to all the obama haters
To All The Obama Haters…
You’re wasting the opportunity of a lifetime.
No, I haven’t swallowed the hope pill. I have no illusions about the Obama administration, the Democratic party or electoral politics. But whatever pill *you’ve* swallowed must have been awfully bitter, because it’s sure left you with an ugly look on your face.
I’ll agree from the start, Obama won’t deliver the change we want. He’s an establishment candidate who’s risen up within the ranks of the machine. It’s not enough that he’s better than the alternative- the hope he’s sold millions will sooner or later be dashed.
But wait. Look at that last sentence. Maybe you’ve missed the crucial word: millions.
The essence of political change is mobilization, and Americans are mobilized now like they haven’t been for a generation. Right now, thanks to Obama, they’re fired up. They feel involved, like they have a personal stake in the process. They want change, and they’re willing to pitch in to make it happen.
Do you believe change comes from above, or from below? If it comes from above, if we’re all just pawns of the ruling elites, then by all means, sit in your armchair and gripe. If Obama can’t rescue us, then there must be no point, right?
But if change comes from below, if you think that the actions of “ordinary” people matter, then your place right now is among the hopeful and the idealistic. Stop scorning them for having stars in their eyes, and start organizing.
There are countless people out there right now who want to do their part. Will you tell them that they’re fools and they should go back to sleep? Or will you join them, teach them their own power and guide them into standing on their own?
Their time of disappointment will come. Their hero will certainly fail them, and if he doesn’t himself, the system he represents will. When that happens, the hopeful can go two ways. The first choice is to sink back into apathy or despair.
The second choice, however, is to keep on fighting, and that’s where you come in. If the hopefuls rely solely on the institutions of liberal reform, then there’s nowhere for them to go. But if they have access to good radical thinking, from people they trust through working together, then there’s a path forward for them. And that path starts to veer in the direction of real change.
We like to say that we act not out of hate, but out of love. I’ve been having a hard time seeing it lately, though. Too many people right now can do nothing but criticize. We are old and bitter. We attack the very people who should be our future base.
But look at them, the hopeful millions. They want something better from our country. Their eyes shine with enthusiasm when they say “Yes we can.” If these people aren’t our future, then we probably don’t have one.
So pick an issue and get to work. Choose something that you believe in, but also something that meets people where they’re at. Don’t regard the people you work with as dupes or saps. Remember back to when you first became politically aware- you probably didn’t build your cynical shell overnight. Remember what it felt like when you thought you could change the world. You still think you can? Then that’s the first thing you all have in common. I’m sure you’ll find more.
It’s been forty years since there’s been such a movement of optimism and hope in America. We can wall ourselves into our activist ghetto and become more old-fashioned every day, or we can rejoin the world and start tearing down walls instead of building new ones.
Hunter S. Thompson said that the high water mark for America was 1968. The tide’s gone a long way out since then, but now it’s coming back in. There’s no telling how high the water will rise this time, but I’m betting it’ll climb higher with us than without.
Comments
Very well argued.
Xi posted this to his LJ. Good comments.
http://xi-o-teaz.livejournal.com/280735.html?style=mine#comments
“The essence of political change is mobilization [...]” It might be more accurate to say ’sometimes the essence of the political change that I prefer is mobilization.’ Because change can occur without mobilization, and mobilization-based change can be non-preferable. This is a non-trivial criticism because I think (although I could be wrong) that you are still holding on to the left’s idea that the masses (a) will act in their own long-term best interests and (b) they, you or somebody knows what those best interests are. Millions are now hopeful for Obama, but millions were hopeful and mobilized and active for Bush. And for a couple other democratically elected officials, here and there, who brought about non-preferable political changes. You know who I’m talking about.
I think the masses (and by that I mean the majority, not anything like ‘the working class’) don’t have any idea what is in their best interests, just as most individuals don’t. I barely know what I’m going to be doing the next hour, much less how the world should run for the next century.
I have a few, tentative, mostly useless answers in addition to my criticisms. First, ignore the far left. Lenin (of all people) was right when he said anarchism was an infantile disorder. They grow out of it – I did – or they don’t. The art and culture of the far left is still engaging but they have no practical political answers. Politics are generally a dead end for anything except the accumulation and execution of power. But at least politicos get things done – something the far left fails at for centuries on end. Second, give up on the masses except as a thing to be able to get out of the way of in case it steamrolls your way. Third, and I think closest to what you’re advocating, is be filled with joy if you can influence small positive changes in a small number of people or in a small geographic area. Never hold out for the perfect deal if you can get a little real work done in the mean time. Never think you even know what the perfect deal might be.
To clarify: yes, work with Obama supporters.
So eloquently put. Its like reading someone else write my thoughts. Community organization is the one and only vehicle to true change, and the Obama presidency not only excites people to get involved, but unlike the Republican/Bush admin, creates a safe space for people to act without being labeled terrorists.
Cynicism is a dead end that needs to be avoided at all costs. The illusion of helplessness after all, is thee most powerful lie the capitalistic establishment uses to maintain its standing.
Its not even about “changing the world” in some abstract objective sense. That phrasing even makes it seem more difficult than it really is; we are changing ourselves and our way of living, and all in all that’s all we’ve ever been doing from the start. A ‘better’ world isn’t impossible by any stretch, and the wonders the last presidency leading into this election has done on our collective psyche truly bring us one step closer to making it happen.
I agree 100%, just did an article last week arguing that Obama and DNC actually have no ownership or even control over the network that got him Elected…that network is super-empowered and they’ll be watching closely.
Trevor: Excellent points all. More worthy of a full post (or two) in reply than a quick comment. Soon come.
Well put. I disagree, but you have a great way of stating your case and should be commended.
I said that I disagree, but I suppose I should qualify that. I embrace the notion of ‘change’. Along with you, I am a realist and know that things cannot and will not happen overnight… that is a given and it takes commitment.
I suppose that the trouble I have is that ‘change’ has to mean more that ‘change from the past 8 years’. In order to have any true weight or substance, it has to be REAL change… otherwise it is just another word for partisan politics.
Change our private federal reserve…
Change our out of control spending…
Change our empire building…
Change the revocation of out liberties…
Change the way government has a hand so far in our daily lives…
Those are changes.
Cynically, I fear that those are the things that will not be changed.
Obama bailed out the big banks with the 700 billion dollars Congress passed. So Obama is redistributing wealth but from the poor to the rich. No hope here. No hope in hell. He’s going to be another President who’s part of the cult of the market and will believe the market will solve everything.
I’ve been thinking about this for the last week or whatever. Two things strike me as relevant:
1) Your contention that the Obama movement will remain mobilized after his election is conjecture, nothing more. There is no evidence that they will remain a mass independent movement. And given humanity / America’s general tendencies to get behind a tribal leader / celebrity, stop thinking for themselves, and realign reality to fit what they already think, there seems little evidence that this movement per se will exercise anything other than blue-tinted cheer leading. Considering how fitful some Obama people get over suggesting that he might not be able to walk on water, there is more evidence to the contrary. As Wes Unruh points out, the guy basically ran as Sol Invictus.
2) Assuming that they remain mobilized question is mobilized for what? Counting cheer leading for Obama and what is thus far an administration of Clinton hacks, Chicago thugs, and DNC insiders as non-mobilization, where do they go? You talk about “change” a lot, which is fitting considering the subject. I find it important to remember that, as Christopher Hyatt says, change doesn’t mean anything. It can be either good or bad.
Oh, and FWIW, my own ten favorite reasons to be skeptical.
The tide is coming in all right. For those who have been following Matt Simmons, Jay Hanson et al, it is already recognizable.
[...] started as a response to comments from Trevor Blake, Ulysses Lazarus and others on my Obama-haters rant. It seems to be turning into notes for a first draft of the political thoughts I’ve been [...]
[...] Obama Haters: you’re missing the opportunity of a lifetime [...]
I take issue with your contention that President Obama is just another establishment candidate. And that he was the product of machine politics.
Obama was not supposed to be the Senator from Illinois when he won. The Chicago “machine” wanted someone else. Obama beat that other guy.
Obama was not supposed to be the Democratic nominee. The “machine” wanted Hillary.
Obama was not supposed to win the election. The Republican “machine” was convinced they could beat the black guy, so they did a lot to promote Hillary’s collapse.
I do agree that real change in America is nearly hopeless. But if anyone can do it, this guy can.
He just sold you out. Maybe next time you’ll just go and do the things you want him to do.
Stop fooling yourselves,Obama has done nothing for you yeat and he will not do anything the rest of his time in office-how did everyone like that last stimulas package-seven dollars more on your check a week-wow that is like a gallon of gas now,cut out the welfare and help the people willing to help themselves because they are the forgotten ones.
And I agree with everything Mark said above except the last sentence.
“I do agree that real change in America is nearly hopeless. But if anyone can do it, this guy can.”