WARNING: Pessimism Ahead. This is my first diary and it is intended in all seriousness.
I have listened to (or read) dkos, the news, other blogs and other people for a few years now and I'm still waiting for some kind of strategy to emerge. In the "blogosphere," it is all about the step by step effort to win elections and put more like-minded people into office. We have to get things back on track with steady, small steps until we win it back.
My question is: How did we lose it in the first place? Did we EVER have it? Or has this always been the struggle?
If it has always been this way, are we taking the right tack now?
"They" have pretty much locked up all of the important and influential controls of our society. "They" have the money. "They" have business. "They" have the government. "They" have the courts. "They" have the churches.
What have "we" got?
And is it realistic to think we're going to take back something that "they" have and use it to try to regain control, or should we be taking better advantage of whatever it is that "we" have?
I would really love to hear some new ideas along these lines. I'm not saying the continuing, step by step struggle is flawed in any way, but it has possibly been a struggle since this thing began, and we seem to be on the disadvantaged side. Once upon a time, Americans used to love the underdog, but no more. Or perhaps that's always been a myth. Americans have always loved power, and very few even understand, much less believe, in the concept that is supposed to be America. Americans are so possessive and fearful of what they have (or think they have or might have) that they are very susceptible to fear tactics and the worst kind of cultural intimidation. It's a huge barrier to overcome. Can it really be done through electoral politics? Or is that just all we have to work with?
So: What have WE got? How do WE use it?
Try to answer without using the terms grassroots or netroots. Certainly within the communities that have been drawn together by grassroots and netroots efforts are many people who care and who contribute money and time to the problem. But what do we expect that to bring? In my heart, I still don't believe that even the people who are deeply fearful of what is happening are giving it enough importance in their lives in a productive way (myself included). What does it take to make us dedicate our lives to a cause rather than always making the cause secondary to our lives? Or is it just not THAT serious yet?(Of course, that's another question for another diary.)