Not spam, this is Jackson and I’m emailing you via Substack. How best for a white guy like me to fight the system? Type shit on the internet. That’ll show em! No other white guy has thoughts like these! But, on a serious note, no other white guy has *friends* like these. That’s why I’m sharing this newsletter with you. A couple of times each month, I’d like to reach out in longform post format, under the pseudonym Dick Mullen as to maybe not come off so abrasive and forward facing, and inject some humor into this hopeless void.
As the dust settles from the fallout of the election, I was moved by what Sam Seder of The Majority Report had to say about what to do next. He suggested that community is the place to coalesce, and the most important work is what happens in between elections. I’d like to use this as a place to keep tabs, nationally and locally, on that work. Please feel free to share this, and let’s go ahead and get started. The next Trump administration is upon us.
An identity crisis has struck the Democratic party. Or maybe not? According to voter data, Democrats are now the party of white, college-educated, suburban voters who make $100k+ per year. (Ground News, Inside Higher Ed). So, crisis averted actually. That’s just who they are now. It doesn’t take a Nobel Laureate to deduce how unenticing Kama Harris’ opportunity economy and tax break incentive policy was to anyone except white, college-educated, suburban voters who make $100k+ per year. Unless of course you are a voter in that demographic, then it may take some time for the reality to sink in. Queue: Joe Scarborough & Philippe Reines.
These two prominent airheads sit within a larger coalition of Democrats who are completely at odds with the reality that this party is now confronted with. If there is one obvious conclusion from both voter data and voter testimony, it’s that the working class feels rejected by the national Democratic party. People felt that Trump, despite every reason they’ve been given to be repulsed by him, is still a vessel for the common man. On her Instagram, AOC asked her constituents: “People who support Trump & me OR voted Trump/Dem, tell us why". The answers are bewildering, but provide an incredibly important starting point for how Progressives can begin to change the Democratic party.
She asked this question because down ballot Democrats overperformed Harris all over the place. Dems won Senate seats in 5 of 6 swing states, and congresspersons (including AOC) across the country outran Harris by wide margin. State-wide ballot initiatives for right to an abortion and minimum wage increase passed across the country, including in Missouri! The establishment, consultant class of Democrats appear inauthentic, uncaring, and out of touch. This election loss makes that an undeniable truth. People like progressive policy, they don’t completely hate Democrats as a whole, but they absolutely reject the establishment. Ironically, Democrats try and fail so hard to capitualte to Republicans, and yet the common ground is on the left, not the right.
At this juncture, with now 2 embarrasing losses to Trump, there is no more ceding to the center. Enough with the sterile, lifeless, and inoffensive nature of Democratic nominees and their campaigns. Time to be done with the wishy-washy belief systems and corporate handholding. Quit giving Republicans a seat at the table for parity’s sake. All that did was destroy Build Back Better, the IRA, student loan forgiveness, the minimum wage increase, and roll back COVID era welfare benefits. The Democratic party has to provide a working persons, leftist alternative to the kleptocratic hyper-capitalist right. Candidates must believe in it. They have to understand the details. They have to know that a better future is around the corner if policies like Medicare For All or the PRO Act come to pass.
Most importantly though, the narrtives put forth by our resident Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dumbass that I linked above have to die. Not just become a sort of backhanded thought, but evaporate never to be even remotely considered again. Deflecting blame from the Democrats and blaming “wokeism” or trans people just makes you sound like a Republican. These people either need to get with it or get out of the damn way. We can point the finger at voters for being dumb or clueless (they are), but there’s no way you’re going to convince someone who voted for both AOC and Trump to come to the proper conclusions by saying that. The facts of reality just slapped us in the face on the election night, and the facts say the Democratic party failed the American people.
As I mentioned in the brief introduction at the start, it would seem the best place for ordinary folks like ourselves to make any kind of change is to continue to live our lives. Get to know our neighbors. Volunteer, get involved, or participate. Join clubs. Build a communal atmosphere for a hopeful future. The future lies in the hands of those who know and do what’s right. There is an off chance politics makes its way into a discussion amongst your peers. The opportunity to find common ground is right now. The common ground is based in truth, it’s based in leveling wealth inequality, it’s based in caring for your neighbor, it’s based in bolstering education. The common ground is on the left. In doing so there is opportunity to shake the nihilistic cynicism that is entrenched in our society, and led to a figure like Trump appearing to be the only one that can save us.