Comment on I'm gonna mute this one
wpb@lemmy.world 19 hours agoThat’s kind of a broad question, and there’s at least two contexts in which I can answer it. One is on a personal level, and one is more on the level of “what should the DNC do if they want to win another election”.
Personal answer first. Quite simple:
-
join a union
-
engage in mutual aid
-
read theory (yes really)
-
local politics (no matter how local) matter, act like it
-
vote for politicians and their policies because you believe in them, not because other guy bad. If your choice is between Hitler and Hitler wearing a funny hat, voting uncommitted is not only your democratic right, but your duty. If you guarantee your vote to a politician regardless of what rhey do or advocate for, the politician has no reason whatsoever to listen to you or cater to your needs. None.
Now if you’re asking as a card carrying DNC member with influence:
-
Do not capitulate to right wing framing. You will never win at being right wing, the right wing is much better at that than you. Concretely, engage in counter messaging. For example, when it comes to undocumented immigrants, frame them as a boon to society (which they are) and aggressively fight anyone who claims they commit more crimes (they don’t, in fact they commit fewer per capita), don’t say “I agree mr republican, and my border policies are just as draconian, if not more, as they should be!” Same with fracking, genocide, crime, taxes, etc. Be an alternative, not a weak derivative.
-
Don’t fund a genocide. So easy. All you have to do is not send 17.8 billion in military aid to any country committing a genocide. You see a country committing genocide? Do not send 17.8 billion dollars in military aid. If you can’t help yourself and have to send the money anyway, don’t go bragging about it on your campaign trail, you fucking idiot.
-
Start advocating for worker’s rights. Stronger unions, higher minimum wage, forced and paid parental leave, paid sick leave, and so on. These are deeply popular positions, as polling shows, also among people who normally vote republican. A one time tax credit is not worker’s rights.
-
Start advocating for universal health care again. Or at least fucking mention it every now and then. The US is the only nation in the developed world (and beyond?) that doesn’t have this, you can gain so much on this.
Follow these simple steps and you’ll win your next election!
ameancow@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
So wait for a charismatic and perfect savior. We see what happens every time someone of this stature reaches the actual federal election stage.
I’m talking about what people can do here and now, which is built coalitions and not have purity tests about who is in it, just focus on single-issues like the right has done successfully over and over and over.
For some reason whenever someone says “compromise” every lefty immediately pictures “submitting on trans rights and abortion” or something.
I’m saying as individuals, you and me, scared lemmy browsers who don’t think they have power: build social connections, make more friends, build activism groups, start in local communities and keep it fixated on solving ONE populist problem that we can get a much wider array of people behind, like childcare or school lunches or yes healthcare and unions, social security or other public safety nets and the whole long laundry list of items we want, but instead of overwhelming a population, local or national, with a huge list of inclusivity and ideals, we attack one thing at a time. I have watched the right do this over and over and each time they fucking WIN.
Again, your notions of an ideal candidate you would vote for are spot-on, I would vote for that person in a heartbeat, most would, but that person doesn’t exist and they won’t exist until they can ride on the momentum of grass-roots movements to tackle populist issues. The democrat party is not our ally here, not without a mandate under it and if we’re more clever about building those mandates and then tying them together when it’s time, we might have success.
But I’m getting really pessimistic here. Voter turnout is not the problem. Everyone, everywhere, is avoiding mixing. The atomization of our world is the problem. We had the highest voter turnouts and youth involvement in the last several elections than we’ve ever had, and they voted Trump. That’s my whole point, that’s the key we have to fight against, how someone like a brazen fascist and idiot can sway so many people, and it starts with re-mixing our values and perspectives and this may take some kind of “compromise” that may make a lot of isolated lefties really uncomfortable, like having conversations with people you don’t like, like accepting people who hate you into your protest so you can both tackle a problem you both hate. If we can cross that boundary we can start mixing together again and pulling people out of this programming that corporate media does. Isolationism is killing our whole world and all our hope for the future.
wpb@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
Did you not read what I said?
ameancow@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
I tried. If anyone gets what I’m saying, power to them and the kernel of hope rides in their hands. Otherwise I’m done. Peace.
areyouevenreal@lemm.ee 15 hours ago
So much for talking to people you don’t agree with. It seems you can’t or won’t hold up to your own ideals of engaging with others in good faith.
wpb@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
“My house is on fire and there’s NOTHING I can do”
“Maybe call 911, leave the house, get the fire ext…”
“NOTHING, I SAY, NOTHING!”
areyouevenreal@lemm.ee 15 hours ago
Except talking to people I don’t agree with is exactly what I do. I am doing it to you now! Think about that! I regularly get in arguments online with the opposite side on reddit. I talk to people here I don’t agree with too. I’ve spent plenty of time talking with people offline too, though often with less aggression. I doubt I am the only person doing this. In fact I have seen evidence of others doing this. So I am not sure where you get your ideas from to be perfectly honest.
The above is actually the exact opposite of what leftists are normally told to do, yet so many do it anyway. I am really wondering what is going on in your head mate. Me thinks you are delusional. Having people argue against each other often justs radicalises them further, this is a known fact. It doesn’t help “deatomize” them or whatever you are talking about.
As for working with people you hate: you shouldn’t be forced to protest with people who hate who you are because of prejudice. That’s not something you should ever ask of anyone. It’s perfectly reasonable to use violence against such people in fact. It might even be effective. Things are often solved through killing after all, that’s what war is. That’s how the Nazis were beat last time.