It really is wild when you take a step back and think about just how big of a grift the whole #Resistance "movement" really was. I agree that it was such a wasted opportunity where so many people were likely at their most politically malleable - only to be captured by a media and political class who only saw dollar signs and the preservation of a neoliberal/fascist status quo in front of their eyes. Instead of developing a organic grassroots program and movement for people to continue their radicalization journey through, the #Resistance just pushed many of them back into wanting to preserve a crumbling empire. Their ability to envision a better future was kneecapped and replaced with a desperate desire to maintain a status quo that simply doesn't work for the vast majority of everyday people, but makes a small minority a crap ton of money. I saw a Twitter post on Saturday that hit on this point perfectly as well:
"I'm sorry, but if your country was one close election away from total economic and societal implosion and becoming a rogue state internationally, that one close election was not the main problem." - @TRyanGregory
You do a great job in this piece outlying this as well, while also pairing it with the criticism any of us would face for demanding that the Democrats actually resist. We became trapped in this reactionary place where any justified criticism of Democratic party leadership was met with really intense vitriol for simply wanting the opposition party to oppose the person they claimed they would. Now, the #Resistance has helped lead to the complete normalization of Trump and his politics - all for the depraved and capitalist purposes of pocketing a quick buck as the country crumbles all around us. "Never let a good crisis go to waste" continues to be an American political pastime that keeps popping up throughout our history, and it seems like the #Resistance was one of the more recent examples of it manifesting. But, despite everything, you lay it out perfectly: "This isn’t a moment to despair, however, this is an opening." There is a void that needs to be filled, and it's time for us to seize this opportunity and build the program and movement that'll help us pave the way towards a brighter, and more positive future.
Great piece once again Scarlet and thank you for another wonderful read!
It really is a shame that so many charlatans and craven politicians filled the space that a real movement should have. I know a lot of the liberals who followed these grifters were comfortable and just wanted to return to the status quo but there were also plenty of people who were adrift and looking for direction. The most critical time was squandered on endlessly investing in a party that brought us there in the first place and no one was educated on how to get out. I really hope that with faith in Dems at its lowest point we can finally find a way to break through.
Yeah that's arguably the worst part about it - people were duped by such incredibly dishonest people who never had their best intentions at heart. It can be so easy to tempt people with "a return to normalcy" and having "a comfortable status quo", especially in the wake of Trump winning the first time around, and it seems like that's what took place with these charlatans and craven politicians. They occupied that space and captured those who were adrift and looking for direction. Now, the mandate is ensuring that the right people fill that space, and prevent #Resistance2 from taking hold. I think you're right - with faith in Dems waning heavily, now is the time to find that breakthrough and make it meaningfully stick.
"None of them would ever connect the threads between the failures of the Democratic Party to address material conditions, to fight back against power grabs that started with the Federalist Society, to confront the catastrophic effects of neoliberalism, and our current crises." This conveys so well what I was trying to say on day 1 of Trump 1.0 (and was castigated by liberal friends for). Thank you!
I can only hope that more people will start to see the light as the distance between the parties narrow and as the dems continue to work with the republicans who they just told us are a fascist threat. We, the left, actually know how to put up a fight against the right but we need them out of the way so we can do it
I've actually heard them say they want to do something, but they “don't know how.” My group has tried to create some allied affinity groups, but most liberals seem to be bewildered that there is anything to be done other than email their congressmen. Here are some things we have done, though; we hold bi-yearly brakelight clinics so that people of color can avoid pullovers by cops. We serve food to the homeless every other 2nd Sunday at Loaves and Fishes. We have one community defense group that does protest security and another developing protocols for ICE interventions. We started a mobile soup kitchen for the homeless that spun off into its own 501c3. We're trying to initiate neighborhoods meeting to discuss neighbors who need help with appointments, shopping, prescriptions, and yard work.
It really is wild when you take a step back and think about just how big of a grift the whole #Resistance "movement" really was. I agree that it was such a wasted opportunity where so many people were likely at their most politically malleable - only to be captured by a media and political class who only saw dollar signs and the preservation of a neoliberal/fascist status quo in front of their eyes. Instead of developing a organic grassroots program and movement for people to continue their radicalization journey through, the #Resistance just pushed many of them back into wanting to preserve a crumbling empire. Their ability to envision a better future was kneecapped and replaced with a desperate desire to maintain a status quo that simply doesn't work for the vast majority of everyday people, but makes a small minority a crap ton of money. I saw a Twitter post on Saturday that hit on this point perfectly as well:
"I'm sorry, but if your country was one close election away from total economic and societal implosion and becoming a rogue state internationally, that one close election was not the main problem." - @TRyanGregory
You do a great job in this piece outlying this as well, while also pairing it with the criticism any of us would face for demanding that the Democrats actually resist. We became trapped in this reactionary place where any justified criticism of Democratic party leadership was met with really intense vitriol for simply wanting the opposition party to oppose the person they claimed they would. Now, the #Resistance has helped lead to the complete normalization of Trump and his politics - all for the depraved and capitalist purposes of pocketing a quick buck as the country crumbles all around us. "Never let a good crisis go to waste" continues to be an American political pastime that keeps popping up throughout our history, and it seems like the #Resistance was one of the more recent examples of it manifesting. But, despite everything, you lay it out perfectly: "This isn’t a moment to despair, however, this is an opening." There is a void that needs to be filled, and it's time for us to seize this opportunity and build the program and movement that'll help us pave the way towards a brighter, and more positive future.
Great piece once again Scarlet and thank you for another wonderful read!
It really is a shame that so many charlatans and craven politicians filled the space that a real movement should have. I know a lot of the liberals who followed these grifters were comfortable and just wanted to return to the status quo but there were also plenty of people who were adrift and looking for direction. The most critical time was squandered on endlessly investing in a party that brought us there in the first place and no one was educated on how to get out. I really hope that with faith in Dems at its lowest point we can finally find a way to break through.
Yeah that's arguably the worst part about it - people were duped by such incredibly dishonest people who never had their best intentions at heart. It can be so easy to tempt people with "a return to normalcy" and having "a comfortable status quo", especially in the wake of Trump winning the first time around, and it seems like that's what took place with these charlatans and craven politicians. They occupied that space and captured those who were adrift and looking for direction. Now, the mandate is ensuring that the right people fill that space, and prevent #Resistance2 from taking hold. I think you're right - with faith in Dems waning heavily, now is the time to find that breakthrough and make it meaningfully stick.
"None of them would ever connect the threads between the failures of the Democratic Party to address material conditions, to fight back against power grabs that started with the Federalist Society, to confront the catastrophic effects of neoliberalism, and our current crises." This conveys so well what I was trying to say on day 1 of Trump 1.0 (and was castigated by liberal friends for). Thank you!
I can only hope that more people will start to see the light as the distance between the parties narrow and as the dems continue to work with the republicans who they just told us are a fascist threat. We, the left, actually know how to put up a fight against the right but we need them out of the way so we can do it
I've actually heard them say they want to do something, but they “don't know how.” My group has tried to create some allied affinity groups, but most liberals seem to be bewildered that there is anything to be done other than email their congressmen. Here are some things we have done, though; we hold bi-yearly brakelight clinics so that people of color can avoid pullovers by cops. We serve food to the homeless every other 2nd Sunday at Loaves and Fishes. We have one community defense group that does protest security and another developing protocols for ICE interventions. We started a mobile soup kitchen for the homeless that spun off into its own 501c3. We're trying to initiate neighborhoods meeting to discuss neighbors who need help with appointments, shopping, prescriptions, and yard work.
This is an excellent analysis and very well written to boot. You just got a new subscriber.
Really excellent analysis of what has been happening in U.S. politics the last two decades!