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Democratic Governance
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2024
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What if I told you the viable alternative wasn't to look further right, but further left?
Well, I don't know about you, but I can't teleport. the last time I checked, neither can the u.s. political zeitgeist. If we want more left, we are going to have to get there the long way.
LOL
It's always fascinating watching people pretend the Democrats are powerless, when they pretend Donald Trump is omnipotent.
...and saying "but Republicans blah blah blah" in no way moves us in a desirable direction. It's used as an excuse to not move at all because "at least I'm not the bogeyman".
How do you get there the long way? Is it maybe by pushing leftist agenda and leftist talking points? Is it maybe by like endorsing workers rights and fair pay? Is it maybe making sure people don't live in poverty by raising the minimum wage? Sure seems like a good road map to me.
The Dems have to win, repeatedly, for years, with such a landslide that the Republican party is completely destroyed and the new competition for the Dems is a party that is further left.
That's how progress can actually be made at anything other than a snail's pace.
That Trump won the last election and will likely win this one means the Democratic party is going to target center and right of center people, because that's where the votes are.
I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. You're right though when they lose the Democrats tend to run right. That's how we got Clinton. However by winning Democrats tend to Trend left. Continued winning is how we got the strongest string of civil rights and labor rights victories in American history. So not necessarily overwhelming destructive Victory but consistent Victory I think would move us further left. There's of course the other way which is the Grassroots Ray which is what Republicans have done. First with the tea party then with the trump movement. Consistent victories at small levels lend results to National levels. Their party moved much further the right because they moved it from the ground up. Both are options and both can be done simultaneously.
Although its moneyed backers used that line in recruiting and messaging, the Tea Party was the opposite of grass roots: https://time.com/secret-origins-of-the-tea-party/
But yes, consistent victory at the ballot box over a long time period is key. The Koch money investments in the 1990s - thirty years ago - are still playing out now.
Fuck yea we do. I never said that choosing left was the easy option. It is the necessary option though.