The divide on the left.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Some of the time I feel like things like "net neutrality" and issues of freedom of expression and surveillance take center-stage in our progressive communities and issues like public housing, welfare, min. wage, work safety, don't get much attention at all. If your main concern is addressing poverty and inequality things like "net neutrality" might seem hopelessly abstract. In the same way, I think that some progressives just don't get a lot of issues that are related to poverty and ongoing racism.

"Progressives" need to do a better job of getting to know organizations that work with poor and minority communities. More cross-pollination. There's this gap-- and, frankly, the people with the most resources should do the most reaching to bridge it.

In NYC I've seen good progressive ideas fail since a large number of working class and poor Democrats just don't "get" what the progressives are talking about. It's really easy for whatever lobby it is that benefits from the legislation not getting passed to use some populist BS to piss off these Democrats and get them to pressure the elected officials for the dumbest things.  And who can blame them?  Progressives rush in at the last moment breathlessly explaining their pet policies. I think some of the organizations who focus on class, gender and race issues just say "where were you when we needed your help?" But in the end everyone loses.

When I have tried to talk about this in the past suddenly EVERYONE who is a self-identified progressive is also suddenly so very "working class" --and they get in a huge huff since they think I'm calling them a bunch of latte-drinkers.

Well, goddammit, a lot of progressives do drink lattes and we (yes, I said "we") don't know enough about the issues that matter to poor and working class Democrats or what the hell we can do to address these issues. In addition, a lot of self-identified progressives don't really 'get' issues that involve race or gender that well either.

ACORN should still be around.  So, who's next? The far Right was successful in taking this organization down. And this isn't abstract, it's serious. I have seen the positive impact that they had and it will leave a huge gaping hole.  So, since it worked, you can bet the Right is going to do it again. If we let some of our people end up isolated as ACORN was they won't be able to fight back-- I don't think ACORN spent any money on PR people, they wanted every penny to go to the work. That's idealism, and they were eaten alive becuase of it. It doesn't have to be this way, though, if enough people step up to the plate to protect the people who are doing the good work-- maybe we'll get to know each other better and be a more powerful because of it.

Comments

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I don't envy you the replies to this that are coming.

For the record, you are entirely right. I quit the Greens once and for all when I got blank stares from all the trustafarian kids who were all atwitter about the next chartered bus to the WTO protest when I suggested we actuall canvass the wards to LEARN what local issues regarding sustainability and conservation were important in Lansing.

Damn, useless hippie-wannabes who couldn't be fucked with to do actual work. Went back to the Democrats for good. My perfect party? No -- but actually gets the idea that you have to work to get anything done.

[merig00.livejournal.com]

Last time I checked, ACORN didn't go anywhere - just split up into smaller communities. And probably for better. Say hello to New York Communities for Change http://www.nycommunities.org/

the far right=bunch of lying tossholes

[sealwhiskers.livejournal.com]

Have you seen this in regards to ACORN?
Someone posted about the "hooker & pimp" incident here on TP last year and lots of people gave pretty smug replies in regards to ACORN and basically gobbled up the "truth" of FOX news.
Personally I wasn't one bit surprised by recent discoveries, unfortunately the truth came too late for Acorn to be saved.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/04/07/4126070-context-lies-and-videotapes-the-real-acorn-story

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

When I saw this post I was expecting something about the fratricidal wars in Spain and elsewhere.

This is instead raising a lot of good points I can neither really argue with or snark about.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

C'mon now, everybody knows Bertha Lewis (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/239369/july-21-2009/better-know-a-lobby---acorn) is evil.

j/k, I miss ACORN too

[ryder-p-moses.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this has been something that's bothered me for a while - even among specifically poverty-oriented leftist groups, I've found very few people interested in doing much immediate good for actual poor people in their communities. And it seems like a really intractable problem to me - you seem pretty knowledgeable about it, what do you think would get more people involved? What happened to ACORN sucked, but they alone weren't enough, and it's not the first time rightwing provocateurs have screwed over progressive organizations - now's the only time I can think of where there was really just the one big one to get screwed, though.