With all due respect to mass organizers and agitators who have indeed been critical to every major progressive reform in our nation’s history, I do not think that the mindset of the majority of Democrats right now could possibly be further away from the ideology and strategies advocated by Francis Fox Piven. In some ways, that’s a bad thing, but I’m not here to tell you want you want to hear. The left in this country is carrying the true conservative banner of conservatism, trying to enforce norms, protect the balance of powers, and get the right to respect the Constitution. They’re not agitating for street protests unless those protests are directed at the White House. They’re not in the mood for an internal ideological fight and are primarily about winning at all costs.
Democrats are impatient with the rhetoric of the Democratic Socialists of America and they want normalcy before revolutionary change. That may not describe you personally, but it describes the left in general and certainly the country in general. And the more vulnerable the population, the more cautious they are. There’s a reason Joe Biden is way ahead in the polls and that his strongest supporters are people of color.
The mood may change over the next year, but right now if you go around with posters of Che Guevara, you’re not gonna make it with anyone, anyhow.
