This is why I just don't buy that 'Corbyn changed politics'. He did his best, sure - but the movement didn't move anywhere, even under his watch.

It's strange, looking back, how much potential was wasted. And not just because of PLP sabotage either. All very sad.

On a related note: I've seen many tweets insisting that Corbyn *proved* Labour don't need donors' money.

Sorry, no he didn't. Because we lost: in general elections, European elections and local elections again and again and again. Despite the massive membership.
He certainly enthused and inspired many... but ultimately, not enough. And he was like Marmite to the wider electorate for all sorts of reasons: some legitimate, others a lot less so.
See also: Sanders. Enthused and inspired many, dragged the platform leftwards, not corporate funded in any way... and never close to winning.

How big is the Tory membership? It's a heck of a lot smaller than Labour's even now... yet look at their majority. Money still matters.
To be frank, Labour will always be the underdogs. Our entire history - which is embarrassingly bad electorally - demonstrates that.

So we have to think differently, act differently (Starmer falls down on both at present) and combine activism and Parliamentary politics together.
Unhappily, the reality of the latter is boring, staid, dull. But it won't be if we do what is blindingly obvious, and embrace a progressive anti-Tory alliance.

You want a way to inspire activists and force meaningful change? That's how you do it.
It remains astonishing to me that Corbyn never even considered electoral reform. In that sense, he was as trapped in the old, tribal, closed ways of thinking as anyone else.

It is equally astonishing that Starmer hasn't considered it either. Both represent betrayals of democracy
Time, then, to re-up two articles. One from 2015 - it's been blindingly obvious since then - and one from 2019. All progressives must unite... and this is the only way not just of doing it, but doing it excitingly and showing REAL vision and hope.

(1)

https://t.co/AtutUBLeXY
(2)

https://t.co/bOPEisdcr0
And just in case you missed it:

https://t.co/ovWsvdY5Ut
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris united:

- The young
- The old
- The left
- Ethnic minorities
- Suburban voters (especially women)
- Independents
- Professionals
- Centrists
- Conservatives
- White working class men
- 2016 third party voters
- 2016 non-voters

And look at the result.
The conclusion from how they won isn't - memo to Starmer - milquetoast centrism.

It's building a massively broad voting coalition spanning all the way from left to centre-right, encompassing unions, small businesses, workers and yes, bosses.
It's entirely possible to be bold but also realistic; to change the economic argument but do so in a credible, trustworthy way.

We'll see the economic and social impact of the 'centrist' Biden and Democratic Congress. I think it'll be significant. They have much to teach us.

More from Politics

My piece in the NY Times today: "the Trump administration is denying applications submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services at a rate 37 percent higher than the Obama administration did in 2016."

Based on this analysis: "Denials for immigration benefits—travel documents, work permits, green cards, worker petitions, etc.—increased 37 percent since FY 2016. On an absolute basis, FY 2018 will see more than about 155,000 more denials than FY 2016."
https://t.co/Bl0naOO0sh


"This increase in denials cannot be credited to an overall rise in applications. In fact, the total number of applications so far this year is 2 percent lower than in 2016. It could be that the higher denial rate is also discouraging some people from applying at all.."

Thanks to @gsiskind for his insightful comments. The increase in denials, he said, is “significant enough to make one think that Congress must have passed legislation changing the requirements. But we know they have not.”

My conclusion:

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"I really want to break into Product Management"

make products.

"If only someone would tell me how I can get a startup to notice me."

Make Products.

"I guess it's impossible and I'll never break into the industry."

MAKE PRODUCTS.

Courtesy of @edbrisson's wonderful thread on breaking into comics –
https://t.co/TgNblNSCBj – here is why the same applies to Product Management, too.


There is no better way of learning the craft of product, or proving your potential to employers, than just doing it.

You do not need anybody's permission. We don't have diplomas, nor doctorates. We can barely agree on a single standard of what a Product Manager is supposed to do.

But – there is at least one blindingly obvious industry consensus – a Product Manager makes Products.

And they don't need to be kept at the exact right temperature, given endless resource, or carefully protected in order to do this.

They find their own way.