Progressives have long believed that the federal government can be a source of positive change for the American people. If only we elect Democrats to national political office, the reasoning goes, we can make America a better place through superior government policy.
In light of recent events, we might need to start questioning this premise.
The United States of America is at a historical inflection point between now and 2012. This is a key moment in history, and the future of progressive politics in America depends on how two questions will be answered:
1. Will there be a credible primary challenge to Barack Obama from the left?
2. If not, will there be a credible third party or independent candidate for president running on a progressive platform?
If the answer to either of those questions turns out to be yes, progressivism as a political philosophy in America might yet be saved.
If not, voters will have a choice between two presidential candidates who both support economic conservatism and austerity -- and no other credible choice on the ballot. Progressivism will have died as part of the mainstream national political conversation, and it would be very difficult, perhaps impossible, ever to bring it back.
If that happens -- if there is no standard-bearer for progressive economic policy in the 2012 presidential campaign, and our political philosophy thus falls to the status of "quaint" or "irrelevant" ideas that are not taken seriously in the mainstream dialogue anymore -- then progressives will need to consider what we will do to try to achieve our goals for a better society and economic system.
Perhaps it's time to start considering a movement of "opting out" of the existing structures of the American socio-economic system as much as possible, and creating practical alternatives. What this means, in practice, is the following:
Consciously rejecting and tuning out the mainstream culture and forming alternative cultures, including private educational curricula and schools based on a progressive worldview, alternative grassroots media, alternative financial institutions such as credit unions, and alternative business models such as health care co-ops, unions for self-employed and unemployed people, and alternative online and community-based currencies.
Here is an amazing real-life example of what can be done -- something very progressive that emerged under a fascist government in Spain: The Mondragon Corporation
To the degree that we continue to participate in politics, focus on supporting states rights and the deconstruction of the U.S. federal government, especially its corrupt banking system and war machine. Identify some states and cities that are already leaning in a progressive direction and become heavily involved in state and local politics in those areas, so that some places in the U.S. can become full-blown bastions of progressive values and policies while the rest of the U.S. gradually disintegrates and rots away.
Does this mean accepting some aspects of libertarianism? Yes. It means accepting that the idea of a strong national government that works to help ordinary middle and working class Americans has become a non-starter in the United States, and therefore taking the pragmatic course of action by abandoning that noble but unattainable goal and refocusing our energies on building a parallel society within America. It means writing off the federal government as a basically useless drain of money (since most of it goes to wars, a bloated military, and subsidies for wealthy corportations and banks anyway), and considering national elected officials to be "rulers" of the U.S. government who preside over what has essentially become a one-party state with two visible manifestations designed to keep the masses believing we are still a true democracy.
New growth always comes from decay. Like a seed germinating in the foul decomposing matter of a rotting log, there could be a new flowering of progressivism in America as the 21st century proceeds. But unless some bold and highly credible progressive leader decides to step up to the plate and run for president either in the Democratic primary or on a third party or independent ticket in 2012, progressivism will have to take a new form outside of national politics. The conservative side that preaches cutting the federal government (even during times of recession!) will have won in the national political arena without a fight -- without even having to debate against anyone speaking for our side. And that's how political philosophies die: when they have no advocates for their beliefs running for the highest offices in the land.
So let's start thinking deeply about these things. We progressives have some profound choices ahead of us -- and we may have to question some of our core beliefs such as the assumption that the federal government of the United States can realistically serve as a source of improvement for the lives of the American people. We might have to formulate a different strategy to make a difference in the society in which we live.