What the Left Can't Seem to Get Right in Its Fight Against Fascism
We have to expand our purview and oppose the messaging instead of debating the message
Hello Friends,
I keep trying to come up with ways to engage in productive activism. One of the things that's terrifying right now are these reports of men who claim to be government agents engaging in acts of violence and disregarding due process.
Sometimes it can feel like people who are on the side of reason are not well-equipped to defend against the tactics of lawlessness. We have to be mindful that lying and cheating can appear to create short-term gains, but it's a futile strategy in the long run.
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Resistance is our strength.
But I also think there's more we can do as we try to ride out this tidal wave.
One of the major problems of the political left is that they haven't been nearly effective enough with their messaging. Let's just acknowledge that's the case.
Hubris has been a major part of the problem. There are places in the United States where people can't conceive of why anyone would vote in support of convicted felons and sexual offenders. Time and time again, these groups are “stunned” when those awful people win office. But then the moment there is another election cycle they refuse to change their tactics.
I've had enough.
It's time to change our tactics.
As I see it, the issue is that the side of reason has failed to show appropriate respect to the mechanism that's driving the authoritarian indoctrination of the United States.
As smart as our side thinks it is, it has proven itself to be short sighted in this instance. Our side is tempted to dismiss our opponents as “ignorant” or “foolish.”
Yes, the things the political right stands for are both ignorant and foolish. But you have to take a wider perspective. The tactics that are being used to normalize authoritarianism, fascism, racism, hatred, and the complete destruction of human rights have proven to be appallingly effective.
To sum up, the left is caught up in the mentality of “But what they're proposing is wrong!”
Meanwhile, the right maliciously imposes their viewpoint on the nation.
The left needs to wake up and recognize our fight isn't to debate the dangers of authoritarianism, our fight is to stop it from being implemented against our will.
The two sides aren't even playing the same game.
We're playing checkers and they're playing chess.
Now who's the group that looks “ignorant” and “foolish”?
We keep saying that we need to resist, but we need more specific instructions. That brings me to what occurred to me today. Every year the local school district holds a community conversation. I think a gathering point such as that is the perfect way to speak some words that might change hearts.
The first thing we always need to do is frame our arguments within the context of protecting our children. Everybody agrees to that. It's easy to be angry at people who have been tricked into voting against the interests of their own children. Don't be angry at them for how they voted. Be angry that they were deceived.
That's critical.
Now look, I admit that I've had moments where I've raged at MAGA. You're allowed to have emotions. You're allowed to be angry. Go out into the woods and scream. But when you're done, turn your anger away from people and towards the agents of deception.
The simple fact is, right now people are getting grabbed off the street and pulled into vans. That's the kind of thing that can make even the most stubbornly indoctrinated racist a little nervous.
I plan on going to the local school meeting and mentioning how we need to instruct our children in how to engage with law enforcement. Yes, children need to comply with the instructions of police officers. However, our children also need to be empowered to identify true law enforcement agents.
We need to emphasize that kidnappers can take advantage of what's going on in our society and abduct your children by claiming to be police officers.
This is the kind of warning that even MAGA will understand. You see, they've been indoctrinated to live in constant terror that people will come and take their kids away. Well, it's happening. So, how do we empower our kids to protect themselves if they should be in a situation like this?
What we need to insist on is appropriate training at schools so that kids know their rights. They have to demand to see badges. They have to learn they don't have to submit to being detained.
We need real law enforcement agents practicing with our children so that children know to speak up to authority. We need local police telling our kids about their rights. This will serve the dual purpose of ensuring the police understand the limits of their own authority.
Do you see what I'm getting at?
What we need to do is divert the existing language of indoctrination that the right-wing, pro-authoritarian contingent uses, and turn it to our advantage.
Yes, our children should be equipped to respond to government overreach.
Yes, our children should know that they don't have to jump into a van with any old person who drives up and screams at them to get in.
If we discuss civil rights in schools, our children are better protected to oppose civil rights abuses in public.
From there we can pivot and ask the superintendent and the principal, “What steps do you take if somebody who claims to be a law enforcement agent shows up at the school? Naturally you don't just let them in to do whatever they want until their identity has been verified?” Now you've laid the groundwork for the more important follow-up question. “What rights do parents have if agents come to our school? Will you insist that due process is followed and that they'll not be allowed to take our children away?”
I live in a red rural area, so it's critical to make school officials declare their procedures in public. If you live in a blue area, it's likely that school officials already have a valid response in place. However, educators who work in red rural areas might not have been given the opportunity to consider these issues before. In fact, community pressure might have deliberately prevented them from considering this scenario.
That's exactly why blue politicians lose.
We have to make our opponents consider these scenarios. We can't continue to sit back and assume we're going to win because “authoritarianism is awful.”
We have to expand our purview and recognize it's our responsibility to make sure every voter knows how to recognize authoritarianism when it rears its ugly head.
Let them know their children are in danger.
It's the truth.
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I know that Norway, I think, has systems in their school that teach kids how to recognize propaganda and misinformation. It would be amazing if we could start something like that here.
Over the course of the last century, the American left has been so often oppressed and mischaracterized by the right that it seems to many of them that what they desire for society are pipe dreams which will never come true. And that's why many of them stop voting...