Kamala Harris laughs at the idea of being a progressive
streamable.com
Watch "Kamala Harris laughs at the idea of being a progressive" on Streamable.

“Actually Mr. President, we are NOT progressive and are NOT going to ban fracking 😏 try again orange man. Medicare for all? I don’t even know what that is 😂🤣”

  • Fidel_Cashflow [none/use name]
    30·
    4 years ago

    This is why idpol sucks so bad, and one of the reasons that I'm against woke shit. In case anyone hasn't realized it yet: democrats are using idpol wokeness as a replacement for leftist policies. The democrats want to look like they're fresh and new and progressive, without actually making any systemic changes.

    Most normies primarily associate leftism with woke SJW idpol, they don't even know about "seizing the means" or anything like that. So when democrats say "look we have a WoC vice president and she's talking about 'lived experiences', that's what leftism is"

    And you know what? Most normies don't even like the woke shit. When they hear about "demigender greysexuals" they're like "okay that's weird, I guess I don't want to be a leftist". Wokeness is actually turning people away from leftism.

    I think that as leftists we should make it very clear (even clearer than we already do) that identity politics is not a replacement for actual systemic change. And personally, I think we should de-emphasize the wokeness and political correctness. We have a lot of winning 'leftist' policies like universal healthcare and taxing the rich, those have massive popular support so I think we should make sure those are always front and center. If we can help normies associate leftism primarily with economics instead of wokeness, I think we will be much more successful at building a mass movement and getting the numbers we need to actually make the changes that we want.

    • kilternkafuffle [any]
      ·
      4 years ago

      You're being dogpiled because you said some genuinely iffy shit, but I think you have good intentions and some kernels of truth.

      Where you are wrong, I think, is that you sound like you're trying to convert, like, White moderates or whatever. They're out of reach, and not because of idpol. For one, they already think of themselves as the rich and universal healthcare as being handouts to minorities. For another, you won't be able to pretend you're with them enough without turning into a Bannon or a Carlson and pushing away other leftists.

      Where you are correct, is that the Democrats try to kill leftist leaders and push away leftist voters by weaponizing idpol, e.g. Bernie is too old/White/male, Ilhan Omar/Corbyn are Antisemitic, Alex Morse is a sex fiend. We should be ready to point out that they're espousing faux-progressivism. But that doesn't mean dropping progressivism.

      we should de-emphasize the wokeness and political correctness. We have a lot of winning ‘leftist’ policies like universal healthcare and taxing the rich, those have massive popular support so I think we should make sure those are always front and center.

      I would word that as 'we should emphasize the most popular programs.'

      Most normies don’t even like the woke shit. When they hear about “demigender greysexuals” they’re like “okay that’s weird, I guess I don’t want to be a leftist”. Wokeness is actually turning people away from leftism.

      This is maybe true for old people, but young people hear "demigender greysexuals" and say "sign me the fuck up, fam." Being dynamic, being for change is one of the strengths of the left - we don't need to be dragged into the 21st century, we're already ahead of the curve. We eat ass and say "they." It's the traditionalists who have nothing exciting to offer.

      The kernel of truth is that many leftist spaces do nitpick the fuck out of people's politics. Wrongthinkers get shot on sight. "WHY DON'T YOU ALREADY KNOW THE VOCAB GUIDELINES THAT WERE PROMULGATED YESTERDAY, YOU FASCIST SCUM??" (Marxist-Leninists don't do that with idpol, but they have their own "if you don't already subscribe to our version of Leninism, fuck you" bullshit.) Chapo is uniquely awesome for not doing that, and I absolutely agree we should try to expand that formula.

    • kristina [she/her]
      1·
      4 years ago

      did your mother ever tell you to not lick lead paint off walls

    • redthebaron [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      like what is this shit yeah i am sure that not adressing race or gender or sexuality issues will not result in these great policies being made into exclusitionary towards them it will never happen i am sure the american state has never once done such a thing right like for real i give americans a pass on not knowing shit but if you can't recognize the fucking strawman in what you wrote it is kinda hard

        • Fidel_Cashflow [none/use name]
          ·
          4 years ago

          If there are problems that affect every group, and other problems that only affect specific groups, shouldn't we prioritize solving the problems that affect everyone?

          And I think that's especially true if solving the problems that affect minority groups are (whether it's fair or not) seen as divisive issues that result in pushback and potentially alienating normies?

          What if trying to solve all the problems at once prevents you from solving any of the problems? Seems to me like that's harmful to everyone, including the minority groups you're trying to help.

          By the way, I've exposed hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of people to powerful leftist agit-prop that I made myself. Not memes btw, but facts and figures about how bad capitalism is, with sources. And most of the people I've reached are normies, so I've probably played a significant role in radicalizing a massive amount of people towards leftism. I can pretty much guarantee I've done more to help leftism than 99.9% of BLM protesters have. I can pretty much guarantee I've done more to help leftism than you have.

    • spez_hole [he/him,they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      if you are antiracist or antimisogynist then you aren't against identity politics. it seems very difficult to distinguish between "good lib/left idpol" and "bad lib/left idpol" in this world where people are so alienated that Starbucks using surplus profit from exploited workers overseas to make an LGBT advertising campaign actually helps someone feel welcome. I guess we should try to be extremely cognizant of conflating meaningful praxis and the inspirational activities of corporations and politicians. We.... shouldn't pat ourselves on the back for treating trans people like humans. But these performative gestures, no matter how much they pander, cannot be given up; they just shouldn't replace M4A, anti-imperialism, etc..

    • boredymcbored [she/her]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Please read the origin of the phrase identity politics from the Combahee River Collective so you can see why you're wrong. Identity politics is a phrase that has been turned into a negative by conservative media. (Much like feminism was)