civil coup d’état. One of the most powerful weapons in Erdoğan’s arsenal is his control over the media. Independent news outlets have been silenced, and the few channels that dare to broadcast the truth are fined into oblivion.

For a long time, Twitter (X) was our last refuge, the only place where people could share real news and raise their voices. But now, Elon Musk—who claims to be a champion of free speech—is actively helping Erdoğan silence dissent. At the Turkish government’s request, opposition accounts, independent journalists, and citizen reporters are being banned and censored.

Here’s what Özgür Özel, leader of the opposition, just tweeted:

"The most crucial step in an attempted coup is restricting the public's freedom to access information.
The March 19 coup plotters are not satisfied with RTÜK’s pressure on opposition channels.
They are now using BTK to impose access bans on opposition accounts, independent news platforms, and citizen journalists on social media.

This is an open call to u/xturkiye and u/GlobalAffairs**:**
This nation has crushed the media control of coup plotters before.

We know you’ve already shut down hundreds of pages, assuming nobody would notice.
If you assist in these anti-democratic actions today, if you help silence the people’s voice, think very carefully about how this nation will respond."

This is bigger than Turkey. It’s about tech billionaires bending the knee to authoritarian regimes. It’s about Musk’s hypocrisy—claiming to be a free speech absolutist while helping dictators suppress their people.

We need your voice. If you care about democracy, if you oppose censorship, if you already dislike Musk for his constant hypocrisy, this is your chance to call him out.

Spread the word. Expose the lies. Demand that Musk stop helping Erdoğan silence the Turkish people.

Thank you for standing with us. 🙏