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....of affection.
I was thinking about that Lincoln quote this morning. Sometimes I think the darkness at the heart of our country is almost more than people can accept. Things are so bad, meaning morally reprehensible and fundamentally unjust, that its difficult to fully comprehend.
Worse still, its incredibly difficult to come to terms with the Democratic party's role in what is so terribly broken - because its simply heartbreaking. For years many of us, including myself, labored under the sincere belief that the differences between the parties were significant enough to justify ignoring the terrible policy promoted and endorsed by many Democrats.
Many people, including myself, believed that while Democrats might not be doing enough to transform a fundamentally unjust system, they at least "stopped" the downward slide created when Republicans are in power. And while things were "stopped" the opportunity was there for a few small victories to be had. A little more spending on social welfare here. A bit of funding to social justice agencies there. A little "reform" sprinkled around in between.
What I discovered is that the modern Democratic party - its leadership particularly, as well as too many of its elected representatives - does not "stop" the downward slide created by Republicans at all. In critical area after critical area, Democrats keep the same fundamentally unacceptable immoralities going. What they continue to perpetuate is so bad that it dwarfs the tiny incremental gains made here and there.
No matter how cliche this may be, I've come to believe that the simple reality is that Democrats and Republicans argue about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Democrats want to arrange the chairs so that they seat a few more people. Republicans want to arrange the chairs so that they sit only the most affluent passengers. All the while the ship is still sinking.
I keep posting on Democratic Underground because I value the community. But also because I don't desire to see the Democratic Party fail. What I want is for good men and women passionate about social and economic justice to become filled with righteous indignation - and I want those men and women to take over (some would say take back, but I think take over is more accurate) the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party has had a long history of speaking about the poor and working class Americans in its party platform. It has a long history of referring to social and economic justice in its platform. Certain Democrats of history have called corporations and the hyper-rich "economic royalists" and had the courage to say "I welcome their hatred."
Sadly, I don't believe that the Democratic Party overall has regularly lived up to those ideals. But those ideas are historically part of the values the Party claims to represent. What I want is a people's movement to transform the Democratic party and choose to act in accordance with those professed values - siding with workers rather than with rulers, demanding socialist democracy as the only avenue to justice.
That may never happen. In fact I'm not optimistic that it will. But I don't "hate" the Democratic Party. I "hate" the fact that it has never really meant a lot of what it claimed to stand for, and I think its high time that we change that.
Every day I write here I'm afraid I'll wake up and discover myself banned. I know I'm not a traditional Democrat, and I know I am a strong, vociferous critic. But I love participating in this community, and if we could see a day where the Democratic party was transformed -
-where its leaders reflected the courage and moral decency of a Bernie Sanders or Dennis Kucinich,
-where its Chairman would go on record welcoming the hatred of "economic royalists" just like FDR did,
-where its policy experts would sound like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn,
-where socialism (which nearly everyone here agrees with "in theory," but not everyone believes is possible) was a valued word proudly associated with our representatives....
...if we could see that day I would be thrilled to tears.
Of course I realize that we won't see that day, not unless there is culture-changing crisis like a complete economic collapse - something I can't in good conscience actively wish for (because I can't bring myself to actively wish suffering on anyone.) I am always aware of the unlikelihood that justice will reign over greed, power lust and corruption. And I understand that what I've suggested seems laughable to some, so that even wishing for it strikes some as ridiculous.
But whenever I try to stop speaking, writing or devoting my life work to these notions about what's wrong with our society and what's desperately needed for our people - I feel like some part of me dies.
So let's continue to debate and discuss. Yes, it gets heated at times. And yes I am a deeply, deeply flawed communicator. I have a streak of arrogance at times that is absolutely baseless. Sometimes I lose my temper and say things I regret. But all I can tell you is that I make a daily, conscious commitment to try and represent the best traits.
I try to have my facts together when it comes to data. I try to post and admit when I make mistakes. I try to come back and apologize if I've treated someone unfairly. I try and keep criticisms about the administration (with which I have strong disagreements) or congressional Democrats focused on policy and without personal attacks. I try not to namecall people that disagree with me.
Most importantly, despite my outside-the-box position, I try very hard to follow the rules of DU and be a member in good faith.
When I fail to do these things - and I'm afraid I will, as I am not perfect - tell me. PM me or call me out of on it. I will do my best to take it to heart and make amends where I can.
At the end of the day, all I want is social and economic justice for the ordinary people of this country, which I think is something that we can all agree on. That's why I still post here, and that's why I hope that I'll continue to be welcome.
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