General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: He said "make me do it" so they showed up to make him, but were arrested. [View all]dreamnightwind
(4,775 posts)I just used 350.org as an arbitrary example, since they clearly were established with a long-term goal and since they are a major player on this issue.
As bad as things are, there doesn't seem to be much of any kind of national movement, unless your cause isn't going directly against the interests of big money. So there can be movements for social identity politics, there is some resistance from the religious right but for the most part they don't set the news agenda as much as the large corporations do.
But movements to rein in the runaway financial sector, to head off the worst effects of the coming climate change, to distribute income more equally in this country, to feed the poor instead of the military, etc., to find an economic populist Democratic Presidential candidate for 2016, mysteriously get little or no traction.
Why? People are lazy, misguided, movement leaders are ineffective? There's bound to be some truth to that. It's pretty easy to sit here and point the finger at them.
I think it's more a sad commentary on how thoroughly manipulated the national discourse is. Money is not speech, but it does allow the media ownership and management to establish the frame of discussion, and largely determines the issues people are focused on.