A much-discussed problem with the Left is that it is generally organized on an
issue specific basis. One of the other main problems is that it is disorganized for this very reason: each group supports their little cause, but fail to coordinate with others that are a part of the left-leaning coalition.
For example, we have organizations for women's rights, gay rights, abortion, etc. etc. ad nauseam. Because of this issue-specificness, many of our allies' causes are demonized as "special interest" groups. And so they are: they have a specialized interest and expertise/experience with their chosen issue.
The logical next step for our coalition, then, is to transcend these single issues to allow for greater coordination, cooperation, and mutual support between them. To do so, these specific issues must be perceived from a higher level of abstraction. This means rising above the issue itself and joining together around the principle(s) that inform all of them. A perfect example of this sort of "transcendence through abstraction" can be done with the Right to Privacy.
But, why would anyone other than pro-choice people even care about the right to privacy? Up until now, "privacy" has been popularized on the left as a new way of framing the abortion debate. While correct, once the debate is brought to this level of abstraction, other issues also begin to become unified under its broad banner.
The Right to Privacy itself is a principle that designates where the powers of government end. Or, put another way, everything that is "private" cannot be regulated, cannot be legally held against an individual or group, and is solely under the discretion of the private authority. Another way of thinking about it is as a sphere of personal sovereignty or autonomy.
This essentially means that support for the Right to Privacy itself joins together several various coalitions and single-issue groups of the Left:
Medical Privacy:
- Pro-Choice Groups (obviously)
- "Right to Die" Groups
- Medical Marijuana (see also #6)
Personal/Sexual Privacy:
- Gay Rights Groups
- Transgender Rights Groups
- Drug Legalization Groups (see also #3)
Commercial Privacy:
- "Do Not Call" List supporters
- Anti-Spam supporters
Religious Privacy
9. "Freedom from religion" groups (ie, secularism)
Taken together, you suddenly have a grand coalition for the right to privacy (and by no means is this supposed to be an all-inclusive list). The unification of pro-choice and pro-gay rights groups alone would shift the political equation, as both groups have developed a degree of power on their own.
However, by joining together in this way, we do two things, one internal and one external:
- (Internal) We make the connection among the "choir" of privacy supporters that to be gay and not support the pro-choice position is to undermine your own issue. To be pro choice and not support the "Right to Die" is to undermine your own position. To support not getting called by businesses in your home and not support the idea that what goes on in the bedroom of one's home is private is also contradictory. This creates a unifying impulse among the various aspects of our own coalition.
- (External) All of these issues are framed, from the get go, as necessary offshoots of the same principle, the right to privacy, or as branches of the same tree. This helps prevent Rightwingers from cutting down the tree branch by individual branch by forcing them to cut down the whole tree if they want to get rid of any of it. This slows them down and empowers us in the minds of the mainstream, which does support the right to privacy (I refer you to Clinton's 72% opposing impeachment poll numbers...)
Thus, rather than being a bunch of groups that can be vilified and picked off individually, we can weld together a social-issue coalition around the Right to Privacy. Suddenly, the Left will be transformed into a coalition of a few major groups organized around 1) Privacy (Social) & 2) Labor (Economic). Our coalition will begin to look a lot more unified and a lot more like the Right's coalition, which generally consists of 1) Christian Rightists (Social) and 2) Big Business (Economic). And, a more unified base can only help encourage a more unified party leadership, which is something we've all said we've wanted. As always, we must be the change we wish to see.
So, where is the grand coalition group, Americans for a Right to Privacy (or some similar name)? Who would be interested in starting such a thing ((assuming, of course, that it does not already exist)?
Thanks in advance for Comments, Suggestions, and Recommends.