The ugly truth is, too many liberals, progressives, leftists, Democrats, whatever name you choose for yourself… we all-too-often allow ourselves to be talked out of them.
Case in point: I recently read someone asking how we could buy American without being so nationalist as to tell store managers we didn’t want them selling imported products.
Yet why are the People of these United States responsible for the employment of foreign nationals—often under exploitative conditions—to the detriment of their fellow citizens, and for the benefit of corporate c-suites?
Failing to ask this question, then answer it with a resounding “We’re not!” is part of what got us Trump.
Let’s be honest with ourselves.
Automation, outsourcing, globalization and immigration, legal and illegal, are the major ways in which our very own American corporations have made many of us redundant. This denies us the right not only to live in dignity off our labor but also the satisfaction of a basic human need: to contribute our energy and intellect to our world.
These techniques have been used to create a large pool of surplus labor, to the detriment of all of us who are not of independent means. And surplus labor always favors capital, especially when combined with America’s thin safety net. It means we live in fear of destitution. The anger and meanness that is such a central characteristic of our time is that buried fear of destitution.
Yet these policies, made and advocated at the highest levels of American government and industry, have made a few people almost unimaginably wealthy. And it is meaningless to point out that Hillary Clinton’s policies would have helped Americans more than Trump’s would have. She is certainly a more decent and human version of Mitt Romney, offering us far more crumbs from the oligarchs’ table than he ever would have. Yet that is not enough in a time of declining life expectancy and diminished opportunities compared to your parents and grandparents.
The truth is, many of those who voted for Trump are those with something left to lose… and can see themselves losing it. Yes, some are utterly deplorable yet even many of them are nevertheless rightfully afraid for themselves, their children and their communities, and they’re right to be. They know they are being reduced to the inadequate civic and human dignity most Americans are only beginning to escape.
Right now, however, the Democratic Party, the natural locus of opposition to Trump, is hearing we must choose between responding to the declining fortunes of whites, especially men (this country’s largest ethnicity) or the legal and civic equality of women and gay people, blacks and Hispanics (the absolute majority of American citizens).
BS.
Those pushing this narrative, no matter their putative party affiliation or political identification, are the lackeys of oligarchs. These oligarchs, of course believe they can live with whoever wins, and when catastrophe does eventually befall the Republic, they can escape. They should not be permitted that delusion.
While the road out of the political wilderness we find ourselves in, is straightforward.
We insist the Democratic Party put Americans, all Americans equally, before corporations. It’s such a simple policy that it’s time to accept the fact that many major donors have invested considerable money and effort to keep us from coalescing around the issue. Distracting us by telling us that we should celebrate competition from foreign imports and cherish nearly unlimited immigration (both legal and illegal). Pretending that the only alternative is ignorant isolationism and the grotesque cruelty we have seen displayed in recent raids. (Beware those who define your choices for you.)
We ignore those telling us that we can stand for all Americans having legal rights or we can have the political power necessary to make changes. This is an old dog that’s been used since the Colonial oligarchs decided to prevent indentured white servants and enslaved Africans from making common cause.
We begin talking about the nice things all Americans need—and that modern automation makes possible—to survive and flourish as citizens of a strong and vibrant Republic.
We need a platform, something we can put on a 3x5 card and explain to our fellow citizens and to which we can hold our elected representatives. Call it America’s Future, or some such.
Next up: What America’s Future might look like.