YOU are speaking!
Have you made any poignant commentary on the recent election in the U.S.? Do you have a good response to liberals who are upset with the results or process of the election? Have you written or seen something as a comment reply/post that you think has standalone value? Did you see a new take or analysis you hadn’t previously considered?
Whether it’s a long idea with lots of context, or a short and sweet one liner, we want those thoughts aggregated here. This post is intended to be a resource for comrades to draw from when having actual discussions outside of Hexbear both online or IRL regarding the election.
Consider this a mini-effortpost aggregator. This is not for shitposts, but humor is completely acceptable if it helps make the point.
Comrades in the Pacific Northwest might be interested in my post from last week, opening discussion about a socialist movement originating in and focusing on Cascadia: https://hexbear.net/comment/5576727
There are flaws, but rhetorically it should be liberal-friendly. We live in the most politically progressive region of the US, but we are constrained by U.S. federal politics. Perhaps we should develop a Cascadian identity of our own that better represents us. Getting your politics from CNN or MSNBC will never ever take you there (as has been thoroughly proven for three elections, how much harder can our states support Democrats?bits not enough).
Just read your post and you may have answered the question, but the concept of Cascadian secession has already been taken up by conservatives and white nationalists, right? So if it were to be a movement to try and radicalize more people to the left how would we break away from that association?
It's addressed in the last section of the linked post.
The Cascadia = white nationalism thing was mostly a figment the 70, very few people even know about it, and the imagery is used far far more by liberals in the present era. It is an important thing to be aware of, but it can be addressed down the line. For now, there is no movement, so you need to work with what you got. Rebranding is totally something that should be discussed down the line when there is a party (or other entity) to discuss it.
The thing is that in our region, it's not very much work at all to radicalize people further to the left of what they are. We are in a place (in the major metro regions) where there is a really solid amount of people that need to give up on the US because it as anti-progressive in pretty much every way (as people here already know). Socialists and progressive liberals need to stop viewing themselves as "American" and start seeing the US government as an outside force that is holding us back, because that's what it is.
Even with all that said, regardless of the "Cascadia" brand, the region has a long history of being infested with white nationalism. Cascadian socialists must be well educated on this, and it needs to be a pillar of the movement.
Got it, yeah I read the part towards the end but didn't know if you were speaking directly to the white nationalists of the Cascadia/State of Jefferson movement, which I havent heard much about in years, or more broadly about white nationalism in the region.
I do feel like it's a difficult job trying to convince people that the democratic party isn't in their best interests, even though none of these are swing states. People seem so firmly entrenched in their robust support for the dems, but at the very best they rely on "the lesser of two evils" and refuse to budge on that. Maybe it's less focus on that and focusing more on mutual aid/community building before trying to delve into politics directly?
I think you have it right, but also in Portland and Seattle (and other liberal strongholds) I think there is an opportunity right now where the Democrats are clearly just going to keep losing to trump/trump 2.0. Even if they deliver a reprieve every once in a while, anyone who is serious is having their "what is to be done?" moment (why wasn't it in 2016 or any other time? Let's not digress). I'm planning to tighten up a lot of my relationships in the next few weeks before MSM can figure out a way to get people placated again, although that might be really hard for them with Republicans stepping up.