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markpkessinger

(8,656 posts)
Sun Jan 19, 2025, 02:49 PM Jan 19

Democrats need to push back HARD against the narrative that has taken root! [View all]

There is a political narrative that has taken root since the election -- a narrative that, coming from media pundits, was predictable enough, but which, alarmingly, is being embraced even by many Democrats. I think it is both wrong-headed, and, for Democrats, that it is self-destructive to embrace.

The narrative is basically this: the Democrats lost working-class voters by focusing too much on "woke" policies), in embracing "identity politics" and DEI, too embracing of trans rights. This narrative also seems to assume that the electorate, collectively, is somehow endowed with superior wisdom in all things. I think there are more than a few examples from history that demonstrate the fallacy of that particular canard!

I saw a New York Times reader comment that said Democrats had engaged in too much "social engineering." I responded: "I defy anyone to name a single piece of legislation proposed in the last 16 years (since the start of the Obama administration) that could be labeled as 'social engineering' by any stretch." I didn't get any takers.

I think it is important to recognize this anti-"woke", anti-DEI, anti-social engineering language for exactly what it is: a shorthand code that provides enables bigots of all types with a handy rationalization to get rid of laws and policies that were enacted in order to help level the playing field for groups that have historically been disadvantaged. One might argue that perhaps some of the specific measures went a little too far, but Democrats should NEVER apologize for embracing the notion that equal opportunity should extend to everyone, irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation. That notion was and is a laudable one, and represents one of the highest American aspirations. We can, perhaps, argue over some of the specifics, but we should under no circumstances concede that there is anything at all wrong with the goal itself. And we should push back HARD on any attempts to rewrite the history of the injustices that created a need to level the playing field in the first place! And if Americans are who and what we've long claimed to be, no American should have any problem with that!

A recent op-ed by two economists in the NY Times carried a headline that reads, "Two of the World’s Leading Thinkers on How the Left Went Astray." But maybe it isn't "The Left" that has gone astray at all. Maybe, just maybe, it's the very thin majority of voters who voted for Trump. I've seen comments by some who say that it is Democrats' fault that Trump got elected this time. Sorry, no. It's the fault of those who voted for him.

When it comes to DEI programs, the exposure most people have to them is in the workplace. But there is a reason corporations have embraced DEI, and it has nothing to do with what Democrats have done or are attempting to do. It is rather because corporations have come to understand that diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces are actually good for business. Diverse backgrounds of employees make for more perspectives to be incorporated into business decisions. A series of investigative reports by no less than the McKinsey Company -- hardly some left wing organization -- found that diversity ultimately improves a company's bottom line, and that's why so many Fortune 500 companies have embraced i

Democrats currently find themselves in the political wilderness, and no one can say exactly how long they will be there. It could be for many years, or, history shows, it could be as little as two years. But Democrats need to get over this idea that every election loss means they must radically reinvent themselves. I believe politics tends to run in cycles in this country, and, for the moment at least, it's the down side of the cycle for Democrats. But sometimes, it is during these down cycles that it becomes most important for Democrats to stand firm in our historical commitments. Because if we don't, who will? Maybe, rather than reinventing ourselves, we need to bide our time, doing as much as we possibly can to limit and minimize the damage being done by the other side, with the understanding that political winds will indeed change yet again at some point.

I mean, if we allow ourselves to alter who we are and what we claim to stand for every time the political winds change direction, we will stand for absolutely nothing. Which, btw is already a charge some are leveling at Democrats.

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