Some things liberals could be doing

Sam Smith

Liberals need to deal with their image

Since the New Deal and Great Society there’s been a major shift in the image of America’s liberals. They are considered by too many these days to be part of a non-friendly elite. The growth of higher education among liberals has been one factor but it’s also true that you just don’t hear liberals talking about working class issues much anymore.. Combined with the collapse of labor unions, this has made it easy for a con artist like Trump to pretend that he is a friend of those at the lower end of the economic system.

The fact that someone has a grad school degree doesn’t mean affiliation with the working class has to be all that difficult. After all, Franklin Roosevelt went to an upscale prep school, Harvard College and Columbia Law School and still managed to create the New Deal.

Activists need to put issues ahead of identity

This isn’t a moral argument; it’s a mathematical one. The reason you’re called part of a minority is because there aren’t that many of you. Pick the right issues and you can find yourself with all sorts of unexpected allies. Imagine if black and latino leaders made working class economic issues one of their prime concerns. Based on their experience they would not only be good at it but they would build alliances they don’t have today.  Consider that there are 8 million blacks in poverty but also14 million whites waiting for someone to help them out of this state.

Cut the protests before an election

Adolph Reed Jr put it well: “"A couple of months ago in the midst of the street actions around police killings and Black Lives Matter… I went back and checked to make sure, that in the summer of 1964, the main civil rights leadership, and this included King, Rustin, Randolph and John Lewis of SNCC, the Urban League, CORE, called a press conference and put out a statement calling for a moratorium on demonstrations. They put this statement out on the 30th of July, calling for a moratorium on demonstrations until after the November election. Why? Because of the imperative to defeat Goldwater. And it’s just a way of thinking strategically about politics and they had the cultural force and the organizational ability to see that call through and to enforce the moratorium.”

Have the young launch a counterculture

One of the things that made the 1960s work is that the young had a counterculture that helped to bring them together. We don’t need an imitation of that but something new and relevant to the next generation. Part of the secret is music and symbols, but most of all new values and lifestyle.

Help rural and small town America

Because liberalism is a heavily urban phenomenon, its agenda his little to say about rural or small town America.  But consider the fact, thanks to the electoral vote, that the states that would decide the 2020 elections included ones like Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia. Imagine how that story might has changed if the liberal agenda had included things like rural healthcare, transportation and internet access. Just talking about such things shows a concern that starts to change relations.

Don’t just treat ethnicity as a problem to be resolved

Sure there is too much prejudice and indifference out there, but if we are to build a true multi-ethnic culture we have to do a better job of celebrating and helping cross-cultural communities and projects. The media could be a big help – covering the progress of ethnic groups, mixed ethnic programs and so forth. As noted here before, some 17% of new marriages are of mixed ethnicity but no one mentions it. Also, teach the history of different cultures in schools could make a big difference. Being fair and decent is the first step but our goal should be to become friends and partners.

 

 

This isn’t a moral argument; it’s a mathematical one. The reason you’re called part of a minority is because there aren’t that many of you. Pick the right issues and you can find yourself with all sorts of unexpected allies. Imagine if black and latino leaders made working class economic issues one of their prime concerns. Based on their experience they would not only be good at it but they would build alliances they don’t have today. Consider that there are 8 million blacks in poverty but also14 million whites waiting for someone to help them out of this state.
Cut the protests before an election



Adolph Reed Jr put it well: “"A couple of months ago in the midst of the street actions around police killings and Black Lives Matter… I went back and checked to make sure, that in the summer of 1964, the main civil rights leadership, and this included King, Rustin, Randolph and John Lewis of SNCC, the Urban League, CORE, called a press conference and put out a statement calling for a moratorium on demonstrations. They put this statement out on the 30th of July, calling for a moratorium on demonstrations until after the November election. Why? Because of the imperative to defeat Goldwater. And it’s just a way of thinking strategically about politics and they had the cultural force and the organizational ability to see that call through and to enforce the moratorium.”
Have the young launch a counterculture



One of the things that made the 1960s work is that the young had a counterculture that helped to bring them together. We don’t need an imitation of that but something new and relevant to the next generation. Part of the secret is music and symbols, but most of all new values and lifestyle.
Help rural and small town America



Because liberalism is a heavily urban phenomenon, its agenda his little to say about rural or small town America. But consider the fact, thanks to the electoral vote, that the states that would decide the 2020 elections included ones like Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia. Imagine how that story might has changed if the liberal agenda had included things like rural healthcare, transportation and internet access. Just talking about such things shows a concern that starts to change relations.
Don’t just treat ethnicity as a problem to be resolved



Sure there is a lot of prejudice and indifference out there, but if we are to build a true multi-ethnic culture we have to do a better job of celebrating and helping cross-cultural communities and projects. The media could be a big help – covering the progress of ethnic groups, mixed ethnic programs and so forth. As noted here before, some 17% of new marriages are of mixed ethnicity but no one mentions it. Also, teach the history of different cultures in schools could make a big difference. Being fair and decent is the first step but our goal should be to become friends and partners.







This isn’t a moral argument; it’s a mathematical one. The reason you’re called part of a minority is because there aren’t that many of you. Pick the right issues and you can find yourself with all sorts of unexpected allies. Imagine if black and latino leaders made working class economic issues one of their prime concerns. Based on their experience they would not only be good at it but they would build alliances they don’t have today. Consider that there are 8 million blacks in poverty but also14 million whites waiting for someone to help them out of this state.
Cut the protests before an election



Adolph Reed Jr put it well: “"A couple of months ago in the midst of the street actions around police killings and Black Lives Matter… I went back and checked to make sure, that in the summer of 1964, the main civil rights leadership, and this included King, Rustin, Randolph and John Lewis of SNCC, the Urban League, CORE, called a press conference and put out a statement calling for a moratorium on demonstrations. They put this statement out on the 30th of July, calling for a moratorium on demonstrations until after the November election. Why? Because of the imperative to defeat Goldwater. And it’s just a way of thinking strategically about politics and they had the cultural force and the organizational ability to see that call through and to enforce the moratorium.”
Have the young launch a counterculture



One of the things that made the 1960s work is that the young had a counterculture that helped to bring them together. We don’t need an imitation of that but something new and relevant to the next generation. Part of the secret is music and symbols, but most of all new values and lifestyle.
Help rural and small town America



Because liberalism is a heavily urban phenomenon, its agenda his little to say about rural or small town America. But consider the fact, thanks to the electoral vote, that the states that would decide the 2020 elections included ones like Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia. Imagine how that story might has changed if the liberal agenda had included things like rural healthcare, transportation and internet access. Just talking about such things shows a concern that starts to change relations.
Don’t just treat ethnicity as a problem to be resolved



Sure there is a lot of prejudice and indifference out there, but if we are to build a true multi-ethnic culture we have to do a better job of celebrating and helping cross-cultural communities and projects. The media could be a big help – covering the progress of ethnic groups, mixed ethnic programs and so forth. As noted here before, some 17% of new marriages are of mixed ethnicity but no one mentions it. Also, teach the history of different cultures in schools could make a big difference. Being fair and decent is the first step but our goal should be to become friends and partners.