Back in the day, I kept hearing about Orcinus and Dave Neiwert (now also at Crooks & Liars) and like many people that was how I came to know and learned to appreciate Sara Robinson. Many people have been following her series on fascism in America which started with Are We There Yet? and The Last Turnoff. Today part 3 Resistance for the Long Haul came out and her post deserves greater attention. I'd like to focus on her 5-part plan.
I'll start with her conclusion, but of course please go and read the whole thing:
"The only long-term antidote to our current wave of emergent fascism is a big, strong dose of trust-building progressive culture and politics, administered daily until the system's basic democratic functions come back on line. If we want to build a fascist-proof America for the long haul, we must stand up now for everything we believe, and everything we are."
What's not to love? Her 5 points, as she acknowledges, seem like a wish list but they are also an important agenda that seems grounded in our larger national reality. I love the way we fight here and the way progressive logistics are coming together, but in terms of the long view, hers is the best short list I've seen and it could at least use greater dissemination.
- passing health care reform as a trust-builder
- re-establishing the rule of law including reforms for corporate accountability and the criminal justice system (e.g., the war on drugs)
- investing in education
- reducing inequality
- restoring our basic liberal institutions, especially "the universities (and related intellectual infrastructure); unions; the media; and liberal religious organizations"
That final four under institutions is from Chris Bowers. Sara says:
"Chris Bowers noted that progressive ideology has always been disseminated through four major cultural drivers: ... Knowing this, conservatives set out back in the 1970s to undermine all four of these institutions -- and over time, they've largely succeeded in blunting their historic capacity to disseminate and perpetuate the progressive worldview."
I really don't have much to say except that this series of hers deserves greater attention and her 5 points should be on all of our refrigerators or something, but I'll go on a bit about education. In addition to literacy and civics, we are finally at a time when the old outcry for relevance has a clear answer. The improvement of the human condition and our society through interaction between progressives united behind a collective effort to collect and analyze facts in order to promote positive progress has an educational buy-in where schools play a role but the larger effort is already happening independent of schools and dependent on the Internet and blogs. My son tells me an amazing number of his teen friends follow Daily Kos because they want to get some information and orientation for the world they know they are living in, the world the formal side of their in-school education doesn't seem to address. I think Sara outlines a great path forward that we could all keep in mind and flesh out into a larger effective program. It is certainly inspiring. And it makes a valuable addition to the sort of logistics Markos is so excellent at writing about and the sort of critique Glenn nails so beautifully.
Check her out. What resonates with you? I don't think I'm exaggerating about this. Her earlier posts in this series got plenty of attention and her looking ahead should too.