How do you destroy the notion that Democrats are the good guys? Americans seem like a lost cause on that regard
How do you destroy the notion that Democrats are the good guys? Americans seem like a lost cause on that regard
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/27293783
democrats are simply the 'lesser evil', and have been since the 1960s, at least.. and we've needed a viable third party left of the mainstream for longer.
republican administrations drag us down and undo gains made. democrats repair some of the damage--but never quite enough, never push progress enough. they lose. it gets undone again and the cycle repeats.
but now it's all getting destroyed. there may not be a continuation of the cycle. it's hell from here on until 'trumpism' and maga are what is completely destroyed.
It's the most anti-communist country on the planet, so there's not much hope. Talk of raising wages or organizing collectively, or not agreeing with US imperialist foreign policy gets you labelled a commie / tankie by its witch-hunting, McCarthyite majority.
If there's a list of countries to next take the communist road, the US would be dead last.
Step 1: Don't generalize. Don't say "Americans" when you mean "some Americans". As you can see from browsing here and on other media sites, there are a great many vocal people who have voted Democrat for years but are entirely disappointed by decades of failed DNC leadership.
Step 2: Remind people that everyone is on their own side. Politicians might vote the way you want, or not, but their interests will never be exactly the same as yours. Don't ever believe that the two-party system is an accurate description of our values.
Step 3: Share memes of Schumer.
"The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them."
I attribute the quote wrong all the time, but today the internet says it's from Julius Nyerere, who was a prime minister in Africa back in the 1960s.
This is quote from their former member, Huey Long:
"They've got a set of Republican waiters on one side and a set of Democratic waiters on the other side, but no matter which set of waiters brings you the dish, the legislative grub is all prepared in the same Wall Street kitchen"
— Huey Long, campaign speech for the re-election of Senator Hattie Caraway (D-AR), 1932 (Williams p. 589)
The Deprogram podcast, Hakim, and Second Thought YT channels all exist to address this. It's rather obvious to anybody willing to learn
Realistically, it's an impossibility. This view is mostly propagated via liberal news sources, having the main battle be conservatism vs progressivism or left vs right (as opposed to class struggle, the poor vs rich, working class vs capitalists), and since the democrats are more progressive than republicans, they're the "good guys" who should be supported.
For it to be destroyed, we'd have to catch up to their level of influence and reach or even surpass it, to show people that they're a party of capitalists who sometimes are progressive, and not an actual ally of the working or middle classes but only pretending to be one. Maybe going one step further too and influencing progressive movements democrats support to pay attention to economic aspects too, given how their root causes aren't purely social?
But again, it's impossible for us workers to have such reach, given how well funded media is.
I've seen a lot of similar comments lately. People wanting to start 3rd parties etc, because the Democrats suck so bad.
Yes, it's true. They suck, but if you're going to beat the Republicans, you'll need to look at what Trump did. He didn't start a 3rd party. No, he took the existing party and changed it into whatever the fuck it is now.
You need to change the democratic party from within too, because 3rd parties will always lose because of the first past the post. 3rd parties also have a tendency to branch out, because quite frankly, not being Democrat or Republican isn't enough of a politic in itself, and you guys don't get along well on anything else. The Republicans had this issue for a long time until Trump came along providing them with something that united their voters more than the previous politic of simply being not Democrats.
The democratic party already has a framework for running politics and they actually have some kind of democracy within that allows people to change it. Yeah, it will require a lot of work to get enough people engaged in politics to make the change, but it is absolutely much less than what is required to start a successful 3rd party.
Many Americans don't like either party at this point. Thus the low voter turnout and apathy. Many vote Democrat as the lesser of two evils. Though, the goalpost keep getting pushed to the right, to the point that Democratic party is well right of center. I understand the apathy at this point. But I wish that people understood that if we want things to come back to the left, then we're going to have to vote overwhelmingly Democratic for a while. And not just every four years. Everybody whines the Democrats don't get anything done when they're elected. But they generally only have two years of majority in the house, Senate, because they can't be bothered to vote every two years...
We don't have to do anything other then work on passing electoral reform one state at a time. Democrats can be whatever the hell they want, so long as everyone is free to vote how they want with the ability to transfer their vote.
Electoral Reform Videos
First Past The Post voting (What most states use now)
Videos on alternative electoral systems
Believe you me, I've been trying for years. Tribalism runs too deep in the human condition for there to be any obvious fix.
Your title should have read "How do you destroy the notion that Republicans are the good guys?"
There are far too many Americans that support the far right. They've been convinced that conservatism will protect their interests, even while it blatantly destroys them. It is a morally greater objective to turn these people around, and more practically achievable, than undermining its opponent.
Yes, we know. You think liberalism is an ally of conservatism, not an opponent. We're all very impressed with your extensive knowledge, bravo. You've shown nuanced and deep understanding of the political landscape by criticizing the contender of the enemy.
I think most people who criticize the left are like you. More interested in stroking their egos than actually solving a problem. You're trying to demonstrate mastery of a subject by being critical of it, not because you want it to change but because you want people to be impressed with you.
If you actually wanted things to get better you'd be teaching people to undermine conservatism, which is the greater threat.
Be better.
If they haven’t accepted it yet, I’m not sure they want to. The ones holding the lines seem to be just reactionaries pining for a return to the neoliberal status quo.
They literally have a donkey (jackass) as mascot.
they're not good guys they are simply more competent at government
Democrats destroyed it when Chuck Shumer sided with Republicans. It is Joever.
I posted this and to my utter amazement both the comments and votes went completely opposed to my expectations: