Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/27/a-great-start.html
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It’s a smart move on her part and a win for consumers. Definitely keeps her cemented near the top of my list of candidates.
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Amen, sister! Preach it!
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Why limit it to farm equipment? Wouldn’t a blanket “right to repair” law make a lot of sense? What’s the argument against it, other than some manufacturers missing out on lucrative service contracts being basically enforced by law?
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Totally agree with you, but she’s clearly not ready to take on the tech monopolies quite yet. As the article pointed out, by going after agribusiness, she cuts them out of the argument when Apple is faced with similar rules at a later time, thus weakening their support. And Apple isn’t likely to come to the aid of agribusiness now. Sometimes you can only tear down their lobbying fortresses one plank at a time.
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Her real aim here isn’t as much “do what’s right” as it is “do what cuts into Cheetolini’s voter base.” And she does have to choose her battles. She can’t take on every corporation in the country all at once. She can’t possibly hope to win if she tries to fight on every front at once. Even Teddy Roosevelt didn’t get his trust-busting done all at once. As a matter of fact, all he really did was start the wave. There was actually more government trust-busting action under Taft than there was under Roosevelt.
Warren has the sense to realize Rome wasn’t built in a day, and a better America can’t be either. That’s what distinguishes people who support her from Trump supporters. His adherents cling desperately to an almost childish wish to believe that there are quick, cheap, simple answers to problems that have been built over decades. Warren supporters are rational adults, where Trump supporters are like him - overgrown children.
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In addition, farmers have been at the forefront of the right-to-repair battle as a matter of basic survival. While it does often seem that incrementalism is a weak play, in this case I think Warren is making a calculated choice about what she thinks is actually achievable in the short term. I’d guess she’d more focused on trust-busting for the tech companies, and that severing their monopoly on repair services would be part of that.
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I sure hope this gets legs. I can remember when Ralph Nader was a hero.
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All I can think of is it’s either a divide-and-conquer attempt – get a foot in the door and push through later – or she has reasons to not want it to be universal.
I can accept the idea that some politicians are better than others, but I’ve yet to find one that I fully trust. To many angles and too much spin.
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OK, so how will the deranged-right and corporatists unite to spin this?
:rubs hands together:
How’s this:
"This is Big Government meddling once again-- they can't even leave our *farm equipment* alone!"
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Whoops, editing noob gaffe. I grew up on a farm and cannot imagine having to deal with this crap. We could fix our equipment ourselves. Period. Realistically, how can any rural farmer expect to stay afloat with such restrictions? Maybe that’s the point in a world where even family farms are being swallowed up by corporate consolidation and greed. I don’t see either party doing much about that.
Like Pensketch, I’ve found no politician I fully trust. Past performance and consistency across years of service seem to be the best gauge. That puts she and Bernie at the top for me at this time and Kamala Harris, Joe Biden at the bottom.
EW looks pretty good to me at this point. She was too likely to effect real change for Obama to allow her to protect consumers. Maybe she can/will as President?
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I’m not very chuffed over her constant need to self identify as a capitalist, and that whole native American ancestry shitfest was incredibly cringe inducing, but she does keep saying and proposing stuff that resonates with me.
Currently, she’s a distant second behind Sanders for me, but miles ahead of everyone else.
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Dumbocrats are trying to tell farmers how to do their job! Get government out of our cornfields!
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Anyone remember when Jon Steward offered her $1M to run for prez and she passed? What up w/ that?! Also, good on her!
Warren has the sense to realize Rome wasn’t built in a day, and a better America can’t be either.
Slow change is lasting change!
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I am a strongly third-party voter who seldom votes for Dems or GOPs, but am with you: had my eyes on Warren for years now, and called her presidential bid pretty much from when I started tracking how well she frames things from left-liberal perspective.
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Read the article (not even the linked one, just Cory’s analysis here). This is a divide-and-conquer strategy that will shore up support among rural conservatives, have a better chance of passing, and lay the groundwork for extending right-to-repair beyond the farming industry.
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This is about the Iowa primary, no?
I think it’s great, and Warren’s long been top of my list, not least because of her political acumen. Our primary system sucks, but that’s the game we’ve got, and she’s playing it.
You really have to discuss warranties along with this. That is what would change in response to a right to repair law.
Cars have become so electronic/ computerized that home repair is becoming a thing of the past as well.
Oh, this is a smart move.
It’s pitching directly at rural voters, giving them a reason to be on board with the anti-corporate message. It’s also aiming at widening her support outside the stereotypical coastal, urban voter base of the Democratic party, something that they badly need to do if they are ever going to win back the presidency and the senate.
Also, on a more cynical note, you know where there are farmers who might be swayed by this? Iowa, that’s where.
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