I will quote this New York Times op-ed by Johnny Harris and Binyamin Appelbaum in full it is so short:
It’s easy to blame the other side. And for many Democrats, it’s obvious that Republicans are thwarting progress toward a more equal society.
But what happens when Republicans aren’t standing in the way?
In many states — including California, New York and Illinois — Democrats control all the levers of power. They run the government. They write the laws. And as we explore in the video above, they often aren’t living up to their values.
In key respects, many blue states are actually doing worse than red states. It is in the blue states where affordable housing is often hardest to find, there are some of the most acute disparities in education funding and economic inequality is increasing most quickly.
Instead of asking, “What’s the matter with Kansas?†Democrats need to spend more time pondering, “What’s the matter with California?â€
Much of the meat of the piece in a video which, sadly, is paywalled. I did watch it. It’s a document of crumbling inner cities and numbers of homeless people.
Although there’s a glimmer there it does not appear that reality has actually dawned on Mssrs. Harris and Appelbaum. Claimed values don’t matter. Stated intentions don’t matter. Results matter. Everything else is just pretense. They’re saying what they need to say to get elected.
Don’t tell me your values or your intentions. Show them to me.
Let me use my favorite object lesson: Chicago. It’s easy to say that you want fewer carbon emissions. Over the last 50 years Chicago has gone from deriving 85% of its electrical power from non-emitting sources to 55%. As a famous Illinoisan once said, actions speak louder than words.
