The word “resistance” has gotten a lot of play recently in the Anti-Trump lexicon. Perhaps this is a natural, when a president announces an ongoing wave of assault on human rights, environmental protections, and media freedom. Resistance however, is a defensive action. It implies being under attack, and that we must fight the attack. The unfortunate truth for Progressives, is that the attack didn’t start with Trump, and is in no way limited to the Republicans. That means that the resistance starts at home.
The problem is that resistance functions in a void. It implies a “worst-case scenario”, and the mere need to reject it. But without a plan to replace this travesty the mere act of resistance is futile. Going back to the Democratic status quo is apparently the palatable alternative for much of the Resistance movement. But how did we end up here?
WHY THE DEMOCRATS? AREN’T THEY THE GOOD GUYS?
Democrats have been much better than Republicans at fighting for equal rights, environmental protections, and worker’s rights. But is being better than terrible the same as being good? Does recent Democratic history correspond with Progressive goals?
Progressives universally, and the American Public generally, want to reduce electoral influence from Wall Street. Still 2016 found Democrats nominating a woman that acquired record sums of campaign cash from Wall Street, and then wouldn’t disclose the content of her meetings with an industry whose entire existence is defined by “Return on Investment”. The previous Democratic chairperson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was ousted just prior to the last election, as her attempts to undermine Wall Street reforms became an unwanted distraction.
Unlike every other industrialized nation, America can’t get any traction on Universal Health Care. In 2009, Democrats had the house, the senate & the presidency. Universal Health Care couldn’t get a blip on the radar because insurance industry lobbyists had too many Democrats on their payroll. This eventually gave us the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). While unquestionably an improvement in certain areas (no denials for pre-existing conditions, kids can stay on their parent’s insurance until the age of 26), it was at its core a mandate that every citizen in America give money to private corporations. This is not a tax, where your money goes to the government. It is not like auto insurance where you give this money as a condition of utilizing an optional luxury. This is a blanket mandate that you, as a fundamental condition of existence, will give money to a private corporation. How is that even legal, much less ethical?
Progressives and Democrats have bemoaned the rise of Rush Limbaugh and FOX “News”, and yet their elected representatives are all too happy to take contributions from Clear Channel Media/iHeart Radio (Limbaugh) and Rupert Murdoch (FOX). So when large swaths of the country get all of their “news” from FOX and The 700 Club, who gave their corporations ever increasing abilities to consolidate? Who allowed them new licenses? Who failed to build their own network?
We could discuss how Net Neutrality was the fight that shouldn’t have needed fighting. We could talk about how Medicare is FORBIDDEN BY LAW from negotiating prices with drug companies. We could talk about how climate change science is being suppressed on behalf of oil companies who are happy to give money to Democrats (Exxon donated $90,000+ to Hillary). Donations come with strings attached, and large donations come with large strings attached.
So what does this mean? It means that the Trump era is in many ways a refreshing point of open hostility. It means we can see the Citibank pushing for tax breaks instead of getting shocked when Debbie Wasserman Schulz pushes to oppose payday loan regulations. It means we can see Trump & Co. coming for our health care, instead of getting shot in the back by Collin Peterson on Medicare Part D pricing. It means that we know that Exxon is pushing climate deregulation, and aren’t stunned to see notorious former oil shill Mary Landrieu chairing the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
That’s a lot of negative energy above. So where do we go from here?
The first step is to truly acknowledge that we don’t currently have a dog in the fight. The resistance MUST start at home. That makes fixing the Democrats more important than beating the Republicans.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
STEP 1: Be willing to walk away. I know that many of you hate Trump as much, if not more than I do, and so this is appears to be a truly painful and terrible idea. Yet, the most unelectable person to run in recent history is currently our president. Clearly the current path isn’t working, Only a profound paradigm shift in how we approach the Democrats can fix the problem. The truth is that as long as the Democrats know you will choose the lesser of 2 evils, then they have no incentive to be good. If this seems preposterous and dangerous to you, I hope to give you context below.
STEP 2: Get money out of the party/hold DONORS accountable. This is perhaps the most meaningful point in our current political climate. You can love the Democrats as an alternative to Republicans, but if you truly want meaningful action on the environment, universal health care, financial inequality & jobs being shipped overseas, you’re going to be disappointed with the Democrats as well.
I’ve made many political donations through the years, and was once heavily invested in the Democrats. As a ½ black, gay man, the Democratic social agenda allowed me to look past the smell of their donors. What happened? No bankers went to jail over the financial collapse in ’08. Instead we gave them unconditional bailouts. No Weapons of Mass Destruction were ever found in Iraq and Vice-President Dick Cheney’s company was given nearly 40 billion in competition-free Iraq related contracts, and yet he was not impeached for profiteering in a situation that caused the deaths of thousands of American soldiers. Benghazi was at its worst possible interpretation four dead Americans and an effort to cover up incompetence. Bush and Cheney lied us into Iraq, killing thousands of U.S. soldiers, and making billions for Cheney’s company Halliburton. Guess which one got more time in the public eye, and more congressional hearings?
Democrats had to fight for Net Neutrality, an idea that benefits NOBODY except AT&T shareholders and their ilk. There is no upside, and yet it required a tremendous pushback from the public to get Democrats onboard over their donors. I could elaborate on the Affordable Care Act, Environmental Regulation, and a litany of other topics, but you see my point. Where is the leadership that we saw prosecuting Bernie Madhoff, who made the mistake of stealing from rich people instead of from commoners? If there are no consequences for lying and stealing, then you end up with …. Trump.
I’ve switched to supporting organizations I believe in (MoveOn, The United Negro College Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center), instead of giving to politicians directly. Still, I continue to get roughly 30 emails a day soliciting Democratic donations. I’ve stopped giving money to Democrats I believe in because I can’t afford to spend my money on people who are going to get shot in the back by their own party when Goldman Sachs needs a stock bump. When the ongoing job of the governing has become raising money to get (re-)elected, something has to change.
Let’s say we get 1,000 people to send $100 each to elect a Democrat to fight for Universal Health Care, we feel really good about making it happen. We’re grass root and all and we’ve made a $100,000 donation for our beliefs! Unfortunately, another Democrat receives nearly $250,000 from the pharmaceutical industry in the same election cycle, and it’s an easy choice for him/her to throw grass roots under the bus. Yes, I’m aware of Citizen’s United and the truckloads of cash that have been dumped into our system because of the ruling. But if the prerequisite for electing Democrats requires entering a bidding war against Wells Fargo, Pfizer, and Monsanto, then we’ve already lost.
STEP 3: Commit to being solution based. We can bemoan the intensity of issues all we want, but America’s corporate government doesn’t currently encourage solutions. American Industry has set us on a path where making money on the problem is an infinitely higher priority. “Don’t cure the cold, manage the symptoms” because when the cold is cured, it’s over. Symptoms can be milked eternally and stock prices jump at the thought. So, why should we improve solar? The sun is free. Nobody makes money on the sun except Coppertone. We don’t need to solve the energy crisis and global emissions. Oil companies will make a lot of cash, and eventually so will levee builders, AC companies, aqueduct manufactures etc. We are facing grave problems as a society and as a species - overpopulation, global warming, environmental toxicity, loss of jobs to automation and so on. The time has come to actually address the causes and find suitable resolution to impending catastrophes. Seeking a stock bump for Goldman Sachs can’t be a big picture priority.
STEP 4: Be fact based. Very few people want to step on the toes of people whose religions state obvious scientific fallacies (the sun moves around the earth, the earth is less than 10,000 years old). That very courteous ideal prevents us from addressing numerous issues. You can believe in your heart that god regulates global warming, and that male masturbation is infanticide, but you don’t get to regulate from that position. Of course there are scientific disagreements, there are different approaches, and there are a zillion unknown factors in the issues of the day. We do know a lot however, and we must commit to seek out and build on our best scientific data, rather than kowtow to ideological vagaries. Building a solid Democratic media base to actually debunk claims from the 700 Club should be a top priority as well…. Which brings us to -
Step 5: Reach out to people who aren’t like us, AND actually care about what they want. As Democrats started losing rural areas & states to Republicans, the Dems basically decided, “We don’t need the stupid rednecks”, and figured they could control the country by winning the coasts. Unfortunately that strategy left the middle of the country & the south with FOX “News” and The 700 Club as their unchallenged guide to politics. Democrats have virtually no physical presence in much of the country, and an extremely limited media voice beyond the major cities. Meanwhile, a right-wing echo chamber that the Dems have allowed to grow by ignoring it and by allowing media consolidation continues to drown out opposing opinions. Democrats have fought an uphill battle in the Senate ever since.
Republicans have been masterful at getting disenfranchised rural people to watch FOX all day and blame everyone different from them for their dying lifestyle. The Dems unfortunately can't fight that because they won't say that “The poor are suffering and farms are dying because Wall Street is stealing your money”. Dems know it's more important in their current incarnation to get Monsanto donations, than it is to help farmers. When a large share of the nation is being taught 2+2=17, calling them idiots and ignoring them, or compromising reality to say 2+2=9 are inefficient strategies. The price you pay for not effectively engaging the rest of the country is currently sitting in the White House. The White House aside, the Democrats have essentially ceded 20+ states to the Republicans and that is 40 out of 51 senators needed for control. Bemoaning the fact that Democrats can’t get a toehold in The Heartland isn’t helpful.
At the end of the day, the people in Kansas and Idaho want most of the same things that the people in California and New York want. If you have a better product that will help take care of their desires for safety, family and community then market it. But you have to actually have a better product, and you have to care about what people want. On most levels the Democratic philosophy is better for regular people than Republican philosophy. Yet if your donors won’t let you demonstrate it, or they won’t let you follow through on the agenda, then low information voters will never know that. The Democrats can’t fight that battle with one hand tied behind their back by their donors (Step 2). Furthermore, despite the many legitimate complaints of gerrymandering by Republicans, gerrymandering doesn’t work if you’re able to convince people different from you that you’re better than your opponent. Outreach is everything. Is it an uphill battle? Of course. Is it an easier battle that starting out 40 senators down in your bid to control the congress? I tend to believe so.
We actually can fix the Trump problem. It’s completely possible, but the first step is to assure that we have a dog in the fight.