Our Leaders, Ourselves

When our leaders don't fight for us

I’ve been thinking incessantly about the election and the state of our union, and I’ve read tons of think pieces on why Kamala Harris lost and Trump won. I reject the idea that we didn’t have a good message, or that we should have had a primary, or even that the electorate has moved to the right. I think those are all red herrings for what’s really going on.

Many prescriptions for how to reclaim the country require our political leaders to act strongly in opposition to the incoming catastrophe, require our wealthy donors to invest heavily in large, systemic, multi-year/decade infrastructure projects, and need our media to truthfully report on reality. Our (the activists’) ability to achieve any of these things on our own, without the support of leadership, is, to say the least, constrained.

Let’s talk about these things first, and then let’s move on to what we can be doing independently, without the massive funding that needs to go into a successful opposition.

1. The Democratic establishment: Our elected leaders, the party, thought leaders all need to be on the same page on how to wage opposition to American fascism. They need to show us they’re fighting for our interests and not obeying the Trump administration in advance. So far they’re failing miserably. The pearl clutching over Biden’s pardon of Hunter, the public admiration of Elon Musk, and the resounding, deafening silence since the election show us that redemption is not going to come from that direction. AOC did some research into why some of her voters also voted for Trump. And the resounding answer was that they wanted someone who would fight for THEM. Also, they really had no idea what Trump was really selling, when he was lying, or what he actually pledged to do. I invite you to check this out…it’s really eye opening.

2. Donors: One of the most important reasons we have become a country beholden to billionaires and oligarchs is the Citizens United decision, in which the Roberts court decided that money equaled speech in politics. What happened was completely predictable: previously underground money funding independent right wing enterprises moved into the sunlight, and bribery through political donation became rampant. So the right wing, already a bastion of wacky rich folks, became a silo of wacky rich folks and even wackier not-rich folks. This, in turn, created a completely siloed information environment.

3. Information: The right wing media ecosystem is an echo chamber in the most basic ways. The leaders, the media personalities, the podcasters, the donors all push the same talking points, which could be variations on the truth or completely made-up lies. Then, once they’re all saying the same thing (Hunter Biden’s laptop, Hillary’s emails, border caravan, etc) they all echo each other in different media. The big podcasters go on the little podcasters’ shows, the donors go on Fox and OANN and InfoWars, they all say the same thing in stereo on all the channels they own. This is disinformation, misinformation, foreign psy-ops, and straight-up denial of reality. As in a cult or a dystopian novel, this ecosystem asked its viewers and listeners to deny the evidence seen by their own eyes and ears and believe their drivel. They also convinced people to trust no source but those affiliated with the right wing. In so doing, they sealed up the information ecosystem so that the only thing their cult members/adherents/casual listeners knew was what they were being fed, day after day, week after week, year after year.

So, if we want to counter these things, we need leaders to act differently, donors to invest differently, and media to inform differently. We can affect these elements to a limited degree. Yes, we can call our leaders. But we can’t make them visibly, consistently, and successfully fight for us.

What can we do?

1. We can (AND SHOULD) create plans for year round organizing, fundraising, candidate recruitment, and local political action.

2. We can (AND SHOULD) create a rich environment where independent journalists, small and large podcasters, influencers, and new networks like Courier can build new forms of conveying information. We need to learn how to talk about politics without talking about politics.

These are necessary, but not sufficient, elements of building a solid, strong opposition movement.

We need to start connecting more beyond social media. We need to start knowing each other more deeply, connecting with people in similar situations across the country. We can share knowledge, ideas, inspiration, and lift each other up as we enter what will surely be a very tough time.

THIS is what I’ll be focusing on in the new year. My podcast will keep going, and I’ll feature guests who can help us connect, learn, inspire, and teach. I’ll put together small cohorts of like minded people to connect in a deeper way. And I’ll keep talking about what I think we should be doing collectively, in solidarity, with each other, informed by our learning about what other societies do to fight fascism.

I’m hoping that you will join me and others in our community to build connections and spread the word about this newsletter and the Freedom Over Fascism podcast.

And I hope as many of you as possible will become paid subscribers. I KNOW there are so many people to follow, but I want to keep doing this as long as possible, so I’m asking for your help. If I have any billionaires…or even multi-multi millionaires in this community.. can we talk…soon?

I’ll give you a shout when the podcast is back with a new episode, early in the new year. I’ll keep writing and reaching out to you in our community. I WON’T wish you happy holidays just yet, but soon. And I can’t wait for the solstice so the light will start coming back…