Mediaboss Marketing

If you want to make a progressive squirm, tell him that history is cyclical. Whether they realize it or not, progressives borrow their entire worldview from Christianity, and therefore have a fundamentally millenarian view of history. The idea of cycles makes them uncomfortable.

Thats why Tom Ashbrook was so unnerved yesterday. Dont get me wrong, Ashbrooks radio program out of Boston, On Point, is usually a measured, thoughtful discussion of politics and current events. Its one of the few NPR shows that doesnt suffer from the obvious, sometimes cringe-inducing bias.

But Tuesdays show was a notable exception. One of Ashbrooks guests was Neil Howe, author of a book published in 1997 called The Fourth Turning, which argues human history is cyclical, not linear, and that its major cycles are marked by catastrophes like war or economic collapse. Specifically, Howe and his co-author William Strauss argue that history in America and most modern societies unfolds in a recurring cycle of four stages, or turnings, of about 20 years each. Each stage has its own characteristics, moving in progression from maturation, growth, decay, and then destruction or crisis.

Howe has described this last period, the fourth turning, as a time when institutional life is reconstructed from the ground up, always in response to a perceived threat to the nations very survival. He identifies 1945, 1865, and 1794World War II, the Civil War, and the end of the revolutionary eraas fourth turnings that constituted new founding moments in American history. He also says that were in a fourth turning right now.

Its an interesting theory, and theres ample historical evidence to recommend it. Theres nothing unorthodox about suggesting that history moves in cycles, of course, and the authors observation that our current moment in history, both economically and geopolitically, closely mirrors the 1930s is in many ways correct.

But among liberal commentators the book has now become synonymous with white nationalism and the alt-right. Why? For one reason, because Steve Bannon really likes it. But thats not the only reason Howes book is problematic. The larger problem is that it refutes the progressive view of history.

As a good progressive, Ashbrook couldnt let that lie. Setting aside his usual fair-mindedness and calm demeanor, he tried to brand Howe as an apocalyptic ideologue yearning for Armageddon. What bothers Ashbrook and other hand-wringing critics of Howes book is the idea that once you recognize were in a crisis cycle, some people (like Bannon and Trump) will want to accelerate the crisis to feed their own apocalyptic tendencies. At one point, Ashbrook asks, unaware of the irony, Are you encouraging people to race toward the rapture here?

Of course, a cyclical view of history precludes the idea of a rapture. Howe noted his book is descriptive, not prescriptive, and that a cyclical view of history is in fact the opposite of an apocalyptic view, which is all about history coming to an end. We can navigate these periods well or poorly, he says. This is not anti-choice, it is simply saying, be aware of the season youre in.

Ashbrook countered that World War II and the Civil War were kind of apocalyptic because millions of people died. Its not something that one would steer toward given the choice, he says.

Probably without realizing it, Ashbrook showed that a truly progressive worldview is far more dangerous than Howes cyclical theory of history. If you dont believe that nations must sometimes make hard choicessay, to stamp out slavery or Nazismthen a choice will eventually be thrust upon you under far worse circumstances. Ashbrook suggested, no doubt without meaning to, that America could have chosen some other course than to destroy Nazism. But as Howe said in reply, We had to fight them somewhere.

Progressives take it as a matter of faith that history has sides, that it is heading in a certain direction, and that its up to us to usher in a secular paradise. For progressives like Ashbrook, merely anticipating a crisis in the age of Trump makes a crisis more likely to happen, which mightharm the progressive cause. Hence, writers like Howe are guilty of enabling people like Bannon.

After all, humanity is supposed to be marching toward that secular paradise. Even when bad things happenlike Trump and Bannonits okay because, as Obama liked to say (quoting Dr. Martin Luther King), the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Or, as Ashbrook asked Howe, What about working for peace, justice, international equity? The things that might hold a crisis at bay?

But because some crises cannot be held at bay, utopia can be a dangerous destination. A hundred years ago, we were determined to stay neutral in the First World War, to work for peace and justice and international equityeven in the face of a European conflict that saw mass civilian casualties and the first use of chemical weapons, on the western front. Eventually, a choice was forced upon us and we went to war, but not before millions had already been slaughtered.

Today, after eight years of the Obama administration refusing to make hard choices abroad, international crises are mounting. Before long, we will no doubt be forced to choose, despite our desire for peace, despite wanting to hold crisis at bay. Maybe it will be in Syria, where a half-million people have already been slaughtered, some of them by chemical weapons.Who says history isnt cyclical?

Read this article:
Why Progressives Hate Steve Bannon's Cyclical View Of History - The Federalist

Millennials represent one of the most progressive generations in history. From their support for raising the minimum wage to establishing free community college, to backing Black Lives Matter, young people strongly support progressive values and policies.

But a new report shows that financial support for conservative youth organizations far outpaces support for progressive youth organizations, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. In 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, conservative youth organizations had access to almost three times more money than liberal youth organizations.

This takes a real toll on young people who aspire to work in the progressive movement.

The report describes the struggles of one young woman,Sarah Duensing, who had her sights set on working on Capitol Hill after graduating from college. Sarah was told by her college career counselor that there was only funding in her state of Utah to work with conservative policymakers. Still determined, Sarah moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue a position on the Hill anyway, but was never able to find a paid internship. Ultimately, she gave up her dream of working on Capitol Hill.

There are many times in my life that I have been forced to choose paid work at someplace that was irrelevant to my goals, such as a testing center or Old Navy, instead of political engagement, just because I needed to pay the rent, Sarah said.

Her experience was certainly not unique. The report states that of the 100 U.S. Senate offices, 27 Republican offices and only 15 Democratic or Independent offices offer paid internships.

The gap in funding between conservative and progressive youth organizations has actually gotten worse. Progressive youth organizations are now out-funded by conservative groups by a three-to-one ratio, up from a two-to-one ratio in 2008. With the exception of one progressive youth organization in 2014, contributions to such groups have flatlined as contributions to conservative youth groups grow.

The 2014 total revenue of the largest conservative youth organization, the Charles Koch Institute, was greater than that of the four largest progressive youth organizations combined.

Progressives might assume that the difference is the much deeper pockets of the right. But in addition to giving more money, right-wing funders are offering support with fewer strings attached, with an eye toward the long-term health of the conservative movement. While progressive funders tend to support specific projects, often tied to voter turnout for elections, conservative funders are more likely to focus on leadership development, capacity building, or to give unrestricted funds.

This has paid off through a new generation of conservative elected officials, judges, and thought leaders who have been trained by a well-oiled conservative leadership pipeline.

Young people believe in progressive values. In just the few months since the election, nearly 100 new progressive organizations have taken root, many of them organized by young people. This enthusiasm needs to be supported and developed in order for it to translate into long-term change at the state, local, and national level.

A few initiatives have responded, including the Young People For program, which supports long-term leadership development training, and Generation Progress, which uses activism, journalism, and events to engage young people across the country.

The grassroots energy awakened by the 2016 election marks a real opportunity for reinvigorating the left. Many small donors, together, can fund a movement as well as a handful of the super-rich. But it takes organization and long-term thinking to have a serious impact on policy. Progressives can help by providing support to turn this passion into effective, lifelong advocacy.

Christin Cici Battle is the director of Young People For at People For the American Way Foundation. Maggie Thompson is the executive director of Generation Progress at the Center for American Progress.

Original post:
Progressives Need to Put Their Money Where Their Youth Is - Progressive.org

Becca Tasker, a junior majoring in anthropology, first started researching civil rights in middle school.

She had learned about the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy who was lynched in 1955 after being falsely accused of flirting with a white woman.

I was always into history, and I started learning about the formation and fight for civil rights in the U.S., she said. My parents encouraged my curiosity by buying me books when they could, and taking me to the library.

So on a chilly Wednesday night in March, Tasker taught four students gathered in room 227 of the Cathedral of Learning about civil rights and liberties when protesting. The event, called Know Your Rights! was part of a weekly meeting for Pitt Progressives, a new Pitt club focused on getting left-leaning students on campus engaged in the community.

Tasker, the social media coordinator for Pitt Progressives, covered the legal limits for American protesters, photographers and detainees. She instructed her audience on exercising their First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights without going too far and risking arrest or injury at the hands of the police.

This year, more than 250 protesters, some of whom were Pitt students, have been arrested in Pittsburgh and in Washington D.C. for aggravated assault, resisting arrest and trespassing charges all related to protesting.

Other campus groups have continued to raise funds for those who are currently still facing legal charges making Taskers presentation all the more relevant.

If you are detained, ask what crime you are being detained for. Until you ask to leave, you cant walk away you could be charged with a crime, Tasker told the students. How the cops will react depends on what theyre questioning you for, the color of your skin and what part of the country they stopped you in.

Sam Spearing, a junior political science major and Pitt Progressives business manager, said that knowing your rights is especially important for young people who are fresh to the political scene. Spearing referred to nationwide protests that broke out after Trumps controversial executive order banning travel between the United States and seven countries with majority Muslim populations.

[Knowing your rights] has a newfound relevance, said Sam Spearing, a junior political science major and Pitt Progressives business manager. Theres been a lot of civil disobedience recently at the JFK airport after the [first] travel ban, for instance.

Jeff Migliozzi, a junior marketing major and president of Pitt Progressives, said the group grew out of Students for Bernie, an organization dedicated to supporting Bernie Sanders efforts for the Democratic bid during the 2016 election. Although Students for Bernie was focused on the primary election and most of its group members did not join Pitt Progressives, it officially became a student group three months after the 2016 election.

Before the Pitt Progressives, the left wing at Pitt had to choose between the anarchists or the College Democrats. We wanted to fill in the void between them, he said. The Democratic Party is more corporate-leaning. As for middle ground between us and the anarchists, there is probably much less because we do not believe in violence or their general philosophy on society.

This meeting was about civil rights, but the Pitt Progressives meetings are different each week members will present a topic, listen to a guest speaker or hold an event. The gatherings are centered on a common desire to make students more politically active, according to Jeff Migliozzi, the clubs president.

The main goal of every meeting is getting students more involved politically in our community at the federal, state, city or university level of politics, Migliozzi, a junior marketing major, said.

The club recently had an open mic night March 29 for students to express their feelings about the election and the inauguration through poetry, rap and spoken word. At its next meeting on April 12, they will hold a poster-making party in anticipation of the Pittsburgh satellite of the March for Science on April 22, which they are planning and participating in. The March for Science, held on Earth Day, in Washington, D.C., brings attention to funding cuts to the sciences under the Trump administration.

The march is going to have thousands of participants and scientist speakers, so it is far larger in scale than anything else we have done, Migliozzi said.

Although Migliozzi would not say which guest speakers are attending the Pittsburgh satellite march, he said the organizers will announce the speakers next week in a press release.

According to Tasker, Progressivism isnt solely about action its about taking leftist ideologies and making policies that will work for the people.

[Progressivism is] about moving forward with our actions to make the world a better place, Tasker said. We want to continue the passion from the 2016 election and mobilize students to create a passionate movement to help the greater Pittsburgh area.

More broadly, the Pitt Progressives will focus on working toward universal health care, raising the minimum wage and resisting the Trump administration by supporting the sanctuary campus movement.

It is important that every person, progressive or not, defends the most vulnerable in our society, and that includes immigrants being rounded up by ICE. We are a nation of immigrants, and Pittsburgh is a city of immigrants, Migliozzi said.

And though Trump hasnt been in office for even 100 days, Migliozzi said Pitt Progressives is already looking toward increasing student engagement in the next election, four years from now.

Voter registration will be huge next year. National organizers of 2016 campaigns noted the lack of political engagement and turnout for such a big school, he said. We need to change that [through activism], and this can be done without any official party affiliation.

printPrint

Read the original:
Pitt Progressives aims to fill gap in the left - University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News

On April 11, Democratic congressional candidate James Thompson came close to defeatingRepublican candidate State Treasurer John Estes in a special election in Kansas, with just over a6 percent marginin a district that President DonaldTrumpwon by 27 points. However, the bigger story is how Thompson ran a formidable campaign without support from theDemocratic National Committee(DNC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). This lack of support likely stemmed from the DCCCs strategy to abandon rural America and their disdain for candidates who embrace Sen. Bernie Sanders progressive agenda.

New DNC ChairTom Perezsaidduring his own campaign,A 50-state strategy is the only way forward. That starts with rural outreach and organizers in every zip code.However, he already broke this promise withthe first congressional election Democrats ran under his leadership. Perez made the excuse to the Washington Post, There are thousands of elections every year. Can we invest in all of them? That would require a major increase in funds. His response fails to acknowledge that the Democratic Party has a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee devoted solely to funding and supporting candidates for the House of Representatives, of which there are not thousands of elections for every year. Perez and theDemocratic Partyalso didnt capitalize on Thompsons surge in the race by fundraising on his behalf.

In contrast, Republicanssensing the race could be closedevotedsubstantial resources to Estes campaign. Sen. Ted Cruz and Vice President Mike Pence made appearances on his behalf, and Republicans added $100,000 in funds at the last minute to his campaign.

TheDemocraticestablishment tried to appropriate Thompsons success in the district as a testament that anti-Trumpsentiments will translate to big wins forDemocratsin the 2018 midterm elections. However, when pressed on why they failed to support Thompson, they dismissed criticisms for ignoring the race. The Huffington Postreported, A DCCC official who spoke with The Huffington Poston Monday, however, argued that the partys involvement would have been extremely damaging to Thompson because it would have been used against him by Republicans, who have poured significant money into the race. Thompson has performed better than expected in the race because he stayed under the radar, the official added. This claim makes little sense, especially given that Thompsons Republican opponentportrayed himas an establishmentDemocratanyways.

Rather than this special election representing an anomaly or misstep from theDemocraticleadership, theres aprevailing trendwithin the partys establishment to select and support weak, centrist candidates who provide the party with opportunities to fundraise from corporatedonors. This trend is symptomatic of a revolving door within theDemocratic Partyleadership, where party officials often sell out to work for Republican lobbying firms.The InterceptsLee Fangpointedout Mark Squier, John Donovan, and CR Wooters as just a few examples.

Currently, in a special congressional election in Georgia to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, theDemocraticestablishment is puttingvast resources behind establishment Democrat Jon Ossoff. Theformer legislative assistantand filmmaker has strongtiesto Rwandan dictator andClinton FoundationallyPaul Kagame. In addition to the partys funds, Ossoffs pro-business centristplatformhas afforded his campaign several million dollars.Democratsare hoping that their support of Ossoff will translate into a victory, which will elevate the narrative that that centristDemocraticcandidates perform better than progressives, who the party continues to ignore despite their growing popularity.

See the article here:
The DNC and DCCC Confirm They Won't Support Progressive Candidates - Observer

Vivien Schmidt

In recent years, the European Union has suffered through a cascading set of crises, including the Eurozone crisis, the refugee crisis, the security crisis, and Brexit. But rather than bringing the EU together, with concerted responses that would demonstrate its common values on its 60th anniversary, these crises have revealed cross cutting divisions among member states. Whats more, they have been accompanied by major crises of politics and democracy for the EU as well as its member states.

At EU level, questions are increasingly raised not only about the (lack of) effectiveness in solving the various crises but also democratic legitimacy. The causes are EU governance processes characterized by the predominance of closed-door political bargains by leaders in the Council and by a preponderance of technocratic decisions by EU officials in the Commission and the European Central Bank, without significant oversight by the European Parliament. At national level, concerns focus on the ways in which the EUs very existence has diminished elected governments authority and control over growing numbers of policies for which they had traditionally been alone responsible, often making it difficult for them to fulfill their electoral promises or respond to their voters concerns and expectations.

The result has been increasing political disaffection and discontent across European countries, with a growing Euroskepticism that has fueled the rise of populist parties on the political extremes. In a world in which citizens have become increasingly dissatisfied with current economics, politics, and society, populist politicians have been able to find the words to channel their anger. Using rhetorical strategies and uncivil language in a post-truth environment that rejects experts and the mainstream media, they have reshaped the political landscape by framing the debates in fresh ways while using new and old media to their advantage as they upend conventional politics.

The underlying causes of the malaise fueling the rise of populists are known. These include the increase in inequality and those left behind, the growth of a socio-cultural politics of identity uncomfortable with the changing faces of the nation, and the hollowing out of mainstream political institutions and party politics. But although these help explain the sources of citizens underlying anger, they do not address the central puzzles: Why now, in this way, with this kind of populism? And where are the social democrats?

The rise of populism, in particular on the extreme right, constitutes a challenge to political stability and democracy not seen since the 1920s and 1930s. Progressives need to come up with new and better ideas that rally citizens around more positive messages that serve better ends than those of the populist extremes on the right. These need to be ideas that they can communicate effectively through the new social media as well as the old, and that resonate with a broad range of citizens. But which ideas, then?

With regard to economic and socio-economic ideas, progressives have some rethinking to do. Social democratic parties have yet to come to terms with their own complicity in the myriad of neo-liberal policies focused on liberalizing financial markets, deregulating labor markets, and rationalizing the welfare state that left large portions of the electorate open to the populist siren calls of the extreme right. Such policies, in many cases led by the social democrats in the name of a progressive agenda, benefited some people a lot: the top classesnot just the 1% but the upper 20% since 2008 but not the in-betweens, who neither benefited from the boom for the top nor the welfare for the bottom. These are the people who feel left behind, and are! They are increasingly frustrated, resentful, and insecure; they are looking for explanations and answers; and only the extreme right speaks to them! But what it proposesincreasing protectionism and an end to free trade, dismantling the EU and getting rid of the Euro, closing borders to free movement and to immigrationare potentially disastrous for themselves, their countries, Europe, and the world. At the same time, the populists concerns ought not be dismissed out of hand, in particular with regard to protecting the welfare state and jobs, nor should the populist desire for more national control over the decisions that affect people the most be ignored. The questions are: How to do this in the context not just of globalization but also of the Eurozone crisis, with its austerity rules for countries in trouble, and its stability rules for all, which limit investment for growth. And what to do about the EU more generally, when it appears to control what national leaders can do, thereby limiting their responsiveness to their own citizens?

For countries in the euro, the EU needs to give back to the member states the flexibility to devise policies that work for them. The Eurozone has been reinterpreting the rules by stealth for quite a while now, by introducing increasing flexibility in the rules and numbers while denying it in the public discourse. As a result, the Eurozone operates with suboptimal policies that, although revised to allow for improving performance, still havent resolved its crisis once and for all. Countries in Southern Europe especially suffer as a result. It is about time that political leadersand progressives most of allpush harder for a rethinking of the rules, so that everyone can benefit from being in the Euro and, indeed, in the EU.

One way of rethinking the rules would involve making the whole exercise of the European Semester more bottom-up and flexible, rather than continuing with top-down stability policieshowever flexibly interpreted through derogations of the rules and recalibrations of the numbers. The Eurozone already has an amazing architecture of economic coordination, reaching into all its members ministries of finance and country economic experts. Why not use that coordination to ensure that countries themselves determine what works for their very specific economic growth models and varieties of capitalism? And get the new competitiveness councils or the existing fiscal councils to act more as industrial policy councils rather than structural adjustment hawks. The countries decisions on the yearly budgetary cycle could be debated with the other member states in the Eurogroup as well as the Commission, the EP, and the Council to enhance democratic legitimacy. They might additionally be coordinated with the ECB to allow for greater differentiation in euro-members macroeconomic targets, to match their particular circumstances while fitting within the overall targets (see here).

Such a bottom-up approach is likely not only to promote better economic performance but also much more democratic legitimacy at national level. This is because it would put responsibility for the countrys economics back in national governments hands as well as encouraging more legitimizing deliberation at EU level. All this in turn could help counter the populist drift, as political parties of the mainstream right and left could begin again to differentiate their policies from one another, with debates on and proposals for different pathways to economic health and the public good, that they then discuss and legitimate at the EU level as well.

None of this will work, however, if member states continue to have to contend with excessive debt loads (e.g., Greece and Italy), if they are left without significant investment funds provided by banks or the state (e.g., Portugal, Spain, Italy, and even France), as well as if some countries continue to have massive surpluses while failing to invest sufficiently (i.e., Germany and other smaller Northern European countries). Some extra form of solidarity is necessary, beyond the European Stability Mechanism. Innovative ideas for renewal, such as Eurobonds, Europe-wide unemployment insurance, EU investment resources that dwarf the Juncker Plan, a EU self-generated budget, and other mechanisms for other areas of concernincluding solidarity funds on refugee or EU migrationwould be necessary. Failing this, at the very least member states should be allowed to invest their own resources in infrastructure, education and training, research and development, incurring long-term debt at low interest rateswithout adding this to deficit and debt calculations, as under current rules.

Finally, we need to re-envision the EU itself neither as single speed or two-speed with a hard core around the Eurozone. Rather, it should be seen as multi-speed with a soft core of members resulting from the overlap of different clusters of member states in the EUs many different policy communities, with different duos or trios playing leadership roles. Here, the EU could retain its appeal even for an exiting country like the UK, which could decide that it should reclaim a leadership role in Common Security and Defense Policy, as one of two European nuclear powers, while standing aside in other areas. Seeing the future of EU integration as a differentiated process of participation in different policy communities beyond the Single Market would thus also allow for each such community to further deepen by constituting its own special system of governance.

For such differentiated integration to work, however, with all member states feeling part of this soft core EU, whatever their level of involvement, they need to be full members of the institutions. This means that all members should have a voice in all areas, but vote (in the Council and the EP) only in those in which they participate. Since all members are part of the most significant policy community, the Single Market, this ensures that they will be voting a lot. (In contrast, non-members like exiting Britain or Norway would have voice and vote only in those areas in which they participate.) For the Eurozone, this would mean envisioning that where some members in future, say, pledge their own resources to a EU budget, their representatives would be the only ones to vote on it and its use, although everyone could discuss it (no separate Eurozone Parliament, then, but separate voting for members of a deeper budgetary union).

The knotty problem remains the question of politics and democracy. At the moment, the EU serves the purpose of the populists, by hollowing out national representative institutions, allowing populists to claim they are the true representatives of the people. To change this, the EU needs to do more to reinforce citizen representation and participation. For the Eurozone in particular, this at the very least demands more involvement of the European Parliament in decision-making, through a return to the Community Method. Turning Eurozone treaties into ordinary legislation, for example, would help break the stalemate that makes it impossible to change such legislation (given the unanimity rule), and make them subject to political debate. But the EP would also need to find more ways to bring national parliaments into EU level decision-making. And the EU as a whole must devise new means of encouraging citizen participation, from the ground up.

The response to the populist attraction is not to run after the extreme right in terms of policiesas the center right has done on immigration, for examplebut rather to rethink the EU and its policies while reconnecting with the basic principles of social democracy and progressivism. Questions like what does social democracy mean in the 21st century? need to be thoroughly addressed, to renew long-standing philosophies of social justice, democratic representation, and more in a still Europeanizing and globalizing world, with a new progressive narrative about what should be done. And what this must mean is not just considering the re-decentralization of certain policies, such as economic policy in the Eurozone, but also the globalization of others, such as corporate tax policy.

This comment is a shorter version of an article published in theProgressive Post online (April 3) which also formed the basis for a talk at the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) Conference (March 21),Looking for a Different Europe. Reflections and Perspectives,to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the EU.

Original post:
How do Progressives Fight Back Against Populism? - Social Europe