It seems to me that we have an extremely distorted view of what leftist politics is about. For a large number of democrats, politics is framed as a war between republicans and democrats. The main thing, the story goes, is to make sure republicans don't get into power. While I agree that it is undesirable for republicans to retake power, I don't believe that the main struggle is between democrats and republicans, but rather between big money and average Americans.
I admit it. I am about as cynical as you can get. I don't believe that any of our elected officials can be trusted, regardless of party affiliation. As I see it, the politics of the last thirty or forty years has revolved around each party using the culture wars to divert voter attention so as to push through corporate friendly legislation and deregulation. I say this as a gay man, so hopefully my words carry a little weight here.
If we were to situate party politics in terms of a wrestling match, we could say, in the bellowing and dramatic voice of an announcer, that on the right we have the cultural politics of frightened white men and religious issues, while on the left we have the politics of various disenfranchised identity groups and the pro-science crowd. To be clear, these issues are not without consequence. Obviously I want equality for GLBT folk, women, minorities, and so on, and also wish sound science to rule the day. There are real stakes in these culture wars issues and we have to come down on one side or another.
However, be that as it may, it's my view that the culture wars have largely been a tool used by politicians to divert attention from anti-labor and anti-middle class economic policies. Those of us who are truly on the left know that equality is ultimately an issue of economic equality. Yet both the democrats and the republicans have used culture war issues to pitch us against one another so that we don't pay attention to issues of tax policy, deregulation, working conditions, retirement, childcare, healthcare, etc., that really effect our lives. We get caught up on questions of who the biggest victim is, failing to recognize that our politicians in both parties are giving everything to the corporations, destroying our prosperity, our environment, our peace, and our futures.
There's no issue I can think of that doesn't link back to economics in some significant way or other. Why did we end up with such crap health insurance reform? Because our democrats couldn't alienate insurance or pharmaceutical companies. Environmental policy is clearly beholden to the energy and car companies. Do you think that gay rights issues are about hate? You're partially right, but it's likely that a big part of the gay marriage has to do with insurance companies not wishing to extend benefits to spouses. Likewise, immigration reform hasn't taken place because big business stands to lose so much by giving minimum wage and workers rights to illegal immigrants. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with the global war on terror? Did you think that was about fighting terrorists? Think again about all those contractors and arms dealers that make a killing off these wars. Think about all those security companies making money hand over fist. Think about it. Wasn't there a nearly audible sigh of relief following 9-11 among the Cold War profiteers: At last they had a new cash cow. You really think these wars were about protecting us? Don't even get me started about how the bailout was handled. Education policy? You think that has nothing to do with tax dollars and testing companies making money hand over fist? And on and on it goes.
One side of the meta wars here believes that our democrats aren't pursuing a more progressive agenda because the country is too conservative for such an agenda. Polling suggests otherwise. Another side, I suspect, consists of cynics like me who believe that our democratic leaders are bought, sold, and paid for by the corporations. And we believe this is true of both parties.
Where you come down on these issues is going to decide a lot about your politics. If you believe that it's the voters that are too conservative to produce change, you'll become an apologist for our politicians blaming the voters. You'll then see our job as one of explaining how our democrats couldn't have done any better than they did. If, by contrast, you believe that it is big money that is corrupting our politicians, then you'll see our job as holding politicians accountable and forcing them, as they kick and scream, to do the right thing for average Americans. I know who I believe has the more realistic and pragmatic view of American politics. I also suspect that declining poll numbers for our democrats have nothing to do with our democrats going too quickly to the left. Rather, they didn't go left enough... They didn't enact enough policy that genuinely makes a difference in the lives of average Americans.
There's been a lot of talk lately about progressives wanting ponies, about them being childish and immature, about them lacking realism. What is childish is the belief that politicians are ever on our side, regardless of what party they belong to. Daily they are awash in lobbyists and money. Daily they encounter massive pressures from corporations. Daily they have their egos flattered. One style of politics would blame the American voters, saying that they just aren't informed about what marvelous accomplishments have been made... This as their lungs, water, and land are polluted and their jobs are taken away. Another style of politics would-- rightly, I believe --see politicians as what must be taken in hand. The greatest disaster would be for them to believe that they are assured of our votes. For, when compared to the money of corporate lobbyists, the vote is the only small power we have. Few things could therefore be as obnoxious as the call to shut up and get in line.