One of the lessons of the MAGA era, and indeed of history generally, is that politicians and parties do well when they find an out group toward whom the voters can direct all of their frustrations, resentments, and hatreds. We have seen Republicans do this successfully over the years by singling out migrants, Muslims, and various other minority groups. When Republicans talk endlessly about rising crime, what they are really doing is not so subtly targeting racial minorities. Really, no group other than white males is exempt from this treatment.
Scapegoating doesn't come naturally to Democrats, as it is antithetical to the liberal project. But I believe it may be time to go hard to the left on economic (not social) policy and direct voter resentment toward corporations and the billionaire class. Bernie Sanders found broad support for this message, and it has the added benefit of being true. It really is the case that much of what is wrong with our society results from the endless pursuit of profit and the capture of government and major institutions by wealthy interests. Voters on both sides of the political spectrum can agree that the non-level economic playing field and the corruption of our political system are major factors that negatively affect their lives.
The problem is capitalism as practiced in America. Of course, no one can say this without being called a communist. But a message based on corporate greed and the unearned power of billionaires could resonate broadly. We are entering a new, post-neoliberal period the contours of which are not yet fully defined. Republicans would take us toward an autocratic, corrupt, crony capitalist world where power and wealth are pursued endlessly and without regard to social consequences. The alternative is to comprehensively check corporate behavior in ways that actually benefit consumers yet still provide incentives for innovation, productivity, and growth. This could be achieved through vigorous antitrust enforcement, sensible regulation of social media, investment in innovation, an equitable tax code, pro-labor policies like paid leave, governance and campaign finance reform, and so forth.
Democrats stink at messaging. Social justice messages fall flat and drive many voters away. Phrases like "opportunity economy" sound nonsensical. I would like to see Democrats articulate specific policies that help workers and consumers and to adopt an unambiguously anti-billionaire program. Make people hate the real elites, not just liberals with degrees who live on the coasts, many of whom have no better quality of life than the average MAGA voter. Republicans keep moving to the right. Democrats shouldn't follow them to the center and beyond. They should go left with vigor. The voters want a new system. Give them one explicitly.
I have often wondered why the “progressive” media did not spend time covering positive outcomes for people from the bills passed under Biden rather than spending so much time punishing Trump for his transgressions (which were so many.) interview folks who had new jobs, increased incomes, or were benefiting from infrastructure improvements. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. From all walks of life. Highlight folks who appreciate Obamacare and elders who cannot live without social security. I don’t know if this is what you mean by widening the funnel.
I can think of reasons why a "Joe Rogan of the left" wouldn't work. Part of it is the difficulty of using the same type of messaging, but part of it is the underlying material reality.
1) Taylor Lorenz pointed out yesterday in her newsletter that billionaire support is key to the right-wing mediasphere and billionaires are not going to be so generous in funding anti-billionaire messaging. 2) The latest episode of This American Life includes an interview with a couple who disagrees on news sources. The husband unabashedly says he only trusts right-wing sources like Breitbart and Epoch Times and she likes liberal news like the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Atlantic!!! The tedious and delicate process of getting him to accept that the 2020 election wasn't stolen is fascinating and infuriating.
I really love Naomi Klein's Doppelganger and all of her interviews about it. She talks about conspiracy theorists "getting the facts wrong, but the feelings right." There are some straightforward reasons for why people may be feeling alienated, economically strained, lacking in agency, but Democrats seem to only be willing to address these issues at the margins.
For example, it's hard to convince people that democracy is at stake and to activate the base when a Democratic administration is abetting the blatantly illegal and immortal annihilation of a civilian population and infrastructure in Gaza, against the popular will. Or the Child Tax Credit feels complex and wonkish in a way that addressing the core problem of inequality wouldn't. Or when Merrick Garland squandered the last 4 years, allowing Trump to get away with impunity for Jan. 6.
As a lifelong Democrat, I'm more angry with the party than I've ever been. There was a chance for actual transformative change and instead they've stuck with the same neo-liberal, war-mongering talking points and policies in a way that genuinely makes me question whether they're on my side after all.
And why do you think the liberals did not talk about the immoral annihilation of a civilian population and infrastructure in Gaza? It is because of the power, influence and money of the Jewish population that usually votes Democratic. Money in politics is definitely a large part of the problem.
You make it sound like they never talked about it, they talked about it plenty. They just didn't prioritize it over Israel. Businesses won't support any liberal platform in any meaningful way. If you know of one please share.
Just to be clear, I'm not just saying that liberals should talk about Gaza, but that Democrats in power shouldn't be participating in its annihilation! And I think the power of the Israel lobby is hard to overstate, but there are billionaires (Musk, Thiel, etc.) who play a huge role in setting the terms of acceptable discourse. I'm also very wary of attributing outsized or nefarious power to Jewish people (as opposed to the documented influence pro-israel lobby/movement), which includes many more evangelical Christians than there are Jews in the US), given how much pain and torment have been inflicted on Jewish people because of unfounded beliefs.
I'd like to see media address people's economic issues in ways that explain how the economic system works. 'Is your weekly grocery bill too high? Here's why.... ' We also need media that specifically address union workers and those organizing unions. De-emphasize race and gender; focus on class.
Couldn't it be both/and, rather than either/or, though? I'm not sure how we focus on class without acknowledging that race and gender are so much a part of economic class. They're interwoven.
Two words: Economic instability. The middle class has been eviscerated. Nearly 70 percent of Amerians are living paycheck to paycheck. Stocks rise, but such a rise is utterly meaningless to those who have no money for investments. Telling folks the U.S. beat inflation means nothing if you can't afford food or medicine anyway. Many homeless people work at full-time jobs that don't pay enough to cover food AND rent. The minimum wage is a joke. Retailers advertise they are paying a living wage, but hide the fact that they are loathe to give workers 40 hours to make that living, get those health-care benefits, save for retirement. History shows that economic instability leads to a rise in populism, political unrest, and revolution. Add to this the misinformation and confusion introduced by AI, social media, petition-signing fatigue, the towering influence of the uber-rich over the ocean of America's poor, and now a continuing series of climate-change induced natural disasters and their ensuing disruption. It's a time that calls for highly intelligent people with expertise in their fields to work together to come up with solutions. To think this is a time that calls for a bully to gather his mob friends together to fight over plunder is horrific, but this is what we have, now.
I spent two days canvassing in low-wealth neighborhoods in PA; I can confirm that you have accurately described many registered Democratic voters. They're no longer interested in wasting their time voting. It was enlightening canvassing that everyone who gets a paycheck from Dem politics should experience.
I agree with your premise, and as a small content creator and activist, one of the things I'm going to be talking a lot about in the next while (I'm giving myself a little while to mourn) is the media ecosystem, content creation, independent media, and of course messaging. But what powers the right's information ecosystem is a massive infusion of cash from billionaires, to support the content creation, big and small players, and make it something they can do without it having to be essentially volunteer work. Our side, whether it's far left or center left, don't do that. So we have podcasts, or YouTube, or other ways of communication come and go as the people engaged in them, and not fully supported by subscriptions or networks, stay for a while and then burn out. I'd love to chat about this with you on my own podcast, Freedom Over Fascism. We need a deeper, better financed media environment, and plenty of content that is not overtly political. I'd love to hear what others think!
Stephanie Wilson, I agree. Have you read The Guarantee, by Natalie Foster? Anand interviewed her a few months ago. Very good, historically-based treatment of how several segments of our lower-income society are working together for economic progress. Examples, people seeking rent controls and affordable homes, care givers and service workers.
Thanks for linking this article! The guarantees are a better argument than set-aside programs. Even now, as chatter begins about reparations for slavery, I'd argue that whatever the sum should go towards the guarantees outlined by the author: decent housing, health care, a college education, dignified work, family care, an income floor below which no one falls, and a seed fund or inheritance to ensure our children experience a better tomorrow. This is what an informed and enlightened citizenry would demand for everyone.
Many post-mortems on the American Experiment will be forthcoming. They'll be the usual scapegoats: the Democrats, the media, capitalism, patriarchy, white supremacy, zenophobia, et al. To a dgree, they have all contrubuted to where we find ourselves today. But that doesn't relieve responsibility from the 70+ million Americans who voted 'yes 'for hate and cruelty on Tuesday. Nobody held a gun to their head in the voting booth. You can kick this can around all you you wish, but no matter which side lands up, the truth will be the same: Millions of us chose facism and autocracy over the Federal Constitution. That's where the responsibility begins...and ends! Where we go next is a necessary question. But for now I'm in shock, grief and headed towards mourning. I have to rethink...everything!
If progressives had a platform based on acquiring, building and keeping wealth, then progressives would win elections. Everything else is noise, even if everything else is articulate and accurate. I wish all centrists and progressives would enrol in business schools everywhere, not to become hyper capitalists, but to repopulate that sector of society with the wider diversity of perspectives that quite literally did used to live within it. I see that in the US at least, the notion of co-operative businesses never gets far, even though that is a solid way for ordinary people to build wealth through their labour and to build strong communities. We need a lot more of us with good practical business skills for that. And of course there will be massive pushback from the people who hold most of the wealth now. But at least it would be practical.
This, 100% this. The “meet them where they are” work is not for everyone, and those directly targeted by hateful rhetoric and actions should never be the ones expected to do it. But if you share some identity with people on the wide end of the funnel, being the one to meet them where they’re at and slowly bring them in is the way you keep others safe, not staying on a high horse as “one of the good ones.”
I wish progressivism would recognize this as important work. It’s not about everyone doing it, it’s about 1) not spitting on the people doing it as traitors and 2) not adding to and amplifying the judgement that makes this work so much harder.
I have family who are MAGA. They are extremely racist, homophobic, and xenophobic. They also live/socialize in white areas. How does one "meet them where they are"? Truly. Are there messages to get through? How doe we deal with these people who have been uplifted by Trump? The worst among have been elevated.
Same situation for me. I have learned over time that the reason they are racist, homophobic, and xenophobic, etc…is because they have a genuine (if not acknowledged) fear of “others”. If and when we get to that level of understanding, we can begin to have a conversation. I also learned that if I get to the level of their fear, I must acknowledge it as real.
Ok yes. In truth, half the time I, a life long Democrat and semi radical, have felt bad, embarrassed, judged, politically corrected to the latest righteousness, etc. It just doesn't FEEL good. It feels alienating. Most of my demo friends frankly are NOT inclusive or welcoming or listening to others who think differently. Half of the campaign funding outreach texts were guilt tripping, negative. I remember Obama's scene....we had a MOVEMENT that felt GREAT, we donated the max....happily. I read that the election consultants from his campaign tried to boost this approach but were...??? I'm deeply disappointed we lost this election and soooo many voters to this empty abomination of a salesman selling crap as health food. But we did. And we need to get off our high horses and get real. Move past the GRIEF/HORROR/RAGE to ANCHORED FOCUSED SAGE. Sage warriors. Deeply analyze and get to work.
I agree with this 100%. I just don't know if we're capable of doing what needs to be done. For years, I've been frustrated by the insistence on ideological purity on the left (and I consider myself far left). So, the question becomes, how do we overcome the drive for ideological purity and create that funnel that we so desperately need?
I agree wholeheartedly about the ideological purity. Part of the far right's superpower is their shamelessness and willingness to overlook the shamelessness of others. A sustainable left needs to have a better understanding of how to build alliances when the core goals and values are the same.
So you think that's shameless, interesting. As I mentioned the other day I believe shame-based behavior modification techniques are destructive, though I still do it myself, but less than I used to. Humiliation is like a hot potato that no one wants to hold in their hands. You offer shame to one person for their own good and they respond defensively -- who the hell do you think you are to belittle me? Fair point, s/he is your equal, but now the two of you are in a top dog/bottom dog drama. (Hypothetically.)
Sorry, I think what is shameless? I meant that the right has been able to overlook deep moral and ideological disagreements in order to band together behind Trump, like the many Republicans who fell in line behind him after warning about his threat to the nation. There are a lot of core beliefs and policies on the left that are not only popular with the left, but with the electorate as a whole. The strategic failure to coalition-build on the left because of ideological purity is what I was referring to.
Another thought about ideological purity. I've been wondering how much infighting and disagreement is in response to bad faith manipulation. For example, I've seen compilations of screenshots of liberals turning on Arab, Muslim, Latino, trans, etc. voters and blaming them for the loss. I've gone through the tedious process of looking up some of the accounts and have seen new accounts with little content and other red flags.
We need to figure out how to have the conversations we need to be having in milieux that are distorted by algorithms, paid bad actors, bots, etc. A comments section of a trustworthy source like this one has been so much more thoughtful, engaging, and meaningful than accidentally triggering a bunch of bots and propagandists by using the wrong keywords!
Forget Rogan; where are the billionaires willing to fund these media funnels for the Left? We need these channels funded immediately, but no one is stepping up.
This is the core of the issue. And the fact that we haven't figured out how to have entertaining content that doesn't seem political, but reinforces the values that we hold.
The media is for-profit. The profit comes from eyeballs, engagement. What engages people? Rage, fear, a feeling of being in some way mocked. PBS is funded by very rich people. I think I remember a piece about the Koch brothers, or one of them, being not aired on PBS.
Parents need to teach their children critical thinking skills. I am Bernie’s age. When my grandchild visited (she never saw commercial TV) we used to watch commercials and guess the target audience..a game she turned out to be really good at. It’s an easy intro to critical thinking.
The polls were correct. It was a margin of error race. It just didn't go the Dems way.
At the end of the day it is boring and banal.. But until Dems take Clinton's 1992 message to heart again, nothing will change.
It's the economy stupid.
It always was going to take a miracle for the incumbent party to win. No incumbent party has ever won with wrong track numbers like these (65 plus percent of voters thought nation on wrong track)...and worldwide the results have been similar in elections. Harris gave it her all but could not defeat the voters feelings on the economy.
Isn't the left represented by comedians such as Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, and John Oliver? All of whose work also is available on You Tube. Millions of Americans see on a regular basis.
If you consider the fact that Kamala would be president if a small, less than 1 percent vote shift in the three main battleground states had occurred. Yes, we've got a lot of work to do and can get better in many ways, but just as the pandemic was worldwide along with the supply chain and inflation disruptions that resulted in governments being voted out of office in mass, the U.S. and the Democratic Party did darn good at limiting the damage to U.S. consumers. But it doesn't get reported like that in the MSM and the right-wing media. And considering that we face an extreme Republican administration that intends to instill an autocracy before the next presidential election, our task is to resist in creative ways that remind voters of what solutions Democrats offer: Paid family leave, Medicare for all, free public higher education, stronger unions and much more. We can dominate the 2026 mid-term elections.
This is a really interesting point, and it's maybe worth thinking about what the legacy media doesn't bring to the table that podcasters and influencers do?
We need the equivalent of AM right wing talk radio -- quality journalism accessible to people who are driving trucks, or doing long drives in their work every day. Since Rush Limbaugh, right-wing talk radio has been working on people's brains for 40 years
One of the lessons of the MAGA era, and indeed of history generally, is that politicians and parties do well when they find an out group toward whom the voters can direct all of their frustrations, resentments, and hatreds. We have seen Republicans do this successfully over the years by singling out migrants, Muslims, and various other minority groups. When Republicans talk endlessly about rising crime, what they are really doing is not so subtly targeting racial minorities. Really, no group other than white males is exempt from this treatment.
Scapegoating doesn't come naturally to Democrats, as it is antithetical to the liberal project. But I believe it may be time to go hard to the left on economic (not social) policy and direct voter resentment toward corporations and the billionaire class. Bernie Sanders found broad support for this message, and it has the added benefit of being true. It really is the case that much of what is wrong with our society results from the endless pursuit of profit and the capture of government and major institutions by wealthy interests. Voters on both sides of the political spectrum can agree that the non-level economic playing field and the corruption of our political system are major factors that negatively affect their lives.
The problem is capitalism as practiced in America. Of course, no one can say this without being called a communist. But a message based on corporate greed and the unearned power of billionaires could resonate broadly. We are entering a new, post-neoliberal period the contours of which are not yet fully defined. Republicans would take us toward an autocratic, corrupt, crony capitalist world where power and wealth are pursued endlessly and without regard to social consequences. The alternative is to comprehensively check corporate behavior in ways that actually benefit consumers yet still provide incentives for innovation, productivity, and growth. This could be achieved through vigorous antitrust enforcement, sensible regulation of social media, investment in innovation, an equitable tax code, pro-labor policies like paid leave, governance and campaign finance reform, and so forth.
Democrats stink at messaging. Social justice messages fall flat and drive many voters away. Phrases like "opportunity economy" sound nonsensical. I would like to see Democrats articulate specific policies that help workers and consumers and to adopt an unambiguously anti-billionaire program. Make people hate the real elites, not just liberals with degrees who live on the coasts, many of whom have no better quality of life than the average MAGA voter. Republicans keep moving to the right. Democrats shouldn't follow them to the center and beyond. They should go left with vigor. The voters want a new system. Give them one explicitly.
I have often wondered why the “progressive” media did not spend time covering positive outcomes for people from the bills passed under Biden rather than spending so much time punishing Trump for his transgressions (which were so many.) interview folks who had new jobs, increased incomes, or were benefiting from infrastructure improvements. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. From all walks of life. Highlight folks who appreciate Obamacare and elders who cannot live without social security. I don’t know if this is what you mean by widening the funnel.
Because there is no money in doing so.
But there's plenty on the right. Big companies don't want to associate with liberal media platforms. That's why MSNBC has few big sponsors.
I can think of reasons why a "Joe Rogan of the left" wouldn't work. Part of it is the difficulty of using the same type of messaging, but part of it is the underlying material reality.
1) Taylor Lorenz pointed out yesterday in her newsletter that billionaire support is key to the right-wing mediasphere and billionaires are not going to be so generous in funding anti-billionaire messaging. 2) The latest episode of This American Life includes an interview with a couple who disagrees on news sources. The husband unabashedly says he only trusts right-wing sources like Breitbart and Epoch Times and she likes liberal news like the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Atlantic!!! The tedious and delicate process of getting him to accept that the 2020 election wasn't stolen is fascinating and infuriating.
I really love Naomi Klein's Doppelganger and all of her interviews about it. She talks about conspiracy theorists "getting the facts wrong, but the feelings right." There are some straightforward reasons for why people may be feeling alienated, economically strained, lacking in agency, but Democrats seem to only be willing to address these issues at the margins.
For example, it's hard to convince people that democracy is at stake and to activate the base when a Democratic administration is abetting the blatantly illegal and immortal annihilation of a civilian population and infrastructure in Gaza, against the popular will. Or the Child Tax Credit feels complex and wonkish in a way that addressing the core problem of inequality wouldn't. Or when Merrick Garland squandered the last 4 years, allowing Trump to get away with impunity for Jan. 6.
As a lifelong Democrat, I'm more angry with the party than I've ever been. There was a chance for actual transformative change and instead they've stuck with the same neo-liberal, war-mongering talking points and policies in a way that genuinely makes me question whether they're on my side after all.
And why do you think the liberals did not talk about the immoral annihilation of a civilian population and infrastructure in Gaza? It is because of the power, influence and money of the Jewish population that usually votes Democratic. Money in politics is definitely a large part of the problem.
You make it sound like they never talked about it, they talked about it plenty. They just didn't prioritize it over Israel. Businesses won't support any liberal platform in any meaningful way. If you know of one please share.
Just to be clear, I'm not just saying that liberals should talk about Gaza, but that Democrats in power shouldn't be participating in its annihilation! And I think the power of the Israel lobby is hard to overstate, but there are billionaires (Musk, Thiel, etc.) who play a huge role in setting the terms of acceptable discourse. I'm also very wary of attributing outsized or nefarious power to Jewish people (as opposed to the documented influence pro-israel lobby/movement), which includes many more evangelical Christians than there are Jews in the US), given how much pain and torment have been inflicted on Jewish people because of unfounded beliefs.
The biggest problem is a lack of corporate sponsors for liberal media platforms.
I'd like to see media address people's economic issues in ways that explain how the economic system works. 'Is your weekly grocery bill too high? Here's why.... ' We also need media that specifically address union workers and those organizing unions. De-emphasize race and gender; focus on class.
Couldn't it be both/and, rather than either/or, though? I'm not sure how we focus on class without acknowledging that race and gender are so much a part of economic class. They're interwoven.
Two words: Economic instability. The middle class has been eviscerated. Nearly 70 percent of Amerians are living paycheck to paycheck. Stocks rise, but such a rise is utterly meaningless to those who have no money for investments. Telling folks the U.S. beat inflation means nothing if you can't afford food or medicine anyway. Many homeless people work at full-time jobs that don't pay enough to cover food AND rent. The minimum wage is a joke. Retailers advertise they are paying a living wage, but hide the fact that they are loathe to give workers 40 hours to make that living, get those health-care benefits, save for retirement. History shows that economic instability leads to a rise in populism, political unrest, and revolution. Add to this the misinformation and confusion introduced by AI, social media, petition-signing fatigue, the towering influence of the uber-rich over the ocean of America's poor, and now a continuing series of climate-change induced natural disasters and their ensuing disruption. It's a time that calls for highly intelligent people with expertise in their fields to work together to come up with solutions. To think this is a time that calls for a bully to gather his mob friends together to fight over plunder is horrific, but this is what we have, now.
I spent two days canvassing in low-wealth neighborhoods in PA; I can confirm that you have accurately described many registered Democratic voters. They're no longer interested in wasting their time voting. It was enlightening canvassing that everyone who gets a paycheck from Dem politics should experience.
I agree with your premise, and as a small content creator and activist, one of the things I'm going to be talking a lot about in the next while (I'm giving myself a little while to mourn) is the media ecosystem, content creation, independent media, and of course messaging. But what powers the right's information ecosystem is a massive infusion of cash from billionaires, to support the content creation, big and small players, and make it something they can do without it having to be essentially volunteer work. Our side, whether it's far left or center left, don't do that. So we have podcasts, or YouTube, or other ways of communication come and go as the people engaged in them, and not fully supported by subscriptions or networks, stay for a while and then burn out. I'd love to chat about this with you on my own podcast, Freedom Over Fascism. We need a deeper, better financed media environment, and plenty of content that is not overtly political. I'd love to hear what others think!
Stephanie Wilson, I agree. Have you read The Guarantee, by Natalie Foster? Anand interviewed her a few months ago. Very good, historically-based treatment of how several segments of our lower-income society are working together for economic progress. Examples, people seeking rent controls and affordable homes, care givers and service workers.
I'll check it out.
https://the.ink/p/natalie-foster-economic-security-the-guarantee (link FYI)
Thanks for linking this article! The guarantees are a better argument than set-aside programs. Even now, as chatter begins about reparations for slavery, I'd argue that whatever the sum should go towards the guarantees outlined by the author: decent housing, health care, a college education, dignified work, family care, an income floor below which no one falls, and a seed fund or inheritance to ensure our children experience a better tomorrow. This is what an informed and enlightened citizenry would demand for everyone.
Many post-mortems on the American Experiment will be forthcoming. They'll be the usual scapegoats: the Democrats, the media, capitalism, patriarchy, white supremacy, zenophobia, et al. To a dgree, they have all contrubuted to where we find ourselves today. But that doesn't relieve responsibility from the 70+ million Americans who voted 'yes 'for hate and cruelty on Tuesday. Nobody held a gun to their head in the voting booth. You can kick this can around all you you wish, but no matter which side lands up, the truth will be the same: Millions of us chose facism and autocracy over the Federal Constitution. That's where the responsibility begins...and ends! Where we go next is a necessary question. But for now I'm in shock, grief and headed towards mourning. I have to rethink...everything!
If progressives had a platform based on acquiring, building and keeping wealth, then progressives would win elections. Everything else is noise, even if everything else is articulate and accurate. I wish all centrists and progressives would enrol in business schools everywhere, not to become hyper capitalists, but to repopulate that sector of society with the wider diversity of perspectives that quite literally did used to live within it. I see that in the US at least, the notion of co-operative businesses never gets far, even though that is a solid way for ordinary people to build wealth through their labour and to build strong communities. We need a lot more of us with good practical business skills for that. And of course there will be massive pushback from the people who hold most of the wealth now. But at least it would be practical.
This, 100% this. The “meet them where they are” work is not for everyone, and those directly targeted by hateful rhetoric and actions should never be the ones expected to do it. But if you share some identity with people on the wide end of the funnel, being the one to meet them where they’re at and slowly bring them in is the way you keep others safe, not staying on a high horse as “one of the good ones.”
I wish progressivism would recognize this as important work. It’s not about everyone doing it, it’s about 1) not spitting on the people doing it as traitors and 2) not adding to and amplifying the judgement that makes this work so much harder.
I have family who are MAGA. They are extremely racist, homophobic, and xenophobic. They also live/socialize in white areas. How does one "meet them where they are"? Truly. Are there messages to get through? How doe we deal with these people who have been uplifted by Trump? The worst among have been elevated.
Same situation for me. I have learned over time that the reason they are racist, homophobic, and xenophobic, etc…is because they have a genuine (if not acknowledged) fear of “others”. If and when we get to that level of understanding, we can begin to have a conversation. I also learned that if I get to the level of their fear, I must acknowledge it as real.
Ok yes. In truth, half the time I, a life long Democrat and semi radical, have felt bad, embarrassed, judged, politically corrected to the latest righteousness, etc. It just doesn't FEEL good. It feels alienating. Most of my demo friends frankly are NOT inclusive or welcoming or listening to others who think differently. Half of the campaign funding outreach texts were guilt tripping, negative. I remember Obama's scene....we had a MOVEMENT that felt GREAT, we donated the max....happily. I read that the election consultants from his campaign tried to boost this approach but were...??? I'm deeply disappointed we lost this election and soooo many voters to this empty abomination of a salesman selling crap as health food. But we did. And we need to get off our high horses and get real. Move past the GRIEF/HORROR/RAGE to ANCHORED FOCUSED SAGE. Sage warriors. Deeply analyze and get to work.
I agree with this 100%. I just don't know if we're capable of doing what needs to be done. For years, I've been frustrated by the insistence on ideological purity on the left (and I consider myself far left). So, the question becomes, how do we overcome the drive for ideological purity and create that funnel that we so desperately need?
I agree wholeheartedly about the ideological purity. Part of the far right's superpower is their shamelessness and willingness to overlook the shamelessness of others. A sustainable left needs to have a better understanding of how to build alliances when the core goals and values are the same.
So you think that's shameless, interesting. As I mentioned the other day I believe shame-based behavior modification techniques are destructive, though I still do it myself, but less than I used to. Humiliation is like a hot potato that no one wants to hold in their hands. You offer shame to one person for their own good and they respond defensively -- who the hell do you think you are to belittle me? Fair point, s/he is your equal, but now the two of you are in a top dog/bottom dog drama. (Hypothetically.)
Sorry, I think what is shameless? I meant that the right has been able to overlook deep moral and ideological disagreements in order to band together behind Trump, like the many Republicans who fell in line behind him after warning about his threat to the nation. There are a lot of core beliefs and policies on the left that are not only popular with the left, but with the electorate as a whole. The strategic failure to coalition-build on the left because of ideological purity is what I was referring to.
Another thought about ideological purity. I've been wondering how much infighting and disagreement is in response to bad faith manipulation. For example, I've seen compilations of screenshots of liberals turning on Arab, Muslim, Latino, trans, etc. voters and blaming them for the loss. I've gone through the tedious process of looking up some of the accounts and have seen new accounts with little content and other red flags.
We need to figure out how to have the conversations we need to be having in milieux that are distorted by algorithms, paid bad actors, bots, etc. A comments section of a trustworthy source like this one has been so much more thoughtful, engaging, and meaningful than accidentally triggering a bunch of bots and propagandists by using the wrong keywords!
Forget Rogan; where are the billionaires willing to fund these media funnels for the Left? We need these channels funded immediately, but no one is stepping up.
This is the core of the issue. And the fact that we haven't figured out how to have entertaining content that doesn't seem political, but reinforces the values that we hold.
Isn't Call Her Daddy this genre? It's huge. Or, because it's female founded, it holds no sway over young men?
The media is for-profit. The profit comes from eyeballs, engagement. What engages people? Rage, fear, a feeling of being in some way mocked. PBS is funded by very rich people. I think I remember a piece about the Koch brothers, or one of them, being not aired on PBS.
Parents need to teach their children critical thinking skills. I am Bernie’s age. When my grandchild visited (she never saw commercial TV) we used to watch commercials and guess the target audience..a game she turned out to be really good at. It’s an easy intro to critical thinking.
The polls were correct. It was a margin of error race. It just didn't go the Dems way.
At the end of the day it is boring and banal.. But until Dems take Clinton's 1992 message to heart again, nothing will change.
It's the economy stupid.
It always was going to take a miracle for the incumbent party to win. No incumbent party has ever won with wrong track numbers like these (65 plus percent of voters thought nation on wrong track)...and worldwide the results have been similar in elections. Harris gave it her all but could not defeat the voters feelings on the economy.
Isn't the left represented by comedians such as Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, and John Oliver? All of whose work also is available on You Tube. Millions of Americans see on a regular basis.
If you consider the fact that Kamala would be president if a small, less than 1 percent vote shift in the three main battleground states had occurred. Yes, we've got a lot of work to do and can get better in many ways, but just as the pandemic was worldwide along with the supply chain and inflation disruptions that resulted in governments being voted out of office in mass, the U.S. and the Democratic Party did darn good at limiting the damage to U.S. consumers. But it doesn't get reported like that in the MSM and the right-wing media. And considering that we face an extreme Republican administration that intends to instill an autocracy before the next presidential election, our task is to resist in creative ways that remind voters of what solutions Democrats offer: Paid family leave, Medicare for all, free public higher education, stronger unions and much more. We can dominate the 2026 mid-term elections.
This is a really interesting point, and it's maybe worth thinking about what the legacy media doesn't bring to the table that podcasters and influencers do?
We need the equivalent of AM right wing talk radio -- quality journalism accessible to people who are driving trucks, or doing long drives in their work every day. Since Rush Limbaugh, right-wing talk radio has been working on people's brains for 40 years
We tried that with Air America radio. It didn't last very long.
I thought that was called NPR?