It’s not the Democrats that need to wake up, though they are the current party in power, but it’s the citizenry of the United States that needs to wake up and understand how authoritarian forces on both sides are taking our democracy away.
IMO: Be warned this sounds like a conspiracy theory (which I abhor) but neoliberalism is a large part of the issue. By dismantling (deregulation) of a lot of Governmental bureaucracy over the years to make a more robust government has created a situation where everything is truly fought on the state/local levels. This has been happening since the eighties & nineties.
Republicans, and specifically the Christian right, have won small elections, first onto school boards, and then into local government offices, usually non-elected positions. Some positions in cities that are elected positions don’t require candidates to state their party affiliations. These positions give these officials the experience and springboard into larger offices in politics.
Democrats, during the same time, did nothing are didn’t pay attention or didn’t think these positions were powerful (maybe - I don’t know). But there have been plenty of Democrats who stopped fighting neoliberalism and embraced it on some level. I would even say the willingness of the Democrats to play by the “rules” while Republicans use their disinformation campaigns. Democrats relied on the tools of Democracy and compromised as a politician would do to reach consensus but never looking at the long game. Unlike their opponents.
It’s time for the citizens of the United States to stop picking between two parties and understand that those politicians embracing neoliberalism (which many do as the only form of economics) and the only way to find it to question them themselves, and not rely on just the media. It’s time for the citizens of the United States to take more of active part in democracy. And that is not vote for the -isms but vote for democracy and those politicians supporting an open democracy, and who put the country first.
For Democrats and Republicans, stop fighting the FUD of culture wars. Stop fighting them entirely and call out those putting issues into a culture war. Mainly, “woke” doesn’t exist but the market does. When the multitudes start rejecting figures and politicians, as they have done via social media, that is called the Market rejecting those figures and politicians. The same market that conservatives have stated should be the only entity to listen to. The problem for them is they thought the market would be the dollar they didn’t realize that it still would be public opinion and that now both go hand in hand.
Sorry, a lot here I just had to get it all out. Most of this I write as an adult in his fifties who has watched and listened as I watched local politics change. It’s anecdotal and my observations over the years. I’m a Computer Scientist, not a Historian, Political Scientist, or Social Scientist. But I took what my Junior year US Government teacher said and took it to heart. I have been a Democrat and Libertarian in my life. For the last 22 years I have been an Independent and find value in liberal, progressive, and conservative voices.
I do worry about democracy but it’s time for all Citizens to “wake up” and understand that the loudest voices will dominate and right now it’s not them it’s the GQP!
They have no ability or willingness to understand anyone else’s POV…
