Our nation’s problems are so deep-seated and systemic that one person at the helm will be very limited in effecting change merely by the force of their* personality or the compelling moral rectitude of their positions. Does anyone really think that President Kucinich would be more successful in effecting a comprehensive progressive agenda? I don’t.
It’s sexy and exciting to get involved in the immediate thunderstorm of electoral contests. However, rather than merely suiting up for today’s weather, progressives would do much better to focus on the mid- and long-term political climate. We need to concentrate on two aspects:
- Make our democracy more democratic. It is impossible to mount a viable campaign for office at any level without having to make accommodation not only with one of the major parties but also with the myriad special interests who provide the necessary financing to fund the endeavor. Make the parties and megadollars less necessary and candidates will be in a much better position to represent the people and (we like to presume) a more progressive agenda. At the very least, it will help break the grip of the corporatist oligopolies that dominate the governance of the U.S.A.
Change the frame. For at least 30 years a critical mass—probably a majority—of American voters has bought into the narrative that government is intrusive and ineffectual, taxation in any form is to be rejected, and being pro-Businesses is the same as being pro-business. To stand for progressive ideals like green energy and social justice is to be contemptuous of “regular” (i.e., less-educated, low-information, non-urban White) citizens. To point out that the corporatist agenda is harmful to the interests of regular Americans is to invite heated denunciations of “class warfare”.
Unless and until we can find a way to bring about these structural changes, we will continue to chew the acrid cud of our Groundhog Day existence: (a) the bitter disappointment of losing most elections to the greater of two evils or (b) the cold comfort derived from the occasional victory of those whom you want to like but who cannot deliver on the agenda you want them to pursue. Nevertheless, trapped in the conundrum of Einstein’s description of insanity, we keep working the shopworn cycle and wondering why we don’t get better results.
Stop looking for the deliverer who will fix it for you. Change the system. Change the narrative. Accept that compromise, negotiation, and consensus are necessary to build the type of coalition that can break the grip of the status quo. Advocate specific positions and make it broadly known that there are more menu options available than the spectrum routinely presented by the mainstream media but remember that nobody will buy your dog food if their dogs won’t eat it.
I still yearn to transform America and the world into Dr. King’s Beloved Community. However, insisting on ideological purity and demanding more than you can reasonably expect may bring some small measure of personal satisfaction but do little to bring the change you desire. Throwing out barbs and childish insults (“President Shamwow”, really?) makes you not only irrelevant but quite immature. Leadership is essential to the process but in the absence of a popular buy-in we’ll just be strutting around admiring ourselves in a mirror. It’s really just a form of narcissistic masturbation.
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*Yes, I used the ungrammatical “their” as an alternative to the sexist “his” or the clumsy “his or her”. That is this writer’s choice.
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