Fresno Bee | Reactive violence by progressives only strengthens Trump Fresno Bee The recent congressional shooting is just another example of the disease of extremism infecting our country. It is not extremism of the left alone, as fake news experts Rep. Devin Nunes and Trump would have you believe. It is extremism alone, the idea ... |
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Reactive violence by progressives only strengthens Trump - Fresno Bee
There is an undeniable overlap between the tenets of the ethical culture movement and the ideals of many progressives. Founded in the 19th century, ethical culture movements attempt to apply secular and humanist values to real-world problems using sociological approaches similar to those effectively employed by organized religions. Despite viewing itself as a religious congregation, it attempts to use logic and ethics rather than theology as the basis of its moral mission.
So what advice would ethical movements have for progressives living in President Donald Trumps America and, in particular, those in deep red Trump country? According toDr. Richard Koral, a leader of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, its a lonely life but it doesnt have to be.
Progressives living in predominantly conservative areas sometimes feel isolated and alienated from their community and yearn for the society of others who share their most basic outlook on life, even if they do not agree on every feature of a plan or program, Koral explained to Salon. People find emotional sustenance in having an opportunity to be heard and understood by other people. It gives them confirmation of their core beliefs as well as support and encouragement to take a moral stand.
His advice for these individuals? Become activists, even if the opposition around you feels overwhelming.
Ethical NYC encourages activists to get involved, even if an issue doesnt directly impact them, Koral said. Thinking compassionately about fellow community members requires us to step outside of ourselves and put time into causes for the good of our community, not necessarily just for the good of ourselves.
He also emphasized thatcompassion must include even those with whom you disagree.
Ethical NYC is a proponent of compassionate communication,' Koral explained. In the age of screaming, its important to stop and listeneven to those who do not agree with our views. We strive to remember and recognize the humanity of others who have a different perspective. In order to effectively communicate ones views, especially in a way that will spark change, it is important to be patient, empathetic, and a listener as much as a talker.
This advice may seem obvious get involved in activist movements, think beyond yourself and show empathy toward those with whom you disagree. In an era that elected a race-baiting, science-hating reality TV star as its president, however, even common sense sometimes needs a boost. Regardless of whether one agrees with the ethical culture movements broader objectives, its hard to dissent from their sense that our society needs a lot of activism and empathy at this juncture in its history.
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Feeling blue in deep-red America: Advice for progressives in Trumpland - Salon
Tax justice must be sought by all progressives, supported by global trade unions US
The Country Programme Director (West Africa), America Solidarity Center, Mr. Christopher Johnson, has declared that tax justice in Nigeria must be sought by all progressive actors working for the improvement of the lives and life chances of workers.
Besides, he pointed out that it must be supported by the global trad union movement without regard to affiliation, sector, or political leanings.
Mr. Johnson was speaking at a two-day workshop on Tax Justice/Halt Illicit Financial Flows, jointly organised by the Public Service International (PSI), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) in conjunction with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
He said: As trade unionists we understand that the activism that we undertake in the workplace is only one component of a larger and necessary fight for Labour rights and social justice.
This critically important work being carried out by the convener of this event must be supported by the global trade union movement without regard to affiliation, sector, or political leanings. Tax Justice must be sought by all progressive actors working for the improvement of the lives, and life chances of workers.
The conveners seek to transform social justice discourse into campaigns that will empower workers in an effort to halt the vicious assault on their rights to enjoy dignity and respect on the job, and to have the taxes extracted from their wages benefit their communities.
This is a campaign that workers will stand behind .This is a campaign that they can actively contribute to. This is a campaign where the elite, of all types will be held to account by the masses they claim to serve.
We live in a world that is feeling the impact of economic inequality. Workers are paying their fair share of taxes and often times are receiving very little in terms of service delivery.
The partners; PSI, NLC, ITUC-Africa and Fredrich Ebert Stiftung, believe the only way to end poverty and inequality in Africa is to stop illicit financial flows, enthrone the practice of tax justice and end corruption on the continent.
The President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, commended the partners for supporting trade unions in Nigeria to develop, deploy and sustain their own tax justice campaign in order to contribute to national agenda to end illicit financial flows from the country and to contribute to the global demand where fair taxation reigns.
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Democracy for America has endorsed Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), its first endorsement of a House incumbent for the midterm cycle.
In a release provided first to The Hill, Democracy for America (DFA) commended Gallego for consistently standing up to President Trump since Trump's November election and praised him for leading the efforts against Trumps hateful agenda.
Gallego isnt considered vulnerable in 2018. DFA plans to make additional endorsements in support of House challengers later this week.
We need more progressives like Ruben Gallego who are not afraid of taking a stand on their principles, especially when they are doing so alone. Progressives lawmakers have a special responsibility for leadership that sometimes involves dragging their colleagues out of the establishment way of thinking that can envelope them in Washington.
The group, which was founded in 2004 by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D), has already been active in House campaigns this cycle and endorsed in almost all of the special elections this year with the exception of Democrat Archie Parnell, a former Goldman Sachs senior adviser who ran in South Carolinas open seat race.
DFA backed the Democratic nominees in Georgia, Montana and Kansas, which were special elections held to replace Trump Cabinet nominees. The group also backed Democrat Jimmy Gomez to fill the House seat vacated by now-California Attorney General Xavier BecerraXavier BecerraMajor progressive group rolls out first incumbent House endorsement California restricts state travel to Texas, other states over LGBT laws Gingrich: Media was right, special elections were a referendum MORE. Gomez was the only Democrat to win one of this year's five special elections.
Democrats are looking to flip 24 seats to regain control of the House majority, a tough feat even in a cycle when the party of the president historically loses seats in midterm years. The party was dealt a blow after a disappointing loss in the closely watched Georgia race, but national Democrats believe that the House is in play next year.
DFA has also gotten involved in Senate campaigns and announced its first slate of Senate endorsements earlier this year, backing Sens. Tammy BaldwinTammy BaldwinMajor progressive group rolls out first incumbent House endorsement Dems push for more action on power grid cybersecurity Overnight Regulation: Labor groups fear rollback of Obama worker protection rule | Trump regs czar advances in Senate | New FCC enforcement chief MORE (D-Wis.), Sherrod BrownSherrod BrownMajor progressive group rolls out first incumbent House endorsement Dems push for more action on power grid cybersecurity Senate Banking panel huddles with regulators on bank relief MORE (D-Ohio), Bernie SandersBernie SandersSanders: GOP healthcare bill 'barbaric and immoral' Sanders dodges question on FBI investigation into his wife Major progressive group rolls out first incumbent House endorsement MORE (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenSenate Dems step up protests ahead of ObamaCare repeal vote Major progressive group rolls out first incumbent House endorsement Speaker Ryan, the fate of our policy toward Russia rests in your hands MORE (D-Mass.).
Baldwin and Brown face tough reelection races in states that Trump carried in 2016. Sanders and Warren are expected to easily win new six-year terms next year.
Democrats have a much tougher Senate map in 2018. They need to defend 25 seats, while Republicans need to only protect eight seats.
Ten of the seats Democrats must defend are in states carried by Trump. Trump carried Ohio by 8 points and delivered an even bigger surprise by winning Wisconsin, which hadnt gone red since the 1984 election.
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Major progressive group rolls out first incumbent House endorsement - The Hill
Moments after rightwing Republican Karen Handel won Americas costliest congressional race ever in Georgias sixth district, the de rigueur post-election quarrelling erupted: Why did Democrat Jon Ossoff lose, and what does it mean for the Democrats and American politics?
Many on the left bemoaned the defeat as yet another sign that the Democratic Party refuses to wake up to the populist moment.
Longtime sixth-district resident and scholar Billy Michael Honor nailed it in Huffington Post, observing that Ossoffs comfortably centrist and noncommittal message lacked any compelling progressive vision for the future. It also lacked any way to substantively convince the average politically uninterested citizen why they should give a damn about the Democratic Party. The message simply says, vote for us, we wont be as bad as the other group.
There is no evidence that a progressive populist would have fared better than Ossoff, who came closer than any recent Democrat to winning the solidly Republican district. But that doesnt mean the Democratic Party shouldnt be running bold unapologetic progressives in every district, win or lose, to shift the electorate and help mobilize a massive grassroots movement.
Beyond the particulars of the Ossoff race and the politics of Georgias 6th district, theres a deeper reason why this wont happen.
Its not that the Democratic Party cant wake up to Americans surging support for a bold challenge to the corporate stranglehold over our economy and politics. Its that it wont.
The Ossoff loss isnt the clearest illustration of the Democrats addiction to centrism and neoliberalismone could argue his brand of politics, like it or not, was a close fit for the center-right district. Still, what happened in Georgia is yet another blaring signal of the partys endemic refusal to embrace progressive populism. Its not that the Democratic Party cant wake up to Americans surging support for a bold challenge to the corporate stranglehold over our economy and politics. Its that it wont.
The Democratic Party leadership remains hopelessly bound to corporate power and profits. This fatal yet indefatigable marriage goes beyond the most obvious layer of corporate PACs and lobbyistsit spans the neoliberal agenda itself.
To become a true party of the people that stands courageously and consistently for workers, unions, low-income communities of all colors, and our ecological future, the Democratic Party must divorce itself not only from corporate cash, but from its deeper enmeshment with corporate power.
The dynamics that propelled the Trump nightmare and that plague a Democratic Party revival are deep-seated. When Trump stumbled his way into the White House, many commentators pronounced the death of neoliberalism and the corporate centrism that defined Hillary Clinton. Yet under Trump, corporate interests and the evisceration of the public sector are of course powering on full-throttle, deepening the alienated anger and dispossessionand the racism, immigrant-scapegoating and xenophobiathat helped enable Trump.
As Cornel West assessed shortly after the November 8 election, This lethal fusion of economic insecurity and cultural scapegoating brought neoliberalism to its knees. In short, the abysmal failure of the Democratic Party to speak to the arrested mobility and escalating poverty of working people unleashed a hate-filled populism and protectionism that threaten to tear apart the fragile fiber of what is left of U.S. democracy.
From Jimmy Carter to Bill Clinton to Barack Obama, the Democrats have helped pave the path for their own demise by failing to challenge the corporate power interests. These interests, along with Republican corporate allegiances, preclude the kind of change that workers, low-income people, immigrants and communities of color urgently need.
From Carter to Clinton to Obama, the Democrats have paved the path for their own demise by failing to challenge the corporate power interests.
This doesnt mean the Democrats dont deliver some changes that benefit these communities. But the partys entrenched corporate allegiances preclude delivering the kind of changesuch as universal single-payer health care, a true living wage, muscular union protections, and redistributing wealth and profits back into communitiesthat would uplift peoples lives and mobilize people to the polls.
In short, the Democratic Partys marriage with corporate interestseven if testy and stressed at times, like any marriagemeans that a bold progressive shift is not about waking up, but about breaking up.
With the 2018 midterms now looming, progressives face the same-old maddening choice of either pushing the Democratic Party to prioritize human and environmental needs over corporate interests, or building an alternative party movement.
Another path, Dave Lindorff argued recently in Counterpunch, would follow the model of the Civil Rights Movement and build a movement on the streets and in local communities that presents the political establishment with the untenable prospect of ongoing mass militant opposition to which it has to respond.
For the Democrats to be a true opposition party, Lindorff wrote, the party would have to be thoroughly deconstructed and rebuilt. The millionaire-packed Democratic National Committee leadershipthe lobbyists, the elected officials and the well-heeled donorswould have to be tossed out entirely, and replaced by genuine progressives, labor activists, environmentalists, representatives of various minority groups and (gasp!) socialists.
There are promising signs of a resurgent democratic socialism, particularly among millennials. Groups like the Democratic Socialists of America have soared in the months since the election. And the array of anti-Trump efforts, even if scattered, at least evidences a sizable mass of people ready to fight, and keep fighting.
Ultimately, however, these movements need a political home both in and out of the voting booth. And until they build one (either a new party or a potent pressure movement that can force the Democrats leftward), the Democratic Party is the only electoral game in town.
In this long, slow march, the first step is to stop expecting the Democratic Party to wake up and run candidates who challenge the very interests that undergirdand in fact inhabitthe partys infrastructure and identity.
The sooner progressives and the left embrace that reality, the better. The only way were going to get either a truly progressive Democratic Party or a viable alternative to it, is to name the fundamental problem. The party wont change until it is forced to divorce itself from corporate power and the neoliberal agendaa marriage that harms both the party and the public.
Christopher D. Cook is an award-winning journalist who writes for Harpers, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones and others. He is the author of Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis, and a contributing writer for The Progressive. Visit him at http://www.christopherdcook.com.
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Why the Democrats Won't Wake Up - Progressive.org