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Republican Donald Trump becoming the 45th President of the United States was a shock for Albany County progressive Chris Lowry.

But the left-leaning Wyoming native in an overwhelmingly Republican environment isnt looking to lie down and accept an executive branch thats taking the nation in a direction that contradicts some of his core values. Instead, Lowry said he and fellow Albany County progressives are feeling energized.

It was disappointing, but I would say it gave me incentive to work even harder, Lowry said of the November election that saw Republicans take control of Congress and the White House. It definitely seems the opposition feels inspired to work together against a common threat to what people on the left feel are important to them.

Lowry, 33, came to Laramie to pursue a chemistry degree at the University of Wyoming. Today, hes a chemist at Western Research Institute and a single dad of two younger children. Since the April primary where more than 1,000 local Democrats cast their votes in the Democratic caucus, Lowry has attended monthly meetings of the Albany County Democratic Party.

The number of people that were there was really impressive, he said of the caucus. Wyoming people wanted to have a voice even though Democrats are outnumbered by more than two-to-one.

Looking forward, Lowry said he plans to remain active politically.

If a position in the (Democratic Party) leadership happens to open up and the rest of the county delegates think that Im a good choice, then Ill accept a leadership position, he said. But I plan on remaining active and involved and aware of whats going on.

Laramie resident Adrienne Vetter, 34, also said shes been inspired by the enthusiasm local progressives displayed during and since the election cycle. Like Lowry, Vetter said she was a supporter of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran on a democratic socialist platform to the left of Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Though shes volunteered some time and effort to the Albany County Democratic Party in the past, Vetter said shes also potentially upping her commitment in the near future.

Ive definitely been interested since the caucus section of the election, she said. Its kind of that realization, If not me, then who? We have to step it up and be more involved in political systems.

Vetter said she let the Albany County Democrats know she wants to put her name in the hat for the State Committeewoman position.

Im planning on being more involved, she said. Im not entirely sure Ill get it, but its important enough for me to fight this apathetic mood by taking a risk and putting myself out there.

One of Lowrys first acts of 2017 was attending the Wyoming Womens March in Cheyenne on Jan. 21 to voice dissent regarding Trumps policies that he said he opposes.

I think it was uplifting and inspirational, he said.

I feel like it was empowering to a lot of people that were there and for me, too just to have something to kind of register dissent of the results.

Albany Countys Democratic representatives in the State House and Senate were able to keep their seats in November, but werent able to come up with any victories from newcomers. With a Senate seat and four house seats up for grabs, only Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie, and Rep. Charles Pelkey, D-Laramie defeated their challengers. Pelkeys race was the closest as Republican challenger Tom Schmit had the lead with 12 of 13 precincts reporting before the final precinct, but early and absentee votes put Pelkey over the top.

However, since the election, some local progressives have been pleased to have some younger blood looking to fill leadership positions, said Pam Mathewson, Albany County Democratic Party chair.

We have a whole lot of new faces and we have a lot more precinct committee spots filled, Mathewson said. Weve been engaging some more young people and people who previously havent been politically active, or at least not recently. Were trying to get their viewpoints, get them into the process and part of our organization so we can be more inclusive, get more viewpoints and what they want to see for the future of Albany County and Wyoming. Were getting new faces and new enthusiasm, and thats always nice to see.

Forward Wyoming is a nonprofit organization based in Laramie dedicated to progressive causes. Though the group is officially nonpartisan, Executive Director Marc Homer said it is aligned with progressive ideals.

Were working to develop the next generation of progressive advocates, Homer said.

During the 2016 election cycle, Forward Wyoming worked with affiliate organizations to support Democratic candidates running for seats in the Legislature. Homer said Forward Wyoming is moving on with the Grassroots Institute, a free program offered to community members looking to learn how to enact political change. He said many Democrats as well as Republicans and Independents think the Trump administration is out-of-step with their values and could unite to oppose policies they find objectionable.

There used to be a time where conservatives and liberals wanted the same things, Homer said. We are teaching young people to organize so they can go in their communities, they can begin to protect the rights that they know they should be having as American citizens and they are going to try to develop public momentum behind ideas that are simply trying to level the playing field and give everyone a slice of the pie.

In addition to the Womens March for which Forward Wyoming chartered a bus that transported dozens of Laramie residents to Cheyenne Homer said there are more actions coming from progressives looking to make their voices heard in Wyoming.

I think its wonderful people are finally taking this seriously maybe a day late and a dollar short but they are going out, he said. Well see more of these rallies, and well do our part in helping to sustain them.

Wyomings Legislature is also on Albany County progressives radars, Lowry said.

Im worried about losing access to public lands, Im worried about government overreach into public bathrooms, Im worried about bills that are titled Religious Freedom but actually protect Christian beliefs more than allowing non-Christians to have an opinion, he said. I make phone calls and send emails, and Im donating and volunteering.

Mathewson said local Democrats are happy about the defeat of House Bill 135, titled Government Nondiscrimination Act, which opponents said would tie the governments hands in protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination. However, she said they are still concerned about bills regarding abortion and concealed carry of firearms.

Those are bills at the top of the list wed like to see if we can keep from passing, she said.

With all the disagreements between liberals and conservatives in Albany County and across the nation, Lowry said he thinks its important especially for people on the left to listen to different and opposing viewpoints. The violence that broke out when Breitbart News editor and right wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to come to the University of California, Berkeley, campus Feb. 1 was counterproductive way for progressives to express themselves, Lowry.

We have to find a way to build some consensus, he said. Some of the ugly rhetoric Ive seen from people not just online, but in person, like the riots in California is probably not the best action to take. The violence and destruction of property is not going to help win elections and change.

Homer said the best way to forward for progressives is registering more people to vote.

Hopefully politicians who are ethically challenged maybe the only thing they listen to is the zero-sum result of whether they win or lose, he said. So, we have to keep getting more people registered to vote so they will keep that pressure up.

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County progressives moving forward after elections - Laramie Boomerang

Hours after Senate Democrats failed to block Betsy DeVos' nomination for education secretary, they shifted to trying to stop Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., from becoming attorney general.

Democrats plan to use the same tactics they employed unsuccessfully in the DeVos fight: late night speeches in the Senate, petitions from the many progressive organizations and voters who oppose President Trump's nominees, telephone calls, and social media posts urging senators to vote "no."

In doing so, the Senate minority is heeding the call from Democratic voters to stand up to Trump, despite the risk of promising the progressive base things they can't deliver with their current numbers.

But progressives are making it clear they aren't yet happy with the aggressive Democratic effort. Green Party 2016 presidential nominee Jill Stein, who won over a million votes by arguing Democrats weren't sufficiently progressive, actually blamed Democrats for DeVos' confirmation.

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"Why would we have a tie on such an egregious nominee?" Stein asked on Twitter. "Because Democrats serve corporate interests."

That criticism ignored the fact that there are only 48 Democratic senators, and all of them voted against DeVos. The education secretary pick was confirmed because 50 Republicans supported her and Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote in his constitutional capacity as president of the Senate.

Yet Democrats still faced criticism for not doing enough to make wobbly Republicans fear supporting DeVos.

"Democrats blew what was arguably their best shot to take down one of President Donald Trump's nominees when secretary of education nominee Betsy DeVos won confirmation in the Senate on Tuesday," wrote VICE News' Alexandra Jaffe. "Democrats were spinning it as a win, but it's hard to read DeVos' confirmation as anything other than a fumble for Democratic lawmakers and grassroots groups, who were given a near-perfect set of circumstances to derail her nomination and still fell short."

DeVos received poor reviews for her performance at her confirmation hearings. She had two Republican defectors and no Democratic supporters. She was opposed by Native American groups in states with GOP senators. Suburban Republican voters haven't always been much more enthusiastic about school choice for low-income children than the teachers unions railing against DeVos.

Also from the Washington Examiner

Under the Congressional Review Act, lawmakers can undo rules finalized within 60 legislative days.

02/08/17 6:44 AM

By contrast, Sessions' confirmation hearings went better. He has at least one Democratic supporter and no Republican opponents. Democrats changed the filibuster rule to get rid of the 60-vote threshold for ending debate on executive branch nominees and most federal judges. Under the old rules, Democrats could have blocked most of Trump's nominees.

Having failed at stopping DeVos, the prospects for derailing Sessions are even worse. Nevertheless, many Democrats believe this is a necessary battle in a larger war against the Trump administration.

"These fights are energizing our communities and reminding them of the power of their voice," said Scott Simpson of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the organization that delivered 1 million signatures on an anti-Sessions petition.

"Every fight prepares constituents to be more strategic, more organized, and more engaged than the last," Simpson said. "These nominees and executive orders are very out of step with the country and we expect that this is only the beginning of the pushback from constituents."

Progressives are spoiling for a fight. Many of Trump's moves have triggered a massive backlash among rank-and-file Democrats, and progressives were demanding a more combative Democratic Party even before Trump won, as evidenced by Bernie Sanders' stronger than expected campaign against Hillary Clinton.

Also from the Washington Examiner

Sen. Jeff Sessions is on the verge of achieving the ultimate personal vindication.

02/08/17 12:41 AM

Clinton's loss to Trump confirmed to many of these voters that confrontation is more politically effective right now than "New Democrat" triangulation and compromise.

Trump's election has galvanized many black and Hispanic Democrats who were not supportive of Sanders in the presidential primaries, potentially creating a more diverse progressive electoral coalition.

"Senate Dems may not be able to block [Trump's nominees] but they should continue to use hearings as an opportunity to cement the narrative that Trump and his administration is one run by a dictator who is being influenced by a bunch of billionaire Wall Street people," said Democratic strategist Bud Jackson. "The anger and fear among the Democratic grassroots base is real. They must continue the resistance on their own track."

Even some Democrats who are more conciliatory by nature have responded to this fear and anger.

"[Sessions] would be wrong at any time because of his record on immigration, civil rights and voting rights, but particularly wrong now because we need someone who has some degree of independence from the president," declared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Some Democrats fear replicating the climate within the GOP where activists demanded congressional Republicans do things to stop President Obama that they didn't have the numbers on Capitol Hill to do, and then mounted primary challenges against party members who failed to go along. But others note that the Tea Party helped Republicans win some elections.

"With a low turnout in an off-year congressional election, Dems must keep pushing to please the activists who will vote in 2018," said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon. "The Berniecrats could do for the Dems what the Tea Party did for the GOP in 2010."

Republicans re-took the House that year, ending a nearly three-fifths Democratic majority. Four years later, they captured the Senate.

"Our goal must to sustain the different communication channels now being used to ensure Americans are aware of Trump's behavior and overreach," Jackson said. "On the legislative front, I firmly believe an important and achievable goal is keeping the fire so hot that Republicans will feel forced to split from Trump. It's not a question of when, but how long."

Top Story

Sen. Jeff Sessions is on the verge of achieving the ultimate personal vindication.

02/08/17 12:41 AM

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Progressives push Democrats to fight Trump's picks even harder - Washington Examiner

Liberals should learn from their conservative peers and bind themselves to corporate activism.

By Jared Keller

More than 120 companies have joined a legal brief rebuking President Donald Trump and his executive order barring refugees and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries from entering the country, Reuters reports. Among those companies are some of Americas biggest playersApple, Google, and Elon Musks Tesla and SpaceXwho argued in an amicus curiae brief that the Trump administrations ban inflicts significant harm on American business.

According to Reuters, the brief continued:

So much for Trumps tech summit last Decemberthe tech sector wants reform, and its willing to flex its muscle to get it.

And those tech executives arent wrong. Restrictions on worker visas like the H1-B program would deprive American tech companies of essential talent. While computer-related jobs are the largest source of new wages in the country (per Code.org), American colleges barely graduate enough skilled workers to tackle the more than 50,000 computing jobs currently open; about 70 percent of tech jobs may go unfilled in 2020, according to the Department of Labor. Beyond tech workers, Trumps travel order has prohibited hundreds of brilliant scientists and academics and nearly 16,000 university students from re-entering the country. Seven founders and CEOs of the tech sectors most successful companies are the children of immigrants; Trumps executive oder could create a brain drain that the ever-innovative Silicon Valley obviously doesnt need.

It would not be churlish to regard tech companies benevolence with suspicion. The brief includes Uber, whose CEO Travis Kalanick was a member of Trumps business advisory counsel until last week, and his ride-sharing app hemorrhaged users last week after breaking a New York Taxi Workers Alliance work stoppage at the citys JFK Airport in protest of Trumps travel ban. Its worth noting that Lyft, which enjoyed a corresponding boost in users as a result, is also a signatoryand a beneficiary of Trump adviser Peter Thiels timely investment.

Tech companies are, at their core, capitalistic enterprises: If business interests happen to overlap with human interests, thats a happy coincidence that can help a companys bottom line. This fact is very clear to liberal critics of major corporations, but its often lost when the political agenda coincides with left-wing justice. That was certainly the case when corporations boycotted North Carolina businesses last year as a response to the states anti-LGBT religious freedom legislation. As I asked then: Is it hypocritical for liberals to rail against money-in-politics measures like Citizens United and corporate lobbyists while lauding tech conglomerates for effectively strong-arming elected officials with their economic clout?

In the case of the Trump order, the will of a corporation isnt just the will of an executive board with fiduciary responsibilitiesits actually the will of people, too. Thats according to reporting in the New York Times on Monday that detailed how organizers and activists like the group Tech Solidarity are pushing back on corporate management from within, holding executives accountable for their dealings with the Trump administration and, occasionally, staging internal protests of their own companies. I want pressure from below to counterbalance the pressure management is already feeling from above, organizer Maciej Ceglowski told the Times. We have to make sure were pushing at least as hard as Trump is.

In the aftermath of the Womens March on Washington, Jamelle Bouie made a curious observation: Protests actually do work, if only by force of sheer annoyance. This notion that a little complaint, no matter how small, can mushroom into a massive moment on social media has transformed corporate crisis communications in recent years, and these recent events only serve to reiterate how a focused jeremiad of dissent can change the course of those old, impenetrable institutions.

Conservatives have been using corporate power for years to raise money and reinforce ideological battle lines. And while tech companies and their figurehead billionaires have a history of aiding liberal causes, the mobilization of corporate power from the worker up could be a game-changer. Should the tech industrys response to Trumps travel ban solider on as a genuine movement, corporate activism may become a new province of resistance in the Trump age.

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How Progressives Are Recruiting Corporations in Their Fight Against Trump - Pacific Standard

WASHINGTON Progressives wondering whether President Donald Trump will give any notice to their concerns hold out hope that his daughter Ivanka will intervene.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a longtime champion of paid family leave, on Tuesday reintroduced her Family Act, which would guarantee 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers.

The legislation, which proposes a universal paid leave program funded by a small payroll tax, failed to advance in the previous session of the Republican-led Congress, and likely faces the same fate under Trump.

But Gillibrand and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), sponsor of a companion bill in the House, on Tuesday expressed optimism that the president would be receptive, in part because Ivanka Trump has spoken about the issue.

I am hopeful that the administration will reach out to me and work with me on a national paid leave plan, Gillibrand said on a call with reporters.

Drew Angerer via Getty Images

Gillibrand referenced Ivanka Trumps speech at last summers Republican National Convention, in which she presented her father, who has a record of demeaning women, as a champion for womens rights and a supporter of equal pay for women. It led many progressives to hope that her influence would encourage or at least make it possible that the president pivot from his campaign promises. Ivanka Trump also tried during the campaign to deflect attention away from her fathers history of misogyny and climate change denial.

Last week, Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner, a senior White House adviser, reportedly convinced the president not to roll back LGBTQ protections, a important achievement of former President Barack Obama.

Trumps proposed paid leave plan, like most of his policy proposals, contains little substance and is limited in scope. It allows for six weeks of paid leave, and only applies to mothers.

Ivanka Trump said in an interview when her fathers leave plan was announced in September that it is intended to help mothers in recovery in the immediate aftermath of childbirth. She would not elaborate on whether it would apply to LGBTQ, adoptive or foster parents, or people caring for aging parents.

Well wait to see what the dimensions of it, what the details are, DeLauro said of Trumps proposal.

I dont know when they will move forward with making a substantive proposal, she added. Were waiting for them to join the debate. Were on the field.

The U.S. remains the only industrialized country without mandated paid family leave. Sunday was the 24th anniversary of the Family Medical Leave Act, which provides 12 weeks of unpaid leave for people who work at companies with more than 50 employees.

The push for universal paid leave is growing, with state legislatures and businesses enacting more expansive plans.

Gillibrand said she hopes to gain bipartisan support because the issue affects everyone.

Despite the fact that we dont have a Republican yet, I am optimistic that people will be demanding action on this issue, that people will rise up and say we need a national paid leave plan, and really call on their elected leaders to listen to the challenges that theyre facing, Gillibrand said. I am hopeful that the new administration will focus on it because they did run on it, they did talk about it, and it should be nonpartisan.

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Progressives Hang Onto Hopes For Ivanka Trump | The Huffington ... - Huffington Post

Once a stronghold of coalmining, industrial and energy employment, the Hunter Valley now has the second-highest rate of youth unemployment in the country, second only to rural Queensland. Photograph: HO/Reuters

I want to start in Abermain. Its a town of about 2,500 people in the Hunter Valley, about 8km from Cessnock. It started as a coalmining community in the early 20th century and slowly became a commuter town for blue-collar workers in the Hunter industry.

It has always been a Labor stronghold but, at last years federal election, something shifted. In the federal seat of Paterson, One Nation won 12.8% of the vote the highest in any seat outside of Queensland. In a result that is surprising but not unique, the majority of One Nation preferences in Paterson went to Labor. In Abermain, they won 16.27%.

Once a stronghold of mining, industrial and energy employment, the Hunter Valley now has the second-highest rate of youth unemployment in the country, second only to rural Queensland. Towns like Abermain are the ground zero of Hansons appeal and there are plenty of similar blue-collar towns and suburbs across New South Wales.

At the moment, progressive politics doesnt have much appeal to towns like Abermain or its equivalents in Wisconsin and Michigan, or the villages in England and Wales that voted for Brexit. We are losing blue-collar communities because we dont have answers for them.

Regional NSW has effectively been in recession for years. Regional manufacturing capacity has shrunk by 20%, which has seen incredible numbers of high-wage jobs go overseas. Often, there arent even low-wage service jobs to replace them the poverty just compounds on itself.

I come from a country town. I know what those jobs represent, not just for the workers but for the whole community. When the jobs go, the people who stay face a collapse of the social organisation around them.

Those people see the political system as broken, rigged against them. Their living standards have declined, not risen, and every day is driven by anxiety about paying bills, housing security and insecure work. Can we be that surprised when they look for desperate solutions?

The success of Trump, Hanson and Brexit is that they harness the anger that failure generates and channels it into a perverse ethno-nationalism that is pitted against the communities that have benefitted from globalisation.

The real risk for progressive politics is that this split becomes the axis of future political contests. Dividing Australian society into the winners and losers of globalisation splits the progressive coalition in two.

In the past 20 years we have seen the rapid growth of the progressive middle class or, as the Sydney Morning Herald recently referred to them, progressive cosmopolitans: educated professionals, many of whom have benefited from the progressive reforms to education championed by Labor governments.

Similarly, we have created a unique and cosmopolitan society from the waves of immigrants who have made Australia home. LGBT Australians live in a better, more liberated world than a generation ago. Women have won important rights that have dramatically furthered the cause of equality.

We will not pander to the social conservatives. These struggles for justice and equality must still be at the core of the progressive agenda. The elimination of racism has to continue to be a priority, suicide rates amongst LGBT youth in particular are still unacceptably high, women still do not have full equality in the workplace or in our society.

But, without a strong progressive coalition, these priorities are under threat. The ethno-nationalism of Trump pits those communities against communities that feel left behind; especially those stuck in regional towns once the factories have gone. Its divisive, its dangerous and we know that it is effective.

Australian politics has already seen this divide. As the writer Richard Cooke puts it, asylum seekers has become the way in which the different classes of Australian society argue about globalisation.

We have seen what this does to the progressive coalition. On one side, the conservatives have used it as a way of winning working-class support in places like western Sydney. On the other side, it has seen large parts the progressive middle class decamp to the Greens, especially in the inner cities.

Unable to unite these two parts of its constituency, it has left Labor wedged fecklessly supporting a torturous program of indefinite detention and flagrant human rights violations. Without unity, the progressive coalition will lose.

And while I have always been more of a Mark Lennon guy than his Russian namesake, the real question is Lenins: What is to be done?

Inequality condemns some Australians to a life of desperation unimaginable to the professional middle class

Inequality, the denial of peoples aspirations for a decent life is degrading, alienating and condemns some Australians to a life of desperation unimaginable to the professional middle class.

We need to make the populist right redundant by actually listening to regional and suburban Australia. We need to practise a different kind of politics that treats their communities with respect and commit to delivering jobs to thousands of towns and suburbs like Abermain. It is just as important to internalise the moral imperative as it is for progressives to absorb the political dynamics here.

I think it starts by re-establishing economic justice as both a central and binding element of the progressive agenda and a moral imperative of our movement.

We need to permanently retire the Blairite idea that social democracy should evolve away from inequality as a central concern. We can no longer accept a system that condemns entire sections of Australian society to a life of desperation and poverty.

The times are coming to suit us.

I dont think that the Labor partys recent shifts on economic policy are occurring in isolation. The left is on the march. The partys neoliberals the Costas, the Tripodis, the Lathams are a spent political force and have lost critical debates on the partys policy.

We have to have a credible plan to deliver economic justice to all Australians and that will require a bold re-imagining of the role of the state in the economy, jobs and regulation.

I believe that our goal should be nothing less than the re-industrialisation of the Australian economy to deliver full employment in our suburbs and regions. Eighty-three per cent of Australian voters support that objective but it requires a commitment with the scale and the ambition of Chifleys postwar reconstruction.

After 20 years of neoliberal reform we have built a policy apparatus in Canberra that is failing to engage with the real problems facing our economy and unable to access the real drivers of productivity, growth and living standards.

The Productivity Commission, alongside the Treasury, the Department of Finance and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, are committed to a discredited neoliberalism that is increasingly out of step with what our country needs.

We will need a root and branch reform of these institutions to ensure that they are able to reflect a more advanced, nuanced and progressive understanding of the role of the economy in our society.

Similarly, we should reform the Reserve Bank of Australia to include employment as a key objective of our monetary policy. I respect the independence of the Reserve Bank but its current focus on inflation is too narrow we must align our most powerful economic levers with our key economic challenges.

Additionally, we need to revive the Australian Workplace and Industrial Relations Survey: rich data about the Australian labour market will be critical in shaping the future of work.

It is time to smash the orthodoxy that government cannot create jobs. Active government intervention in the labour market has been a critical part of Labors political agenda since it was founded and I believe that it is worth revisiting.

We need to build the economy we want, not simply what is dictated to us by a neoliberal elite

We need to build the economy we want, not simply what is dictated to us by a neoliberal elite. A national industrial strategy would find ways for governments to invest directly in critical industries that will create jobs.

This isnt impossible or even that abstract.

We should create low-interest loans for investment in Australian manufacturing jobs. Our manufacturing sector has been starved of investment for decades and it is time to put our money where our mouth is. It wont be popular among the bean counters but thats the point really.

We can build an advanced manufacturing sector by capitalising on the strength of our nations research and development capabilities and create a fairer and more productive future for our economy.

That means significantly reshaping the governments bizarre narrative around innovation. As the economist Mariana Mazzucato describes in The Entrepreneurial State, real innovation requires sustained and creative government intervention and not a misplaced belief in speculative capital.

Similarly, we need to renew the social democratic interest in establishing cooperatives, particularly in agriculture. We can deliver investment in regional communities, unlocking the quality and efficiency of Australian agriculture and create jobs in our food manufacturing sector.

It is time that we radically expanded the scope of the Department of Employment and gave it the responsibility to shape the future of work in this country. Labor took a policy of full employment to the last federal election, lets create a federal department that can achieve it.

The Department of Employment could oversee the mass pooling and retraining program for workers affected by the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, especially in the Hunter Valley. Similarly, a rejuvenated department could lead the government-wide response to mass automation, which will be a critical issue in the coming decades.

By setting and enforcing employment targets, we can start ensuring that government is playing an active role in the labour market. It can also be a powerful force for equity: it should be leading the governments efforts to reduce the wage gap between women and men, and stamp out discrimination in the workforce.

Two-thirds of the projected job growth will be in industries dominated by women; health, human services and education, aged and child care, hospitals, schools and other education. Good jobs for women are as important as good jobs for men.

It would mean that we can offer real answers for people in insecure work. Portable entitlements, better protections for casual and contract workers and the muscular enforcement of our current protections have to be a priority of the next Labor government.

Finally, I support Thomas Pikettys proposal to use an inheritance tax to fund a one-off capital grant for every citizen at the age of 25. According to the Community Council of Australia, a 35% estate duty on all estates over $10m would raise at least $3.5bn in government revenue, while affecting only a fraction of the top 1% of Australians.

A universal inheritance would give millions of young people a future: they can put it to a house, they can start their own business, they can pay off their university fees. It may be bold but politics as usual doesnt offer the scale of policy that is required to genuinely tackle regional and intergenerational inequality.

The rise of Trump and the far right is, I believe, clarifying moment for the left. In the course of a single year, global politics has been transformed. We live in extraordinary times.

But Hanson will fail and Trump will fail, because they dont offer solutions to their voters. They offer nostalgia for more certain time with a more limited form of globalisation and more rigid boundaries around our social and economic spheres. Importantly, there is a strain of left thinking that shares that nostalgia.

Hanson will fail and Trump will fail, because they dont offer solutions. They offer nostalgia for more certain time

But those boundaries punished women who wanted to make their own choices. They refused to allow LGBT Australians to be themselves. And they were built on a model of racial hegemony that is not only immoral but fundamentally incompatible with the Australia that is all around us.

We deserve better. I remain powerfully optimistic about Australian democratic socialism.

Not only can we build a model of social democracy that is capable of uniting both the winners and losers of globalisation, I believe that Australia is uniquely capable of doing so.

We do not have nearly the economic and social dysfunction of the United States or the UK.

We have a strong labour movement with strong connections to a governing political party. I have defended the union link and I believe it is now more important than ever.

We have leaders who are committed to creating a new forms of organising and campaigning especially Sally McManus, who I believe will be the new leader of the ACTU.

And finally, I am also an optimist because of our movements history. For over a hundred years we have demonstrated a capacity to creatively link our struggles to the aspirations of ordinary Australians and win.

We had better get on with it.

This was a speech given to the NSW Fabians Society event titled He Won: Progressive Politics in the Age of Trump. A podcast of the event is available here fabians.org.au/podcasts

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Dynamic socialism: how progressives can win back the blue-collar heartlands - The Guardian