politics @lemmy.world GiddyGap @lemm.ee 7 days ago

Behind the Curtain: America rejected soft liberalism

The deeper they dig into federal and state election results, some Democrats are coming to a harsh, humbling conclusion: America rejected soft liberalism.

19 comments

Americans rejected the middle. They want someone who says they will take a stand against the status quo. The argument isn't any more complex than that.

The Obama vote (change you can believe in) and Trump vote are similar in their popular message at the root of it.

When people lose hope in a system the person who promises to break it down wins. Does not matter that it's a charlatan or a champion.
- When people lose hope in a system the person who promises to break it down wins. Does not matter that it’s a charlatan or a champion.
  
  I'd like to think people would actively prefer a champion to a charlatan, but when the Democratic Party abjectly refuses to offer a champion and says "fuck you" to anybody who tries, well, a charlatan is the only other option.
- Totally agree though I do think there's some nuance in exactly what the status quo meant to each Trump voter.
  
  For Christian fundamentalists, it meant a secular society and abortion rights
  
  For the working class it was high inflation
  
  For young straight men (and their parents) it was a felt sense that they were being cancelled
  
  For the suburban voters it was the felt sense that we have porous borders and that our tax dollars were being used to support non-citizen
  
  Not all of these are accurate, but simply being told you're wrong before feeling like the other person is taking you seriously is only going to drive you to folks who will tell you what you want to hear. And that's where the disinformation comes in
  
  We have to do better at listening to the other side's concerns and offering meaningful answers. I don't just mean offering policy as a response, I mean they have to feel heard before they are going to be willing to listen
  
  For the working class it was high inflation [i.e. their declining standard of living]
  
  For the suburban voters it was the felt sense that we have porous borders and that our tax dollars were being used to support non-citizen [i.e. not getting enough support themselves and feeling the injustice of it]
  
  These are just different misinterpretations of the same underlying problem. What both groups are experiencing is a feeling of economic instability and being left behind while the rich get richer. But Americans have been so heavily propagandized to for decades that we don't have the political vocabulary to describe the real solution (at least not without using swear words like "s*****ism"), so we grope for some related issue to provide framing. And, of course, very often what we find is some scapegoat the ruling class' propaganda has 'helpfully' provided to us in order to deflect their blame.
- I think it’s even simpler. Biden and the RNC decided ‘actions speak louder than words’ in 2020 so the GQP promptly filled the information space with bullshit and lies. It was already over by the time Biden announced his reelection bid.
- Genocide is not a middle position. Neither is liberalism. Dems are right-wing. Nowhere close to the middle.
  
  The main difference between dems and republicans is the overt racism, sexism, etc.. That's the difference between obama and trump. That's what separates actual populism from right-wing fascism.
  
  Unfortunately we've learned (and will learn over the next year) that there is a sick difference between status quo genocide and turbo active genocide.
  
  This comment is not approving of EITHER but we are about to get our fill of WORSE
Expected “soft liberalism” to mean neoliberalism or watered-down liberalism, but apparently it refers to wokism. “Top democrats“ blaming defund the police, DEI, and soft border policies.

I guess the message is that Trump won on racism, so we should have been more racist.
- Which is bullshit because what most people actually hate is neoliberalism.
  
  The media is in overdrive performing a neoliberal whitewash — trying to frame "the left" as the reason for center-right neoliberalisms failure — so they can to serve the fascist status quo and push the Overton window to the right.
- I mean thats what makes sense. In any competition you lose to another you look at what the other is doing and try to be more like them or go beyond. Its common sense.
  
  This isn't track and field. When fascists win elections, it's actually not "common sense" to imitate them. It's just more fascism.
I think that America rejected leftism, not liberalism.
- There was no leftism on the ticket to reject.
  
  There has been no leftism on the general ballot in my 24 years of voting.
  
  That is never a choice the American people are given.
  
  Both of our choices are always market capitalist sycophants.
- What leftist policies? I honestly can't think of one other than the failed attempt to kill student loans.

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