Cross-posted from my substack. Made in photopea. Data-source is Amnesty International.

Spain has a lot of leftist political parties, this can be confusing for anyone trying to understand the political landscape.

Here's a short explanation of the parties, from less leftist to more leftist.

Social democrats

Spanish socialist worker's party (PSOE): used to be the main socialist party, now it's a moderate social democrat party. It's the party that has ruled for the most time (in this democratic period, so since 1975) and the current ruling party.

Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC): also social democrat but Catalonian separatist.

Democratic socialists

SUMAR: ecosocialist party. Currently working as a coalition with some of the more leftist parties.

Galician Nationalist Block (BNG): democratic socialist (it's a coalition of socialist and communist parties of Galicia) and Galicia separatist.

EH Bildu: Basque separatists and not exactly democratic socialist but similar. Polemic because it's considered the successor of the terrorist organisation ETA, with many of the leaders being ex members.

United Left (IU): coalition of three leftist parties. The party of socialist action, which separated from the PSOE when it abandoned socialism; the communist party of Spain (PCE), one of the parties that created Eurocommunism (the communist equivalent of democratic socialism) and Republican Left, a radical, not precisely socialist party. Currently inside of the SUMAR coalition.

We can (Podemos): left wing populist party that emerged from the 2010 crisis. It ambitioned direct democracy as well as socialism.

Doesn't partake in elections:

Comunist party of the peoples of Spain (PCPE): Marxist-Leninist part of Comunist party that separated when it became democratic.

Revolutionary Left: Marxist-Leninist revolutionary party

Anti-capitalists: basically the same as Revolutionary Left

Cross-posted from my substack. Edited in photopea. Data source is the IPS.

🗳️ How to vote in Michigan (.gov): michigan.gov/sos/elections/voting

The following links go to each candidate’s website, showing details on each policy position (as of Aug 31, 2026): 

Mike Rogers (R)

* Unlocking Homeownership For Families & Rebuilding The American Dream

Note: Mike Rogers’ housing plan is the only policy on his website. Nothing on healthcare, jobs, drug prices, data centers, taxation, immigration, education, and more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abdul El-Sayed (D)

Money Out of Politics

* Banning Corporate Money in Politics 

* Ending Gerrymandering 

* Supreme Court Reform

* Abolishing the Filibuster 

* Making Voting Easier 

* Civil Rights & Liberties 

* Immigration 

* Environment and Natural Resources 

* Water 

* Sensible Foreign Policy

………….

Money in Your Pocket

* Jobs and Trade 

* Taxing Billionaire Wealth 

* Artificial Intelligence  

* Data Centers

* Housing and Homelessness 

* Education 

* Farming

………….

Medicare for All 

* Veterans Affairs 

* Break up Big Healthcare 

* Prescription Drugs 

* Public Health 

* Healthcare Freedom for Women and LGBTQ+ Americans

Cross-posted from my substack. Data processed by OWID, with the data itself coming from V-Dem. Made in photopea. Note that these numbers are almost certainly not the 'true' results, so don't take these exact numbers as gospel.

The working class and most vulnerable of the world but even in the richest and most developed nations have been facing a horrific cost of living crisis/quality of life crisis for some time now.

Even on foundational elements like housing and food...

Alongside this a sphere of reactionary/regressive lowest common denominator style populism kept being fostered and fostered by some of the worlds most Ultra Rich Powerful Predatory Bad Actors of varying disgusting types...

Now the world faces a POTUS who is a stereotypical snake oil salesman.

Now the world faces a White House administration that is full on con-artist grifters.

Many of us know that we are currently in an "Everything Bubble". The divide of Wall Street and Main Street is at extreme horrendous levels.

No one knows when this is all going to come crashing down but the reality all of us know is that Trump & His Cronies are planting countless seeds in countless fronts that are going to make the Affordability Of Life Crisis much much much much worse down the road.

As a progressive/leftist voting is really many times just about choosing your opposition.

Having the worst of the worst of Fascists, Oligarchs, Multinational Business Lobbies, Powerful & Predatory Industries/Tycoons, and the general Corporatocracy in power all at once is a Death Cult for the working class and most vulnerable.

We all need to develop networking and solidarity movements not just domestically but internationally. With these types in power things are going to continue to get much darker, dystopian, and depressing. Especially closer and closer to election periods.

Florida Voters 👉🏽 Here are links to the Florida Supervisors of Elections website: Voting & Elections (Main Page) ~:~:~ Election Dates & Deadlines ~:~:~ Register to Vote  ~:~:~ Ways to Vote

Here are the policy positions listed on each candidate’s website (as of Aug 31, 2026): 

Angie Nixon (D)

angienixon.com/priorities

Angie will fight for the Working Families Guarantee:

• Medicare for All
• Free Childcare
• Free Paid Family and Sick Leave
• A National Rent Freeze and Moratorium on Evictions
• A universal jobs program with inflation-adjusted wages

How will we pay for it?:

• Tax the billionaires so that everyone pays their fair share
• Prioritize the needs of everyday Americans instead of spending trillions on war and violence overseas
• Get big money out of politics

Angie will fight for:

• Medicare For All
• Universal Child Care And Pre-K
• Quality Public Education, Cradle To Career
• Housing You Can Actually Afford
• Standing With Workers And Unions
• Reining In Big Tech And Ai
• A Foreign Policy Rooted In Diplomacy, Human Rights, And Restraint
• Support Human Dignity, Ending Mass Incarceration And Mass Deportation
• Protecting Your Privacy And Ending Mass Surveillance
• Climate Action That Matches The Scale Of The Crisis
• Protecting And Expanding Democracy, Getting Money Out Of Politics
• Making Billionaires And Corporations Pay Their Fair Share

Note: Angie’s Priorities page has details on each of the above bullet points.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashley Moody (R)

ashleymoody.com/about

• As U.S. Senator, Ashley continues her mission to uphold conservative values, strengthen national security, and fight for Floridians. She is key supporter of President Trump’s agenda and remains dedicated to America First policies that promote law and order, economic prosperity, and American sovereignty.

Note: Ashley Moody lists no positions on her website, except the above wording from her About page. Moody has no policy/platform page, and no info on things like healthcare, jobs, drug prices, data centers, taxation, immigration, education, and more.

The war is spinning out of control, and I'm worried we are approaching a point where Iran won't want a peace deal, if we haven't reached that point already.

The US has already rescinded many peace deals, and even used them to make surprise attacks on Iran. In all fairness to Iran, who would make a deal with people as untrustworthy as the US government, particularly the Trump administration?

Also, the US has killed children and their teachers, negotiators, bombed civilian infrastructure, killed the current Ayatollah's family, and more war will only lead to more anger. And as we know the war is still going, Iran and the US bombed each other over the weekend.

The best hope for the US is that the Iranian government has the most power hungry people ever in charge, to the point they would make a deal with the US no matter what happens just to preserve their power. Considering how evil the Iranian government is, that wouldn't surprise me. But even if this is the case, the Iranian government still has to keep legitimacy among its population that is currently furious at the United States.

If the Iranians decide to not make any deal with the US, can we still leave the war anyways? What if they refuse to open the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely, or start a massive toll system?