"One pragmatic imperfect victory at a time"

[sheshe2]

Nothing I have read recently has touched my heart as profoundly as this article by Rebecca Solnit titled: A letter to my dismal allies on the US left. It was written just prior to the 2012 election but could just as easily apply to the 2014 midterms. As a matter of fact, the message is timeless.

Under the heading "Leftwing Voter Suppression," she starts with this:

One manifestation of this indiscriminate biliousness is the statement that gets aired every four years: that in presidential elections we are asked to choose the lesser of two evils. Now, this is not an analysis or an insight; it is a cliche, and a very tired one, and it often comes in the same package as the insistence that there is no difference between the candidates. You can reframe it, however, by saying: we get a choice, and not choosing at all can be tantamount in its consequences to choosing the greater of two evils.

But having marriage rights or discrimination protection or access to healthcare is not the lesser of two evils. If I vote for a Democrat, I do so in the hopes that fewer people will suffer, not in the belief that that option will eliminate suffering or bring us to anywhere near my goals or represent my values perfectly. Yet people are willing to use this "evils" slogan to wrap up all the infinite complexity of the fate of the Earth and everything living on it and throw it away.

The great human rights activist Harvey Milk was hopeful, even though when he was assassinated gays and lesbians had almost no rights (but had just won two major victories in which he played a role). He famously said, "You have to give people hope."

In terms of the rights since won by gays and lesbians, where we are now would undoubtedly amaze Milk, and we got there step by step, one pragmatic and imperfect victory at a time – with so many more yet to be won. To be hopeful means to be uncertain about the future, to be tender toward possibilities, to be dedicated to change all the way down to the bottom of your heart.

These are only a few quotes, there is so much more to it.
Read More Here: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/15/letter-dismal-allies-us-left

http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2014/08/one-pragmatic-imperfect-victory-at-time.html

[sheshe2]

1. Kick!

[IrishAyes]

2. Great piece. Anything much I could even try to say would at best be gilding the lily.

Not to pass over the larger story, but I do want to say this about Harvey Milk. When Focus on the Family started telling people not only to refuse to buy the new postage stamps honoring him but also to reject any mail that came to them with that stamp, I rushed to the post office to buy an entire book of them. Which I couldn't afford, but couldn't bear to do without either. He was a precious man.

[sheshe2]

3. Yes I remember reading when Focus on the Family were saying that.

I haven't needed stamps yet, but when I do, those are the ones I will buy. LOL, if Discover and NStar do not want my checks, I'm good with that.

Thanks for the rec and comment my dear, it was a damn fine letter.

[IrishAyes]

28. Sometimes I wonder if I stray into melodrama, but at least it comes naturally. Not fake at all.

We had statewide elections this Tuesday. They have 2 different rooms entirely for Dems and Those Other People. But each room had 3 separate ballots because of open primary. When they pointed out each choice and got to ours, I placed my fingers to my lips before touching the ballot I wanted.

Oh, and I wore my new Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg tee shirt that declares her 'The Notorious RBG'. I liked it better than the one sold with the same picture but the words 'Fear the Frill'.

.

[sheshe2]

29. Hey!

You are no fake....

and I am about to post a new thread on RBG! Will send you the link~

[IrishAyes]

34. Thanks. By now I've received it and rec'd.

I'd wager 90% of the people in this tiny town don't recognize her by name or face. I wore that shirt all everywhere last Tuesday, and 2 women asked me to tell them who she is.

[Blaukraut]

4. Well worth the read. While I don't like some of the snark in the beginning

Once you get to the meat of things, this expresses exactly how I feel.

This kind of response often has an air of punishing or condemning those who are less radical, and it is exactly the opposite of movement- or alliance-building. Those who don't simply exit the premises will be that much more cautious about opening their mouths. Except to bitch, the acceptable currency of the realm.

[Hekate]

5. That is a good read. KnR hoping more DUers read it.

[sheshe2]

6. Thanks Hekate.

I hope others read it all as well.

[Blaukraut]

8. When has there ever been a victory that was an entire pie, not just crumbs or slices?

The author is trying to say that there has to be something to look forward to and even small victories to celebrate, or we will be mired in desperation and anger and unable to do anything.

[Blaukraut]

12. And look at which party had the presidency for the majority of those 30 years

When all a President can do is play defense to ward off any setbacks to progress, or is mired in political character assassination, what progress do you expect?

Would it be preferable to point out the progress made in the last eight years, even if it was incremental, and raise the hope of dejected voters to get them to the polls, or would you rather focus on how far we have yet to go and how long it is taking?

I can only speak for myself that the article struck a chord with me. Yes, I feel disheartened and put off by the constant negativity. I'm feeling hopeless and don't even want to bother anymore. If that's the goal of those who can find nothing good ever, well congratulations. You win.

[sheshe2]

17. We are gaining day by day and it is one hell of a fight.

Baby steps? Oh yes many times it is, yet it happens. Do you really think that change just, poof! happens? No! No, if you want your slice you have to fight every single day and you never stop. Not ever.

You fight and you vote in every single election for the one that is going to do the best to uphold Democratic ideals. It's all stated in the article. I hope you read it all.

Women's Rights Gay Rights Bigotry Voting Rights Racism. How many years have we been fighting for all of these?

And this...

"The current trend, as it has been for 30+ years, has been settling for smaller and smaller portions."

No, you are wrong. We are reaching for the stars. Are we all making it yet? No we are not. Yet we are standing up. Look at the advance of gay rights. It's happening. You know why? We are standing together. As an ally I am one voice with them.Truth. They will stand with me for my voice as a woman. We stand together. We are no longer alone.

People may not like this reference....however we are fired up and damn well plan to stand together.

GOTV2014! Do It!

[Cha]

10. Exactly she..

"But having marriage rights or discrimination protection or access to healthcare is not the lesser of two evils. If I vote for a Democrat, I do so in the hopes that fewer people will suffer, not in the belief that that option will eliminate suffering or bring us to anywhere near my goals or represent my values perfectly."

smartypants

[sheshe2]

13. Thank you Cha! thank you, so glad you saw this.

Dismissiveness is a way of disengaging from both the facts on the ground and the obligations those facts bring to bear on your life. As Michael Eric Dyson recently put it, "What is not good are ideals and rhetorics that don't have the possibility of changing the condition that you analyse. Otherwise, you're engaging in a form of rhetorical narcissism and ideological self-preoccupation that has no consequence on the material conditions of actually existing poor people."

Nine years ago I began writing about hope, and I eventually began to refer to my project as "snatching the teddy bear of despair from the loving arms of the left". All that complaining is a form of defeatism, a premature surrender, or an excuse for not really doing much. Despair is also a form of dismissiveness, a way of saying that you already know what will happen and nothing can be done, or that the differences don't matter, or that nothing but the impossibly perfect is acceptable. If you're privileged you can then go home and watch bad TV or reinforce your grumpiness with equally grumpy friends.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/15/letter-dismal-allies-us-left

[Cha]

14. Well said Michael Eric Dyson..

"Otherwise, you're engaging in a form of rhetorical narcissism and ideological self-preoccupation that has no consequence on the material conditions of actually existing poor people."

Mahalo she!

[mopinko]

11. my fb share

the perfect IS the enemy of the good. i have always thought that perfection is the most dubious of goals. i fight it in myself. i see the undone, instead of the done.
but in a situation where all stops are being pulled out, this shit is bullshit.
i know some good progressives who shit on this president all day every day. still whining for their very own pony.
the dem circular firing squad is a thing. we need to see it for what it is- shooting our allies. shooting those who agree with us on 90% or more. we HAVE TO FIND A BETTER WAY.
celebrate our progress. or admit you are on the other side.

[Cha]

16. Oh yeah, mo.. the President is a popular

punching bag for so many across the spectrum. It's a damn good thing Obama is so strong and can focus on his job while the beat goes on and on and on..

Not too OT..

Nancy Bigda Parent @Nanbp
Follow
HOW does @BarackObama keep calm when @jonkarl asks an ASININE ques like "which bothers you more- being called Imperial or Do Nothing Pres?
12:30 PM - 6 Aug 2014 47 Retweets 10 favorites

And, from smartypants.. the writer in she's OP..

Nancy LeTourneau @Smartypants60
Follow
@Nanbp @BarackObama @jonkarl @TheObamaDiary The fact that he can keep his cool is EXACTLY what drives them to distraction!
1:16 PM - 6 Aug 2014 30 Retweets 15 favorites

TOD

[sheshe2]

19. I love Nancy's Tweet! nt

[mopinko]

21. they remind me of my ex.

addicted to anger, and sooo very frustrated when i wouldnt let him get a rise out of me. which is why he is now the ex. i quit playing and he exploded. that sort knows when a game is not working, and they know NOTHING else.

[Uncle Joe]

15. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, sheshe.

[Jamaal510]

18. Ever since I began

studying politics when I was in the 12th grade, I always had the mindset that the "lesser of two evils" thing is short-sighted nonsense. Just because I personally may not agree with a party's entire platform (or with a particular candidate) does not necessarily make them "evil" or less "perfect". Political parties are man-made entities, so they are all subject to having their flaws (yes, including the 3rd parties). And let's all remember--the concept of "perfection" is also man-made, and one person's idea of the perfect party or candidate obviously may differ from the idea of someone else.
When comparing and contrasting the two major parties, many experts and poly-sci scholars agree that they're the farthest apart that they've ever been in history. It's obvious mainly because our Congress representatives can hardly get anything accomplished anymore (2014 so far is reportedly on track to have the fewest amount of bills passed). The difference between both parties is like night and day on so many issues from voting rights to gay rights, from contraception to taxation, from education to religion, from foreign policy to job creation (over 42M jobs created under Dem administrations compared to 24M under Repub within the past several decades), etc.

[Cha]

20. Well said Jamal.. and all this gives food for thought the next time I see

the ol.. voting for the "lesser of two evils".

[LWolf]

22. Each person justifies their choice in the voting booth in a way that they can live with.

I understand the position Solnit is expressing here.

I, though, always see the 2 mainstream choices for POTUS in a general election as the lesser of two evils.

It's not that I expect a candidate I vote for to represent my values perfectly. That's ridiculous.

It's that those candidates are always representing my opposition.

Not on every issue, of course. That's where the "lesser evil" comes in. I can find a candidate who will at least represent a compromise on some issues.

The problem is that, on the larger issues that drive my vote and my participation, those candidates represent corporate interests over the good of the nation and the 99%.

As long as the two choices are between a Republican and a Democratic neo-liberal, it will always be the "lesser evil," and frankly, the gap between the two is getting smaller all the time.

Neo-liberalism is an evil. No spin makes it any different.

To be honest, while the "lesser evil" point may be tiresome to Solnit and those who think as she does, the constant bombardment of propaganda designed to distract from the fact that the nominee IS a lesser evil, the propaganda used to silence dissent and whip voters into obedient lines, is more than "tiresome." It's like a cancer that keeps coming back, every four or eight years, keeping us flattened, unable to function at full strength, just struggling to survive.

[Sheepshank]

23. I've never bought into the idea of the "lesser of two evils"

when so many people rail against voting for a DEM simply because they don't think they can vote for a Rep...and then seriously consider not voting at all...well at that point it's like arguing with a Tea Bagger.

It's all circular justfications. The clearest rational for not listening to that "Lesser of two evils" rhetoric is that every person has their own sense of evil (or not policies=good enough), my paradigm is different than yours. I do NOT want a candidate that is the robotic personification of someone else's paradigm, therefore their talk of Dem=Rep or being pissed off at only being offered the "Lesser of two Evils" means nada, nothing, empty talk.....

[PowerToThePeople]

24. I know, you either get

torturers and war criminals or someone who will let the torturers and war criminals walk.

Which is the lesser?

[Sheepshank]

27. sure, make the attempt to paint people into a corner

it's done a lot on DU...not going to buy into it.

[PowerToThePeople]

25. Fuck Pragmatism!!

Extreme problems may require extreme solutions.

The USA has been extremely fucked for a long time now. We will not pragmatically resolve the issues.

[MohRokTah]

26. Then welcome your Republican overlords.

The Teaparty says "Fuck Pragmatism".

[zipplewrath]

30. Except the trend has been the opposite

The problem with the whole piece is that it ignores that this country has been moving to the right for 30 years. We now have a democratic president that is to the right of Eisenhower. That's not "one imperfect victory at a time" that's one step forward, two steps back.

The middle class is worse off. Even over the last 5 years we have seen a huge loss in real middle class income. Obama's "fault"? Not exactly, but nor is it "one pragmatic victory at a time".

[sheshe2]

31. Since when

does the "right" support women's equality and LGBT equality? Since when has the right not thrown us in debt? Since when did the right give us a chance at affordable health care? Since when have Dems voted to give rights to corporations in our elections!? Since when has the right lauded equal pay and a raising of minimum wage for the working poor. Since when has the right not taken us to war, put it on a credit card and refused to pay the bills.

Oh, Please! We are moving to the right.... Okeedokey~

I would love to see posts on DU blaming the GOP, once just once for destroying the middle class.

Sadly that doesn't happen from the Obama chorus of critics. Where is the outrage?Hmmm...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/15/gop-minimum-wage-increase_n_2884912.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/15/gop-minimum-wage-increase_n_2884912.html

[zipplewrath]

32. It the US that is moving right

Blame it on who you may, but at the end of the day we as a country have been moving to the right for 30 years. In that time we've had congress controlled by both parties, and 3 GOP presidents and 2 democratic presidents. Clinton signed NAFTA, DADT, and DOMA. Bush II passed medicare part D. The GOP is leading the way, and way too many democrats are following right along.

[JaneyVee]

33. Actually, by nearly every indicator, US is moving left.

[zipplewrath]

36. Unions, middle class

Increasing reliance on free markets, banks too big to fail, declining labor unions and labor representation in general, a minimum wage which becomes more "minimum" relative to inflation every year, continued privatization of everything from public schools, jails, and the highway system and we're moving "left"? More and more restrictive abortion laws, Citizens United, an ever decreasing 4th amendment, and expanding 2nd amendment, expanding student debt, stand your ground, a widening income gap, a greater reliance upon regressive tax schemes, "free" trade, I'm still trying to see how any of this is "every indicator"? And we haven't even gotten to our foreign and military policy where we now torture people "legally", we kill US citizens without trial by armed drones. We spy on virtually anyone and everyone at will, and lie to congress about it. We are at war in at least 3 different places. This president has bombed more people than his predecessor and Bush II was no slouch in that category. This is a LONG way from the progressive/liberal peace movement of the '60s.

Have we made some strides in gender equality and marriage equality? Yes, we have. But economically and in governance in general we have been moving right for 30 years.

[conservaphobe]

35. That was a most excellent read.

Pragmatism is what this country needs right now.