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.
Democratic Socialism is a way of life for Democrats-in-general. No mass organizing or agitating required. If he’s elected, Biden will move the ball further in that direction and if Democrats win Congress, there’s nowhere else for Democrats to go except forward on these policies (anti-trust, unions, healthcare, civil rights). I mean, what’s he going to do if he’s elected? Congress or no? Just sit still and do nothing? After failing to win it twice before, if he wins, he’s gotta be as anxious as the organizers and agitators to score a couple of BFDs of his own.
I think if you read the profile I link from today’s New York Times, you’ll get a better sense of the divisions I am describing here.
The Democratic Socialists of America are a threat to the Democratic Party? Or, the Democratic Socialists are a disloyal subculture within the Democratic Party? No divisions in the Democratic Party. Big lie. Those that “defect” just didn’t like us much and who can blame them? And of course I read the article, but are there really folks in great numbers going around with Che Guevera posters, anyhow?
5
You know I liked LBJ. He did some good, like voting rights, civil rights, Medicare and the war on poverty. But then he wandered into Vietnam and it all came crashing down. The end result was the reaction of Reaganism and the rise of conservative power. We have that to this day, except in 2018 some leftists retook the House. And now Nancy asks how are you gonna pay for that? And the reaction is setting in again it seems. Only the right can float deficits it appears, the left must pay for it all up front.
Trump is a lawless man. So it is natural for some to want a return to more normal times, It is certainly possible that Biden will lead the reaction. That is what the polls say. He is made for it. Ms Piven is out. The further question is what happens to our nascent progressive movement and control of Congress? Will it go the way of 1968 again? Or will we agree to lie to each other about it, for just a little while.
AOC May have the answer for Nancy’s asking how you gonna pay for it. Tax all the nesting doll rich people especially anyone caught hiding it offshore.